<P> Most 2010s - era flat - panel displays use LCD and / or LED technologies . Most LCD screens are back - lit to make them easier to read or view in bright environments . Flat - panel displays are thin and lightweight and provide better linearity and they are capable of higher resolution than typical consumer - grade TVs from earlier eras . The highest resolution for consumer - grade CRT TVs was 1080i; in contrast, many flat - panels can display 1080p or even 4K resolution . As of 2016, some devices that use flat - panels, such as tablet computers, smartphones and, less commonly, laptops, use touchscreens, a feature that enables users to select onscreen icons or trigger actions (e.g., playing a digital video) by touching the screen . Many touchscreen - enabled devices can display a virtual QWERTY or numeric keyboard on the screen, to enable the user to type words or numbers . </P> <P> A multifunctional monitor (MFM) is a flat - panel display that has additional video inputs (more than a typical LCD monitor) and is designed to be used with a variety of external video sources, such as VGA input, HDMI input from a VHS VCR or video game console and, in some cases, a USB input or card reader for viewing digital photos). In many instances, an MFM also includes a TV tuner, making it similar to a LCD TV that offers computer connectivity . </P> <P> The first engineering proposal for a flat - panel TV was by General Electric as a result of its work on radar monitors . Their publication of their findings gave all the basics of future flat - panel TVs and monitors . But GE did not continue with the R&D required and never built a working flat panel at that time . The first production flat - panel display was the Aiken tube, developed in the early 1950s and produced in limited numbers in 1958 . This saw some use in military systems as a heads up display, but conventional technologies overtook its development . Attempts to commercialize the system for home television use ran into continued problems and the system was never released commercially . The Philco Predicta featured a relatively flat (for its day) cathode ray tube setup and would be the first commercially released "flat panel" upon its launch in 1958; the Predicta was a commercial failure . The plasma display panel was invented in 1964 at the University of Illinois, according to The History of Plasma Display Panels . The first active - matrix addressed display was made by T Peter Brody's Thin - Film Devices department at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1968 . In 1977, James P Mitchell prototyped and later demonstrated what was perhaps the earliest monochromatic flat panel LED television display LED Display . As of 2012, 50% of global market share in flat - panel display (FPD) production is by Taiwanese manufacturers such as AU Optronics and Chimei Innolux Corporation . </P> <P> Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are lightweight, compact, portable, cheap, more reliable, and easier on the eyes than cathode ray tube screens . LCD screens use a thin layer of liquid crystal, a liquid that exhibits crystalline properties . It is sandwiched between two electrically conducting plates . The top plate has transparent electrodes deposited on it, and the back plate is illuminated so that the viewer can see the images on the screen . By applying controlled electrical signals across the plates, various segments of the liquid crystal can be activated, causing changes in their light diffusing or polarizing properties . These segments can either transmit or block light . An image is produced by passing light through selected segments of the liquid crystal to the viewer . They are used in various electronics like watches, calculators, and notebook computers . </P>

When was the first flat screen tv sold