Assembling the Perfect DVD Presentation System: Getting Visual - Buyers Guide

Emedia Professional, Nov, 1999 by Mark Fritz

Many people mistake gas plasma displays for LCD monitors, but LCD manufacturers have so far been unable to scale up LCD screens at affordable prices. Gas plasma monitors also have a distinct viewability advantage over LCD screens. LCD monitors have a very narrow field of view, which is "great for keeping your neighbor in the airplane from reading your screen," quips Bill Coggshall, but not great for making presentations before a spread-out audience. In contrast, gas plasma displays provide a 160-degree viewing angle with very little distortion, which means that even audience members in the very worst seats get as good a view as those in the center seats.

These displays provide a luminescent image that is distinctly different--with more depth, texture, and warmth. Consequently, they've become very popular for use in marketing and advertising, where they are used in well-lit environments such as company lobbies, trade show floors, and even airports--places where ambient light levels would make using a front projector impossible.

Currently, gas plasma monitors top out at screen sizes of about 50 inches and at Extended Graphics Array (XGA) resolutions. The market leader is Fujitsu, though Panasonic, Mitsubishi, NEC, Philips, Pioneer, and Sony are also in the game.

Gas plasma monitors are still very expensive ($8,000 to $20,000), but market analysts like Bill Coggshall predict that prices will plummet as soon as the), start to sell in volume.

"I'm confident that plasma sales will pick up because of home sales," says Coggshall. "People like the sex appeal of plasma. There will be people who will have to have a plasma monitor in their living room no matter what the cost. They will delay fixing up the kitchen or renovating the bathroom in order to buy them."

From a DVD user's point of view, gas plasma displays are great because almost all of them are built to provide an image in 16:9 aspect ratio. Coggshall explains that this is because "almost all of them come from Japan, where HDTV and home theater are more popular than here in the U.S." Ironically, the 16:9 ratio initially inhibited sales in the presentations market where the use of 4:3 video is firmly entrenched, says Coggshall.

Gas Plasma monitors are great for fixed installations, but somewhat problematic for the mobile presenter. With weights between 60 and 120 pounds, they are far lighter than a normal monitor, but still not exactly featherweight. Worse, they are fragile. "These things are essentially a big piece of glass," says Coggshall. He would definitely not recommend their use to a mobile presenter.

BRINGING UP THE REAR

Many presenters get annoyed by front projection because they have to worry about blocking the light if they move in front of the screen. Rear-screen projection gives them more freedom to move about as they speak.

Rear-screen projectors share some of the benefits of gas plasma displays, and, in fact, are pretty much in competition. Market analysts agree that gas plasma will eventually overtake and replace rear-screen projectors, but for now, they offer a viable alternative to gas plasma. Both types of displays excel in high-ambient light locales.