Upward trend for flat displays

Flat-panel displays are increasingly displacing the bulky cathode-ray tube as the technology of choice for computer monitors and televisions. The challenge is to make them larger, cheaper and, perhaps, flexible. For over 100 years the cathode-ray tube has been the principal way of displaying video images. Since its invention in 1897 by Karl Ferdinand Braun, the popularity of the cathoderay tube has grown enormously - the number of units sold worldwide last year was estimated to be 150 million. But that popularity is on the wane, thanks to 20 years of investment in liquid crystal and plasma displays. (U.K.)