~The FuTuRe iS FlAt~

The panels are flat but th sales most certainly aren't. The television market ,long dominated by the conventional TV, is undergoing a revolution. The 'tube' or the 'box' as it is often known, sits heavily in the corner of most living rooms across the planet. Beautiful it isn't . But that's about to change if sales forecast are realised. Already millions of families are opting for thin screen wall mountable plasmas and LCD TV's as the latest consumer product of choice.

Statistics show that Americans watch TV on average for four hours a day , whilst Europeans watch three hours, so it's not  surprising that consumers are saying that as they spend so much time watching TV, that they might as well look at something that looks good!But it's not just viewing statistics that are impressive ,the economic statistics are also looking good , with the market for thin screen TVs worth $21 billion in 2004. Plasmas are taking the biggest slice of this market ,especially for screens of 40 inches or more where they have an 88% slice of the market. LCDs are also selling fast but relative to plasmas the growth rate is slower.

The end looks to be in sight for the conventional CRT TV, although for now cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions still account for 72% of US sales . This is perhaps not surprising if you think that they have been around for over fifty years. With bargain prices starting from $100 and having an external long life expectancy, CRTs are not going to disappear overnight . The downside of course is that they are big and bulky and are unlikely to win any design awards . The technology though , is tried and tested-all colours televisions create images using red,green,and blue light , but conventional televisions use an electron gun to generate these images. The cathode element within the gun emits beams of of electrons which are fired at phosphor-coated screen which is covered with blue,green and red phosphorus . The larger the screen ,the longer the tube needed and the bigger the box.
                                     
At present demand for plasma TVs is overtaking that of LCDs ,as prices are 10% to 20% cheaper for similar-sized screens,although this price differential is narrowing . Plasmas also beat LCDs in terms of maximum screen size, offering consumers an almost cinema like experience with with screen sizes ranging up to a massive 55 inches (137.5cm) with models such as Hitachi's PD5200.Plasmas also don't suffer from the problem of trailing edge blur with fast-moving images ,which is the problem with even the best LCDs on the market. Having said that,they have had some problems with image that,they have had some problems with image burn -in that leaves static images on the screen ,like permanent ghost images. This is not so much of an issues as you might think as this is only likely to occur when the same image,such as a sign,is continuously displayed on screen . Since TV images are constantly in motion , burn-in isn't likely to be a problem so long as the screen isn't hooked up to your computer and used as a PC monitor.

LCDs on the other hand, win hands down in terms of weight, slimness and flexibelity-they can be as little as Toshiba 20VL56compared to 8-15cm plasma ,they are more durable and weigh considerably less than their plasma equivalent ,and can also be easily wall-mounted .Over the life of the product ,a strong case can be made for the cost efficiency of LCDs as they have life expectancy of 25 years.

The big picture then for consumers and retailers alike is that plasma and LCD TVs are today's high-tech tube and as new players enter the market so quality and value for money will rise further . Plasmas look the better buy for the present,but LCDs are likely to seize market share in the future when screen sizes get bigger and prizes come down. This trend will be further accelerated with the expected entry into the market of the big PC manufacturers,offering even lower prices together with technological even.