| The skinny on monitors Thin screens are the fashion, but they don't fit everybody 07/26/2001 By DOUG BEDELL / The Dallas Morning News
With fashion, thin is in. But in the world of computer monitors, going thin has always cost more than a surgical tummy tuck. Up until very recently, stylish, svelte liquid crystal displays (LCDs) were affordable only for those with $1,000 or more in their computer budgets. "For at least 12 years, the joke in the display industry has been that the entire world will be switching to flat displays in the next two years," says Ian Miller, director of technology for Samsung Electronics America. "Now I think we're finally there." Signs of a coming desktop display revolution are abundant. Samsung has begun heavy promotion of the first sub-$400 15-inch LCD – its 570v model with a $399 price tag. In May, Apple Computer announced it would move to all LCD flat panels for its professional line and presented the eye-popping $999, 17-inch Apple Studio Display as its centerpiece. Electronics stores such as Fry's have begun pushing back those clunky cathode ray tubes, or CRTs, to make way for dozens of flat screen models. And a recent study by the San Jose, Calif., technology research firm Stanford Resources predicts that shipments of flat, thin displays will expand by 40 percent each of the next six years. "Even with that, the U.S. is really lagging behind the rest of the world on this," says Stanford analyst Rhoda Alexander. "If you go into a store in Japan these days, you really have to hunt hard to find a CRT anywhere. And it's the same way in Europe." So are Americans – their desktops dominated by those fat old CRTs – about to enter a thin new world? Well, experts say, the suddenly affordable LCDs may be the right choice for millions. LCDs today offer wonderful savings in energy costs. And the smaller flat panel "footprint" – the space it takes up on a desk – will be enough to entice some converts. "But it really depends on the consumer's needs," Ms. Alexander says. Rabid shoot-'em-up game fans may want to stick with CRTs, she says. And those doing intense graphics work and photo imaging may also be disappointed with some characteristics of LCD displays. Another factor: Prices for high-end CRT monitors are depressed. And larger CRTs, building on 60-year-old technology, approach perfection today. Trinitron-family "perfectly flat" picture tubes – part of the CRT bloodline –dramatically cut glare and damper edge distortion. And many color purists say LCDs won't steal their hearts until they can rival a CRT's handsome rendering of quick motion and deep, true hues. "Every time someone asks me how to pick a monitor, I give them the same answer: Go and look at it using the application you're interested in running," Mr. Miller says. "Our eyes are all different," he says. "You might be very happy with something I hate." Choices, choices Two years ago, 15-inch and 17-inch flat panel monitors were selling for at least $1,000 more than CRTs of the same size. Manufacturers were gearing up to provide screens for a new realm of Internet cell phones, handheld organizers and notebook computers. But even as the Korean, Japanese and Chinese plants boosted output of flat panels, demand for such retail equipment softened. Worldwide economic slowdowns exacerbated a drop in consumer demand for gadgets, producing a flat panel glut. Since 1998, costs for raw flat panels have dropped 25 percent to 30 percent annually. Stanford Resources said about 2 million flat panels were shipped to retailers in North America at the beginning of 2000. That number is expected to double by the end of this year, the research firm says. Experts say prices may be at the bottom right now. Many flat panel makers, Ms. Alexander says, are already selling their products at below the cost of manufacturing.
Evaluating needs As people use computers more for both work and leisure, they're placing an increasing importance on display, studies show. Users are beginning to realize that larger screens translate into less scrolling on Internet pages, word processor and spreadsheet applications. "Once you have enough computing power to do what you want to do, the monitor and your keyboard are your interface with the computer, and the box that's behind there doesn't actually matter," says Mr. Miller. "You've got to get the ergonomics of those things right if you want to be efficient at whatever it is you will be doing." Take a look at the lineup at any computer store these days, and you'll likely see an array of options in three basic categories. • Rounded CRTs Prices for these old-reliable monitors have crashed. An off-brand, high-quality 19-inch monitor such as the ViewMate LP995 can now be grabbed for as little as $235 at online discount houses including PriceWatch.com. • Trinitron-family, "perfectly flat" CRTs Sony pioneered innovations that have ironed the curve out of convex CRT picture tubes. Today, multiple manufacturers offer similar screens under names such as DynaFlat and PerfectFlat. Professional-quality monitors of this genre, such as the 19-inch ViewSonic P95F, can be purchased for less than $500. • LCD flat panels From about $400 and up, these space-saving – albeit more delicate – displays are being rolled out in various configurations. They use a completely different method of producing screen images – thin-film transistors, or TFT. The transistors turn screen cells on and off based on signals from the computer's video card. Expect to pay a premium for any panel over 17 inches. However, these displays boast a much larger "viewable area" than their CRT counterparts. Viewable area of a 19-inch CRT will be about the same as a 17-inch flat screen. "If the priority is to get as large a screen as they can at the lowest possible price, a CRT is going to beat out an LCD every time," Ms. Alexander says. "If footprint is not an issue for the buyer and they're doing a lot of graphics work and photo imaging, once again the CRT is going to win." Picture perfect? Considerations for monitor upgrades are subjective – maybe even biological, experts say. LCDs, for example, produce less flicker than CRTs. Tests have shown that some people can perceive flickering on CRT monitors, while others don't. Mr. Miller says ongoing research shows that teenagers – particularly females – are enormously sensitive to CRT flicker. The same screen viewed by older eyes may appear flicker-free. Meanwhile, the crisp lines and edges produced by the backlighting of LCDs can provide advantages for computer users age 40 and older. Research shows older people become much more productive after switching to flat panels, Mr. Miller says. "What drives that is still under investigation," he says. "Apparently their abilities to scan screens is somewhat heightened. Reading speed and reading accuracy are showing some significant increases." Lighting the future Limitations with current LCDs are prompting research into a promising flat panel technology, the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) developed by Kodak. It promises full-color, full-motion flat panel displays with a brightness and sharpness impossible with current LCDs. Unlike traditional liquid crystal displays, OLEDs are self-luminous. The backlighting used in current LCDs is unnecessary, allowing production of even thinner panels. Beyond that, each pixel in an OLED display can be turned on or off independently to create multiple colors in a smooth, fluid display. "Brightness, contrast, viewing angles, the colors – we get fantastic improvements over the LCDs we have today," says Dr. Daniel J. Gisser, Kodak's director of strategic display marketing. With OLEDs, pixels turn on and off instantaneously, eliminating blurs common with LCDs. And OLEDs can be arranged in panels that allow 160 degrees of viewable angle – another improvement over some of the LCD panels sold today. Stanford Resources predicts that the worldwide market for OLEDs will grow to $1.6 billion in 2007. In particular, these brighter, lighter, thinner panels will find applications in small devices such as digital cameras, Internet cell phones and personal digital assistants. Right now, they are featured in micro-displays for wearable computer garb such as eMagin Corp.'s computer goggles, which use small OLED displays and lenses to allow private viewing of computer information or video displays. Dr. Gisser and other experts say OLEDs will light the future. It won't be long, they say, until manufacturing processes are capable of mass-producing OLED flat panels for computer displays. "It's coming," Dr. Gisser promises. "It's an evolutionary step. In three, five, maybe six years, it will be here. "After that, I think we're going to see OLEDs and LCDs living next to each other for quite a while." Send e-mail to Doug Bedell at dbedell@dallasnews.com.
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