Making Digital Flat Panels Better

Dom · Jul 11, 2003, 02:35 PM

Recently, we reported that digital flat panel sales exceeded "those of CRT displays last year." Although that figure is dollars, not unit volume, clearly consumers prefer thin LCD displays that use less power and take up less room. Those sales numbers include both digital models with a DVI (digital visual interface)) connector and analog interface models as well.

Since an LCD panel is a purely digital device, it makes sense to feed it digital data directly via a DVI or other interface. It seems wasteful, and a little silly, to use a RAMDAC in a graphics card to convert the digital signal to analog, send the analog signal to the LCD panel, and then convert it back to digital inside the panel.

This isn't a problem in the vast majority of CRTs, which use analog circuitry, but since LCD panels are digital, why go analog at all?

Laptop computers have done this for years, using LVDS (low voltage differential signaling) transmitters and receivers. And now an increasing number of flat panels ship with a digital interface known as DVI (digital visual interface), that was developed by the DDWG (Digital Display Working Group).

Many of us have seen jittery flat panel displays. If the display is hooked up to a PC through an analog VGA connector, it may take some manual adjustment to get a clear image. While DVI holds the promise of superb image quality without adjustment, this occurs only when both the transmitter and receiver are DVI compliant, and when the transmitted digital signal meets the standard. Sadly, today, that's not always true.

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Jul 11, 2003, 02:35 PM	#1
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Making Digital Flat Panels Better Recently, we reported that digital flat panel sales exceeded "those of CRT displays last year." Although that figure is dollars, not unit volume, clearly consumers prefer thin LCD displays that use less power and take up less room. Those sales numbers include both digital models with a DVI (digital visual interface)) connector and analog interface models as well. Since an LCD panel is a purely digital device, it makes sense to feed it digital data directly via a DVI or other interface. It seems wasteful, and a little silly, to use a RAMDAC in a graphics card to convert the digital signal to analog, send the analog signal to the LCD panel, and then convert it back to digital inside the panel. This isn't a problem in the vast majority of CRTs, which use analog circuitry, but since LCD panels are digital, why go analog at all? Laptop computers have done this for years, using LVDS (low voltage differential signaling) transmitters and receivers. And now an increasing number of flat panels ship with a digital interface known as DVI (digital visual interface), that was developed by the DDWG (Digital Display Working Group). Many of us have seen jittery flat panel displays. If the display is hooked up to a PC through an analog VGA connector, it may take some manual adjustment to get a clear image. While DVI holds the promise of superb image quality without adjustment, this occurs only when both the transmitter and receiver are DVI compliant, and when the transmitted digital signal meets the standard. Sadly, today, that's not always true. Read More...