mainstream lcd displays supplier

STONE Technologies is a proud manufacturer of superior quality TFT LCD modules and LCD screens. The company also provides intelligent HMI solutions that perfectly fit in with its excellent hardware offerings.

STONE TFT LCD modules come with a microcontroller unit that has a 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU. Such a module can easily be transformed into an HMI screen. Simple hexadecimal instructions can be used to control the module through the UART port. Furthermore, you can seamlessly develop STONE TFT LCD color user interface modules and add touch control, features to them.

Becoming a reputable TFT LCD manufacturer is no piece of cake. It requires a company to pay attention to detail, have excellent manufacturing processes, the right TFT display technology, and have a consumer mindset.

Now, we list down 10 of the best famous LCD manufacturers globally. We’ll also explore why they became among the top 10 LCD display Manufacturers in the world.

LG Display is a leading manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) panels, OLED, and flexible displays.LG Display began developing TFT-LCD in 1987 and currently offers Display panels in a variety of sizes and specifications using different cutting-edge technologies (IPS, OLED, and flexible technology).

With innovative and differentiated technologies, QINNOOptoelectronics provides advanced display integration solutions, including 4K2K ultra-high resolution, 3D naked eye, IGZO, LTPS, AMOLED, OLED, and touch solutions. Qinnooptoelectronics sets specifications and leads the market. A wide range of product line is across all kinds of TFT LCD panel modules, touch modules, for example, TV panel, desktop and laptop computer monitor with panels, small and medium scale “panels, medical, automotive, etc., the supply of cutting-edge information and consumer electronics customers around the world, for the world TFT – LCD (thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) leading manufacturers.

AU Optronics Co., LTD., formerly AU Optronics Corporation, was founded in August 1996. It changed its name to AU Optronics after its merger with UNIOPtronics in 2001. Through two mergers, AU has been able to have a full range of generations of production lines for panels of all sizes.Au Optronics is a TFT-LCD design, manufacturing, and r&d company. Since 2008, au Optronics has entered the green energy industry, providing customers with high-efficiency solar energy solutions.

Sharp has been called the “father of LCD panels”.Since its founding in 1912, Sharp developed the world’s first calculator and LIQUID crystal display, represented by the living pencil, which was invented as the company name. At the same time, Sharp is actively expanding into new areas to improve people’s living standards and social progress. Made a contribution.

BYD IT products and businesses mainly include rechargeable batteries, plastic mechanism parts, metal parts, hardware electronic products, cell phone keys, microelectronics products, LCD modules, optoelectronics products, flexible circuit boards, chargers, connectors, uninterruptible power supplies, DC power supplies, solar products, cell phone decoration, cell phone ODM, cell phone testing, cell phone assembly business, notebook computer ODM, testing and manufacturing and assembly business, etc.

From the introduction of Japan’s original washing machines, refrigerators, and other household appliances, to the world’s first laptop, the first 16MB flash memory, the world’s smallest 0.85-inch HDDs; Create advanced HDDVD technology; Toshiba created many “world firsts” in the research and manufacture of new SED displays and contributed to changing people’s lives through constant technological innovation.

Tianma microelectronics co., LTD., founded in 1983, the company focus on smartphones, tablets, represented by high order laptop display market of consumer goods and automotive, medical, POS, HMI, etc., represented by professional display market, and actively layout smart home, intelligent wear, AR/VR, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other emerging markets, to provide customers with the best product experience.IN terms of technology, the company has independently mastered leading technologies such as LTPS-TFT, AMOLED, flexible display, Oxide-TFT, 3D display, transparent display, and in-cell/on-cell integrated touch control. TFT-LCD key Materials and Technologies National Engineering Laboratory, national enterprise Technology Center, post-doctoral mobile workstation, and undertake national Development and Reform Commission, The Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and other major national thematic projects. The company’s long-term accumulation and continuous investment in advanced technology lay the foundation for innovation and development in the field of application.

Asia has long dominated the display module TFT LCD manufacturers’ scene. After all, most major display module manufacturers can be found in countries like China, South Korea, Japan, and India.

In this post, we’ll list down 7 best display module TFT LCD manufacturers in the USA. We’ll see why these companies deserve recognition as top players in the American display module industry.

