I just completed reading a series of papers on designing displays written for engineers and designers of displays. In the papers, which were written by different experts from different countries, it was made extremely clear that nearly all of the limitations LCD technology has always had are still present. While all of the authors admitted LCD has advanced dramatically over the past 10 years, they were very quick to point out all of the inherent flaws with the technology.
Those flaws include:
- Ghosting from realized pixel refresh rates being low and lagging.
- Color accuracy
- Inability to produce accurate black levels
- Off axis viewing limitations
- Blurring of images with fast moving content (sports)
While most of these issues have been deemed acceptable by consumers they are becoming a real issue again now that 3D TV is hitting the market.
In a couple of the articles references were made to studies performed where average users found nearly all LCD TVs severely lacking when attempting to produce 3D content, some were so bad viewers said they had lost all interest in 3D at home. Since 3D TV at home requires the isolation of the frame images between the left and right eyes, the real refresh rate limitations of LCD are causing ghosting of the 3D image, especially with the way foreground object which is almost always the center of attention in 3D content. This can cause serious viewer fatigue and headaches.
In the same tests, Plasma and OLED performed perfectly since they both have a pixel refresh rate considerably faster than will ever be necessary for perfectly reproduced 3D.
So, what are we to do?
The market has already decided the lighter weight, lower cost, lower power consumption and the agressive marketing for LCD TVs makes them the obvious choice. I guess we'll just have to put up with it until something better comes along, because Plasma isn't popular and OLED is way too costly to get to market with reliable and huge screens.
Those flaws include:
- Ghosting from realized pixel refresh rates being low and lagging.
- Color accuracy
- Inability to produce accurate black levels
- Off axis viewing limitations
- Blurring of images with fast moving content (sports)
While most of these issues have been deemed acceptable by consumers they are becoming a real issue again now that 3D TV is hitting the market.
In a couple of the articles references were made to studies performed where average users found nearly all LCD TVs severely lacking when attempting to produce 3D content, some were so bad viewers said they had lost all interest in 3D at home. Since 3D TV at home requires the isolation of the frame images between the left and right eyes, the real refresh rate limitations of LCD are causing ghosting of the 3D image, especially with the way foreground object which is almost always the center of attention in 3D content. This can cause serious viewer fatigue and headaches.
In the same tests, Plasma and OLED performed perfectly since they both have a pixel refresh rate considerably faster than will ever be necessary for perfectly reproduced 3D.
So, what are we to do?
The market has already decided the lighter weight, lower cost, lower power consumption and the agressive marketing for LCD TVs makes them the obvious choice. I guess we'll just have to put up with it until something better comes along, because Plasma isn't popular and OLED is way too costly to get to market with reliable and huge screens.