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Here's a link to a 2003 white paper for the Society of Information Displays that explains the tech completely and much more than the article http://www.planar.com/advantages/whitepapers/docs/Planar-AMLCD-Optical-Touchscreen.pdf

If somebody were looking for prior art, this could be interesting.

http://www.planar.com/advantages/whitepapers/docs/ Planar-AMLCD-Optical-Touchscreen.pdf

Yes. I have some LCD panels, and my work and friends have large-panel LCD Tvs.
So, not in a way that I can convey here.

But you can check it out for yourself. Google may help. If you look into the subject at all you'll see it's no secret.

Here's a pdf from Dishnetwork:
http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/t echportal/images/pdf/hdtvdisplay.pdf#search=%22LCD %20backlight%20fade%22
It lists the Pros/Cons of the different technologies. It says:
"Direct View LCD"
"Cons"
"Expensive, pixels viewable with large screens, picture can fade over time, slow pixel response time can cause motion blurs."

Here's another view from Planar's Ali Gard:
http://blog.planar.com/embedded/2006/01/crts-lcds- tale-of-tape.html

An excerpt:
"LCD's luminance is controlled by the luminosity of the backlight / edgelight. The backlights in LCD monitors are almost always CCFL (cold cathode florescent lamps). The life of the backlight is determined by how long it takes until the lamp reaches half of its original luminance. Similar to CRTs phosphors in CCFL's age and their efficiency declines. LCD's don't suffer from flicker, or image burn just a few years ago that time was about 30,000 hours. Newer lamp technology has increased that time to 60,000 hours to reach half brightness."

That puts it at 3.5 to 7 years (if you accept the manufacturer's claims). What he doesn't address is that the CCFL will fade unevenly which is most obvious in large panels.

http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Innovation/docs/d s-planar-stereo-mirror.pdf

That's the basic link to the page with information. They only describe the 1M pixel version, but they have 9 megapixel versions they've tested and may be available. I know 3 and 5 Megapixel medical grade versions were created as well.

But what does a company built around making inexpensive PCs know about HDTVs? Without RTFA, I'd venture to say probably nothing. Their lcd tv's were/are made by a company called Planar.

Plasma TV's will only last around five years. During that time the brightness will continue to decline. This makes them great for outdoor displays/public events, since there is more chance of a unit being rendered inoperable through transportation/assembly than there is through normal use. The following paper has a graph demonstrating the decline.

http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Innovation/docs/d s-planar-stereo-mirror.pdf

As for Planar's system (Better link here http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Innovation/docs/d s-planar-stereo-mirror.pdf) It's the card and cpu that could slow it down rather then the physical limits of the technology. Running a Nvidia 6800 card with stereo drivers allows system to work just fine in Stereo mode. Nvidia has been working on Stereo options for a few years now and the cards don't suffer performance problems. I am not a software engineer but I understand they figured out a way to not need to double the power to calculate the image for two differant screens but use only a bit more power.

http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Innovation/docs/d s-planar-stereo-mirror.pdf

http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Innovation/docs/d s-planar-stereo-mirror.pdf Here is the PDF has info on it.

At Siggraph there is a display from Planar Systems using the card to drive their stereo approach. They are playing UT 2004 on it at 75Hz. Looks damn good. The 3D objects rendered are just fine, while text maps don't always look as good in some games. The machine Planar has, has its own page. http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Technology/index. html

Yep. And it is crap.

Want a real one? Planar Systems has a stereo system that does require polarized glasses, but works despite moving your head and at full speed. They have a machine at Siggraph playing UT 2004 right now. You read more at

http://www.planar.com/Advantages/Technology/index. html

It has a built-in TV tuner, switchable pass-thru, S-Video and composite inputs, and will output 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768. It's available for about $120, which is a bargain for the output quality it produces.

Even a composite video source looks a lot better on a good monitor at 1024x768 than it does at the 640x480 resolution which is the only output format the cheesebox supports.

I've got a Solarism LM1530, it's a pretty nice 15" LCD monitor and has a fast response LCD (16 ms instead of a more typical 30 ms) for under $300. You can get a 17" version as well, for under $400. It works well with my Shuttle SN41G2. I have the black Shuttle case, and it looks great with the black Solarism monitor.

The reason I mention it to you is that I read some article where someone was speculating about how it might be good for LAN parties, since the monitor stand basically folds up and you can carry it flat. I can't say I've brought my monitor to a LAN party, but it is quite easy to carry around when folded flat.

Check out the review on GamePC for more info. I haven't seen any others yet, since this monitor is fairly new (on the market about a month, I think...). Anyway, I thought it was a great deal, since it runs about $150 less than the Hitachi CML174, and about $250 less than the Planar PX171M, which are also 16 ms response time LCD monitors. The only down side for me is that the Solarism doesn't have DVI, but the picture is still awesome for analog.

