HP intros 30-inch widescreen as computer manufacturers go big screen crazy
Perhaps in competition to Apple’s 30-inch Cinema HD display, HP have announced a November release of the LP 3065, a widescreen 30-inch with black surround. It’s a fairly serious piece of kit that might be more at home in a design studio than for displaying Excel spreadsheets (then again, spreadsheets do get big, don’t they?)
It boasts 1000:1 contrast ratio, up to 2560×1600 resolution, and 92% colour gamut. It’s viewable from 178 degrees in all directions. It can even be wall-mounted, which opens up more possibilities for using it as a high-definition TV with a media centre PC.
There does seem to be a move towards large flat-screen LCDs amongst computer manufacturers, as the technology improves, prices come down, and they become more likely to sit or hang in the average living room than be part of the plush graphics design studio.
24-plus inch displays usually have ample native resolution to display full high-def content, and then some, and though some say convergence is a way off, I think it could start happening soon. Maybe not amongst the masses, but the early adopters who have a fast PC, crystal clear monitor and a Sky HD box, for example.
Certainly both Apple and increasingly HP have extolled the ease-of-use and simplicity of their computers, which is what’s needed if they’re to become a central part of home entertainment. Apple going to sell movies via iTunes? It’s looking likely. PCs and Macs with dual core technology and graphics cards that can handle high-bandwidth content. The humble computer and monitor combo could be about to take centre-stage in your living room.
