EE Times Under The Hood - October 8, 2007 - (Page 40) under the hood: DIGITAL HOME www.eetimes.com • www.techonline.com Gap narrows between plasma, LCD here are two main competing technologies for TV screens: LCD and plasma. While there are still a number of factors to consider when selecting a TV, what used to be the three primary ones—size, price and resolution—are no longer an issue. BY GREGORY A. QUIRK 196801891). Both Samsung and Panasonic have displayed 103-inch plasma versions. Of course, these are a bit large for typical consumers, but affordable 40- to 60inch LCD and plasma screens are readily available. In terms of price, comparable TVs using either technology cost around the same. Finally, the screens display 720p resolution, and many offer 1080p, in high definition. According to a presentation by the Consumer Electronics Association at CES, LCD TV sales grew 160 percent in 2006 over the year before, representing the fastest consumer product growth. In comparison, plasma TV sales grew by 58 percent, the eighth-highest growth rate. The association also said prices of TVs with 50-inch-plus screens have dropped 32 percent over the past year, making them the fifthfastest decreasing-price category. Picking one technology over the other requires some understanding T VIDEO With the rapid uptake of highdefinition programming, gaming and movies, it is easy to understand why HD televisions are so popular today, and why sets are offered by all of the major manufacturers. According to market research firm NPD, in 2006 Sony led the industry in LCD TV market share, while Panasonic was the top-ranking plasma TV brand. What makes up a leading highdefinition TV solution? Is it brand recognition or the components that drive the market? To find the answers, we kept the cameras rolling as we went inside the Sony Bravia 1080p 46-inch widescreen LCD HDTV, which offers an impressive 1300:1 contrast ratio, and a Panasonic 720p 42-inch widescreen plasma HDTV with an unheard-of response time of less than 0.1 millisecond.View what we found in the online version of this story in the Digital Home section, at www.techonline.com/ underthehood. When they first hit the market, LCD screens were limited to about 45 inches measured vertically, while plasma screens could reach 60 inches or more. Both have increased substantially in size since then, and today LCD TVs can be as big as plasmas. Sharp demonstrated a 108-inch LCD at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2007 (see “Sharp announces 108-inch LCD panel,” www.eetimes.com, search article ID: Sony Bravia LCD Panasonic widescreen plasma 40 Electronic Engineering Times, TechOnline | October 8, 2007 http://www.eetimes.com http://www.techonline.com http://www.techonline.com/product/underthehood/202103641 http://www.eetimes.com
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