Ooooh! I Want It! I Want It! A Look at Consumer Displays CES Pete Putman, President Roam Consulting Inc. Senior Editor, Studio Monthly Contributing Editor, Pro AV

There’s Gold in Them Thar Homes Today’s cutting edge consumer displays often precursors to professional versions, unlike the ‘good old days’ Examples: –1920x1080p front LCD - LCOS projectors –1920x1080p flat panel displays (TFT LCD) –768p flat panel displays (TFT LCD, plasma) –720p front LCD-DLP projectors

Brave New World: CES 2005 Manufacturers pushing “larger, brighter, cheaper” Aggressive pricing moves by Chinese, Koreans continue to lower margins Larger sizes for TFT LCD TVs and monitors Bigger plasma is mainstream product Yet another flat panel technology is demonstrated LCD imaging technology fires back at DLP

Flat Panels Duke It Out: The Plasma Perspective Matsushita ramps up production and new PDP fab, is #1 WW for plasma sales Koreans (Samsung, LG), Chinese (CMO, CPT) bombard market with product Sony hints it will exit PDP business, possibly as early as 2nd quarter 2005 ( ) Fujitsu cries “uncle!”, reportedly wants to exit PDP business, sell investments and patents to Hitachi ( ) NEC already got out, sold its PDP fabs and IP to Pioneer (Jan. 2004)

Flat Panels Duke It Out: The LCD Perspective Sharp launched world’s largest 6th gen fab in 2004 –Typical Gen 6 motherglass is 1500 x 1800mm, 70” x 59” –Gen 6 glass can yield (6) 37-inch or (12) 26-inch panels Samsung, Sony (S-LCD) to launch Gen 7 fab in 2006 (1870 x 2200mm) for 32-inch and 40-inch panels LG starts Gen 6 fab (Kumi) in September 2004 Hitachi, Matsushita, Toshiba joint venture for Gen 6 fab (3rd quarter 2006) for 26-inch to 32-inch screens (“sweet spot”), also 37-inch panels in near future

Flat Panels Duke It Out: The Consumer Perspective Consumers want flat panel TVs, but are largely agnostic when it comes to technology (LCD, plasma, whatever....) Pacific Media Associates study of 1200 potential buyers (12/04) shows price is biggest ‘negative’ with flat panels, followed by concerns about panel reliability (burn-in, life of LCD backlights) Do lower prices make these concerns go away? Can MD RPTV hold on and expand? (Customers like lower RPTV prices, but not happy with size and form factor)

Flat Panels at CES 2005 LCD Gets Bigger And Bigger!

LCD TVs At CES LCD manufacturing is expanding and maturing “Sweet spot” is from 26 inches to 42 inches for the home LCD can provide true HD resolution in all sizes – 1280x768 pixels through 42-inch sizes – 1920x1080 pixels > 42 inches Issues with fast motion, color accuracy Lighter than plasma (same size), lower power consumption Higher materials cost vs. plasma

LCD TVs At CES Sample LCD TV Prices –32-inch with NTSC tuners (no digital): $1,995 –42-inch with ATSC and NTSC tuners: $2,495 –46-inch with ATSC and NTSC tuners: $9,999 Hey! Where’s all the CableCARD stuff? BenQ DV inch LCD TV

LCD TVs At CES LG 55LP1D 55-inch LCD TV –1920x1080 resolution –Uses Super In-Plane Switching (SIPS) LC process –Gen 6 fabrication –Good color saturation, wide viewing angles –MSRP: TBA (in other words, wait to see what Samsung will cost)

LCD TVs At CES Samsung LNR-570D 57-inch LCD TV –1920x1080 resolution –Uses Patterned Vertical Alignment (PVA) LC process –Gen 6 fabrication –Good color saturation, wide viewing angles –MSRP: $15,995 (Where’d that 54-inch go???)

