Displays have seen remarkable changes, shifting from monochrome to colour, growing in average screen size from 15 inches to today’s 20-plus monsters, moving from CRT technology to LCDs.
It’s been an evolution, though, not a revolution. LCD manufacturers have slowly dealt with the problems that made CRTs preferable displays – slow refresh rates, limited viewing angles, resolution limitations and high price – and have, if not completely eliminated them, brought them to the point where purchasers feel that the benefits of a smaller footprint and lower power consumption (not to mention the coolness factor) are worth the tradeoff.
Form factors are altering, too, as users adopt the widescreen format that allows them to have more items open and visible on their desktops. LCD shipments in Canada are expected to be over 2.4 million this year, according to Partner Research Corporation.