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Flat Screen Monitors are Taking Off
By 2010, bulky cathode ray
tube PC monitors will have been totally replaced by the flat screen
monitor, say industry pundits. Apple doesn’t even make them any more. We
look at the reasons why.
While the personal computer has undergone countless improvements in
speed, processing power and memory capacity over the years, the humble
monitor, except for a few marginal increases in screen size and picture
quality, has remained fairly unchanged in comparison.
But as the PC hardware industry becomes more and more cutthroat,
creative minds at some of the world’s leading technology companies have
naturally turned their attention to this underdeveloped section of the
market.
Born from the need to produce a
high quality, mobile display for the first renditions of the notebook
computer, liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors have been heralded by
these techies as the likely successor to the traditional cathode ray
tube (CRT) versions most of us use today.
Also known as flat screen monitors, LCD monitors consist of an array of
tiny segments (called pixels) whose colors are manipulated to present an
image. This allows a much thinner footprint than their predecessors, as
well as the ability to consume much less power.
“For normal small business use, these factors will influence the
decision towards LCD monitors,” predicts Sonny Lee, executive director
of technology importer/exporter EQL International.
“The negative is the narrower viewing angle, which may be important if
the display needs to be viewed from a distance,” he adds.
Apart from their sexy look however, Flat Screen Rentals’ managing
director, Jon Bailey, says LCD monitors are set to become a ‘technology
for the people’ because of significant occupational health and safety
benefits.
“Flat screens emit zero
radiation, consume up to 70 percent less power than an equivalent CRT
monitor and produce up to 70 percent less heat,” he says.
“LCD monitors also have
non-reflective surfaces and superior text reproduction,” he adds. “These
two factors combine to reduce eye-strain and lessen associated health
issues, such as work-related headaches”.
As with much new generation technology though, the price of flat screen
monitors currently remains out of reach for many small business owners.
According to Bailey, the current price differential between the ‘old’
and the ‘new’ exists for two reasons.
“Firstly, the rejection rate for LCD monitors during the manufacturing
process is still relatively high, due to the complex manufacturing
technologies involved,” he says.
“The larger the flat screen, the greater the manufacturing complexities,
hence the very high cost of any LCD monitor above 15.1 inches in size”.
“Secondly, manufacturers have invested billions of dollars in
manufacturing plants and that investment must be recouped early in a
product's life cycle”.
Companies currently making flat screen monitors include Hitachi,
Mitsubishi, Sony, LG, NEC and Samsung, “But in terms of value for money,
we think Mitsubishi's monitor represents a good balance between price
and performance for the average user,” says Lee.
“The price/performance differential between the leading vendors' LCD
offerings is not significant,” Bailey adds. “More important
considerations are support, warranties and features.”
He believes the South Korean manufacturers, such as LG and Samsung,
deliver a “technically excellent product at a market-leading price”.
“A prospective purchaser of a flat screen has a plethora of choices
available and for once can make a decision based on style and appearance
rather than functionality”.
Unlike many ‘next big things’ that have entered the market amid much
fanfare and ceremony, but have failed to be taken up with any kind of
enthusiasm by the buying public (WAP for example), most industry experts
acknowledge that flat screens will replace all cathode ray tubes by 2010
at the latest.
In the US for instance, LCD monitors accounted for 25 percent of all
displays shipped in the last 3 months of 2001, representing an increase
in volume of 400 percent over the same period the previous year.
“As confirmation of the emergence of LCD monitors, Apple Computers no
longer offer a CRT option in its monitor product range,” Bailey says.
“They now only sell flat screens and have publicly acknowledged the
inevitability of the LCD monitor as the dominant display platform for
many years to come”.
But Lee isn’t so convinced. He predicts the CRT monitor will still have
a place where higher resolution is essential and the application
requires motion displays such as movies.
“For applications which require large screen size, the price for LCD
monitors are somewhat prohibitive at approximately eight times the price
of CRT,” he adds.
The claim that price will always be a key driver in market penetration
is true, but as the cost of LCD monitors comes down, as undoubtedly it
will, the trend for consumers to switch to this new technology should
only accelerate, if only for the extra desk space and reduced back pain.
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