STONE Technologies is a leading display module TFT LCD manufacturer in the world. The company is based in Beijing, China, and has been in operations since 2010. STONE quickly grew to become one of the most trusted display module manufacturers in 14 years.

Now, let’s move on to the list of the best display module manufacturers in the USA. These companies are your best picks if you need to find a display module TFT LCD manufacturer based in the United States:

Planar Systems is a digital display company headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon. It specializes in providing digital display solutions such as LCD video walls and large format LCD displays.

Planar’s manufacturing facilities are located in Finland, France, and North America. Specifically, large-format displays are manufactured and assembled in Albi, France.

Microtips Technology is a global electronics manufacturer based in Orlando, Florida. The company was established in 1990 and has grown into a strong fixture in the LCD industry.

What makes Microtips a great display module TFT LCD manufacturer in the USA lies in its close ties with all its customers. It does so by establishing a good rapport with its clients starting from the initial product discussions. Microtips manages to keep this exceptional rapport throughout the entire client relationship by:

Displaytech is an American display module TFT LCD manufacturer headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It was founded in 1989 and is part of several companies under the Seacomp group. The company specializes in manufacturing small to medium-sized LCD modules for various devices across all possible industries.

The company also manufactures embedded TFT devices, interface boards, and LCD development boards. Also, Displaytech offers design services for embedded products, display-based PCB assemblies, and turnkey products.

Displaytech makes it easy for clients to create their own customized LCD modules. There is a feature called Design Your Custom LCD Panel found on their site. Clients simply need to input their specifications such as their desired dimensions, LCD configuration, attributes, connector type, operating and storage temperature, and other pertinent information. Clients can then submit this form to Displaytech to get feedback, suggestions, and quotes.

A vast product range, good customization options, and responsive customer service – all these factors make Displaytech among the leading LCD manufacturers in the USA.

Products that Phoenix Display offers include standard, semi-custom, and fully-customized LCD modules. Specifically, these products comprise Phoenix Display’s offerings:

Clients flock to Phoenix Display because of their decades-long experience in the display manufacturing field. The company also combines its technical expertise with its competitive manufacturing capabilities to produce the best possible LCD products for its clients.

True Vision Displays is an American display module TFT LCD manufacturing company located at Cerritos, California. It specializes in LCD display solutions for special applications in modern industries. Most of their clients come from highly-demanding fields such as aerospace, defense, medical, and financial industries.

The company produces several types of TFT LCD products. Most of them are industrial-grade and comes in various resolution types such as VGA, QVGA, XGA, and SXGA. Clients may also select product enclosures for these modules.

All products feature high-bright LCD systems that come from the company’s proprietary low-power LED backlight technology. The modules and screens also come in ruggedized forms perfect for highly-demanding outdoor industrial use.

LXD Incorporated is among the earliest LCD manufacturers in the world. The company was founded in 1968 by James Fergason under the name International Liquid Xtal Company (ILIXCO). Its first headquarters was in Kent, Ohio. At present, LXD is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

We’ve listed the top 7 display module TFT LCD manufacturers in the USA. All these companies may not be as well-known as other Asian manufacturers are, but they are equally competent and can deliver high-quality display products according to the client’s specifications. Contact any of them if you need a US-based manufacturer to service your display solutions needs.

We also briefly touched on STONE Technologies, another excellent LCD module manufacturer based in China. Consider partnering with STONE if you want top-of-the-line smart LCD products and you’re not necessarily looking for a US-based manufacturer. STONE will surely provide the right display solution for your needs anywhere you are on the globe.

For most mainstream LCD sizes, we have a solid and continuous relationship with upstream panel and IC manufacturers. And our main employees are from LCD upstream companies and have the most extensive resource information and personal connections in the industry. So we can guarantee the supply.

4K Technology (also known in parts of Asia as 4K2K) is the latest development in extra sharp displays, usually TFT LCDs. Its name is derived from the resolution: roughly 4,000 by 2,000 pixels. To put that into perspective, 4K crams the equivalent of four 1080p high resolution panels, or about a quarter of the pixel density of an IMAX movie, into one display.

With the rapid development of my country’s display industry, the global display industry structure has undergone major changes. At present, the LCD industry is mainly concentrated in China, Japan, and South Korea. With the release of the new production capacity of mainland panel manufacturers, mainland China will become the world’s largest LCD production area shortly. So, what are the top ten LCD manufacturers in the world, and how do they rank?

