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INTERNET SOURCE – PLEASE UPLOAD ON INTERNET SITE
114076 Skills Practice 7.3
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2005/05/26/the-looking-glass-war-sonyversus-toshiba
The Looking Glass War - Sony versus Toshiba
By David A. Utter - Thu, 05/26/2005 - 3:33pm.
Blu-ray versus HD DVD, liquid crystal versus plasma, and how manufacturers
want us to see in the future.
Blu-ray versus HD DVD
For three years, a pair of consortiums has tried to develop a new generation
of DVD media. Based on blue lasers, the new media would have to be able to
store massive amounts of data, enough to deliver the sort of high-definition
visual content that makes George Lucas grin.
Sony and Toshiba, the lead corporations in the Blu-ray versus HD DVD
standards fight, and their associated allies, need to bring this war to a close.
Electronics manufacturers on both sides have the capability to deliver either
technology to market by the fourth quarter of this year.
But no one wants to revisit the VHS-Betamax wars that hampered VCR
adoption in the 1980s. Launching DVD players based on competing standards
could lead to a situation no one wants: consumers waiting on the sidelines
for a single standard while thousands of products sit on shelves unbought.
And despite signs that Sony had finally pushed Blu-ray to victory, and
Toshiba would agree to supply playback and rights management software for
blu-ray devices, Toshiba seems to have dug in its heels and screamed its
defiance.
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No standard for blue laser DVD media storage today, then, and we don't
seem to be getting one tomorrow either.
Whichever standard emerges, consumers will need a TV capable of highdefinition (HD) display. LCD and plasma screens offer consumers flat-screen
dimensions of 40 inch diagonal measurements and up.
Likewise, pricing for those screens has stayed up, and a downward pricing
trend will have to happen to get more consumer adoption.
Watch the Screen
42 inch plasma HD screens have a price of around $4,000 USD, while a
similar LCD 42 inch screen would go for about $5,000 USD, according to
analysts referenced by Reuters. And a less advanced 42 inch plasma TV
could go for around $2,000.
That means LCD makers have to add next-generation production lines faster
in order to compete on price. Samsung is working on these now, while
LG.Philips has seventh generation lines in production.
Other manufacturers will follow suit, and they will have to if they hope to
replace cathode ray sets with LCD or plasma options. Right now, that ancient
cathode ray technology accounts for around 90 percent of global TV sales,
according to Lehman Brothers.
It has been suggested that manufacturers will sacrifice profit margin for
market penetration. Without a HDTV screen in the home, consumers won't
be motivated to pickup blue laser DVD players, or more importantly, blue
laser DVD content.
This should mean a pricing battle that brings retail costs in line with what
consumers would comfortably pay for a cathode ray set. DVD media will be
the factor that drives profits for companies like Sony, as people won't be
buying a new HDTV every year.
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The electronics manufacturers want you to see the future in glorious high
definition, but it may take two or three years to finally get a lot of consumers
there.
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and
business. Email him here.
http://www.touchscreens.com/intro-displaytech.html
Comparing Conventional CRT and Flat Panel LCD Monitors
The two most common types of monitors that are being used today are CRT (Cathode
Ray Tube) monitors and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors. CRT type monitors are
the traditional monitors that we have been using for years. LCD type monitors are based
on a newer technology and are becoming very popular, mainly because they have great
space and energy saving advantages over CRT monitors. CRT and LCD monitors are
based on completely different technologies, and thus have quite different display
characteristics
Physical Size
One of the biggest advantages of LCD monitors is that they are compact and lightweight.
An LCD monitor is based upon a very thin screen as opposed to the bulky tube of a CRT
monitor. This means that not only do they take up less of your desktop space, they can
also be used in many places where a larger CRT monitor can not fit. Shown here, a
12.1" LCD monitor with a stand takes up only about one-third of the desk space of a
typical 14" CRT monitor.
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Display Size
Thanks to advances in LCD technology, colour flat panel LCD monitors are now
available that are comparable in screen size to traditional CRT monitors. Shown here, a
12.1" LCD display (left) has only a slightly smaller viewing area than a typical 14" CRT
monitor. Newer, larger LCD monitors are also appearing that have 15", 17", and even
larger screen sizes that are comparable to the largest CRT monitors. One thing to note
is that LCD monitors are typically sized by their actual viewable diagonal measurement,
but CRTs typically are not. For example, the viewable area on a 17" LCD monitor will
typically measure 17" diagonally, but the viewable area on a CRT monitor will typically
only measure 16" diagonally.
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Colours
Most CRT monitors are capable of displaying unlimited colours. Some LCD monitors are
only capable of hundreds or thousands of colours, but many of the newer LCD's are
capable of unlimited colours.
Resolution
An important issue with LCD monitors is resolution. CRT monitors are usually capable of
displaying multiple video resolutions, each with the same quality. LCD monitors,
however, usually has what is called a Native resolution, or the resolution that it displays
best. The native resolution is generally the highest resolution that the LCD can display
and this is the display resolution that will appear the crispest/sharpest.
Brightness
Typically, brightness is not a concern with CRT monitors. LCD monitors are backlit and
have different levels of brightness. The brightness rating for an LCD monitor is
commonly referred to as 'nits', and commonly range from 70 to 250 nits. The higher the
nits, the brighter the display.
Viewing Angle
Another issue with the LCD monitor is the viewing angle. A CRT screen can be looked at
from a very wide angle, practically from the side, but an LCD monitor typically has a
smaller viewing angle, needing to be viewed more directly from the front. From the side,
the image on an LCD screen can seem to disappear, or invert colours. Newer displays
that are coming out have wider viewing angles so this is not as much of an issue as it
has been in the past.
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Power Consumption and Radiation Emission
Besides being compact and space saving, LCD displays offer several other benefits. For
one, LCD monitors consume much less energy than CRT monitors. This makes the LCD
great for laptop and portable computers. Secondly, CRT monitors are known to emit
harmful radiation, whereas LCD monitors do not.
Price
CRT monitors are generally more affordable than LCD monitors. In the past LCD
monitors have been very expensive but their costs have come down quite a bit in the last
1-2 years. One thing to consider is the up-front cost versus the long-term cost. A CRT
monitor will cost less up front but will use more energy than a flat panel monitor. An LCD
monitor will cost more up front but will conserve energy in the long run. The energy
savings may not be much for an individual user, but if you are looking at a corporate
office where 50 displays are in use, the energy savings might be more of an issue.
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=interlace
The TechWeb Network
Results found for: interlace
Interlace
To illuminate a screen by displaying all odd lines in the frame first and
then all even lines. Interlacing uses half frames per second (fields per
second) rather than full frames per second.
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The interlace method was developed for TV broadcasting because the
allotted bandwidth for TV channels, defined more than a half century ago,
was not sufficient to transmit 60 full frames per second. Interlacing with
60 half frames was visually better for moving images than 30 noninterlaced full frames.
Interlace Vs. Progressive Scan
Interlaced screens display every other line (1-3-5 etc., then 2-4-6, etc.),
while non-interlaced screens, known as "progressive scan," display lines
consecutively (1-2-3 etc.).
All non-digital TVs are interlaced. Older CRT computer monitors were
also interlaced at their highest resolution and progressive scan at lower
resolutions. Some digital TV standards are interlaced, such as the highdefinition 1080i format, and HDTV sets support both interlaced and
progressive scan signals (see HDTV).
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