Taiwanese computer peripheral maker BenQ (formerly Acer Multimedia) has been seeking to get more into home entertainment equipment. Now it says that it will be offering a true high definition (1,920 by 1,080 pixel) LCD panel in 2004, priced at 299,000 in Taiwanese dollars. This works out to less than $AUD13,000. This is promising.
The main drawback of LCD panels, aside from their early pricing, is their relatively low contrast ratio. They just don’t do blacks as well as I’d like. Still, this ought to improve. The colour rendition, speed and viewing angle has improved amazingly lately, so I expect they’ll work on black levels as well.