LG Display (Chinese name is LG Display) is currently the world’s No. 1 LCD panel manufacturer, affiliated to LG Group, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, with R&D, production, and trading institutions in China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States and Europe.

Innolux is a professional TFT-LCD panel manufacturing company founded by Foxconn Technology Group in 2003. The factory is located in Shenzhen Longhua Foxconn Technology Park, with an initial investment of RMB 10 billion. Innolux has a strong display technology research and development team, coupled with Foxconn’s strong manufacturing capabilities, and effectively exerts the benefits of vertical integration, which will make a significant contribution to improving the level of the world’s flat-panel display industry.

Innolux conducts production and sales operations in a one-stop manner and provides overall solutions for group system customers. Innolux attaches great importance to the research and development of new products. Star products such as mobile phones, portable and car-mounted DVDs, digital cameras, game consoles, and PDA LCD screens have been put into mass production, and they have quickly seized the market to win market opportunities. Several patents have been obtained.

AU Optronics was formerly known as Daqi Technology and was established in August 1996. In 2001, it merged with Lianyou Optoelectronics and changed its name to AU Optronics. In 2006, it acquired Guanghui Electronics again. After the merger, AUO has a complete production line for all generations of large, medium, and small LCD panels. AU Optronics is also the world’s first TFT-LCD design, manufacturing, and R&D company to be publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). AU Optronics took the lead in introducing an energy management platform and was the first manufacturer in the world to obtain ISO50001 energy management system certification and ISO14045 eco-efficiency assessment product system verification, and was selected as the Dow Jones Sustainability World in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012. Index constituent stocks set an important milestone for the industry.

At present, BOE’s shipments in notebook LCD screens, flat-panel LCD screens, mobile phone LCD screens, and other fields have reached the world’s first place. Its successful entry into Apple’s supply chain will become the world’s top three LCD panel manufacturers soon.

Sharp is known as the “Father of LCD Panels.” Since its establishment in 1912, Sharp Corporation has developed the world’s first calculator and liquid crystal display, represented by the invention of the live pencil, which is the origin of the current company’s name. At the same time, Sharp is actively expanding into new areas to improve the living standards of human beings and society. Contribute to progress.

Toshiba is a well-known multinational enterprise group with a history of 130 years, with a wide range of business, involving social infrastructure construction, household appliances, digital products, electronic components, and other business fields, covering almost all aspects of production and life. Toshiba has the largest R&D institution in Japan. Through unremitting innovation and development, Toshiba has always been at the forefront of world science and technology. From launching Japan’s first washing machines, refrigerators, and other household appliances, to developing the world’s first notebook computer, the first 16MB flash memory, the world’s smallest 0.85-inch HDD; creating advanced HDDVD technology; researching and manufacturing new SED displays, Toshiba has created many “world firsts” and has contributed to changing people’s lives through continuous technological innovation. Recently, Toshiba is gradually withdrawing from the home appliances and electronic product markets and developing into industries with higher technological content.

The company independently masters leading technologies including LTPS-TFT, AMOLED, flexible display, Oxide-TFT, 3D display, transparent display, and IN-CELL/ON-CELL integrated touch control. The company has a national engineering laboratory for TFT-LCD key materials and technology, a national-level enterprise technology center, a post-doctoral mobile workstation, and undertakes many major national-level special projects such as the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The company’s strong technology and scientific research capabilities have become the cornerstone of the company’s sustainable development.

Distributor of component LCDs for equipment which provide high-contrast ratio, color saturation, luminance and performance enhancements such as advanced wide viewing (AWV) for true color fidelity, super-high brightness (SHB) and wide temperature range. Focus on industrial, instrumentation, hand-helds, medical and other low-to-medium volume markets. High-bright LED backlights for outdoor use. LVDS interfaces decrease EMI. Factory installed touch screen solutions. 3.5" to 12.1" QVGA, HVGA, VGA, WVGA, SVGA, XGA, WXGA. Also distributes other related products including LED drivers, lamps, indicators, LED assemblies, segment displays, LED mounts, LEDs, and light pipes. Distributor of electronic components, hardware and fasteners and provides design/value engineering support, fulfillment strategies, procurement services and transactional models to meet specific needs and priorities.

