SOURCE: FORBES
Monday Matchup
LCD Vs. Plasma Displays
Penelope Patsuris, 04.05.04, 6:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - Electronics stores are flooded with gorgeous flat screen TVs, each one more sleek and shiny than the next, easily drawing consumers jonesing for their next flashy tech purchase. Then the confusion sets in.
Two types of technologies now dominate the flat-screen TV frenzy: plasma screens that light up when an electric charge activates a gas sandwiched between two glass plates; and liquid crystal displays (LCD), which create a picture using a charge that changes the alignment of the crystals. Although both screen types are used in TVs, they have been courting different segments of the same market rather than competing head to head. But that's about to change.
Right now, there isn't much available in the way of plasma televisions with screens smaller than 32 inches. And LCD TVs are generally 32 inches or smaller, since those screens had their first incarnation in small consumer electronics and computer monitors.
But LCD screens are getting bigger, and by 2006 manufacturers should be producing plenty of them measuring 42 inches and larger, putting them smack in the middle of plasma's market, according to DisplaySearch analyst Andrew Shulklapper. "That's when things will become very competitive between LCD and plasma," he says.
Both camps are bulking up for the battle...
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