I can see the target market. I am awaiting a very similar box from Planar today, which takes a composite video or S-Video signal and converts it to VGA. Unfortunately, the Video-Ex only reaches 1024x768, but it's only $100.

What's the point? Well, I work in Post Production Audio for films and I've replaced all the noisy, heat-generating, power-sucking CRTs from my studio and replaced them with 17" LCDs. But, the LCDs on the market that allow a video source are not nearly as nice as the Planar PL171M displays I just bought and are generally more expensive. So, I opted for the Video-Ex and will be using a third Planar PL171M for my video playback.

I would have bought the ViewSonic had the price been more reasonable.

Maybe you should try out a better LCD monitor. I use one for everything (web, games, etc) and will never buy a CRT again. Bad/cheap LCD monitors have given the whole lot a bad rap.

I've been drooling over these.

I'd sell my soul for the 60 inch 1280x720.

Maybe one day I will...

A couple of years ago I bought a 17" 1280x1024 analog-interface LCD from Planar Systems - either the CT1744Z or a direct predecessor, I don't quite remember. It came with built-in speakers (I don't care that much about sound so that was a plus; YMMV) and a built-in four-port USB hub that hadn't even been mentioned in the literature. It was under $1000 then, and is now down to $650 (at Insight.

I just have to say, this is a great monitor, and I wish more people knew about the brand. It never seems to be included in these types of roundups, which is a shame because I think it would do very well. Compared to other LCD monitors I've looked at the Planar is bright, it has good contrast (400:1) and pixel response time (15ms rise, 10ms fall), etc. The interpolation actually works rather well, though I still prefer to get dot-for-dot accuracy on a smaller display area in most cases; unlike some LCD monitors, this one gives you the choice. IMO Planar's combination of performance, features and price spanks any of the monitors that were in this review.

And no, I don't have any relationship with Planar other than that of a very satisfied customer. I just like to acknowledge when people work hard to create good products.

What cards do you use to drive those monitors? I have been serriously concidering doing basically the same (with 3 or 4 heads) for some time now.

I was thinking on using Planar displays. We use many of them in the hospital, they are quite nice.

Problem is, there aren't alot of cards that support DVA on PCI (and even fewer that do it well). And I REALLY don't want to use a A->DA converter, I hate those. I have yet to see a dual DVA card (that would be ideal, if it were supported under Linux/Xinerama)

And, since AGP dosen't support multiple interfaces(AFAIK), it all basically sucks for this endevour.

I guess I'll wait till I can get either
a) cards that support multiple DVA monitors
b) a new interface that can support multiple cards at full speed, and XFree86 support for it too.

*hums*

I bought a Planar PV174 at the end of December and so far, haven't looked back. Total price was under $700 including shipping.

Specs:
* 17.4" LCD. 1280x1024 resolution
* up to 75Hz analog, 60Hz DVI. (as it happens, when running analog I found it preferable to run at 70Hz to avoid some slight flickering)
* Built in speakers (I don't use them)
* Built in USB hub (don't use this either)
* Built in pivot (don't use this - the model is available in black or white with a pivot or clear/translucent red/trans blue without pivot)

* 220cd/m2 brightness
* 400:1 contrast
* 160degree viewing angle
* 25ms refresh (15ms rise, 10ms fall)

Frankly, from the research I did at the time the specs were far better than anything else in the 17" market (not to mention the extra .4" is nice to have) and the price was comparable or a little cheaper.

I have a friend who uses the Planar 15" LCD on his Mac and is also very pleased with the way it performs.

Check around for some of the older Planar PC's. You used to be able to find the 486 with integrated LCD $100-$200, and they make a wallmount specifically for it.

They had an ISA slot and PCMCIA slot, so you could add an 802.11 adapter to stream data to it. They didn't have the greatest screen, but it might be ok.

Last week during the I-Opener hype, I came across a link to a liquidator that was selling an I-Opener type device made by Planar, who apparently specializes in compact, mobile computing for the medical care market. They have specs for their newer Clean Screen devices that show that these are already what we're wishing the I-Opener was. HiTechCafe was selling an older version for $259, I believe it was a 12.1" screen and a slower CPU than the current models. Unfortunately, they're sold out now and I didn't look into the specs good enough at the time to learn just what they were selling. I sure am kicking myself now as I imagine the new units are quite pricey. Anyways, these devices are mostly just a stop-gap until Crusoe webpads and the like hit the market later this year.

Last week during the I-Opener hype, I came across a link to a liquidator that was selling an I-Opener type device made by Planar, who apparently specializes in compact, mobile computing for the medical care market. They have specs for their newer Clean Screen devices that show that these are already what we're wishing the I-Opener was. HiTechCafe was selling an older version for $259, I believe it was a 12.1" screen and a slower CPU than the current models. Unfortunately, they're sold out now and I didn't look into the specs good enough at the time to learn just what they were selling. I sure am kicking myself now as I imagine the new units are quite pricey. Anyways, these devices are mostly just a stop-gap until Crusoe webpads and the like hit the market later this year.