A REPORT from the Taiwanese Market Intelligence Center (MIC) said that prices of 17-inch LCD monitors will continue to fall next year. That's as a result of the manufacturers appearing to have recognised that if they want the lucrative CRT replacement market, they'll have to continue to cut prices.
The research group said that 17-inch LCD monitors will drop to around $300, but the "sweet spot" for such units could be as little as $200 to encourage movement away from CRT displays. The Center said that manufacturers of thin film transistor (TFT) LCD displays will have to break away from their idee fixee that large panels are the way to go to continue to compete against other technologies such as OLED (organic light emitting diode) technologies.
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News source: The Inq
The research group said that 17-inch LCD monitors will drop to around $300, but the "sweet spot" for such units could be as little as $200 to encourage movement away from CRT displays. The Center said that manufacturers of thin film transistor (TFT) LCD displays will have to break away from their idee fixee that large panels are the way to go to continue to compete against other technologies such as OLED (organic light emitting diode) technologies.
View: The full story News source: The Inq
Cont...
However, the possibility of the PStwo emerging in October remains firmly in the realms of speculation, and a number of factors would seem to weigh heavily against the rumour - not least the fact that Sony hasn't announced anything in either the USA or Japan as yet, only six weeks before the suggested launch.
While that timescale isn't impossible by any means - the company cut the time between announcement and launch of the PSone quite fine as well, presumably in an effort to sustain sales of the original console for as long as possible - it's worth noting that the PSone didn't arrive until the launch of the PlayStation 2, and was seen as a repositioning of the console away from the new platform's market space.
With PlayStation 3 still over a year away, and PlayStation 2 still selling strongly, it would seem like an unusual move for Sony to roll out the PStwo ahead of that schedule - although the company may do so in an attempt to ensure that PlayStation sales remain firmly ahead of the Xbox in North America.
The timing would also, as McNealy points out, give Sony a "one-two punch" - launching a new console design alongside the biggest title of the year, GTA San Andreas, only weeks before Microsoft rolls Halo 2 out to retail.
Maybe when they get the size, cost and lifespan of OLED screens sorted out I'll get one! For now, I'm sticking to my trusty CRT
If you're an informed buyer, you can find plenty of panels with fast response times and good, deep blacks.
Of course, you are right in saying that there's a price premium for quality... as in any market (especially at this stage in its development).
Perhaps, but it still won't even come close to the specs of a decent CRT. 16 or even 12ms is just way off CRT speeds. While you may only use a refresh rate of, say, 100Hz (already way faster than a LCD which is normally only 60Hz), the falloff of the phosphor is so quick that is almost no noticable ghosting. And CRT black is black from any viewing angle, which is sadly not true of LCD's which lose contrast as the viewing angle approaches 90 degrees off normal.
Sony is bragging about their OLED screens at the moment which, while relatively small still, offer 0.01 ms latency and extremely high contrast, and absolutely no viewing angle effect on brighness / contrast!!! WoooT!
does not work... the 60Hz is equivilent of a number way higher then the 100Hz rate you specified because of the way the screens draw on LCD... on a CRT they scan the lines line by line... hence why you have a refresh rate... but on LCD they do it differently... a more efficient way... its similar to interlacing but not really...
scan 1 does pixles like this
0 X 0 X 0 X
X 0 X 0 X 0
0 X 0 X 0 X
X 0 X 0 X 0
where x is the pixel being refreshed and 0 the ones not, the next pass it flips which ones are refreshed.. this is WAY more effifient then a refresh rate scan of line by line like CRT does... this is HEX addressing compared to a linear addressing...
I use a 19 inch flat CRT because I work in graphics , but would gladly buy a LCD monitor for dual monitor work station, the only thing that kept me from doing so was the price.
I don't have the real estate for another CRT, but if the price does come down to around $200 I would buy a LCD.
Thats what im waiting for. When they come out they'll be like $400 but since organic stuff is cheap they will drop drastically in the after months and ill get a nice 17-19 OLED display.
The only real differences I notice between the two are:
a) Reflections on the CRT. I have to play games with the curtains closed (laptop screen next to it is fine, though)
b) LCD is a much sharper picture. CRTs always have blurred lines. I much prefer an LCD's sharpness.
I have no idea what the specs of the laptop screen are, ask Acer, not that they would tell you.
CRT monitor have reaction times of 0-5ms from action on the computer to display on the screen, whereas LCD and TFT screens have a massive 35+ms on average. This is not good enough for a gamer. With people having reaction times of roughly 270ms, and an average ping of 100ms, racking up an average total of nearly 400ms, a monitor with more than 10ms will make the difference between a headshot or a torso shot.
If companies really want to sell these monitors, they should concentrate more on making the damned things faster, then you can have whatever price you want and gamers will still flood to them.
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