LCD 100 inch : Η μεγαλύτερη στον κόσμο από την LG Philips

[JohnnyWalker]

LG.Philips LCD Wednesday took the wraps off a 100-inch thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel, which the company claims is the largest in the world.

The model developed by the world’s runner-up LCD producer is about 1.5 times bigger than the previously largest 82-inch product of Samsung Electronics, the global top player.

``Our development of the 100-inch LCD panel reaffirms LG.Philips LCD is the global leader in large-area LCD technology,’’ the firm’s vice president Yeo Sang-deog said.

``Technological advances for large-area LCD TVs, such as the 100-inch LCD, will act as a catalyst that accelerates demands for high-quality and large screens,’’ he added.

Developed at the company’s seventh-generation production lines at Paju, Kyonggi Province, the high-feature panel is a wide screen (16:9) with its width and height amounting to 2.2 meters and 1.2 meters, respectively.

The high-definition model, which offers 6.22 million pixels and can produce 1.07 billion colors, boasts a response speed faster than 5 milliseconds.

That means the amount of time it takes for the LCD TV’s liquid crystal cell to go from black to white is 5 milliseconds, lower than previous norm of double-digit milliseconds.

Lower numbers represent faster transitions and therefore less visible image artifacts. Monitors will not create a smear or blur pattern around moving objects.

The LCD panel of LG.Philips LCD, the joint venture between LG Electronics and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, also has a maximum 3,000:1 contrast ratio and 180-degree viewing angle.

The contrast ratio means that the brightest color on the screen is 3,000 times brighter than the darkest color that the panel is capable of displaying simultaneously. The higher the ratio is, the better the display is.

In addition, the wide viewing angle shows that the images on the monitor will be vivid to watchers at any angle.

The 100-inch model is expected to maintain the summit place for the time being because Samsung Electronics, the cross-town rival of LG.Philips LCD, has no scheme to challenge the product.

Samsung, which developed the previously biggest 82-inch LCD panel last year, has been touted as arguably the only candidate posing a threat to LG.Philips for biggest LCD.

``We are not researching any LCD panel larger than 82 inches diagonally and have no plan to develop at the moment,’’ Samsung spokesman Shin Young-jun said.

The remark sharply contrasts to that of Samsung’s executive vice president, Kim Sang-soo, who expressed confidence in producing mega-sized LCD at an unveiling event of the 82-inch item in March 2005.

``Making a 97-inch model is just a matter of time. There is virtually no technical limitation for producing LCD larger than 82 inches,’’ Kim said at the time.

Battle for Biggest LCD

LG.Philips originally took the driver’s seat in the battle for the biggest LCD by creating a 52-inch panel in December 2002 and a 55-inch one in October 2003 for the first time in history.

Samsung then surprised the world with a 57-inch LCD in December 2003 and a 82-inch product in March 2005.

LG.Philips took the upper hand once again with the 100-inch item, previously regarded as impossible for relatively small size-specific LCD in comparison to the plasma display panel (PDP).

LCD is the first offspring of the flat-screen family, which eroded the long-time dominance of the bulky cube-based monitor that causes eye strain and consumes a lot of power.

As the technology opened the door to flat-panel displays with outstanding advantages, another high-end screen PDP was also brought into the game.

Unlike the fat cube-based TVs, both LCD and PDP are of sleek appearance as they show images via liquid crystal or plasma, which are sandwiched between two thin glass plates.

Technologically, PDP is suitable for large-sized screens since it is difficult to trap plasma between two small plates. By contrast, LCD does not go well with large monitors due to the properties of liquid crystal.

As a result, experts have expected LCD would be the mainstream product for the small screen while PDP would be predominant in the market for screens larger than 40-inches.

However, the uphill battle between Korea’s dynamic duo _ LG.Philips and Samsung _ has worked in the favor of LCD by trimming its price and adding seamless technological advances.

The 100-inch LCD is merely three inches shy of the biggest 103-inch PDP monitor, unveiled by Japan’s Panasonic earlier this year.

LCD prices halved last year to the level of LCD thanks to technological progresses and rivalry in the 40-plus inch LCD panels market, the major battlefield between the two flat-panel products,.

The prices of large-area LCD panels are likely to drop rapidly this year and beyond, while PDP prices will most probably fall at a snail’s pace.

Market observers predict LCD will maintain its competitiveness in even 50-inch display markets, which they initially thought would be flatly dominated by PDP.