The reality behind LCD improvements
Before starting a new LCD roundup, we felt it necessary to go back to several important areas, important in order to understand the expected technical evolutions, announced, to come and on-going this year.
If we get back to LCD improvements for 2005, we note:
1 - TN panel response time reduced to 8 ms (today) and then to 6, 5 and 4ms.
2 - VA panels response time reduced from 20 ms (and most of the time 25 ms) to 16ms and soon 10, 8 and then 6 ms.
3 - Contrast ratios increased to 1500 : 1
4 – Viewing angles increased to 160° for TN panels and 178° for IPS and VA panels
We could just call it a miracle, but unfortunately we must once again take on the unpleasant task of the difficult user really looking for answers. Because the manufacturers have found an easy and cheap way of improving the monitors’ response time: just change the measurements. Rather than an actual agreement between the manufacturers (hard to obtain in this cutthroat market), we tend to see in these changes a bad example followed one after another by the various competitors.
If we analyze the facts one by one:
1 & 2 : Liquid crystals, neon and filters are identical. Manufacturers in fact use an electronic trick the
overdrive and a newer, more flattering, response time measurement.
3 - This is the good news and the truly genuine point: the contrast ratio has actually been improved. We will develop this particularly interesting aspect a little further along.
4- This is the biggest "rip off" of all. Viewing angles remained unchanged for years and yet their characteristics have improved. The principle is simple. To succeed, you only need to consider that a bad picture becomes good. The whole point is a question of acceptance. This seems quite unbelievable, but it is what is really going on.
