Displays? (Or lack thereof)

If there was a letdown this year, it was in the displays. While all of the big Taiwanese manufacturers were here, usually there are entire halls filled with nothing but displays with impressive specifications. Unfortunately, hard times have fallen on LCD panel manufacturers outside of the big three ( LG.Philips, Samsung/Sony and Sharp) and the smaller companies are starting to really hurt.

AUO, famous for their low response time 6-bit LCD panels in all but the largest LCD TVs, posted losses for the second quarter in a row. The company vows to ride out the oversupply of panels on the market, but if the number four panel manufacturer is having difficulty turning a profit, the little guys don’t have a chance.

One of those little guys, Chi Mei Optoelectronics, barely had a presence at the show this year (compared to their booth last year that took up several spots). Ultimately, a consolidation of the market is probably better for end users as the LCD spot market becomes a thing of the past – hopefully, removing the opportunity for Tier 2 manufacturers to start flooding the market with low quality displays.

BenQ, Sampo and AG Neovo had booths at the show, but you can tell the attitude was more subdued than it has been in the past. No high resolution 19” displays or new single digit response time panels graced our presence this time around. CES is the better show to view new display technology, since it isn’t primarily limited to just Taiwanese manufacturers like Computex, but hopefully, we don’t have to wait until January to see innovation in a rapidly consolidating industry.

More coverage tomorrow!

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  • gilboa - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Linux *has* software RAID 6 support.
    I've been using it for a while now.

    Just look at the kernel source under:
    /usr/src/linux/drivers/md/raid6*
  • bigboxes - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    "Maybe if they put heat pipes throughout the whole desk it would offer interesting cooling."

    LOL
  • smn198 - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Lian Li's weird round case could be good for a geek version of this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4593977.stm

    Their desk looks quite interesting although I think I'll spend my $2000 elsewhere. Maybe if they put heat pipes throughout the whole desk it would offer interesting cooling.
  • cHodAXUK - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Suprise, suprise, another year passes and Lian Li still haven't produced a case that doesn't look like an aluminium version of an old 386 midi-tower.
  • flatblastard - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Correction: rd400/rd480

    Also, I was wondering if those motherboards have 6 or 8 channel audio. It's late and I'm too tired to walk upstairs and fire up the main rig so I can enlarge the pic big enough to read that list ;)

    Man I must be gettin lazy in my old age (26), lol.....or could this be a sign it's time to replace my old browser rig?
  • flatblastard - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Looks like HIS RD400/RS480 will be using the sb450 southbridge instead of ULi. Interesting considering the "powerhouse" image. I guess it's still too soon to pass judgment on southbridge from the near-future. I'm still keeping my eyes peeled just in case you throw in a pic of the ultra vanilla non-crossfire ati+sb450/ULi mobo if such a thing will exist. I"ve seen various pics on manufacturer web sites but nothing new in a while.
    Just keep feeding us and we will grow. Keep up the good work!
  • Calin - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Tarumam,
    Every microelectronics producers (memory makers included) tend to overestimate the need for some product or another. Or they simply react to one opponent's increased production with increased production of their own, regardless of the perceived need.
    In the end, this is good for users - it forces prices down to levels sometime lower than production costs.
    I liked the watercooled case
  • Doormat - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    Windows Servers can do RAID-5 but I wouldnt recommend it since it requires the use of dynamic disks (in other words, its difficult to get your disks back if your machine dies and you have to reinstall the OS or stuff like that).

    There are RAID-6 cards out on the market now (Areca makes up to 16-port PCI-Ex8 SATA-II RAID-6 controller). I do see everyone migrating to RAID-6 since it would take a long while to rebuild a 8x400GB RAID-5 array, even with current HD read/write speeds. That long amount of time to rebuild the array leaves you vulerable to having another disk fail while the rebuild is taking place and you being SOL.

    Raid 6 info: http://www.acnc.com/04_01_06.html

    It basically uses parity in two dimensions.

    Other than that, it looks like it was a very good Computex - its a shame they dont have a show like this in North America. I'd be there in a second!
  • Brian23 - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    ...which brings me to my next point kids, don't do crack.
  • Yawgm0th - Thursday, June 2, 2005 - link

    I was a few seconds too late. :)

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