Interview with Sony
After a slow period and now that CRT screens are on their way out, the Japanese giant is back in the top 5 for screen sales. Why did they stop producing tube screens so soon ? The Trinitrons had a good reputation and were appreciated by everyone including gamers, graphic artists, journalists, and users.
A little after a year of discontinuing their CRTs (forever ?) Denis Bajas, Technical Director of Sony France, and Stephane Curtelin, Director of Marketing for flat screens, explain this and other interesting issues.
Discontinuing the Triniton was also an economic choice. In terms of our position on the market, we couldn’t maintain two lines of products with parrallel technologies and equal performance levels. We chose to progressively move towards solely manufacturing LCDs, keeping high end CRTs around as long as possible. The last 17”s were shipped in mid 2002, the 19”s at the end of the year and the 21 and 24”s in April of 2003. At that time it was no longer possible to offer those products. The majority of tube screens were destined for the professional office use market governed by low prices. CRTs lost all economic interest except for the graphic artist niche and even if it is a small market it has always been dominated by Sony. We therefore looked to offer LCDs capable of satisfying graphic artistists by going as far as possible in red, green and blue. For example, we offer a 23 inch with an almost equivalent CRT quality that costs three times the price. There were LCD alternatives for those who missed CRTs but at a higher cost.
As for the problem with analogical connections (in CRT or LCD) or DVI (LCD) our studies suggest an interesting parallel with vinyl and CDs. We feel that in the same way that audio professionals prefer 33s, analog screens offer images that are more pleasant than entirely numerical ones, which are sharper and severed. This is especially true for video, and of course is completely subjective.
BeHardware: Some manufacturers are still offering CRTs. How much longer will they be available?Sony: It’s difficult to say. On the one hand, because Sony has completely discontinued tubes, and on the other, because of new technologies in this domain, notably Samsung’s Vixlim. We can just say that Sony doesn’t plan on going back to CRTs.
BeHardware: Can we already foresee LCD price tendencies for the end of the year and the beginning of next?Sony: Our feelling is that the market is growing but prices won’t fall. On the other hand, sometimes we find products at extremely low prices. High end products, those with cutting edge technology, will continually decline in price and aren’t affected by surpluses. For low end basic models, after the shortage we find ourselves currently in overproduction. There is a strong possibility that products will come and accentuate falling prices.
BeHardware : Sony seems to have initially invested on OLED technology before finally moving to LCDs. Is this what actually happened ? Sony : Not exactly. Sony does have an OLED screen production facility producing 3.8 inch (diagonal) screens destined for small products, Clies, on sale solely in Japan.
As for LCDs, we believe that they are only a step in display evolution. There was the Triniton now there is the LCD. The future will tell us if the OLED is the next step, or if there will be a continuation of LCDs with improvements in the matrices. We are also contributing on this level. We have introduced Black LCD technology and also have a partnership with Lumineds. Their new backlighting system assures a better rendering of colors and a perfect uniformity in luminosity. We have come out with a HDTV based on this technology.
BeHardware : Black LCD technology has a very noticeable mirroring effect. Is this temporary or a new tendency ?Sony : The impact this technology has had is obvious, you just have to listen to retailers. For them, finally there is an obvious technology that sells. Yes, there is a different brilliance effect. We conducted tests on various screens with and without this technology. For example, we photographed them up close and it happens that the flash is reflected less on the Blacks LCDs. Exterior lights are absorbed more. Finally, choosing Black LCD or not is like the difference between mat or brillant photo finish. It’s a question of taste. The images are more brilliant, more luminous, viewing angles are a little larger, contrast is less strong, and colors appear more intense.
