Low-voltage FED approach is the cheapest by far to manufacture, and will reign supreme in the under 10-inch flat panel display field, I believe. (This is the instrumentation, seat-back TV, medical, portable field.) High-voltage is required for larger sizes because (insert technical gobbledegook here). So the reason for selecting Hi or Lo is only one of cost up to, say, 10 inches, at which time Hi-voltage is necessary.
Plasma displays can be made large but not small. They will be the first wall-TVs, but not--in my opinion--for long. Nor will LCDs. Whereas LCDs are too slow to show TV without smearing, plasma is too fast and cannot (to date) avoid a very fatiguing "choppiness" to its motion images. This is why at the flat panel trade shows YOU NEVER SEE LCD OR PLASMA SHOWING NORMAL TELEVISION! They ALWAYS show specially-made videos that are either still pictures of Swiss countrysides, sonombulent fishes, slow-motion effects or distant vistas with gently moving clouds.
Thus, until something new comes around (and remember, no new display technology ever bursts upon the scene in less than ten years), it is my personal belief that FEDs--because they rely on the same phosphors that everyones' eyes have agreed are acceptable for long-term viewing of motion images--will become the wall-TV of the future.
Tom Holzel
VP Mkt & Sls
PixTech |
