Flat Panel TVs: Other Types and Technologies
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We've seen the most common types of Flat Panel TVs out there, plasma televisions, and LCD televisions. Next, we shall learn about other types of technologies for flat display panels.
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS or LCoS)
A liquid crystal technology typically applied projection displays, LCOS uses liquid crystals on the surface of silicon chips. These chips are coated with aluminum and results in a highly reflective surface.
Using LCOS produces much higher quality images than LCD and Plasma displays and is less expensive to deploy in televisions. They are ideal for display panels that are 50 inches and above. Plans of large-scale chip production for flat panel televisions have long been unveiled (2004), but some companies have encountered difficulty in getting the technique down pat.
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED)
Developed by Eastman-Kodak, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) depends on electroluminescence to display a picture. It was previously referred to as OEL, or Organic Electro-Luminescence. Right now, they can be found in small, mobile screens.
Using an organic compound in the emissive layer of an LED, an excited electron and hole pair (called an exciton) is generated in it. When that pair combines, a photon is emitted. The challenge here, however, is to regulate the speed of the electrons and holes such that they meet.
An image is displayed on the screen by simply "printing" the OLED polymers. Aside from flat panel TVs as its applications, OLEDs are also great for display devices and lighting devices. OLEDs do not need a backlight in order to work, which means it consumes far less power than LCDs. This organic technology is also much cheaper because images are simply printed with inkjet methods on suitable surfaces. Image quality is also better because OLED pixels emit light directly, and are also capable of showing true blacks.
Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display (SED)
Did you know that SED has been in development since 1987? This technology uses an array of electron emitters, displaying one pixel each. When excited by a fair amount of voltage, the electrons cross the thin vacuum and rush towards the display. The phenomenon sounds a lot like cathode-ray tube (CRT) technology, and while that seems to be the case, SEDs are a lot slimmer. Combined with the better image quality of CRTs, including their high refresh rates and contrast ratios, not to mention reportedly better power consumption, they seem to be a better choice than LCDs.
Field Emission Display (FED)
Field emission displays or FEDs are also very similar in methodology to CRTs, and are slimmer just like SEDs. The electron gun is replaced by an array of diamond dust coated with carbon nanotubes or lithium, placed behind every phosphor dot, which are lit up when electrons are emitted towards each one of them. It takes only 1-2 millimeters to produce the sort of image that is achieved with a couple of feet required by the CRT.
FEDs are also projected to be cheaper than current LCD and plasma display price tags. Aside from flat panel TVs, field emissions displays can also be applied to screens as small as two inches.
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