LCD Televisions Grew From Monochrome Computer Displays
Liquid crystal displays have been around for a long time, but it was not until recently that LCD televisions have grown in popularity. This display technology was in use in watches, calculators and many smaller applications until it was used for computer monitors. The first ones provided green text of a dark background and were considered the wave of the future when first used by IBM for computer display monitors.
As computer technology developed and color was being used on nearly all computer monitors, the use of LCDs also changed, providing color monitors for computers, which evolved into LCD televisions, especially useful in the ever growing use of digital broadcasts. When the federal government mandated that all programs by broadcast in digital format beginning in 2009, makers of LCD televisions seem to have a leg up on the competition.
However, due to the electronic needs of LCD televisions they were only made with 21-inch screens or smaller. Adding size meant adding electronics to light up the individual display crystals, which would add to the thickness of the flat panel monitors many people had grown accustomed to seeing.
Plasma Monitors Spark Competition For Size
Due to the technology used for plasma televisions they were designed with larger screens, usually a minimum of 25-inches, measured diagonally. Originally, makers of LCD televisions were content to corner the market on smaller screens used as computer monitors, medical and technical equipment monitors. However, as plasma began to make inroads into the home television market, manufacturers began to step up the pursuit of technology to make larger screens for their LCD televisions.
When plasma televisions first hit the market, they were priced out of the range for most consumers, but with the entry of larger LCD televisions the prices of the plasma units fell significantly. Production methods and technological advances helped reduce the manufacturing costs so that today LCD televisions and plasma sets of about the same size are much closer in price.
Today consumers have a choice in digital television devices, but the one thing to remember, especially with all the hype about high definition is that not all wide screen sets, plasma or LCD televisions are true high def. Many are enhanced definition, which are usually slightly cheaper. While the larger screens are inviting to most people, unless they have digital input, their reception quality will be nearly the same as analog broadcasts which are being phased out completely.
