 So we had the SID display week right here in Los Angeles and who are you? I'm just got slow tovaki price in LA. It was one of the main purpose of my coming to LA. I'm very happy. I'm in a good company with other people like, for instance, Phil Boss, like Shinsuki Kobayashi, Tatsuro Uchida and so on. I'm very happy. Only one person in one year get this price and this SID is a big company. It is about 6,000 people and these are main display developers from many countries. So right now, right over here, they're doing the 50th anniversary of the LCD. Yeah. And you wrote a few books about LCD, right? Exactly. Why do you write about LCD? You know, I'm a mathematician by education but then I have three opportunities to make pure mathematician to go to computers or to go to physics. In 1968, I first come to know about LCD and I think LCD has a great future. I first make mathematical modeling but then I understand that modeling is not enough. You should get a real device and you should work in close cooperation with the experimentalist, which I have been doing. What is the modeling? What is the idea of the modeling? The idea of the modeling is very simple. What will happen with liquid crystal layer if you apply some electric field or some other stress? What will happen? And after this, when you solve this problem, you will solve Maxwell equations to know what will happen with light. Liquid crystal is very simple but many parameters and if you like to have good device, you should know many things about liquid crystal. What is liquid crystal? What does it look like? Is it like liquid? Yeah, yeah. It's good, it's good. Actually, the first name liquid crystal appears in the 14th century in the Peterarchic poem and he compared his love with Laura with liquid crystal. So liquid means liquid. It just has no alignment. Like water? Yeah, like water. And crystal means that you don't only have water but water which has the molecules which can align in one direction. So you have two degrees of freedom. One is velocity and the other is orientation. This incredibly interesting substance, liquid crystal. So is it what Merck was just talking before? Why are they having so much of that material? Merck is one of the companies. I've worked with them since 1985. They understand that liquid crystal is not science. This is the real future of all displays and now even future of photonics like sensors, beam steering devices, lenses and so on. But Merck understood it before other companies. They were very successful and now they control about 75% of the world market. So they create, they make it? Yeah, of course. Just in a lab? Yes, yes, yes. What do they take to make this liquid crystal? They should have good chemists but now chemistry is necessary but not sufficient. You should also know physics. You should know electronics. You should know optics. You should have collaboration with several people who know everything. But Merck, of course, is a chemical company. But they try to understand everything. So here at this 50-year anniversary of LCD, there are several people who were there for many years since the beginning event, right? Correct. So there is Martin Schatt and you work with him? Martin Schatt is my friend. So what did he do? Martin, I met with him in 1985 and he came to us and this time I was a researcher in Moscow and we cooperate with new technologies. I told him that we have some technology which we called photoelamin and I like to publish some results. Martin told me, Vladimir, are you crazy? Why publish? File a patent and we file several patents with him. He is my teacher, actually, with patents. I told Martin only two weeks before the publication. How can we file a patent? He told Vladimir, don't worry, I am expert in the field. Yes, now I have about 29 only US patents. Total number of my patents may be close to 100. So what did he do, Martin Schatt? Martin, he did first of all, he is inventor of Tien display and first Tien display has been produced by Sharp in 1973. Second, he is well aware of chemistry of liquid crystals so he can develop good materials with very fast response time, low voltage, high contrast and so on. And third, he is very persuading. When we worked with him in photoelamin, I think first that this is just some science. But he told me, no, Vladimir, this is not science, this is real technology. So he helped to push Sharp to make first display based on photoelamin, like UV-2A. So you say 1973, but 50 years is longer than that, right? Yes. Is it 68? 68. In 68 it was first liquid crystal display based on dynamics catering. It was funny display without any polarizers, but it works only 400 hours. 400 hours? Yes. 400 hours. 400 hours. So who was doing that? Was it Martin Schatt or was it... No, no, it was the other person and he is from the US. So is it Function Lu who is here, who is working with AUO? Yes, Function Lu, he is an expert in TFT, not in liquid crystal effects and materials. And this is the other person, I forgot his name, but... Peter Brody? Who is working with him? No, no, not Peter Brody. They made first scattering display in 1968 and Martin showed how it looks like. It looks very good, but it works only 400 hours because liquid crystal degrades very fast. Do you see one? Of course. We tried to make, we think that this display is good for some airplanes, some for satellites. It really, because it has no polarizers, but unfortunately it was very fast electrochemical degradation. In 1973 when the first TN-based display came out, that was making it possible to use in calculator or where did it go? Yes, you know, before 1973 you have display, for instance, based on LED. And then you don't see anything, but when you press your finger, you have LED light and you see what is time now. But for instance, you have some luggage, you cannot take, so you don't know what is the time. But LCD, this was a very small display and it can give you immediately all the information. And battery life was long already? Even the long time ago, 1973? 