Comparison of display technology explained

This is a comparison of various properties of different display technologies.

General characteristics

Display technology	Screen shape	Largest known diagonal		Typical use	Usable in bright room
		(in)	(cm)
	Eidophor front projection	Flat	(limited only by brightness)		TV
	Shadow mask CRT	Spherical curve or flat	42^[1]	107	TV, computer monitor
	Aperture grille CRT	Cylindrical curve or flat	42^[2]	107	TV, computer monitor
	Monochrome CRT	Spherical curve or flat	30^[3]	76	TV, computer monitor, radar display, oscilloscope
	Direct view Charactron CRT	Spherical curve	24	61	Computer monitor, radar display
	CRT self-contained rear-projection	Flat lenticular	80^[4]	203	TV
	CRT front projection	Flat	(limited only by brightness)		TV or presentation
	Plasma display panel (PDP)	Flat	152^[5]	386	TV, computer monitor (In some early "portable" computers. They required too much power for battery-powered laptops)^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
	Direct view LCD	Flat	110^[10]	274	TV, computer monitor
	LCD self-contained rear-projection	Flat lenticular	70^[11]	178	TV
	LCD front-projection	Flat	(limited only by brightness)		TV or presentation
	DLP self-contained rear-projection	Flat lenticular	120^[12]	305	TV
	DLP front-projection	Flat	(limited only by brightness)		TV or presentation
	LCoS self-contained rear-projection	Flat	110^[13]	279	TV
	LCoS front-projection	Flat	(limited only by brightness)		TV or presentation
	Laser self-contained rear projection	Flat lenticular	75^[14]	191	TV
		Flat	279.92^[15]	711	Billboards, TV
		Flat	55^[16]	140	Computer monitor, TV
	FED	Flat			Computer monitor, TV
	EPD (e-paper)	Flat (flexible)			Electronic paper
		Any, but most commonly flat rectangular with or without rounded edges, notch(es) and holes, circular, or curved (flexible)^[17]	88^[18]	223.52	Computer monitor, TV, Mobile phone
	'LED' LCD	Flat rectangular, circular, semi circle	98	249	TV, computer monitor
	'QLED' LCD	Curved or flat	98	249	TV, computer monitor
	Telescopic pixel display
	Ferroelectric LCD
	'mLED' LED	Curved or flat	??	??	Mobile phones, wearable electronics, VR displays, smartwatches, optical instruments, AR displays
	QDLED^[19] ^[20] ^[21] ^[22]
		Flat	1.2^[23]	3	Mobile phone^[24]
	Laser Phosphor Display (LPD)	Flat / Box	196	497.8	Presentation
	Virtual retinal display	Any shape			Experimental, possibly virtual reality	Depends on system

Major technologies are CRT, LCD and its derivatives (Quantum dot display, LED backlit LCD, WLCD, OLCD), Plasma, and OLED and its derivatives (Transparent OLED, PMOLED, AMOLED). An emerging technology is Micro LED. Cancelled and now obsolete technologies are SED and FED.

Temporal characteristics

Different display technologies have vastly different temporal characteristics, leading to perceptual differences of motion, flicker, etc.

The figure shows a sketch of how different technologies present a single white/grey frame. Time and intensity is not to scale. Notice that some have a fixed intensity, while the illuminated period is variable. This is a kind of pulse-width modulation. Others can vary the actual intensity in response to the input signal.

• Single-chip DLPs use a kind of "chromatic multiplexing" in which each color is presented serially. The intensity is varied by modulating the "on" time of each pixel within the time-span of one color. Multi-chip DLPs are not represented in this sketch, but would have a curve identical to the plasma display.
• LCDs have a constant (backlit) image, where the intensity is varied by blocking the light shining through the panel.
• CRTs use an electron beam, scanning the display, flashing a lit image. If interlacing is used, a single full-resolution image results in two "flashes". The physical properties of the phosphor are responsible for the rise and decay curves.
• Plasma displays modulate the "on" time of each sub-pixel, similar to DLP.
• Movie theaters use a mechanical shutter to illuminate the same frame 2 or 3 times, increasing the flicker frequency to make it less perceptible to the human eye.

