In the latest roundup of visual impact screens:
LCD – most of its traditional drawbacks have been eliminated from LCD screens they are only 50 percent evolved in picture quality and other attributes. LCD’s continued improvements will O.L.E.D. screens an even tougher sell in the marketplace.
Low Power Displays – such as those on Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and other ebook readers are preduced by E-Ink. These screens are designed for extremely low-power, non-illuminated, grayscale displays . Currently they are working on color versions, which currently are being tested, but show rather dull, faded colors.
O.L.E.D. pronounced “OH-led.” stands for organic light-emitting diode as currently found on the $2,500, 11-inch Sony XEL-1. O.L.E.D. is still years away from catching up to plasma or LCD screen size and you won’t see a reasonably priced 32” O.L.E.D. TV screen on the market until 2012 at the earliest.
Pocket pico projectors – can hook up your iPod to watch movies on a much bigger personal “screen,” or load PowerPoint slides for instant presentations on any wall. 3M’s original pico projector is now in 2G and much improved over 1G. There are also working prototypes of a cellphone with pico projector built in.
Laser-based projection TV screens – such as Mitsubishi’s LaserVue series reproduce a much larger range of color than plasma or LCD with brightness greater than LCD, and blacks that are super-black. For the green supporters, laser TV’s use about a quarter as much power as plasma or LCD. These are currently very expensive with Mistubishi’s first model, the L65A90, priced at around $7,000. These are 10” deep projection TV sets, that cannot be hung one on the wall.