And Then There Were Two

	And Then There Were Two Prev 1 2

	In the ProAV market, however, size matters and with sizes up to 63", Plasma has a huge lead. In addition, unlike the consumer market where price leads performance, Plasma incorporates a technology that is superior to LCD in display of motion images like video and HDTV -- phosphor imaging has a better ability to process motion than the current generation of LCD imaging products. But, how long will that last? Some manufacturers such as Samsung are hedging their bets and currently produce both Plasma and LCD displays. In fact, Samsung boasts being the only manufacturer having the largest displays in both categories (63" Plasma and a 40" LCD). And, I've seen a couple of manufacturer's road maps that include both larger Plasmas (yes, larger than 63" – coming Q4, 2003) and larger LCDs. In fact, Samsung showed both 46" and 54" LCDs at CES. Ironically, LCD may be the better technology for many of the current applications in the ProAV market. Here's why. Although consumers use video most of the time, many ProAV installs don't require this. Most large screen imaging applications in the ProAV market incorporate a lot of fixed computer display applications (i.e. signage, logos, PowerPoint presentations, museum displays, etc.). In fact, some studies site that static image display applications (such as PowerPoint, Macromedia and even Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer and Excel – images that don't have a lot of motion) where computer data is the primary source is already over 80% of the applications for ProAV install-projectors mounted in the ceiling. So, doesn't it stand to reason that many applications where Plasma's are being used now in Boardrooms, conference rooms and training rooms would follow the same stats? In fact, one study introduced at last year's InfoComm showed that video was used less than 8% in the average boardroom, conference room and training room installations they had polled. Public displays, which use flat screens for advertising or informational signage, take the static image display requirement to a new level, where images are left on the screen 24/7. Thus, LCD imaging might be the perfect solution for those applications – no burn-in. But, some of the new Plasma technology getting ready to debut may combat that with 35,000-40,000 hour life Plasma panels. [an error occurred while processing this directive] But, the real power in Plasma and LCD is in the consumer world where every person who owns a TV will have to buy a new one some time over the next 10 years to accommodate the transition to digital television. In the USA, the transition is already occurring with a final DTV-only date of 1 January 2007 looming over the horizon. And, as both these new flat-screen technologies primarily use 16:9 widescreen aspect ratios, there is no question that one of them will dominate the consumer TV space, but with ProAV, I'm betting there will probably be applications for both for a long time to come. Gary Kayye, CTS, is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com. Source: Kayye Consulting, Inc. Prev 1 2