Over the years, with the wider and wider application of LCD screens, more and more brand products have been favored by the people. Together, more and more LCD manufacturers have emerged. Of course, the most popular brands in China are BOE, INNOLUX, CHIMEI, AUO, CSOT, etc. So, Which is the best brand of

It is better to say who is more professional than good or bad. In fact, the above mentioned LCD screen manufacturers are very professional, and the quality is guaranteed. But the most popular must be BOE and INNOLUX, these two panel manufacturers are also obvious to all. They all have multiple distributors, but not every distributor has the best size and price.

SZ XIANHENG TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. is the agent of AUO, BOE, INNOLUX, SHARP, IVO and Mitsubishi, and other domestic and foreign well-known brands of small and medium-sized LCD display; specializing in customized production of touch screen display, LCD and industrial touch display and other high-tech products. According to the needs of customers, we can provide various LCD products: high-brightness LCD screen, LCD driver board, touch screen, booster board, all kinds of LCD special wires, etc. to produce industrial displays.

What brand of LCD screen is good? If you choose BOE, INNOLUX, CHIMEI, AUO or CSOT, you can buy them from us. 18.5 inch LCD screen, 21.5 inch LCD screen and other small and medium size, our price is the lowest in the industry.

A wide variety of sharp lcd panel manufacturers options are available to you, such as original manufacturer, odm and agency.You can also choose from tft, ips and standard sharp lcd panel manufacturers,

OLED means Organic Light Emitting Diode, it is a relatively newer technology compared with LCD, VFD or plasma displays. It has the potential to replace current LCD and LED televisions, monitors, and cell phone displays. It is structurally more complex than traditional LEDs and utilizes organic, carbon-based semiconductor materials for the emission region rather than silicon or germanium.

An OLED can be made much thinner than any known LCD technology, not only the material itself but the lack of any needed backlight, since LEDs emit their light while liquid crystals only manipulate the passage of light. The potential for flexible displays, less energy usage, higher contrast and refresh rates, and cheaper displays is driving many companies to make OLEDs mainstream.

Fast Response Speed: OLED display response times are around 1,000 times faster than LCD displays; it is around 10 0 μs (0.01 ms). While LCD displays perform poorly at low temperature which has no effect on OLED display performance.

Greater Contrast: LCD displays need backlight to be seen which makes some light leaking to cause losing contrast, while OLED displays are true black for background to create superior contrast.

Wider Viewing Angles: LCD displays have genetic drawback of using rubbing process in manufacturing which makes the viewing angle narrower, while OLED displays don’t have such an issue.

Thinner and Lighter in Weight: LCD displays need backlight to light up. The backlight has light guide, diffuser, reflector, BEF, PCB for LED chips etc. which LCD displays difficult to be very thin. OLED screen panel emits light itself which makes it lighter and thinner.

Power Consumption: Again, an LCD screen needs backlight to make it work. The backlight has to light the whole LCD panel even in the sleep mode or only a small fraction of the display to be used, such as showing only time on the cell. Phone. Even with quantum dots backlight technology development, it is still very expensive to use, while OLED can just display part of the pixels selectively to save power.

Orient Display has several standard OLED displays products for customer to buy OLED display modules to have hands on experience. They range from 0.96”, 1.27”, 1.45”, 1.54”, 1.69”, 2.23”, 3.12” with resolution 128×32, 128×64, 128×96, 128×128, 160×128, 256×64. The interfaces have the options of 6800,8080 parallel, 3 or 4 wire SPI, I2C and RGB interface. Our standard OLED products colors have RGB and white, but we have a lot of other sizes, resolutions and colors to choose available either as standard or custom OLED panel display solutions. Orient Display doesn’t have touch panel available in our standard OLED display products but custom made RTP or CTP are welcome and we also provide integration solution for our customers.

Touch panels have been a much better human machine interface which become widely popular. Orient Display has been investing heavy for capacitive touch screen sensor manufacturing capacity and LCD module production ability. With Orient huge production capacity, top notch quality, and competitive pricing, Orient has been working with top OLED panel manufacturers to provide the best touch display technology in the market.

In 2019, the mass production capacity of displays below P0.9 is still relatively limited. On the one hand, the market demand is relatively limited, and the supporting capacity of the industrial chain is also insufficient.

However, due to price factors, from the current small-pitch market, the product market of P0.9 is still relatively concentrated in some conferences, command and monitoring room projects of the government or large state-owned enterprises, and P1.2-P1.5 are still the mainstream of the small-pitch market. .

