TESTED AND RATED - Kevin Kelly

PLASMA
LCD
REAR-
PRROJECTION
HIGH-END
PRROOJEECTTORRS
Coming Tech: Organic LED Screens
Press Control-P to print your new television.
Despite their virtues, LCD and plasma panels have
significant vices. LCD has limited viewing angles, plasma
gorges on electricity, and both are expensive to produce.
Switching from these technologies to organic LEDs could
fix all these problems.
The chemicals in OLEDs glow brightly when they receive
a slight electric charge. And screens made of them have as
wide a viewing angle as plasma panels. Now Seiko Epson
has created a method that aims to produce OLED screens
in almost any size at little cost. The companies are using an
inkjet process to deposit the polymers in a precise design
High-Definition TVs Scorecard
Rating
5
4.5 Sharp LC-37G4U $5,500 37 inches 1,366 x 768 21.6 x 43.4 x 3.5 inches, 43 lbs.
4 Sony KDL-42XBR950 $10,000 42 inches 1,366 x 768 27.4 x 53.1 x 4.1 inches, 66.3 lbs.
3.5 Toshiba 32HL84 $3,499 32 inches 1,366 x 768 22.6 x 32.3 x 5 inches, 53 lbs.
3 Samsung LT-P468W $9,999 46 inches 1,920 x 1,080 27.1 x 54.1 x 5.7 inches, 99.2 lbs.
2 BenQ DV3070 $2,995 30 inches 1,280 x 768 20.8 x 36.3 x 8 inches, 35.6 lbs.
4.5
Mitsubishi
WD-52525
$3,999
on a backboard. Prototype displays have been printed
at up to 40 inches.
But it wasn’t as easy as substituting OLED for pigment.
The company had to develop inkjet nozzles controlled by
piezoelectric valves instead of heat, which would damage
the organic compounds.
Seiko Epson is eager to start printing reams of HDTVs by
2007, but it must find a way to make them last longer. While
typical plasma televisions lose half their brightness after
30,000 hours of use, OLEDs fade that much in approximately
2,000 hours. – B.P.
52 inches 1,280 x 720 37.2 x 49.6 x 17.4 inches, 132.4 lbs.
4 V Inc. Vizio RP56 $3,299 56 inches 1,280 x 720 43.1 x 54.4 x 18.9 inches, 130 lbs.
3 JVC HD-52Z575 $4,500 52 inches 1,280 x 720 36 x 49.9 x 16.3 inches, 84 lbs.
3 Optoma RD65 $4,995 65 inches 1,280 x 720 51.7 x 59.5 x 22 inches, 215 lbs.
4
3
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Model
Pioneer
PDP-4340HD
Sharp
XV-Z12000
InFocus
ScreenPlay 7205
Price
$8,500
$12,000
$8,999
Screen Size
(diagonal)
Resolution
Dimensions
(H x W x D / weight)
43 inches 1,024 x 768 25.7 x 44.1 x 3.9 inches, 67.3 lbs.
4 Marantz PD4240D $7,999 42 inches 1,024 x 768 24 x 40 x 3.5 inches, 65 lbs.
4 NEC PX61XM2/S $13,995 61 inches 1,365 x 768 34.6 x 57.9 x 4.7 inches, 134.2 lbs.
3 Fujitsu P50XHA30WS $8,999 50 inches 1,366 x 768 28.7 x 47.8 x 3.9 inches, 99.2 lbs.
2 LG DU-50PZ60/H $7,000 50 inches 1,366 x 768 30.6 x 48.2 x 3.9 inches, 114 lbs.
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Up to 25 feet 1,280 x 720 7 x 18.7 x 16 inches, 20.7 lbs.
3.5 Optoma H77 $8,999 Up to 25 feet 1,280 x 720 5.3 x 16.9 x 12 inches, 16.5 lbs.
Up to 11.5 feet 1,280 x 720 4.3 x 13.8 x 12.8 inches, 9.5 lbs.
Built-In TV Tuners
2 NTSC, 2 ATSC
None
None
None
2 NTSC, ATSC
NTSC
2 NTSC, ATSC
NTSC
2 NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, ATSC
2 NTSC
NTSC
2 NTSC
None
None
None
High-Definition
Inputs
2 HDMI,
3 sets component
DVI,
component
DVI,
component
DVI,
2 sets component
DVI, 2 sets component
HDMI, DVI,
2 sets component
DVI,
2 sets component
DVI, 2 sets component
HDMI, DVI,
2 sets component
HDMI, 2 sets component
HDMI, 2 sets component
DVI, 2 sets component
HDMI,
2 sets component
DVI, component
DVI, 2 sets component
DVI, component
DVI, 2 sets component
VIDEO
HIGH-DEFINITION TVs