LCD screens in a nutshell (page 10: Upcoming technological breakthrough and new technologies)

Upcoming technological breakthrough and new technologies

At the end of July is expected the first 17” flat screens with a 10 ms panel. And in September, the 8 ms new displays should be released. 19” screens are always a little bit late. The first 12 ms is currently released and is going to be really widespread in September.

This response time progress goes along with improved new filters. These filters are better at capturing diffused light (colours are brighter and black is deeper), and at rising up vision angles (even if they remain too small for entry level products).

Prices aren’t going in the right direction. After a spectacular price fall during 2003, prices increased of 30 % from November to May 2004. There is currently a stabilization phase, but manufacturers already announced rising prices in August. These rising prices are due to the growing success of LCD panels. LCD panels are indeed used for flat screens but also laptops and LCD TV, two huge and very successful markets.

However LCD screens aren’t going to be the next generation screens. In fact, the LCD successor is already on its way and NEC will release a screen this summer. This 20” screen is called Lumileds and costs 7500 €. The innovation is the substitution of neon tubes by a 48 matrix diodes. The result is a deeper black and an improved harmonized colour. Areas usually close to neon tubes are as bright as the distant ones. This expensive technology is targeting the most demanding graphic designers.

Later on are expected the OLED screens. Sony, Kodak, Epson and Toshiba are the most passionate about this technology. Diodes aren’t just replacing neon tubes but also are the liquid crystal cells. So at the end of the day there are not 48 diodes, but 3 (red, green, blue) x 1024 x 768 = 2 5359 296 diodes for a 15” screen! For 17 and 19 screens the total amount of diodes rises up from 4 to 6 millions for 20” screens.

Later on are expected the OLED screens. Sony, Kodak, Epson and Toshiba are the most passionate about this technology. Diodes aren’t just replacing neon tubes but also are the liquid crystal cells. So at the end of the day there are not 48 diodes, but 3 (red, green, blue) x 1024 x 768 = 2 5359 296 diodes for a 15” screen! For 17 and 19 screens the total amount of diodes rises up from 4 to 6 millions for 20” screens.

Regarding the biggest sizes, LCD screens are just behind Plasma screens for TVs. But plasma screens loose their gas quickly when the screen is permanently switched on (their brightness is reduced by half in two years), for this reason LCD screens last longer. The other side of the coin is a higher price. For your information the biggest screen yet are made by Samsung. Their sizes are respectively 57” for the LCD screen and 80” for the Plasma screen.