SWITCHING OVER TO LCD
TECHNLOGY
Are you puzzled to see
numerous advertisements about LCD TVs?
With numerous advantages, LCD TVs dominate the market with major
players like Sony, Samsung, Onida promote their brands vigorously. Colour TV manufacturers are quite busy to
change their manufacturing pattern. So, the focus is certainly directed towards
LCD TVs
LCDs have additional
benefits. They take up less desk space--they can even be mounted on movable
arms or wall mounts so that they don''t take up any desk space at all. They
consume less electricity and generate less heat compared with CRTs, which can
result in significant savings in an office''s energy budget.
All these advantages have
been available for years, but it wasn''t until the past year that LCD monitor
sales took off in the United
States. What changed to spark the market?
There are many parts to the answer, including improved technology and better
ergonomics. But as with so many changes in the computing market, the
strongest driving force was lower selling prices.
What happened to LCD monitor
prices? Why did they drop so much and so quickly, and are they likely to keep
falling? Will they soon cost no more than an equivalent-sized CRT?
Unfortunately, the answer to the last question still is "no." Don''t
expect LCDs to match CRT prices any time soon, for reasons that will become
clear as we review how we got to this point.
While flat screen
CRTs are appealing, they can never match the results of an LCD monitor. LCDs
are "direct-address displays" which means that each display element
on the screen corresponds directly to a specific pixel in the image generated
by the computer (or other digital source). As a result, each dot on the screen
is sharp and clear. According
to some sources,
this clarity makes it easier for the user''s eyes to focus on the image. In
contrast, a CRT creates pixels using electron beams to light up phosphor
coatings, resulting in dots with fuzzy edges that are more difficult to focus
on, which may cause more eyestrain and fatigue.
At the same time,
as broadcasting and communications shift to digital format, an environment is
now in place that enables viewers to watch noise-free high-definition video
images simply and easily.
Under such circumstances, consumers in the future will be seeking even higher
image quality, larger screen sizes, completely new designs that will
revolutionize living spaces, and advanced environmental performance.
Of
the LCD TVs, the most popular moving models are the 32 inch LCD TV, while in
plasma TVs — 42 inch is the preferred model, industry experts said. Earlier,
the dominating model was 26 inch.
Until now, LCDs have been more common in smaller sizes (27" and
less). One reason is that quality-control issues have long limited display
size: Increasing the size of an LCD panel means adding pixels and three
transistors for each additional pixel. It also makes distributing the light
evenly more difficult, which, in turn, interferes with color reproduction.
This
is why colors may appear slightly off or faded in LCD TVs larger than 37".
New factories are coming online in Japan and Korea that can mass-produce the
super sized sheets of glass embedded with transistors that are necessary to
achieve large-scale LCDs. All of which means you''ll be seeing larger
flat-screen LCD displays with increasingly smaller price tags. Samsung and LG
recently unveiled 55" prototype LCD TVs at this year''s Consumer
Electronics Show. The price of these panels has yet to be disclosed, and you
probably shouldn''t expect to see them for sale (at any price) in the US any time
soon. After all, the vast majority of LCD monitors sold in the US are 20"
or smaller. So, ioosing purely based on flat-panel display size,
Plasma is still clearly the better choice.
To get the most out of your investment, remember
what your mother always said about sitting too close to the TV-that it''s no
good for you. Well, she might have been thinking about your health, but we''re
thinking about your viewing pleasure. For the optimal viewing experience, you
need to maintain the right distance between your viewing area and your
television screen.
Note: Some audio-visual critics have observed that
fixed-pixel displays tend to show their pixel structures at closer viewing
distances, so one might notice a sandy texture to the screen when the set is
viewed too close. This underscores the importance of maintaining an appropriate
viewing distance between you and your LCD monitor when configuring your viewing
area.
The LCD market is expected to grow to 4 lakh units this year, from 1.4 lakh
units last year, while plasma TV sales are expected to notch 30,000 units.
"LCD TV are steadily gaining market share, especially the large screen
market. We plan to strengthen our leadership by capturing 25% of the LCD market
share this year. The market size of LCD televisions is expected to be 400,000
units for this year,"
The growth in the LCD TVs has outpaced that of plasma TVs,
similar to the worldwide trend, with LCD sales pegged at 64.5 million units, as
against 15.5 million of plasma TVs. The popularity is more to do with the
price-value equation, which is much more attractive in LCD TVs, experts pointed
out.
By working to
achieve further innovations in LCD technology in the future to completely
transform living spaces and become the support and driving force behind the
digital video culture of the 21st century.
ENDS
W