The term set-top box will become something of a misnomer in the near future, as most displays will become too thin to allow a box to placed on top of them. As the price of plasma & LCD displays has plummeted and their image quality has improved, they are popping up in homes everywhere.
Although they are the darlings of the media and the generic for flat panel display in the minds of many, plasmas are about to be in a serious fight with other technologies for the flat panel crown.
8 Inch Tv Monitor
LCD displays, seen on the desktop for years as computer monitors, and commonplace in smaller flat panel TVs, are finally increasing in size to the point they are becoming a rival to plasmas in the 42" - 50" size range. Picture quality is similar to plasmas; however LCDs are immune to the burn-in that can affect plasma displays. This burn-in occurs when plasma units are used to display static images such as video game screens and stock or sports tickers.
Plasmas generally have an edge in the ability to produce deeper blacks and more saturated colors than LCDs. Plasmas are also better at producing full motion video than LCDs because of the response time of the LCD panels, although this difference is disappearing.
LCD TVs are a bit more expensive than plasmas at 42" and larger sizes, but they should last a while longer. Plasma displays should last 20,000 - 25,000 hours and LCDs should give 30,000+ hours of useful life. However, the latest generation of plasma displays from NEC, LG & others is claimed to have a 60,000 hour life. If that is an industry trend, the traditional lifespan advantage held by LCDs may soon disappear. This comes at a time when Sony and other major consumer electronics manufacturers are either abandoning plasma or reducing their plasma offerings. Others, such as Panasonic, Fujitsu and Pioneer are firmly commited to Plasma technology.
Currently Sony has a 42", NEC a 40", Sharp a 45", and Samsung a 40" LCD TV or display. Samsung also has the big one, a 46" that started shipping in early September of 2004. The Samsung 46" was the first consumer LCD video display to have a 1080 line native resolution. This allows it to display 1080p native when that format arrives for HDTV. The Samsung has been joined by Sony, Toshiba and others, to endow the mid 40" size category with some pretty solid LCD offerings. The largest consumer LCD TVs or monitors are the Sharp 65" and Sony showed a prototype 82" LCD from their Bravia line at the 2006 CES in Las Vegas.
Other technologies are on the horizon as well. One that has shown great promise is OLED, for Organic Light Emitting Diode. Developed by Kodak and Pioneer, this technology has been used for a few years in car stereo and cell phone displays. It's just about ready for prime time. Philips has shown a 13" unit, Samsung a 17", and Seiko-Epson has shown a 40" prototype.
OLED's advantages are many. It actually emits it's own light, so it requires no backlight and has better contrast than a traditional LCD. OLED displays have a wide viewing angle like a plasma display. Power usage is very low, less than 1/2 that of a traditional LCD display. At around 2mm deep, OLEDs are much thinner than either a plasma or LCD.
They have a refresh rate about 1,000 times faster than a traditional LCD, so they will be far superior for video applications. They have fewer parts than LCD or plasma and can be manufactured using a novel ink jet printing process. This promises to keep prices low as the technology is implemented. It is expected to see sub 20" displays in stores by 2006 with larger units following one to two years later.
Other promising display technologies on the horizon include SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) and carbon Nanotube. SED was developed by Canon, who began research into the technology in 1986. SED is basically the same principle as CRT, however there are important differences. The most important from a consumer standpoint is thickness. An SED display is only an inch or two thick, depending upon screen size.
The basic construction is two glass plates separated by a vacuum. One of the plates is coated with phosphors the other is mounted with electron emitters. Electrons are ejected when a voltage of about 16 to 18 V is applied to the emitters. These electrons are then accelerated by a higher voltage into a beam similar to that in a CRT display.
The visual advantages of SEDs are as for CRT displays, great color, deep black levels and quick motion response. These advantages, combined with the slim form factor, low cost and small power requirement should make for a real winner.
A unit shown by Toshiba at a Japanese trade show in April of 2005 even had it's contrast ratio up to an incredible 100,000 to 1 by significantly reducing black luminance. Even if the specs were a bit inflated this would still amount to a fantastic contrast ratio, on the order of 5 times that of a traditional CRT. At one time, Toshiba indicated they would move to this technology for all displays over 40" by 2006. However, after a spectacular demo at 2006 CES by where they indicated a late 2006 debut, both Canon and Toshiba, Toshiba resheduled their release date for SED until mid 2007, ostensibly to allow them to produce lower cost SEDs.
There is another fly in the SED ointment too. On April 21st, 2005 US firm Nano-Proprietary has filed a suit against Canon in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas, alleging that the surface (SED) televisions that Canon plans to release violates a licensing agreement signed 5 years ago between the Japanese giant and Nano-Proprietary.
The pace of change in the home theater and entertainment display market has just kept accelerating. There are some promising technologies around the corner that will allow, as usual, higher performance, lower cost and more compact form factors. As prices for advanced technologies plunge and technology improves, it will make it even easier for the average person to have a fantastic media system almost anywhere in their home.
Special Price!!! Cheetah Mounts Plasma LCD Flat Screen TV Tilt Wall Mount Bracket for 23-37" Television (Black)
Oct 19, 2011 10:32:26
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Cheetah Mounts Plasma LCD Flat Screen TV Tilt Wall Mount Bracket for 23-37" Television (Black) Feature
- Universal Design Fits Nearly All 23-37" TVs
- Low 1.9" Profile Yet Up To 15° Forward Tilt
- Free 6" 3-Axis Magnetic Bubble Level
- Supports Two 16" Stud Installation
- Includes Mounting Hardware
Cheetah Mounts Plasma LCD Flat Screen TV Tilt Wall Mount Bracket for 23-37" Television (Black) Overview
The APTMS tilt mount features a universal design that allows you to mount the vast majority of LED/LCD/Plasma TVs in the 23-37-Inch size range. Specifically, the APTMS supports hole patterns up to 17.25-Inch horizontally by 12.25-Inch vertically and VESA hole patterns up to 400x200mm. The APTMS is designed with a slim 1.9-Inch profile yet still offers up to 15° of forward tilt. The APTMS is constructed with 5 LBS of 100% High Grade Steel providing a sturdy and reliable mount. The 19.25-Inch wide wall plate will support two stud installation for studs up to 19-Inch apart (most US homes have studs which are 16-Inch apart). The two arm brackets attach to the TV separate from the wall plate allowing for easy -InchLift n Lock-Inch installation. Each arm bracket includes a safety screw to prevent accidental liftoff. The wall plate includes a built in bubble level and a separate 6-Inch 3-Axis magnetic bubble level is provided as well. The paint is a high quality textured powder coat paint. The mount ships with all necessary mounting hardware.SAVE NOW on the special offers below!
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