EMISSION FLAT-PANEL DISPLAYS - RESPECTIVE MERITS OF ELECTROLUMINESCENT DISPLAYS USING PLASMA, CATHODES OR FIELD-EFFECT

The merits of the three main flat panel emissive display technologies first depend on the operating principles, which are first summarized. The technological ingenuity and the investments made play the next maj or role. EL displays have an excellent legibility, less affect by the ambient light than the two others. They do not reproduce easily video images however. Their preferred applications are in instrument display s, especially medical. Plasma display panels, the oldest flat panel di splay technology, are spectacularly developing for full-colour and vid eo applications since 1993. Whereas LCDs are unchallenged for portable computers, PDPs may soon be the only alternative to LCD projectors fo r << hang on the wall >> TV. FEDs promise a lot, with merits similar t o those of CRTs, but without their bulk nor their weight. Industrial p roduction can reasonably be expected, with applications in the range o f moderate sizes (<10-in).