Research

Researchers announced a display that uses silicon metasurface pixels that do not require polarized light and require half the energy. It employs a transparent conductive oxide as a heater that can quickly change the pixels. The pixels are 100 times thinner than liquid crystal. Response times are under 1 millisecond. They claim that the metasurface array could replace the liquid crystal layer in today's displays, eliminating the need for production technology.^[25]

See also

• Computer monitor
• Large-screen television technology

Notes and References

1. Web site: DEAD MITSUBISHI 40-INCH TV. help!! - ecoustics.com.
2. Web site: Aperture grille CRT. 2011-02-23. 2011-07-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20110716104616/http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KV40XBR800.pdf. dead.
3. Web site: Monochrome CRT. dead. http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091009163303/http://www.earlytelevision.org/dumont_ra119.html. 2009-10-09.
4. Web site: Self-contained Rear Projection CRT. 2007-11-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20081031125634/http://thejournal.com/articles/13021. 2008-10-31. dead.
5. Web site: Panasonic Develops World's Largest 152-Inch Full HD 3D Plasma Display - Headquarters News - Panasonic Newsroom Global. 2010-01-08. 2010-01-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20100110212836/http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/en100107-11/en100107-11.html. dead.
6. Web site: Gas Plasma Screen - Compaq Portable 386. December 19, 2018.
7. Web site: Compaq Portable 386 - Computer - Computing History. www.computinghistory.org.uk.
8. Web site: Toshiba T3100/20 - Computer - Computing History. www.computinghistory.org.uk.
9. Web site: T-5100-Computer Museum. museum.ipsj.or.jp.
10. Web site: Samsung's 110-inch 4K TV to cost US$150,000.
11. Web site: LCD Rear Projection. 2007-03-16. 2012-07-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120717052154/https://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/television/microdisplay/3lcd/release/9365.html. dead.
12. Web site: CES 2007: Optoma's $50k 120-inch Set. Matt. Casamassina. 8 January 2007.
13. Web site: JVC Develops 110-inch.
14. Web site: Mitsubishi Electric LaserVue® - Products . 2009-09-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090825105355/http://laservuetv.com/products.php . 2009-08-25 .
15. Web site: Largest LED 3D TV.
16. Web site: 55-inch SED HDTVs on the way in '08.
17. Web site: CES 2015 LG - Perfect Black, Perfect Color : Only in LG OLED TV. https://web.archive.org/web/20150108122117/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n940egpuK2I&gl=US&hl=en . 2015-01-08 . dead. LG Global. 7 January 2015. YouTube.
18. Web site: LG SIGNATURE Z9 88 inch Class 8K Smart OLED TV w/AI ThinQ® (87.6 Diag) (OLED88Z9PUA). LG USA.
19. Web site: Quantum Dots QDTV Displays from Nanoco Technologies. 2009-05-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20090714024145/http://www.oled-display.net/technology/qdled. 2009-07-14. dead.
20. Web site: Nevada Nanotechnology Center - Research.
21. Web site: LED's Outpower QDLED's. Gabriel. Gache. 10 December 2007 .
22. Web site: Ocean NanoTech research in QDLEDs . 2009-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090429035543/http://www.oceannanotech.com/technologies.html . 2009-04-29 . dead .
23. Web site: Wireless Technology & Innovation - Mobile Technology - Qualcomm. https://web.archive.org/web/20110611074922/http://www.qualcomm.com/common/documents/brochures/MCL1053_Bichrome_1.2_landscape_v2_new.pdf. dead. 2011-06-11.
24. Web site: IMOD. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080309043401/http://www.qualcomm.com/technology/imod/media/pdf/IMOD_Technology_Overview_WP.pdf. dead. 2008-03-09.
25. Web site: Ridden . Paul . 2023-02-23 . Meta-display concept could retire LCD panels in big-screen TVs . 2023-02-23 . New Atlas . en-US.