How do time-sequential colour systems create colour without permanent red, green, and blue filters?
In nematic arrangements the crystals are randomly positioned with all their long axes pointing in essentially the same direction, given by a vector known as the director. In smectic arrangements the crystals are further constrained to parallel planes; in smectic A the director is perpendicular to these planes, while in smectic C the director is at some other angle to the planes.
Time-sequential colour systems create colour by replacing permanent red, green, and blue filters with a specialized backlight that flashes these three colours in rapid succession, typically at a rate of about 100 cycles per second.1
In this process, the liquid crystal display acts as a high-speed shutter. By switching the liquid crystal to a transmissive or nontransmissive state in synchronization with the flashing backlight, the display controls which colours reach the viewer's eye during each interval. Because these flashes occur faster than the human eye can perceive individually, the brain integrates the rapid sequence of red, green, and blue light to perceive a single, combined colour image.1