Free Republic

A research team from the UK's Nottingham Trent University, the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales Canberra has developed a proof-of-concept display technology that could replace the LCD panels common to many of today's big-screen TVs. Though some modern high-end televisions may sport quantum-dot displays or OLED panels, many of the cheaper models available will use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, polarizing filters and LED backlighting. But the researchers say that the limit has been reached for development of this kind of technology. "The capability of conventional displays has reached its peak and is unlikely to...

Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at a $10 billion Wisconsin campus, and said it intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers rather than the manufacturing workforce the project originally promised. Announced at a White House ceremony in 2017, the 20-million square foot campus marked the largest greenfield investment by a foreign-based company in U.S. history and was praised by President Donald Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing. Foxconn, which received controversial state and local incentives for the project, initially planned to manufacture advanced large screen displays for TVs...

I'm sick of the current tv we have, it was a cheap off brand, and I'm looking for a good quality replacement, but there are so many different suppliers out there it is hard to find one at a decent cost. I'm looking for 40" preferably NOT a smart tv but it wont be hooked up to internet anyway, but I would like to find one that is under $300 and I could use some advice as to what to choose.

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn plans to build an LCD panel manufacturing facility in the southeastern Wisconsin village of Mount Pleasant, local officials announced Wednesday. The announcement comes just a few weeks after Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a $3 billion incentive package for the company, on track to be the largest subsidy to a foreign company in U.S. history.

In what was first called "advice to my younger self," then later "advice from some of those women" to the average girl, the DNC released confusing and often contradictory "advice" to young Democrat women. The advice specifically comes from DNC Women's Caucus Members. Some of the advice is common sense, and probably should be followed by both men and women: "be brave," for example. Then some is a bit random. The DNC itself makes specific note that "we all need a good pair of stretchy pants sometimes." Again, the DNC calls this advice for women in the Democratic party. The...

Sony has announced via its webpage the development of a new type of LCD display that uses either half as much power as current same-size LCD displays, or the same amount of power, but doubles the brightness. Called WhiteMagic, the new LCD screen, currently just 3 inches diagonally, achieves these results by employing a third, white pixel to create images on a screen. For the most part, most LCD displays use just three backlit pixels - Red, Green and Blue (RGB) to create one dot of color on the screen; the various colors are produced by filtering the light that...

I'm just numb from doing research, so I'm opening up the floor to take suggestions from FReepers. I hate to think that I'm going to be dropping $2K on a TV that has a life of 2 years (Samsung, Vizio, according to the interwebs). Looking for a 46" LCD with a matte screen (brightly lit room). Anyone actually happy with a brand/model? Mostly interested in comments about reliability, since I HATE shopping for stuff like this every couple of years.

I am right now seriously in the market to get a new 40" to 42" flat-panel HDTV to replace my old 27" Mitsubishi CRT television set. Right now, my primary choice is the new 40" Sony KDL-40EX500 (I had considered the 40" KDL-40VE5 but most places wanted US$200 more for the set). From what I've read online, most people like it, and the suggested retail price of US$899 is quite attractive, especially since the KDL-40EX500 has 120 Hz refresh rate. I would like to hear suggestions on alternatives from LG, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba that I should consider (I'm willing...

THE plasma TV isn't dead yet -- but it looks like it's not long for this world. Like the Betamax videotape format and laser disc DVD before it, the plasma TV set -- the favorite of techies -- is losing out to the more popularly priced LCD TV. Pioneer and VIZIO -- the nation's No. 2 set maker -- say they're abandoning the plasma business. With a 22 percent sales drop in the first quarter of 2009 compared to last year -- when the sale of flat-screen TVs overall is sky rocketing -- "the writing is kind of on the...

Help. My old 27" CRT TV died and I'm in need of a replacement TV. Any suggestions for a good 32" LCD model that won't burn a hole in my pocket? I'm thinking about getting a VIZIO VO32L 32" TV, where Costco is selling for US$449 (and they have plenty in stock).

Will we run out of some of the basic elements fundamental to modern technology? This is a question that has recently lit up the blogosphere. In particular, the elements Indium and Gallium are frequently referred to as "threatened." The herd latched on to an eloquent post on Asimov's Science Fiction, which was itself a rehashing of a New Scientist piece, which took its cue in part from an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (which, oddly enough, does not discuss either Indium or Gallium). Regardless of the convoluted history, is there anything to really worry about...

