14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the transition from CCFL-backlit displays to LED backlighting will continue to be encouraged during 2011, especially during the second half, when pricing might just stop being an issue.
Until last year, the majority of displays sold worldwide, monitors and TVs alike, used CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lights) as the backlighting solution of choice.
This is because LED backlights had yet to reach the point where they could successfully compete against them on any segment lower than the high-end.
As time went by, however, consumers began to place more emphasis on energy efficiency, and since LED had that, as well as better brightness and contrast, among other things, more LED displays started coming out.
This went on until makers of LCDs (liquid crystal displays) started completely switching over to LED.
Now, it is reported that monitors with this sort of backlighting have been getting more and more affordable.
In fact, it is even implied that, by the time the second half of the ongoing year (2011) comes around, there will be no price difference between CCFL models and LED ones, at least as far as displays of up to 23 inches in diagonal are concerned.
Currently, the price gap is of NT$300-400 for 22-inch monitors, while 18-inch ones already cost the same amount.
Also, the market share of 20 to 23-inch LCD monitors should rise to 60% by year's end (it was 50% in 2010).
With this to spur sales even further, it is quite likely that most customers will have no reason left to buy CCFL-backlit solutions anymore.
In other words, by the end of 2011, CCFL monitors (and probably TVs as well) will have most likely become history, or at least left as just an insignificant presence on the worldwide IT market. What remains is to see how LED evolve further.