Industrial LCD screen solutions suitable for corrosive environments such as seaside and chemical plants

I. Challenges of LCD Screens in Corrosive Environments

1: How Do Corrosive Gases and Moisture Penetrate LCD Screens?

LCD screens are complex, comprising liquid crystal layers, polarizers, optical adhesives, backlights, and other materials. These components have varying sensitivities to environmental changes, especially in environments like beaches and chemical plants, where corrosive gases, salt, and moisture in the air can significantly impact LCD screens.

Salt Penetration: Salt spray, commonly found in beach environments, especially sodium chloride (NaCl), penetrates the screen edges through humidity, corroding the adhesives and polarizers inside the screen. Under the influence of moisture, salt enters the structural layers of the screen, reacting chemically with internal materials, ultimately leading to problems such as blistering and mold growth.

The Impact of Corrosive Gases: Corrosive gases such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), chlorine (Cl₂), and ammonia (NH₃) in chemical plants can damage the optical adhesives, polarizers, and other optical materials in the LCD screen, causing phenomena such as display layer detachment, color distortion, and screen darkening.

Screen Damage Caused by Temperature Difference

Besides salt spray and corrosive gases, temperature difference is a significant cause of LCD screen failure. Especially at the seaside, sudden drops in temperature at night reduce the fluidity and response speed of the liquid crystal material, affecting display quality. Liquid crystal molecules become less flexible, resulting in slow response, image ghosting, or even complete freezing.

2: Why are ordinary industrial LCD screens prone to failure in these environments?

Lack of Corrosion Protection Design

While ordinary industrial LCD screens have wide temperature ranges, they lack specific protection designs against high salt spray, acid and alkali corrosion, etc. The screen’s bezel, wiring terminals, and backlight system are often not completely sealed, allowing corrosive substances to penetrate and damage the screen’s optical layers and circuitry.

Sensitivity of Liquid Crystal Materials
Ordinary LCD screens use low-temperature liquid crystal materials. These materials become viscous when temperatures drop, slowing the response speed and causing problems such as image ghosting and color distortion. In high humidity and corrosive environments, these materials cannot effectively resist external environmental erosion, causing the liquid crystal material itself to solidify or freeze, leading to the screen malfunctioning.

Backlight System Failure

Under the corrosive effects of salt spray and chemical gases, the backlight system of an LCD screen often experiences problems such as decreased brightness, color shift, and flickering. Salt and corrosive gases cause oxidation and corrosion to the backlight LED module and its driving circuitry, leading to backlight system failure.

II. How to Choose an Industrial LCD Screen Suitable for Corrosive Environments?

1. Choose an LCD Screen with Corrosion-Resistant Design

In harsh environments, ordinary industrial LCD screens cannot withstand long-term operation; therefore, it is essential to choose an industrial LCD screen with a corrosion-resistant design. These LCD screens typically have the following characteristics:

Sealed Design: Employs corrosion-resistant materials and sealing processes to prevent the intrusion of external salt, moisture, and other substances.

Salt Spray Resistance: Uses salt spray-resistant polarizers and adhesive materials to enhance the screen’s resistance to salt spray, preventing problems such as blistering and mold growth in marine environments.

High Protection Rating: Choose products with a high IP protection rating (IP65/IP66). These LCD screens effectively prevent the intrusion of water, salt, dust, etc., protecting internal components from corrosive substances.

1. Chemical Corrosion Resistant Materials: Utilizing corrosion-resistant materials (such as anti-corrosion coatings and acid/alkali resistant coatings) ensures the long-term stability of the LCD screen in corrosive environments such as chemical plants.
2. Selection of Industrial Wide-Temperature LCD Screens: Widely used industrial LCD screens are generally designed for a wide temperature range, adaptable to operating temperatures from -20℃ to 70℃. However, their performance may not be ideal in extremely cold or hot environments. Therefore, in special environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants, more corrosion-resistant industrial wide-temperature LCD screens should be selected. These LCD screens have the following characteristics:

Wider Operating Temperature Range: For example, an operating temperature range from -30℃ to 80℃ or higher, enabling adaptation to extreme environmental changes.

Special Encapsulation Process: The liquid crystal material uses raw materials with higher temperature and corrosion resistance, ensuring that liquid crystal molecules can still function normally even in environments with large temperature differences, guaranteeing display quality.

3. Backlight Module Protection Design: The backlight module of the LCD screen is a crucial component affecting display quality, especially in corrosive environments, where the stability of the backlight module is paramount. For environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants, LCD screens should be equipped with backlight modules featuring the following characteristics:

Corrosion-resistant backlight system: Utilizing a backlight system that is corrosion-resistant, moisture-resistant, and salt spray-resistant ensures that even in high-humidity environments, the backlight does not experience brightness decay or color distortion.

Waterproof backlight structure: The connections of the backlight module require special sealing to prevent salt spray and moisture from penetrating the backlight layer, avoiding problems such as no brightness, uneven brightness, and color differences.

