CRT-Based Monitor Market Still Bright And Strong

Take Pixelink, a longtime partner of NEC/Mitsubishi Electronics Display of America. In February, the reseller re-energized its alliance with the vendor by joining NEC/Mitsubishi's Authorized Integrator Program.

Pixelink's forte is delivering customized LCD solutions to customers in an array of vertical markets,from health care and financial services to point-of-sale and manufacturing, said Mark Rafalski, product development specialist at Pixelink, based in Hudson, Mass.

"Our big thing is adding touch capabilities to monitors," Rafalski said. "This is an area that's exploding,especially with the movement of LCDs to the mainstream."

Already, Pixelink has reaped a handful of leads by participating in NEC/Mitsubishi's latest partner program, Rafalski said. For one, a fitness facility in Southern California has requested that the solution provider integrate touch technology into 325 LCDs. For another, a Chicago-based 911 call center enlisted Pixelink to furnish it with touch-enabled flat panels.

And although some industry watchers have relegated CRT-based monitors to the ranks of "been there, done that" technology, the realities of the market don't justify that mind-set, said Al Giazzon, vice president of marketing at NEC/Mitsubishi, Itasca, Ill.

"CRT-based monitors still represent a large number of the units we ship,about 40 percent,and there are technology advances continually being made in this area," Giazzon said. The screens are being designed so they're virtually flat, and the tubes offer dramatic increases in display brightness without compromising contrast, he said.

NEC/Mitsubishi's Super Bright Dynatron tube, which is just hitting the channel this month, doubles the brightness delivered by traditional CRTs, said Giazzon. "This is the biggest CRT monitor innovation since flat screens," he said.

In fact, for corporate customers in the graphics, Web design and imaging arenas, CRT-based displays may pose a better alternative than flat-panel technology, Giazzon said.

"For mainstream customers that use their displays for word processing and spreadsheets, LCDs probably pose a better option, what with their lower cooling costs, reduced heat generation and efficient space usage," he said. "But for customers involved heavily in graphics, animation and video streaming,users working with a lot of on-screen color and movement,CRT-based displays are still a better choice."

That's quite a turnaround from just a couple of years ago, Giazzon said. Back then, LCDs were still relatively high-priced, and early adoption of flat-panel screens was confined to trading floors, hospitals and other venues where space was at a premium. "But now LCDs have penetrated markets horizontally, and CRTs are starting to go into vertical niches," said Giazzon. "LCDs make up the majority, not the minority, of unit sales today."

Jeff Volpe, vice president of sales at Walnut, Calif.-based ViewSonic, agrees.

"We've seen at least threefold growth in LCD shipments and sales over the past year," he said. "There are two players instead of just one in the mainstream monitor market now,CRT-based monitors and LCDs."

On the other hand, users waiting for LCD prices to continue their descent may be disappointed, Volpe and Giazzon said.

In April 2001, the price of an average 15-inch LCD fell to $399 from about $700, according to Giazzon. But factory output couldn't keep up with demand, so those price declines have come to a screeching halt in the past six months, he said. In many cases, the cost of LCDs has gone up.

"The increases haven't been dramatic,about $50 for a 15-inch LCD,but they're still something the market isn't used to," Giazzon said. "There's just so much demand for LCDs now, and not only in the computer monitor market. We're seeing flat panels being installed in minivans, airplanes and elevators, too."