1973? The battery life was a little watch, could last for one year. A sharp demonstrate watch and then liquid crystal technology grows like this. And it was not yet clear whether it can replace TV, whether it can be leading technology in mobile phones and so on. But finally it happened. Actually in 1992 I was in some conference of people who are doing TV. And I told them that CRT will be completely replaced by LCD. And they told, what the hell is this person is talking about? This is impossible. Which year was that? 1992. Yeah, in Russia. I was in some conference in Moscow. And people told, he doesn't understand TV at all. Why the hell? You think he was joking? But now CRT disappeared completely. And PDP plasma display also disappeared. Now we have a tough competition between LCD and OLED. And this is good for us. Because we need to prepare something extremely good. And we have already done this. Quantum dot, right? Quantum dots, fast responded ferroelectric liquid crystals, photoelament. This all technologies can have great success in competition with OLED. This is good that we should have a competition. OLED people tell that we come to saturation. I don't believe this. There is no saturation yet. Maybe later. And so who is reading your books for example? Our students? Yes, I have several books. And the most important book actually I was very easy to write this book because it was my doctoral degree. I just translate my doctoral dissertation from Russian to English. And it has about 1300 citations. This is well accepted book in electro-optical effects in liquid crystals. Second book I wrote myself. And because of this book because people recognize me as an expert in liquid crystals I get out of Russia in 1999. I got a position of associate visiting professor in HKUST, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Was it British Hong Kong or not yet? No, no, no. It was one country two systems in 1999. So you've been in Hong Kong since then? Yes, yes. For me I have typical Chinese appearance. So you have a Chinese, you have a Hong Kong students? Yes, I have a Hong Kong students, I have international students. I have about 17 PhD students, about 10 MFIL students and about 240 final year project students. So in the last 18, 19 years when you were there do you have many students who work in the display industry? Yes, yes, and moreover some of the students work as assistant professor in education, some work in companies and they still like to cooperate with me. So they invite me, we like to have some joint projects with them so this can be very interesting. And they still respect me because I think I give them freedom to do if I tell them what to do but they think professor we can do better. I highly appreciate this, this is very good idea. There's many, many billions of LCD displays out there, right? Yes. It must be a nice feeling for you and for everybody in the room, right? Who worked with this for many years. Yes. To feel like what you've done is a big, big thing. I cannot overrate my capabilities. Yeah, but the feeling is still amazing, right? Yes, people consider me... You bet on the right horse. Yes, I'm on the right horse and people consider me as one of the founders of photoelement and as for ferroelectric liquid crystals, ferroelectric liquid crystals were discovered in 1975 but my first paper was published in 1978 so today, another anniversary, 40 years when I'm doing ferroelectric liquid crystals. I think they are the future of liquid crystals. Can we just mention one or two other people that will be in that room? Yes. As we mentioned Martin Schatt, we mentioned E.U.U. Martin Schatt? No, no, but just to mention... For example, who's here? Martin Schatt, Fun Law. You mean... Martin Schatt, Fun Law. Then... There was a Nobel laureate who did the Nobel Blue. Yes, Nobel laureate in blue and many people I'm working with Shinsuki Kobayashi, he's working in private university and he made a lot of things in liquid crystals. He's actually my friend and we worked close together. And the other person, last one you mentioned, there's many many people here, all from the LCD industry and celebrating... The LCD industry is about 150 billion US per year and it is growing and there is no saturation. According to my opinion, LCD will still be active at least for 10 or maybe more years. So there is no any chance to replace LCD in the nearest future. Everybody who has LCD will get a new one and a new one and a new one. Yeah, exactly. Everybody who don't have LCD will get an LCD. Yes, yes. This is the most affordable... Yes, it is very easy to make. Cheap, high contrast ratio, fast response time, good colors. Everything is solved. Moreover we can have ARVR also, it will be based on LCD because of high resolution, fast response time and so on.