The heated debate over whether Apple is tricking you into believing you can see millions of colors on your Mac has come to a quiet conclusion. The Chicago Tribune noted last week (spotted by AppleInsider) that Apple has settled a lawsuit brought by two professional photographers claiming that the company falsely advertised the capabilities of their MacBook Pros as being able to display "millions of colors." The plaintiffs claimed that Apple could achieve those heights only through "dithering."How many colors can you see? Thousands? Millions?(Credit: Apple) There's an option in the Displays screen, under System Preferences in Mac OS X,...

We bought a Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR2 LCD television recently. We get "regular" television via a DirecTV receiver. The input to the receiver is coax cable from the satellite, and the output from the receiver (and hence input to the TV) is S video and audio red/white. Question: the family is complaining about the quality of the satellite TV reception. In testing things, I disconnected the satellite receiver and plugged in a VCR. Then I played a pre-recorded videotape. The family looked at the videotape and are happy with the quality. They think the quality of the video is better than...

We are trying to connect a laptop to our new Sony Bravia TV, model KDF-46XBR2. Both the laptop and the Bravia have an RGB female 15-pin jack, and we have a cable that connects the two. We've read the manual, but it is basically useless. Obviously, we'd like the PC output to display on the TV. Question: what else must we do besides the Fn-F8 to "toggle" the PC display? Which video input (1 through 9) if any does the PC use? Or, does it simply override whatever video is playing at the moment? Thanks.

I spend a few minutes each day staying in touch with pop culture and news; Digg, Youtube, and Freerepublic are my mainstays. I have discovered, as I'm sure most readers have, that the comments and discussion of an article or post is as, if not more, interesting, funny, and informative as the original article. The problem is wading thru all the mediocre comments (often 100's) for the real gems among the bunch. I would like to suggest a rating system similar to other sites that allow other readers to rate comments which will allow other users to sort the comments...

Okay, I am going to spend some of my mad money for a large screen HDTV. I want either a LCD or Plasma TV, no projection tv's. I want 1080p resolution. I'll have around $2000 to spend. What I need is advice on what is good, what sucks, what breaks, what keeps on working, plasma tv life expectancy, etc. Hit me!

physicist says multiple factors affect picture quality. If you own a high-definition TV, don't read Edward Kelley's new tipsheet for folks in the market for plasma, LCD and other high-end displays. He doesn't want to ruin your day. Kelley is a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Flat Screen Display Laboratory in Boulder. He wrote most of what one in the industry called "a bible" for the industrial testing and certification of flat-panel screens. Kelley's tipsheet opens sternly, with an all-caps warning. "SOME PEOPLE HAVE FOUND THAT THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL HAS REDUCED THEIR ABILITY TO ENJOY THEIR...

PARIS (AFP) - French Nobel laureate Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, a pioneer of the liquid crystal display (LCD) that is now a standard technology in today's consumer gadgetry, has died, his family said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT De Gennes, who was 74, won the 1991 Nobel Prize for Physics for groundbreaking work in liquid crystals and polymers, for which some of the judges accorded him the accolade of "the Isaac Newton of our time." He died on Friday. President Nicolas Sarkozy led tributes to de Gennes, describing him as "an exceptional physicist and one of our greatest scientists." Prime Minister Francois Fillon...

Televisions grabbed the spotlight at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday with companies showcasing everything from super-sized models for the red-hot LCD market to technology enabling TVs to play video straight from the Internet. A slew of consumer electronics makers introduced bigger flat-screen TVs, while others highlighted products to enhance viewing, such as a DVD player that could be a bridge between rival formats for next-generation video discs. Sharp Corp showed off a 108-inch high-definition LCD television to rival a 100-inch model introduced only hours earlier by LG Electronics Inc. Sharp said its was the biggest yet among liquid crystal...

Best Buy Co. turned in disappointing third-quarter results on Tuesday as the battle to sell flat-panel TVs, MP3s and other hot electronic gadgets has slashed prices and cut into profit. the nation's largest home-electronics retailer said the "very competitive climate" -- plasma and LCD TV prices dropped 25% to 30% -- held its profit to $150 million, or 31 cents a share, up nearly 8% from last year's income of $138 million, or 28 cents a share, but short of Wall Street's expectations. That sent shares lower by 5% to $51.30. The total results were mixed compared with Wall Street's...