Monday, July 14, 2003		Guest Speak

Slim is in
Sonal Anand

FROM being a part of a businessman’s most prized possession to being a pretty face in a luxury hotel, flat panel monitors are creating ripples in the industry.

In keeping with the international trends – the Indian customer today realises that the most important part of a PC is his monitor. It is the monitor through which the user interfaces with the PC. That is the reason why TFT LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) monitors are getting popular in the market. When a customer goes to buy a PC his major focus is on display.

This year should see more feature-rich monitors being positioned as home TV and computer monitor products. TFT LCD is being explored now as people have the purchasing power and these are being used in various verticals like banks, financial institutions, stockbrokers, hotels, and corporate house. Stating an example, one of the primary reasons that TFT LCD monitors are in demand in the medical systems market is that they virtually produce no radiation compared to conventional CRT’s. Many medical environments cannot use a CRT since they have a direct and negative impact with radiology used in many medical processes.

There is digital convergence that is taking place – of PC and the monitor. By the very nature of the technologies – there is a convergence of TV technology into the PC technology with the launch of TV monitors — devices that can work as a PC and also as a standalone TV.

The PC is now getting into the living rooms and it is not just an item of utility but a technology that adds to the aesthetics. With the monitor as the only visible part of the PC (the CPU is now going under the desk) – the customer is now asking for technology and aesthetic innovations. This has directly led to a spurt in the demand of TFT LCD monitors and those monitors that look different. The simple looking ivory colour box is now getting more colourful acquiring the shades of black, silver and even fluorescent blue!

Despite their relatively high initial cost when compared to conventional CRT monitors, TFT LCD monitors are getting popular day by day. The key attributes driving the customer to TFT LCD monitors include space saving by over 75 per cent, zero radiation and of course, the trendy looks. Add to that the savings in energy costs due to the decrease in power consumption and you can see why LCD monitors are high up on a lot of people’s wish list. No wonder it has become a symbol of style and authority.

With the burgeoning call centre industry in India – there is a huge growth envisaged on TFT LCDs. Manpower attention is a big problem in call centres. Individuals perform tasks up to 50 per cent quicker on a LCD monitor. Users are also 10 per cent more accurate when using larger screens. This increases productivity. In fact, 19" TFTs is now becoming a norm at all international call centres. This is due to the fact that in a typical call centre application – the user needs to see maximum information on a single screen, which is enabled very well on a 19" where two A4-sized sheets can be viewed together.

The future of this display lies in technologies like OLED (organic light emitting display) and FED (field emission display). OLED is brighter and uses less power because it needs no backlight. That’s a future technology. Now, it’s used in hand phones or PDAs.