IBM LCD monitor dead. LCD monitor madness revealed

I LIKE large, hi-res, slim sexy flat-panel monitors - always did and always probably will. So, I almost shed some tears when, last week, the news broke that IBM's now Lenovo monitor business is killing off the highest-res ever LCD monitor, the famous T221 with its 3840x2400 (also known as QWUXGA or QUXGA-W) resolution on an ultrasharp 22.2-inch 204-dpi LCD panel.

I do so hope Apple can produce an QWUXGA version of its 30-inch Cinema HD display to soothe my sorrows then - but the CupO'China mob need a graphics card with four DVI channels to feed the monster at a 50Hz or 60Hz refresh.

Back to Computex. None of the screens shown came anywhere close to this resolution - in fact, standard WUXGA 1920x1200 was the highest to be found, and even that only on a few screens. But, the size more than made up for it... whether we talk about TV or computer usage. Or both, after all. And yes, many of these were in the Hall Three opposite the current "world's tallest building" Taipei101 - which, by the way, according to someone from the US West Coast, looks shape-wise like a neat stack of eight Frisco Chinatown lunch boxen topped by a ketchup bottle and a straw, plus four silver coins at the base as a spare change from such a large takeaway meal order.

No, I can't mention the source for fear of him/her being banned from Taiwan next round. Our poor Fudo already had enough unnecessary problems there.

So, besides the usual 30-inch 1280x768 (16:10 proportion) and 32 or 37-inch 1366x768 (16:9 proportion) LCD displays, this year saw the initial proliferation of true HDTV 1080i and 1080p capable LCD TVs and montors, at 1920x1080 resolution - everywhere from Proview to ADI to CTX and beyond. You could see quite a few of those in the above mentioned Hall Three for the first time.

While still expensive, with costs above US$ 4,000 per piece, these TV and monitor sets with true HDTV resolution will give you true cinema. No, not 70 mm IMAX - for that you need that just-murdered T221 resolution.

Yes, provided you got the so-called 'content' in this resolution, and that's where the first problem hits.

The two main HDTV resolutions are, of course 1280x720 progressive scan (aka. 720p), and 1920x1080 interlaced (aka. 1080i). There's also 1080p, which the new Nvidia and ATI graphics chips can "handle", and so can many of the displays shown, but broadcasters somehow have some bandwidth problems with this level still.

Most current LCD and hi-res plasma displays are optimised for 720p, and can handle pixel-for-pixel direct display of this resolution for an ideal quality match. Being natively progressive, it is also way better than standard 480i or 576i TV for any fast-moving sports or movie content.

On the other hand, many perceive 720p not to be that great compared to the old fashioned TV, and that only 1080i and 1080p are the 'real cinematic' HDTV. So, the initial HDTV content offerings are kinda split between these two resolutions, with 'the other' resolution having to be interpolated on your HDTV display. If the content is only recorded using one particular resolution, than the interpolated display won't look that great of course, whether it is 'up' or 'down' resolution-wise - those trying to display 1024x768 on a 1280x1024 LCD screen know this well.

My feeling is that, in the long run, it will be 1080p that wins, as it gives the best of both, and both PCs and displays are ready. Anyway, digital cable delivery can provide more required bandwidth for 1080p channels in most cases. Little known vendors like Proton were showing sucn 1080p LCD TVs at up to 50-inch sizes, impressive looking if the content is right. I also saw bad banding of 1080i football match content when displayed on their 1080p screen...

What about a different screen proportion at such a large screen size? Something that can still display the old 4:3 TV content without wasting much of the screen real estate, and also fit the usual high-end wide-screen computer resolutions better, for proper two-page document or Web display, for instance? Two booths showed the "ideal solution", a 46-inch WUXGA true 1920x1200 LCD display at 16:10 (8:5) proportion in a TV box with nice 2-way stereo speakers on the sides. So, not only can you handle your 1080i/1080p HDTV perfectly, but also the highest resolution that a DVI link can give you, and it is still a bit closer to the old TV screen picture proportions.

Finally come the response times - for progressive TV/HD DVD or fast-paced action games, a 12 ms or lower gray-to-gray response is a must. Still, whatever the brochure says, please see that fast-paced TV or gaming action for real before you buy anything. Don't watch the Bosnian cricket game. Even English cricket can be a slow game, the Bosnian version takes forever.

I surely want something like this... those 46 inches are about a maximum a decent-sized living room can take these days - over a metre in diagonal! Give me a nice silver box for that, with hard tempered glass protection cover against snotty or naughty kids or screaming wives, a proper set of HDMI, DVI, VGA and component inputs, and, yes, a set of 2 x 3-way speakers on the sides of such a thing. The centre and subwoofer are, of course, separate.MO< And, well, as they always do, Taiwanese vendors, seem to be on the right path to make such high-end things drastically cheaper very soon - this year, most probably. µ