Because the market above 200 inches is already occupied by traditional P1.2~2.5mm small-pitch LED displays, and the slightly smaller size is mainly 98-inch LCD TV products, the current minimum price is less than 3,000 USD, and the display effect is also relatively good. The fine pitch LED display is difficult to compete with LCD in 98-inch market.

However, the display size of the LCD screen is difficult to break through the 100-inch limit. The traditional competitors for 100-200-inch displays are mainly projection displays—however, fine-pitch LED large screens have better visual performance under brighter “light conditions.”

The P0.7 indicator can provide 4K resolution on a 120-inch+, which is exactly the resolution of the current mainstream audio-visual applications and is larger than a 98-inch LCD.

In this regard, an analogy is that the current pixel pitch of mainstream LCD TVs is between 0.3 and 0.57 mm. It can be seen that the small-pitch LED screen spacing of P0.7 mm can better connect the application experience of LCD monitors, and provide differentiated products in larger sizes of 100-200 inches.

Therefore, from the market demand for size and resolution, it can be seen that P0.7 will become the next-generation mainstream indicator for micro-pitch LED screens.

The industry expects that in the next two years, the upstream industry chain of LED displays including mini LED chips, etc., will be greatly improved, and the level of product technology and manufacturing process will also be significantly improved. The industry market is facing a round Possibility of price reduction. This is also a “favorable time” for the layout of a new generation of “P0.7 pitch” products.

This is because the P0.7mm must be a high-end display, and it is those customers who demand performance as the priority. This is just like any generation of small-pitch LED products that are “cut into the high-end market” and quickly gain market recognition. From the perspective of cost, it is not very difficult for P0.7 displays to start expanding in the high-end market at the beginning.

In addition, in the micro-pitch LED display market between 100-200 inches, small-pitch LED screen companies also need to face the challenges of competition from companies that use traditional LCD commercial large screens as their products.

3CINNODisplay is a leading custom-solution-based led display manufacturer located in Shenzhen, the developing and manufacturing center of high-end led displays.

LCD displays use a relatively new technology, but all of the early teething problems have long been worked out and the prices of LCD displays have fallen to the point that they are now mainstream products. A good LCD display, such as the ViewSonic VP191 19" model shown in Figure 11-2, provides top-notch image quality in a compact package. Although traditional CRTs have advantages of their own, most people who experience the bright, contrasty image of a good LCD display will never return to using a CRT monitor.

If you convert from a standard CRT display to a flat-screen CRT display or (particularly) an LCD display, you may notice an odd effect. Your eye and brain become used to seeing the curved surface of the old display as flat. The new display, which truly is flat, looks concave! Straight lines appear to bow inward, particularly if you work close to the display. The effect is so convincing that Robert actually held a straight-edge up to his new LCD display. Sure enough, the "bent" lines were straight. Don"t worry, though. The optical illusion disappears after only a couple hours" use.

CRT monitors were the dominant PC display technology until recently, but that has changed. For displays bundled with new PCs, LCDs exceeded CRTs in popularity by late 2002. By 2005, LCDs had also begun to outsell CRTs in retail channels. Lower cost and other advantages of CRTs ensure that they"ll remain available for years to come, but the emphasis has definitely shifted to LCDs.

Unlike CRT monitors, which have a maximum resolution but can easily be run at lower resolutions, LCDs are designed to operate at one resolution, called the native resolution. You can run an LCD at lower than native resolution, but that results in either the image occupying only part of the screen at full image quality or, via pixel extrapolation, the image occupying the full screen area but with greatly reduced image quality.

LCDs are available in analog-only, digital/analog hybrid, and digital-only interfaces. Using an analog interface requires converting the video signal from digital to analog inside the PC and then from analog to digital inside the monitor, which reduces image quality, particularly at higher resolutions. Synchronization problems occur frequently with analog interfaces, and can cause various undesirable display problems. Finally, analog interfaces are inherently noisier than digital interfaces, which causes subtle variations in display quality that can be quite disconcerting.

Whereas CRT monitors require high vertical refresh rates to ensure stable images, LCDs, because of their differing display technology, can use much lower refresh rates. For example, at 1280x1024 resolution on a CRT monitor, you"ll probably want to use an 85 Hz or higher refresh rate for good image quality. At the same resolution on an LCD, 60 Hz is a perfectly adequate refresh rate. In fact, on LCDs, a lower refresh rate often provides a better image than a higher refresh rate.