4. Enhanced Screen Sealing
   The structural design of LCD screens must possess higher sealing performance. Due to the moisture and corrosive gases in coastal and chemical plant environments, the penetration of any external substances into the LCD screen should be minimized. Therefore, the screen casing and connectors should be designed to be sealed to prevent salt spray and chemical gases from entering the screen through the bezel or interfaces.

When selecting an LCD screen, it is recommended to choose a fully sealed design, especially for equipment exposed to harsh environments for extended periods, to ensure long-term screen stability.

III. Industrial LCD Screen Models Suitable for Harsh Environments

Based on the selection recommendations above, the following are some recommended industrial LCD screen models suitable for corrosive environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants. These screens possess high protection capabilities and can withstand environments with high humidity, high salinity, and corrosive gases, ensuring long-term stable operation of equipment.

1. BOE EV133FHM-N40
   Resolution: 1920×1080 (FHD)
   Brightness: 300 cd/m²
   Contrast Ratio: 800:1
   Interface: eDP

Features: Utilizes BOE’s high-end technology, possesses excellent anti-interference capabilities, suitable for medical and industrial equipment, and can withstand certain levels of salt spray and chemical gases.

2. AUO G057VN01 V2
   Resolution: 640×480 (VGA)
   Brightness: 700 cd/m²
   Contrast Ratio: 600:1
   Interface: LVDS

Features: High brightness design, ideal for outdoor environments, resistant to salt spray and moisture, maintaining stability in coastal and chemical plant environments.

3. Innolux G185HAN01.0
   Resolution: 1920×1080 (FHD)

Brightness: 350 cd/m²

Contrast Ratio: 1000:1

Interface: LVDS

Features: Suitable for industrial equipment and monitoring terminals, capable of stable operation in high humidity and high salt environments, particularly suitable for applications requiring a long service life.

IV. Selection Considerations
When selecting an LCD screen, in addition to ensuring its display effect, the following key factors must be considered:

1. Protection Rating and Sealing Design
   The protection rating of the LCD screen directly determines its durability in harsh environments. Typically, industrial LCD screens need at least an IP65 protection rating (dustproof and water-resistant), while environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants may require higher levels of sealing (IP66 or IP67). When purchasing, always check if the corresponding protection rating certification is provided.
2. Backlight and Screen Optical Characteristics
   The backlight system is crucial to display quality. In corrosive environments, ensure the backlight module can withstand salt spray, chemical gases, and temperature changes to avoid brightness degradation or color distortion.
3. Materials and Optical Structure
   High-quality industrial LCD screens should use corrosion-resistant optical materials, such as corrosion-resistant polarizers, salt spray-resistant optical adhesives, and anti-aging backlight systems. When selecting a model, confirm that the materials used in the panel meet long-term corrosion resistance requirements.

V. Choosing the Right Industrial LCD Screen for Long-Term Equipment Stability
The corrosive nature of environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants can cause serious damage to many traditional LCD screens during use. To ensure long-term stable operation of equipment in extreme environments, choosing a suitable industrial LCD screen is crucial.

Prioritize industrial LCD screens with excellent sealing design, corrosion-resistant materials, wide temperature range, and high protection ratings. By comprehensively considering the actual application environment of the screen and selecting products with corresponding corrosion resistance, it is possible to effectively avoid screen damage caused by environmental factors and ensure long-term stable operation of equipment in high humidity, high temperature, and corrosive environments.

VI. FAQ

Q1: Why are LCD screens prone to failure in environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants?

Salt spray, corrosive gases, and high humidity in environments such as coastal areas and chemical plants accelerate the aging of LCD screen materials, causing deterioration of components such as polarizers, adhesives, and backlights, ultimately leading to blistering, mold growth, or complete screen failure.

Q2: How to determine if an LCD screen is suitable for use in corrosive environments?

Select LCD screens with corrosion-resistant designs, ensuring their protection rating reaches IP65 or higher. The backlight system should be resistant to salt spray and chemical gas corrosion, and corrosion-resistant polarizers and salt spray-resistant adhesives should be used.

Q3: What is the difference between industrial LCD screens and ordinary consumer-grade LCD screens?

Industrial LCD screens utilize more durable materials, offering superior resistance to interference, corrosion, and temperature variations. Ordinary consumer-grade LCD screens are primarily designed for milder environments and cannot withstand harsh corrosive gases and salt spray.

Q4: How to extend the lifespan of an LCD screen in corrosive environments?

Choose an LCD screen with a high protection rating, clean the screen regularly, and keep it sealed to prevent corrosive substances from penetrating. Adding a protective cover or using a special anti-corrosion coating can also effectively extend screen life.

Q5: What are the corrosive environment testing standards for LCD screens?

Corrosive environment testing for LCD screens includes salt spray testing (96 hours), chemical corrosive gas testing, temperature and humidity cycling testing, and thermal shock testing to ensure their stability in high humidity, salt spray, and corrosive gas environments.

Hangzhou LEEHON Technology Co., Ltd., as a provider of LCD display driver solutions for the industrial field, has established in-depth cooperative relationships with many leading global LCD panel manufacturers such as BOE, TIANMA, IVO, AUO, Innolux, and Kyocera, and professionally supplies multi-brand, full-series industrial-grade LCD displays and customized solutions.