Flat-screen plasma displays

In display technology flat-panel-displays are today in production. Advanced products such as large screen plasma displays and miniature thin-film-transistor-liquid-crystal display (LCDs) are commercially available. Recently the quality and reliablility have improved considerably. So, for instance, the conical viewing angle of liquid crystal displays has been extended to nearly 160° with in-plane-switching active-matrix LCDs. 

Electronics giant NEC of Japan has entered the fray with a polycarbonate containing a silicone FR. The company has licensed Sumitomo Dow to be the manufacturers of this special polycarbonate. Sold as NuCycle, the new material is used to make NEC s liquid crystal display monitors and battery packs for portable computers. It is also applied for other polycarbonate applications, covering projectors and plasma flat screens. 

A completely different HDTV flat screen technology was revealed to the public in September 2005 when Canon demonstrated flat panel television sets using its surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED). The technology is based on the traditional CRT as used in current television sets. However, in this case the traditional vacuum tubes have been miniaturised to the extent that thousands of them have been packed inside a flat panel display which is between 10 and 12.5 cm thick. In fact there are actually as many electron emitters as there are pixels on the screen - a situation which is claimed to deliver brighter, sharper and clearer pictures with added bonus of having a longer service life than LCD or plasma sets. Other benefits include power consumption up to one-third less than plasma display television sets. 

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are used in watches, calculators, mobile phones, computer monitors, and flat-screen televisions. Since 1995, plasma display panels (PDFs) had been big business for television manufacturers. Now LCDs are rapidly rising to be a major competitor. Both employ liquid crystals as an important ingredient PDFs use them as auxiliary components, whereas in LCDs it is the main component. 

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