Does this mean crummy flat panel technology spread could slow?

We've seen the scam to force consumers into inferior (plasma, LCD,
DLP, etc) flat panel technologies. The whole point being that these
are much cheaper to ship from communist China to North America than
big CRTs. But could this technology keep CRTs (still the superior
picture format) going for a bit longer?
-Rich

New chip could energize cathode television

A new family of semiconductors could breathe new live into the
venerable cathode-ray tube technology.

STMicroelectronics said Friday it had developed a line of chips called
the HD1 family that it says will allow the use of the lower-cost CRT
technology in popular flat-screen television sets.

New "super-slim" CRT displays made possible by chip advances are
30-percent thinner and comparable to the dimensions of popular liquid
crystal display screens.

STM said the HD1 chips were designed to handle high breakdown voltages
of up to 1,700 volts, which is required in super-slim CRT.

"Because these new displays employ pictures tubes of significantly
reduced depth, the angle through which the electron beam must be
deflected during each horizontal scan is increased from 110 degrees to
typically 124 degrees," the company said in a news release. "That
places stringent new demands on the bipolar power transistors that
control the flow of current through the horizontal deflection coils."

STM said its new devices were available at a cost of between $1 and
$2.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International




This news is broug

Rich