Unlike CRT monitors, whose phosphor-based pixels respond essentially instantaneously to the electron beam, LCD panels use transistors, which require time to turn on or turn off. That means there is a measurable lag between when a transistor is switched on or off and when the associated pixel changes to the proper state. That lag, called rise time for when the transistor is switched on and fall time for when it is switched off, results in a corresponding lag in image display.

Fast LCD response time is a Good Thing. Fast response means smoother scrolling and no ghosting or smearing, even when you view fast-motion video. Unfortunately, there"s no standard way to measure or specify response time, so different LCD makers use different methods. That means you can"t necessarily compare the response time specified by one LCD maker directly with that specified by another. (Actually, it"s worse than that; you can"t necessarily compare response times for two different models made by the same company.)

When LCDs first appeared, most makers specified rise-and-fall response in milliseconds (ms), the time required for a pixel to change from black to white (rise time) and then from white to black (fall time), also called the black-white-black (bwb) response. Nowadays, in addition to or instead of bwb, many LCD makers specify white-black-white (wbw) response and/or gray-to-gray (gtg) response, the time required to go from one level of gray to another.

It is not safe to make assumptions about one type of response time based on another type. For example, one LCD may have response times of 20 ms bwb and 8 ms gtg, while another model from the same manufacturer may have response times of 16 ms bwb and 12 ms gtg. So, is the second LCD slower or faster than the first? It depends on which numbers you decide to use. Advertisers use the fastest numbers available. Count on it.

LCDs are brighter than CRTs. A typical CRT has brightness of about 100 candelas/square meter, a unit of measurement called a nit. (Some displays are rated in foot Lamberts (fL); one fL equals about 3.43 nits). A typical LCD is rated at 250 to 350 nits, roughly three times as bright as a typical CRT. CRTs dim as they age, although a brightness control with enough range at the upper end can often be used to set an old CRT to near original brightness. The CCRTs used to backlight LCDs also dim as they age, but generally fail completely before reduced brightness becomes a major issue.

Contrast measures the difference in luminance between the brightest and dimmest portions of an image, and is expressed as a ratio. The ability to display a high-contrast image is an important aspect of image quality, particularly for text. An average CRT may have a contrast ratio of 200:1, and a superb CRT 250:1. An inexpensive LCD may have a contrast ratio of 400:1, and a superb LCD 1,000:1. In other words, even an inexpensive LCD may have higher contrast than an excellent CRT.

Even good flat-screen CRTs are subject to objectionable reflections when used in bright environments, such as having the screen facing a window. Good LCDs are much superior in this respect. Short of direct sunlight impinging on the screen, a good LCD provides excellent images under any lighting conditions.

A typical CRT is about as deep as its nominal screen size. For example, a 19" CRT may be 19" from front to back. Large CRTs may be difficult to fit physically in the available space. Conversely, LCDs are quite shallow. The panel itself typically ranges from 1.5" to 3" deep, and even with the base most LCDs are no more than 7" to 8" deep. Also, where a large CRT may weigh 50 to 100 pounds or more, even large LCDs are quite light. A typical 17" LCD might weigh 10 pounds, and even a 23" unit may weigh less than 20 pounds. That small size and weight means that it"s possible to desk- or wall-mount an LCD with relatively inexpensive mounting hardware, compared to the large, heavy, expensive mounting hardware needed for CRTs.

Stated LCD display sizes are accurate. For example, a 19" LCD has a display area that actually measures 19" diagonally. CRT sizes, on the other hand, are nominal because they specify the diagonal measurement of the entire CRT, part of which is covered by the bezel. For example, a nominal 19" CRT might have a display area that actually measures 18.1" diagonally. A couple of lawsuits several years ago convinced CRT makers to begin stating the usable size of their CRTs. This is stated as VIS (viewable image size or visible image size), and is invariably an inch or so smaller than the nominal size.

This VIS issue has given rise to the belief that a 15" LCD is equivalent to a 17" CRT, a 17" LCD to a 19" CRT, and so on. In fact, that"s not true. The image size of a typical 17" CRT is an inch or so larger than that of a 15" LCD, as is the image size of a 19" CRT relative to a 17" LCD.

