Photoshop-Level:Beginner

The Big Fight: LCD vs LED Technology in TVs

WHAT IS LCD TELEVISION?

Liquid-crystal display televisions (LCD TV) are television sets that use LCD display technology to produce images. LCD televisions are thinner and lighter than cathode ray tube (CRTs) of similar display size, and are available in much larger sizes. When manufacturing costs fell, this combination of features made LCDs practical for television receivers.

WHAT IS LED TELEVISION?

It is similar to an LCD TV; however, it uses LED as the source of backlight. A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source.

BY WHO AND IN WHICH YEARS WERE THEY INVENTED?

LCD: - The exact date and inventor are not known. LCD TVs came to be after a series of various inventions based on research and development by various people and big electronics MNCs. Combined efforts of researchers, scientists, universities, electronic giants and industrialists led to the LCD TV. However, James Fergason is commonly and widely accepted as the inventor though he is not the sole individual involved in the process.

LED: - In the case of both commercial LED screens and domestic versions, several companies have adopted the technologies at similar times. It is safe to say that no one person or company "invented" the LED television although credit must be given to the engineering teams who first applied LED technology to television and video displays.

LED VS LCD:-

An LED TV uses less power, provides a brighter display with better contrast, a thinner panel, and lesser heat dissipation than a conventional LCD TV. This is because an LED TV uses light-emitting diodes for backlighting versus CCFLs used by conventional LCD TVs. An LED TV offers more colors, especially ones that use RGB-LED backlighting. On average, LED TVs are priced higher than traditional LCD TVs that use CCFLs for backlighting. LED TVs use energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LED) for backlighting. These consume less power than cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) used in traditional LCD televisions. Power savings are typically 20-30%.

WHICH IS MORE POPULAR?

As of now, the LCD technology is extremely popular as people have dumped the conventional bulky cathode tube TVs for the better option. Although huge numbers of people, especially in poorer nations like India still use the old box-type TVs they are slowly going out of usage as even big companies have stopped manufacturing them due to low demand. An important point to note however is that even LCD TV users are slowly but steadily switching to LED TVs due to various benefits they offer like better picture quality, thinner panel, substantial electricity consumption reduction etc. One of the reasons that deter the “aam aadmi” from opting for LED is due to its slightly higher costing.

FUTURE OF BOTH TECHNOLOGIES:-

Various studies and reports show for sure that the conventional cathode TVs are not going to be prevalent any longer than a decade. Populations the world over are shifting to modern technologies like the LCD and LED to stay with the times. As of now, the LCD market is stable but the LED demand is on the rise. Having said that, it is hard to forecast in the world of technology- because as we all know, every second of the day, there is a new discovery/invention/development taking place and it is surely going to be hard to keep up!

RIGHT TO EDUCATION:What,Why and How?

India is a vast and huge country. According to the Preamble of our country, we follow the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. India is also a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. We are approaching the 66^th year of Independence and we still face a number of hurdles and challenges. The path to attaining economic development and stability is long and arduous. However, we Indians are known to be fighters and we have hope that we will be a global super-power someday. We face a lot of challenges as of today and these include poverty, population growth, poor healthcare and sanitation, poor urban and rural infrastructure, high infant mortality rate, low per-capita income, corruption, malnutrition, etc among many others.

One of the biggest and greatest challenges we face today though is from the field of education. A huge section of society in India is still illiterate. India currently has the world’s largest population of illiterates. Although literacy rate grew from 12% in 1947 to 74% in 2011, a six-fold improvement, it is still much below the global average of 84% literacy rate. The gender disparity is even more disappointing. Around 82% of men were literate in India whereas only around 65% of women were literate. This is slowly improving and the disparity is reducing but it should happen faster and in a better way.

To expedite the process of educating the people of the country from all parts and corners of this nation, various Governments over the years, be it state or central Governments, have legislated and implemented a number of schemes. Some of these being The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988; The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14-year age-group attend school, The Mid-day Meal scheme and various other initiatives by NGOs and Charities like Rotary Clubs, Lions’ Clubs, ITC etc.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), is an Indian legislation enacted by the Parliament on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010.

The Act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan). Kids are admitted in to private schools based on caste based reservations.  It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.

The passing of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 marks a historic moment for the children of India. This Act serves as a building block to ensure that every child has his or her right (as an entitlement) to get a quality elementary education, and that the State, with the help of families and communities, fulfils this obligation. Few countries in the world have such a national provision to ensure both free and child-centered, child-friendly education. This Act is also important because it is inclusive in nature and brings into its ambit the SCs, STs and OBCs as well as the disabled, HIV positive children, transgenders, orphans etc. This will result in free and quality education for all sections of society. This in turn will lead to increase in literacy rates, increase in employment, reduction in poverty and thereby benefitting the nation on the whole.

