14 DAY TRIAL // LCD displays already started to gradually replace CRT ones. Although the manufacturers didn't launch many widescreen models, they noticed that home users especially want this kind of monitors because their home activities are mainly multimedia oriented. Also, watching movies is one of the main activities home users do besides gaming and web browsing.
Major LCD displays producers like Acer, Samsung, BenQ, ViewSonic and HP decided to pay more attention to the LCD widescreen monitors market segment. BenQ launched this year an LCD widescreen 20inch display with 8ms response time, priced at US$505, while Acer and Viewsonic launched 23 and 24 inch displays, priced at US$806 and US$1640.
It is estimated that in the next 6 months the price of LCD displays will drop by 30 percent and the widescreen display sales will represent 20 percent of the total number of LCDs sold. This year, widescreen displays represented only 2 percent of the total sales of LCD monitors.
Moreover, the market is expecting more graphic boards that will be widescreen compatible, because few support this standard at the moment. Subsequently, Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition OS will probably gain popularity and will sustain the sales of widescreen LCDs.