LCD screens require the use of an inverter to supply power to the screen’s back lighting. Backlighting is used in smaller LCD screens such as laptops to produce higher brightness and readability factors. While the back lighting could be produced form any number of sources, such as LEDs, incandescent bulbs or an electroluminescent panel, the inverter is most commonly used in association with the electroluminescent panel or ELP. ELPs are becoming more common in laptops as the size of the screens get larger and larger. The ELPs need constant relatively high voltage AC current. This is where the inverter comes into play.

An inverter is the opposite of a rectifier converting DC current into AC current; static inverters are used in LCD technology and have no moving parts. After the current is inverted to AC, it can be used at any need voltage or frequency. The AC current allows the thin film transistor and components to present colors in the specified arrangement for the desired picture. The current is split after the inversion process to power each pixel or set of pixels in the display which are then altered and refracted to produce the picture again using AC current as power.

The inverter is one of the most important parts of an LCD display whether it is a TV or a laptop screen. Without the inverter no images or picture would be possible within the small case of a laptop. The inverter allows for smaller sizes and thicknesses of laptops and better screen resolutions as well as far more control over the picture itself. The inverter is how the screen allows the end user to specify color variances and adjustments. These adjustments take place at the electrical level and change the voltages that are applied to the screen to present better visibility and lower energy consumption. Without the inverter laptops would be far larger and less user friendly.