If you are thinking of buying 17-inch screens for your desktop
users, it could be well worth looking into the new generation of
TFT monitors. Ben Tudor reports
In the days before monitors, if you wanted to get information from
a computer, you had to rely on a printout of some sort. If you have
been in this industry a while, you will probably remember the
teletype terminals. If you are really old you might remember punch
cards and paper tape.
Seen in this context, the advent of the monitor was one of the
biggest revolutions in computing. In the 30 years since, the chosen
method of information display has been the cathode ray tube (CRT).
Tons of ugly greenbar and dozens of printers were replaced by
clean, silent CRTs.
The next change was the liquid crystal display (LCD). Introduced
with the first true laptop computers in the early 1990s, LCDs have
moved to the desktop in the past decade. The advent of thin film
transistor (TFT) technology made these screens almost as good as
CRTs - but not quite.
At present, TFT monitors are approaching the level of CRTs on
overall cost of ownership. TFTs last longer, use less electricity,
put out less heat and take up less room than conventional displays.
However, to get these benefits, you have to pay extra up front.
"We have got to a decision-making point for both consumer and
corporate buyers," says Stuart Hudson, general manager, sales, at
monitor manufacturer NEC/Mitsubishi. "TFT monitors got to a point
last year where they were twice as expensive as CRT displays. At
that ratio, the various things that make TFT monitors attractive
kick in, and the extra expense at the point of sale can be
justified."
Three things make flat-panel screens more desirable than CRTs: they
consume less energy, last longer and have a smaller footprint.
However, despite the assurances of TFT suppliers, it is still worth
noting that CRTs offer higher resolution (for now), truer colour
and lower price per square inch of display than flat panels. TFT
technology should catch up quickly but, at present, the CRT is
still the best choice in some instances.
The appearance last Christmas of LCD televisions was shadowed by an
increase in flat-panel monitors being offered with computers by
high street shops and manufacturers.
This happened for two reasons. Firstly, TFT production processes
had been refined to the point that it was relatively easy for
manufacturers to crank out lots of monitors. Secondly,
manufacturers new to the TFT market wanted to gain a foothold, and
squeezed their margins to the bone in search of market share.
According to a survey of high street pricing by market research
company Meko, the average cost of a 15-inch LCD fell from just
under £800 in the first quarter of 2000 to about £450 in the last
quarter of 2001. Wander into a computer store today, and you will
probably be able to pick up a display for even less.
"We are selling more LCDs that CRTs to retail and corporate buyers
across the board," says Hudson. By Hudson's estimate, his company
has about 34% of the 18-inch monitor market in the UK. "LCD
business is, for us, about 60% or even 70 % of our revenue," he
says.
But the CRT is not dead yet.
Chris Hounslow, sales manager at IT supplier Maxdata/Belinea, is
adamant that his firm is not going to dump its CRT range. "For the
next 18 months, the large CRT will stay, especially for high-end
graphics such as computer aided design and prepress, but we are
seeing a drive towards TFT from corporate desktop buyers," he says.
"There has always been a magic number of £1,000 for a desktop
computer, and it is now possible to include a TFT screen in that
equation. The cost of a PC itself has dropped, as has the cost of a
TFT display."
Another factor in the rise of flat-panel displays is the fact that
they enable companies to cram more PC-using staff into a smaller
space. Architect firm Pringle Brandon estimates that 22% more
people can be fitted into a City dealing room if TFT displays are
used instead of CRTs.
But while TFT monitors are more efficient, possibly superior
ergonomically, and offer a host of long-term savings, CRTs are
cheap and getting steadily cheaper - pricing in this market is a
fairly cut-throat game for suppliers.
Furthermore, initial outlay buys you more screen "real estate" and
better resolution - just two of the things that make CRTs
attractive to some buyers.
A good example of this is Apple's decision last year to scrap CRT
displays for its professional workstations. Buyers of new Power Mac
G4 computers were offered a choice of 15-inch, 17-inch and 22-inch
displays. The 22-inch display was a postbox profile plasma monitor
with a digital adapter. It looked stunning, but it was not nearly
as jaw-dropping as the price, which was several times that of some
of the computers it was intended to work with.
On top of the enormous expense, TFT and Plasma displays lacked
functions that professional users wanted, such as true colour
calibration across a wide viewable range. Corporate buyers found
that for the price of the smallest of the Apple monitors they could
buy larger CRTs. Both LaCie and NEC/Mitsubishi saw business pick up
as a result of Apple's decision.
"Apple opened the market for us," says George Leptos, UK general
manager at LaCie. "For designers, the CRT still offers superior
resolution. LaCie launched a TFT display six months ago, but the
bulk of its display business still rests with a range of CRT
monitors that feature hardware colour correction.
"Prices for large CRT monitors are coming down. This month we will
probably drop prices by a seventh. You won't see that with
TFTs."
If space constraints are not an issue, CRTs may still be the way to
go.
However, Leptos also sees companies upgrading displays rather than
entire computers. "I think people will upgrade from CRTs to TFTs in
large numbers in 2002," he says. "People are realising that the
Pentium III on their desk doesn't really need an upgrade, but maybe
that tiny CRT they are using does."
In the meantime, other technologies are moving towards the PC,
albeit via other markets. Plasma displays, the domain of the home
entertainment buff and the TV studio, are becoming cheaper all the
time. Plasma offers good resolution and viewing angles, but is
still seen as something of a premium item.
Another technology already in place in the mobile phone and car
stereo market is organic light emitting devices (Oleds) which
promise to revolutionise all areas of the display market. Oleds
will be cheap to produce in bulk, offer high viewing angles (at
160°, better than most, if not all, CRTs) and consume less energy
than TFT displays. Their initial appearance in cell phone and car
stereo displays is down to restrictions in the current
manufacturing process and, in some cases, the poor longevity of the
display itself.
"At the moment Oleds are short lived, lasting only a few thousand
hours. It will take a while to get that life expectancy up and get
Oleds into laptop computers," says Michael Holmes, chief executive
of UK Oled manufacturer Opsys. The firm researches and develops
Oled technology for the small to medium-sized displays used in the
portable electronics industry.
Holmes expects Oleds to migrate to computer displays in 2005. He
bases his reasoning on the history of the LCD market.
"In three or four years' time the LCD market will probably be worth
about $70bn [£50bn]. It has taken 15 years for the LCD to get into
computers. You have to remember, however, that it was not until
1990 that putting something as small and efficient as an LCD in a
computer became important."
This neatly explains the state of the market. If, as one source in
the display industry put it, the price of 15-inch TFT panels has
bottomed out, it is not for want of trying to push the price down.
At present, the long life, energy saving, ergonomic and space
benefits of using TFT monitors make buying one for almost every
employee a justifiable expense.