There seems to be a pattern in which new consumer electronics technologies are first developed and applied, matured over the course of a few generations, and then finally discarded for the ‘next” great thing. Rear-projection displays using DLP chips are certainly no longer news, and even the addition of 1080p resolution is starting to get ho-hum. So I approached Samsung’s LED-based display with some interest since, instead of an arc light shooting bright beams through a color wheel, a special set of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) – one each in red, green, and blue – makes its way onto the screen to create images sans bulb and wheel.

We’re so used to big boxes being wheeled to our door that the joke’s onus: This 22-inch 16:10 widescreen HD LCD is so small and light that the UPS guy doesn’t even break a sweat. But don’t be a snob just because this isn’t a review of a 50- or 60-incher—there are times when small is just what the doc-tor ordered. That’s especially true since this display is as well suited for watching high-definition as it is for being hooked up to a computer. 

Rear projection televisions have changed dramatically over the past few years. Virtually gone are the behemoth CRT-based RPTVs that we knew for so many years, replaced by much slimmer,smaller devices based on DLP, LCOS, LCD, and various variations of this technology. JVC has created its own version of LCOS—the critically acclaimed HD-ILA technology that is not only avail-able in front-projection form, but also in rear-projection television form.

When I had written an article about my trip to tour the Philips television development area in Belgium, there were some interesting new technologies being developed to advance LCD displays. The new Philips 42-inch LCD, which I first saw in Belgium, is now in my hands for a review.