LCD FLAT MONITORS THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

March 2005

Primer: LCD Monitors By: Richard Daniels

Now that the price of LCD monitors has dropped to the point where small business can look at them as a worthwhile acquisition, its time to examine them a little closer than has been done in the past.

When you see these items on display at your favorite big box retail temple, you may have noticed that there is a large variance in price. Frequently the user is told this difference in price is a function of features (ie. Speakers, DVI out, etc.). It is true that features have an impact on price, but there are other factors, which are equally important.

The Good

LCD displays are a boon to the user. Unlike tube monitors which use a scanning gun to paint the picture on a field of phosphors, the LCD consist of a large array of Liquid Crystal Display elements, which glow when fed electricity. This means the picture is more stable and without the low frequency flicker that plagues many monitors. No flicker means less eye fatigue for the user that spends a long tome in front of the screen.

There is a huge power saving with the introduction of these units. As there is no large coils required to create the high voltage a tube requires, the LCD can run at a fraction of the tubes power. The savings on one monitor won’t show up on your power bill, but if you are a little larger business with 50 to 100 screens, there is a real saving to be had.

The real estate factor on these displays is one of the most frequent purchase reasons I hear. The amount of desktop reclaimed by deploying these units is truly remarkable. There is a lager apparent viewing area with these screens which enhances the their appeal. A 17” LCD has the equivalent viewing area of a 19” tube.

The Bad

I mentioned earlier that there is a large variance in pricing when it comes to LCD screens. Some of this difference can be attributed to the size difference and imperfections in the manufacturing process. A good explanation of terms and technology can be found here. A 15” 1024 x 768 pixel screen will have considerably less LCD elements than a 19 inch at 1280 x 1024 (786,432 vs. 1,310,720). It follows that the larger the screen the more likely it will have enough bad elements to scrap it. This higher scrap rate means higher prices.

A big part of the price difference has to do with warrantee, and something call Pixel Policy. It is here that the real difference between the products shows up. In most consumer electronics the warrantee varies only in terms of time. LCDs are an exception to that rule. For some units a 3-year warrantee refers to the surrounding electronics, while the panel itself is only covered for a year. There is a pretty strong correlation between price and the comfort level found in the warrantee terms.

Pixel Policy is the worst part of the LCD story. The manufactures of these units have decided that since they have been unable to perfect the manufacture of these panels that you must shoulder some of the burden of imperfect products. The Pixel Policy is the company’s rules on how many failed picture elements are on the screen at the time of purchase, before they will take the screen back. Some manufactures will not inform you of their policy, and many retailers have not taken the time to ask. Event when the reseller does make enquiries some of the manufacturers are less than forth coming. One manufacturer I spoke to would only supply me with their policy, after I agreed to keep it secret from customers.

This is not to tar all manufacturers with one brush some are quite forthcoming, and even proud of their policy. I would suggest that Pixel Policies will only improve if the user makes it an issue.

Here is a short list of published Pixel Policies that I have been able to find.

http://www.ctl.info/support/pixel_project.html

http://www.princetongraphics.com/support_pixel3.htm

http://www.nam.aocdisplay.com/support/manuals/pixel_policy.pdf

http://www.value.co.th/Products/benQ/LCD_Pixel_Policy.pdf

http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/1/170s5fs_05/170s5fs_05_ppd_eng.pdf

At the time of composing this document Philips and Hitachi are the front-runners, but Samsung has instituted a Zero Pixel Policy in Korea. If Samsung extends this policy to the rest of the world market, they would up the ante on all the other players.

The Ugly

On the store shelf the LCD is an amazing site to behold. Bright crisp images entice users to lay down their dollars and bring that lightweight box home. Once plugged in and running they decide that their aging boomer eyes can’t handle 1024 x 768 resolution. To make things larger they shift the resolution to 800 x 600 and suddenly this brand new monitor looks like a Nick Nolte arrest picture.

There is no cure for this phenomenon. LCD panels have a native mode, which is based on the number of picture elements in the panel. If you try to adjust the screen to a different resolution, the mathematics of the situation kick in and forces the Operating System to compensate by partially lighting some of the pixels and turning some off completely. This leaves the user with a ragged and blurry picture. In short its an ugly picture. The solution is to look at the monitor in the store and base your purchase decision on the screen resolution you see on the showroom floor.