Tips Can Help Consumers Choose Flat-Panel Displays

Choosing a flat-panel display for a television or video screen can be more complicated that you might think. Did you know, for instance, that the lighting in your living room can make a particular type of display look much better or worse than another?

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked with the private sector for years to develop measurement methods and standards for electronic displays used in industrial, medical, and consumer devices—diverse applications that require different approaches for evaluating performance.

As part of this work, NIST developed the measurement technology required to characterize display properties such as contrast ratio, reflection, and color reproduction.

Ed Kelley of NIST Optoelectronics Division in Boulder, Colo., has distilled his experience to a set of practical tips to help consumers know what to look for when evaluating different types of flat panel displays.

The tips can be found at www.fpdl.nist.gov/tips.html .

Source: NIST