Depending on size and other factors, a typical CRT consumes 100 to 160 watts while operating, while an LCD consumes only a quarter to a half as much power. Using an LCD reduces your electricity bill directly by consuming less power and indirectly by reducing the heating load on your air conditioning during hot weather.

Current LCDs are available in analog-only, digital-only, and models with both analog and digital inputs. Analog input is acceptable for 15" (1024x768) models, but for 17" (1280x1024) models analog video noise becomes an issue. At that screen size and resolution, analog noise isn"t immediately obvious to most people, but if you use the display for long periods the difference between using a display with a clean digital signal and one with a noisy analog signal will affect you on almost a subconscious level. For a 19" (1280x1024) LCD, we regard a digital signal as extremely desirable but not absolutely essential. For a larger display or above 1280x1024, we wouldn"t consider using analog signaling.

Insist on true 24-bit color support, which may be described as support for 16.7 million colors. Most current LCDs support 24-bit color, allocating one full byte to each of the three primary colors, which allows 256 shades of each color and a total of 16.7 million colors to be displayed. Many early LCDs and some inexpensive current models support only six bits per color, for a total of 18-bit color. These models use extrapolation to simulate full 24-bit color support, which results in poor color quality. If an LCD is advertised as "24-bit compatible," that"s good reason to look elsewhere. Oddly, many LCDs that do support true 24-bit color don"t bother to mention it in their spec sheets, while many that support only 18-bit color trumpet the fact that they are "24-bit compatible."

Most LCD makers produce three or more series of LCDs. Entry-level models are often analog-only, even in 19" and 21" sizes, and have slow response times. Midrange models usually accept analog or digital inputs, and generally have response times fast enough for anything except 3D gaming and similarly demanding uses. The best models may be analog/digital hybrids or digital-only, and have very fast response times. Choose an entry-level model only if you are certain that you will never use the display for anything more than word processing, web browsing, and similarly undemanding tasks. If you need a true CRT-replacement display, choose a midrange or higher model with a digital interface and the fastest response time you are willing to pay for.

Decide what panel size and resolution is right for you. Keep in mind that when you choose a specific LCD model, you are also effectively choosing the resolution that you will always use on that display.

Buy the LCD locally if possible. Whether or not you buy locally, insist on a no-questions-asked return policy. LCDs are more variable than CRT monitors, both in terms of unit-to-unit variation and in terms of usability with a particular graphics adapter. This is particularly important if you are using an analog interface. Some analog LCDs simply don"t play nice with some analog graphics adapters. Also, LCDs vary from unit to unit in how many defective pixels they have and where those are located. You might prefer a unit with five defective pixels near the edges and corners rather than a unit with only one or two defective pixels located near the center of the screen.

If you buy locally, ask the store to endorse the manufacturer"s warranty that is, to agree that if the LCD fails you can bring it back to the store for a replacement rather than dealing with the hassles of returning the LCD to the maker.

If possible, test the exact LCD you plan to buy (not a floor sample) before you buy it. Ideally, and particularly if you will use the analog interface, you should test the LCD with your own system, or at least with a system that has a graphics adapter identical to the one you plan to use. We"d go to some extremes to do this, including carrying our desktop system down to the local store. But if that isn"t possible for some reason, still insist on seeing the actual LCD you plan to buy running. That way, you can at least determine if there are defective pixels in locations that bother you. Also, use a neutral gray screen with no image to verify that the backlight evenly illuminates the entire screen. Some variation is unavoidable, but one or more corners should not be especially darker than the rest of the display, nor should there be any obvious "hot" spots.

Recommended Brands: Our opinion, confirmed by our readers and colleagues, is that NEC-Mitsubishi, Samsung, Sony, and ViewSonic make the best LCDs available. Their LCDs particularly their midrange and better models provide excellent image quality and are quite reliable. You"re likely to be happy with an LCD from any of these manufacturers.

Stick with good name brands and buy a midrange or higher model from within that name brand. That doesn"t guarantee that you"ll get a good LCD, but it does greatly increase your chances. The LCD market is extremely competitive. If two similar models differ greatly in price, the cheaper one likely has significantly worse specs. If the specs appear similar, the maker of the cheaper model has cut corners somewhere, whether in component quality, construction quality, or warranty policies.