LCD TVs At CES Sharp 65-inch Aquos LCD –1920x1080 resolution –Uses Advanced Super View and QuickShot processes –Gen 6 fabrication –Good color saturation, wide viewing angles –No price yet (more of a prototype, best guess about $20K to start)

2005 LCD Performance Benchmarks A review 45-inch LCD TV delivered from 156 to 284 nits (45.6 to 83 foot-Lamberts) with ANSI (average) contrast measured at 147:1 and peak contrast at 170:1 Typical black level = 1.7 nits (8 x CRT) Adjustable backlights help with lower black levels and better contrast numbers Predicted life of backlight: 60, nits (not in full power mode, though)

LCD Color Accuracy A better mousetrap - LED backlights? Samsung (LNR460D) 46-inch LCD TV Sony (Qualia 005) 46-inch LCD TV Both use LumiLEDs RGB LED stripes for color –Line array is 26 red, 26 green, 13 blue –65 diodes by 7 rows = 455 total LED ‘elements’ –Brightness spec tentatively set at 450 nits –LED life estimated between 50, ,000 hours

LCD TVs With LumiLEDs Closeup of LED ArrayClaimed LED Color Gamut

LCD TVs With LumiLEDs Sony Qualia 005 ($12,999)Samsung LNR460D ($12,999)

Flat Panels at CES 2005 Plasma: You Want Bigger? Fuggedaboutit!

Plasma TVs At CES Plasma is gunning for CRTs “Sweet spot” is also from 26 inches to 42 inches Plasma in true HD resolutions only above 42 inches Changing gas mixtures promises longer panel life Materials cost for plasma fabs lower than LCD (about 1/3) Numerous Japanese, Korean, and Chinese companies now manufacturing or marketing plasma in all sizes Result is lots of “who’s that?” brands

Plasma TVs At CES Sample Plasma TV Prices –42-inch HD with ATSC and NTSC tuners: $2,495 –46-inch HD with ATSC and NTSC tuners: $4,499 –50-inch with ATSC and NTSC tuners: $5,199 Many models equipped with CableCARD Moxell ProView MH-463HU Plasma TV

Plasma TVs at CES Panasonic TH-65HD7UY 65-inch plasma TV –1366x768 resolution –Uses deep cell structure (MACH design) –Excellent color saturation, wide viewing angles –MSRP: $15,995

Plasma TVs at CES LG MW-71PY10 71-inch plasma TV –1920x1080 resolution –Uses XD cell structure –Excellent color saturation, wide viewing angle –Shown at CES 2004, now shipping –MSRP: about $70,000 (for now)

Plasma TVs at CES Samsung HP-R inch plasma TV –1920x1080 resolution –Uses deep cell structure (blade technology) –Excellent color saturation, wide viewing angles –MSRP is TBD, but $40 - $50K expected –Fujitsu also OEMs it

Plasma TVs at CES Samsung Z inch plasma TV –1920x1080 resolution –Uses deep cell structure (blade technology) –Excellent color saturation, wide viewing angles –Concept display, estimated price about $100K

2005 Plasma Performance Benchmarks A review 42-inch plasma TV delivered from 72 to 299 nits (21 to 87.4 foot-Lamberts) with ANSI (average) contrast measured at 596:1 and peak contrast at 772:1 Typical black level =.21 nits (same as CRT) Deep cell structure, improved filters both enhance contrast Predicted life of backlight: 60, nits (not in full power mode, though) Burn-in still a concern, pic orbiting and low power modes are standard menu selections now

Flat Panels at CES 2005 SED: Room For One More?

SED Technology Explained SED = Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display Uses high anode voltage, phosphors like CRT Emitter ‘scans’ from electrodes using low voltages Display is very thin, uses about 30% less power than PDP –Color gamut exceeds SMPTE ‘C’ phosphors –Peak brightness specification nits (87.7 ft-L) –Contrast ratio specification (dark room) - 10,000:1 –Wide viewing angle, fast response time (no smear) Developed by Canon, marketed with Toshiba - 50-inch?

SED Technology Explained 36-inch SED TV (1280x768)

Not Quite Dead Yet LCD Projector Manufacturers Finally Get Their Act Together

3LCD Pavilion at CES 3LCD Industry Initiative Partnership between Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Sanyo, Epson, and Fujitsu Demonstrated 1080p and 720p front and rear projection products 1.25” Epson 1920x1080 HTPS LCD panels shown,.9” version coming in 2005

1080p HTPS LCD Displays Fujitsu LPF-D711W LCD ProjectorEpson 1080p LivingStation RPTV

Ooooh! I Want It! I Want It! A Look at Consumer Displays CES Pete Putman, President Roam Consulting Inc. Senior Editor, Studio Monthly Contributing Editor, Pro AV