LG.Philips LCD Announces Investment in Worlds Largest LCD Fab

[Audioholics]

<FONT face=Arial size=2>Still waiting for LCD prices to fall? Well we all just got one step closer as LG.Philips LCD today announced investment in its seventh generation TFT-LCD fabrication plant, 'P7', which will be the first TFT-LCD fabrication plant in Korea's Paju Display Cluster. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>LG.Philips LCD plans to begin ramping-up 'P7' in the first half of 2006. Initially, LG.Philips LCD will implement a production capacity of 45,000 input sheets per month, gradually ramping-up to full production of 90,000 input sheets per month.</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>'P7' will use 1950 x 2250mm glass substrates in the production of 42-inch and 47-inch wide TFT-LCDs, as well as other large and wide displays used primarily for flat TVs and large monitors. It would appear that as the number of factories, and thus production efficiency, increases, the prices on LCD TVs will continue to drop, allowing LCD to more quickly become the new affordable standard in televisions. When that exact time comes is anyone's guess... I'm putting my money on 2008.</FONT></P>
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[BMXTRIX]

FPD's and projectors both are real pissers of technology. While I get the supply and demand issues, I really don't get how CRT rear projection which has a lot of raw materials and a ton of weight/shipping costs involved, still cost a ton less than projectors and FPDs in general.

I don't think I can wait to much longer... I keep looking at the new 45" Sharp Aquos model... It's purrrty.

 

[Duffinator]

FPD's and projectors both are real pissers of technology. While I get the supply and demand issues, I really don't get how CRT rear projection which has a lot of raw materials and a ton of weight/shipping costs involved, still cost a ton less than projectors and FPDs in general.

I don't think I can wait to much longer... I keep looking at the new 45" Sharp Aquos model... It's purrrty.

I recently visited my local snooty A/V store and they had the new Mitsubishi 62" DLP next to the latest 65" Diamond CRT RPTV in a dark room. Other than brightness the CRT looked as good or better, much to my surprise. I guess I won't be throwing out my Toshiba 56H80 just yet.

And tomorrow I'll be out looking at the 45" Sharp. I've been awaiting it's arrival for almost a year. I've seen the 46" Samsung. The first place I viewed it they had DiscoveryHD on and it looked amazing. The other store had a SD picture signal and it looked horrible. The salesman though the internal scaler was of poor quality. Maybe, or maybe these 1080P sets are not going to be too forgiving on anything sub HD resolutions. I'll report back on the Sharp tomorrow night but it's at the local BB so I'm not expecting it to be setup properly.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Always remember that CRT is the standard by which all other formats still are being measured up to. While not as bright as the new formats in rear projection, CRT provides some of the most subtle black levels of any display device. A very, very serious home theater may still include a front CRT projector with 9" guns on it.

You get a lot more bang for the buck with new technologies. Or... you get a TV that is less than half a foot thick and you never have to mess with it once it is setup.

 

[Duffinator]

My local Good Guys has the Sharp 45" in stock and displayed between two Pioneer Elite plasmas, a Pro-1110HD on the left and a Pro-1120HD above the Sharp. Both of the Elite's are 50". A perfect opportunity for a comparison. I've always been impressed with the Elite Plasmas, truely a great picture. The signal was coming from a Mitshbishi HD loop generator with the output set at 1080i. The Elite's scaled the picture to 720P and the Sharp converted the image into 1080P. The Sharp 37" was in the same area a few sets down the wall.

Black levels- there's a lot of talk about how LCD's don't do black levels as well as Plasmas. I've personally never been able to figure out what the fuss is about. While I do agree the plasmas do have better black levels, with the Sharp's 45" and 37" we are splitting hairs here. The Sharp's are not giving up much, if anything in this regard IMO.

Brightness- I've always noticed the Sharp 37" is brighter than other LCD's or Plasma's of comparable size. The 45" was a shade darker than the Elite's. This could have been part of the setup and I did not get to play with the settings. Usually LCD's are brighter.

Image sharpness- the Sharp was the winner here. No question there is more detail in the picture even though it was not as bright. But you should expect this as you are comparing a 720P set to a 1080P set. Remember, a 1920x1080 set has more than twice the amount of pixels of a 1280x720 one. I've also noticed this with the 37" compared to other Plasma's or LCD's even when they are all at 720P. Curves were rendered smoother on the Sharp as well along with less screen door effect.

Bottom line- if you are looking at a 43" to 50" plasma you owe it to yourself to check the Sharp 45" out. It has an amazing picture and will be ready for either HD or BD DVD in the next year. I can't wait to see an HD DVD picture on a 1080P set like the Sharp.

With all the new LCD capacity coming on line in the next year you should see prices at or below plasma prices inch per inch by this time next year.