Central and state governments shall share financial responsibility for RTE. The central government shall prepare estimates of expenditures. State governments will be provided a percentage of these costs. The central government may request the Finance Commission to consider providing additional resources to a state in order to carry out the provisions of RTE. The state government shall be responsible for providing the remaining funds needed to implement. There will be a funding gap which needs to be supported by partners from civil society, development agencies, corporate organisations and citizens of the country.

All schools must comply with infrastructure and teacher norms for an effective learning environment. Two trained teachers will be provided for every sixty students at the primary level. Teachers are required to attend school regularly and punctually, complete curriculum instruction, assess learning abilities and hold regular parent-teacher meetings. The number of teachers shall be based on the number of students rather than by grade. The state shall ensure adequate support to teachers leading to improved learning outcomes of children. The community and civil society will have an important role to play in collaboration with the SMCs to ensure school quality with equity. The state will provide the policy framework and create an enabling environment to ensure RTE becomes a reality for every child.

RTE has also come under considerable amount of criticism. Some say it has not been drafted in a right manner and it has been pushed through into legislation in a hasty manner without having done proper preparations on the ground and without having raised adequate awareness and preparedness for the program. The quality of education provided by the government system remains in question. There are shortage of teachers, bad infrastructure and facilities and a lot of corruption in the system. There are also frequent allegations of government schools being riddled with absenteeism and mismanagement and appointments are based on political convenience. Despite the allure of free lunch-food in the government schools, many parents send their children to private schools.

The RTE if implemented and enforced in the right manner can do wonders and actually put the education of common man in India back on track and assist in achieving the goals of the country very soon. At the same time we should keep in mind that just to get a large number of people in the ‘literate’ category, we should hasten or hurry the whole process of education and at no cost should the quality of education be compromised. After all we Indians are known all over the world to be academically brilliant and scholarly individuals. We have Unity in Diversity.

THE POLITICS OF FOOD

Recently a food security ordinance was passed by the union cabinet and signed by President Pranab Mukherjee to fight hunger and malnutrition in the country. This is going to be achieved by providing highly subsidised foodgrains to about 67 per cent of the population.

Touted as a ‘game-changer’, the Government led by the Congress Party is looking to push the bill in the monsoon session of Parliament. Simultaneously, the Government is also looking to push through another ‘game-changer’ – the land acquisition Bill.

If these two are implemented and executed in the right manner, many believe it would give some hope to the Congress of not completely embarrassing themselves, if not coming back to power, when the country goes to the polls next year (or at the end of this year).

Many parties oppose the rushing through of the food Bill though they agree in principle with the need to make India hunger-free. They also want to sort out some issues through debate in Parliament.

However, several sections have expressed their reservations about the Bill. The first concerns the intention of the political parties. The timing of the decision and the urgency with which it was pushed through is also under question. Neither the Government nor the other parties show a similar urgency and unity on issues and policies regarding stabilising and strengthening the economy. Yet, the Opposition parties will not make much noise as no one wants to be viewed as being anti-poor.

The Bill envisages a minimum expenditure of Rs 6.82 crore to implement the programme. With India lagging behind in healthcare, education, sanitation, infrastructure and so on, it is shocking to see so much being spent in just one area.

WILL IT WORK?
BIGGER FOCUS

We want India to be hunger free but is this the right path to take? Will it work in the long run? Will tax-payers’ money lead to results on the ground? Especially given that the PDS system we have is riddled with corruption, adulteration, diversion and pilferage. The PDS system should first be rectified. The Direct Benefit Transfer system is a really good measure and the Government should first ensure that all the districts they look to include in the ambit of the food security Bill has 100 per cebt aadhar enrolment along with bank account-linked citizens. This will ensure the money reaches the actual beneficiaries.

Similar schemes have been launched in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. The Chattisgarh scheme should serve as an example. The one in Karnataka was a poll promise made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It gives 30 kg of rice per month to BPL families at Re.1 a kg. Although the scheme has been launched and is running smoothly, the CM faces funding difficulties.

The focus should also be on creating jobs and attracting industries to rural areas so that the youth over there can earn a livelihood and lead a better life. Education and healthcare should be given importance in rural areas. Empowering the people and getting them to work and earn a living for themselves is better than providing food at throwaway prices. The old saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” comes to mind. With parties and politicians politicising every issue from education to sports, natural disasters to the economy, it is hardly surprising that we are in a Catch-22 situation today. An inconsistent, irresponsible and disruptive Opposition doesn’t help.Instead of having meaningful and constructive debates in Parliament, they shout their lungs out in TV studios every evening.

Shoddy implementation and an aggressive approach just to win votes has taken the sheen off bold economic measures such as FDI in multi-brand retail and deregulation of fuel price, among others. Whether this gets the Congress back to power for a third stint is something we’ll have to wait and watch!

CLICK HERE