The flat screen itself is, except in laptops, still regarded as an investment
item. People are unwilling to buy flat until their existing CRT expires.
For reliability at present LCDs have the edge over plasma for small screens
but in the giant screen TV market in particular Plasma is the only option.
A 60- inch LG television is currently retailing at £15 000 which is
slightly out of the price range of the average consumer but certainly is
a very desirable item. The future of the flat screen is probably going to
be based on the LCD for at least another few years until emissive displays
reach their
full potential, both in size and reliability. Unless these factors are significantly
more favourable than those of current flat screen technology there may be
an unwillingness to switch to these materials. If a good performance is
seen then obviously organics will win out due to cost and ease of manufacture.
I feel that by the end of the decade the future of plastic screens will
have been decided one way or another.
The possibility of roll-up flexible screens does not, to my mind, prove
to be as revolutionary as the switch to plastic screens. There may be a
market for "portable posters" for business applications but to
gain significant advantage the circuitry of computers will have to become
minute as simply using a roll up screen will be nullified by having to carry
around a laptop as well. These posters would also be too expensive for the
other suggested us for advertising as vandalism and theft would obviously
occur.
The future is undoubtedly going to be flat. It is merely a question of how flatness will be delivered.