Your editor at Scientific American has requested that you prepare a technical report which describes the science/physics of the CRT, its range of applications in home entertainment, and its limitations in the ever evolving modern microelectronic world. Identify briefly the range of emerging alternatives to the CRT, including those likely to emerge in the future. From these choose two generically different alternatives and proceed to describe the scientific basis of the selected projection devices. Compare and contrast these alternatives and the CRT, discussing their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their application for home entertainment. In your discussion, consider factors such as energy consumption, safety (radiation, eye strain, ...), and others. Conclude by assessing the significance of the analysis (for example, in view of your analysis what alternative(s) do you expect to dominate (or not) and the reasons thereof).

1.1.1 Scope: Although this might seem self-evident, the initial description does set rather strict constraints on content of the report. By the description, we know that:

a. The report is to focus on the principles of operation for different types of display devices in home entertainment applications, and not on specific devices themselves. In other words, you are not to compare a SONY 43HDWS to a Samsung DLP30WHD (specific models), but technologies against one another (e.g. LCD versus DLP). This is especially important for the background section of the report, where you are to explain the principles of operation for a technology rather than a specific device. This is also an important consideration in the evaluation section.
b. Though the report is about display technologies, the focus is on their application in home entertainment. Hint: This means that the home entertainment needs (which are now evolving significantly) will help to establish the criteria for your evaluation.
c. The description tells you to compare at least two, meaning that a discussion of how different display technologies perform in home entertainment applications is required. You will have to provide more than just a list of pluses and minuses. Hint: doing substantially more than two may give you greater coverage of the potential options, but will limit the detail in which you can engage each type.

1.1.2 Audience: "Your editor at Scientific American has requested that you prepare a technical report." While your primary audience is an editor at Scientific American, it is likely that the magazine is also considering the piece as a potential article (with revisions of course). Both your editor and potential magazine readers have specific needs. It suggests that your audience will be fairly broad, including non-technical readers who may not normally read a scientific paper. They may not be familiar with all the principles behind display technologies or advances in home entertainment. However, they are intelligent and keenly interested in the science behind everyday devices, meaning that they will be capable of understanding technical information, if presented and organized in a logical and clear way. Hint: audience is an especially important consideration for the background section.

1.1.3 Purpose/Tone: The requirements of the assignment are explained above, and should tell you what kind of a report you are writing. Try and determine, from the information above, what the central purpose of the document is: Explanation? Evaluation? Recommendation?

1.2.1 It should state the purpose of the report. The purpose statement is not a general statement of the subject area, but a detailed statement that tells us what the report intends to accomplish. Three Hints Here:

a. You are given several requirements for the report: these are all purposes, but you will need to decide which is the central purpose – that is, which of these purposes are the others subordinate to, or what are you ultimately trying to do. Make sure your a purpose statement is equipped with a strong verb. Key: Read the instructions for each section before coming to a final purpose statement.
b. Remember the difference between problem and the purpose of the report, and the relationship between the two: the purpose addresses the problem that you are faced with.
c. An important consideration when formulating your purpose, as well as the entire report, is your intended audience. While your immediate audience is an editor at Scientific American, the final audience may ultimately be the readers of the magazine with a keen interest in the science behind technologies, who may have limited technical background and will need to know what you have learned in class and through your readings.

Look at the following examples of purpose statements-none of them quite right, some better than others-and what they are missing.

This report discusses the operation of display technologies. Or, This report discusses the operation of a CRT, LCD, and Plasma	Too general; this is only more a statement of "scope" than of "purpose." In particular, the verb "discusses" is too vague. Furthermore, both sentences fail to identify the focus of the paper's discussion correctly, concentrating on only one aspect of the discussion (Fails to acknowledge element of analysis).
I have been asked to write a report about display technologies to be submitted for ECE110.	A statement of the problem, rather than of the purpose of the report. The difference between the two is in its tone, not its substance. Obviously, something like this would not go into the actual report.
The purpose of this report is to explain the operation of display technologies to an intelligent but non-technical reader.	Not only is this too general, but it deals with the issue of audience incorrectly (As above, it also misses the above analysis). The reader does not need to be told who s/he is. Instead, address your audience through tone, style, and diction.
The purpose of the report is to explain the operation of display technologies in home entertainment applications, showing how the their importance.	A more focused purpose statement, but still doesn't get to the point of the report, but it suffers from the same inaccurate verb as above. It does tell the reader what the report will do, but does not communicate the final goal or cover all aspects of the report. (Comparison/Evaluation of types)

d. A more complete purpose statement would have emphasized the comparison / evaluation aspect more – different display technologies - as this is an important aspect of the report.

1.2.2 It lays out the scope/context of the report. By scope, we mean several things, including its general subject field, basic background information, and the scenario you are facing. To develop a context for the report, state the need for new display technologies - to do this, you will have to explain how developments in home entertainment applications have changed the requirements for displays. This contextual introduction is intended only as preliminary material that narrows the focus of the report and allows the report to move to its purpose statement (or to explain it, if it comes first).
Be careful, however, not to spend too much time on developing context here, for several reasons:

a. Any detailed discussion of the operation of display technologies should come later.
b. Much of the background information needed to understand the operation of displays has yet to be delivered, including the definition of the general principles underlying their operation.
c. Similarly, the need for new displays due to developments in home entertainment should only be be mentioned briefly, since this will also be a large part of the report and because the readers will largely be familiar with them: trying to explain this in detail in the introduction would be "jumping the gun." However, you will have to, later on, analyse what these need applications mean for display technologies.

1.2.3 It should also indicate how the report will be organized, paying especially close attention to the connections between the different sections of the report. In other words, it should be able to show the intended structure of the report, indicating a progression from background principles of the CRT and the alternatives, to what the specific requirements of the new display technology are, to, finally, a comparative analysis of different display types which also acknowledges the limitations, advantages, and future of the technology in the field.

This section is designed do several things:

1.3.1 CRT Function and Principles: This section defines how a CRT works in detail, explaining the principles which govern its operation - more simply, what the Cathode Ray Tube is, what it does and how it does what it does. Doing this effectively, however, is more complicated than it might seem, involving some very specific strategies.

Before you start, consider your audience (characteristics defined above). Your specific audience will need several things explained: 1) scientific terms, 2) terms with different meanings in a scientific context, and 3) formulae or laws. You will have to determine the level of information that is appropriate for the audience.  Beware, though: the danger of sounding condescending to your reader is almost as prominent as being over technical. 

1) Part of the your description will involve a Mechanism Description (the what), a list and description of each of the major components of a CRT display. However, a mechanism description is not sufficient because it doesn't explain how they work together.

2) Thus, another part of the description will involve Process Description (the how), a list of the steps and stages through which a CRT television displays a picture. A mechanism and process description gives both the parts and steps behind the technology, but is still incomplete, because we still need the why (Read the ECC's pages on Mechanism and Process definitions)

3) This is the most difficult part of the report, because it demands that you apply some of your learning from this ECE110, your understanding of the basics of science, to explain the principles underlying the process. Which scientific principles govern the operation of a CRT display? Why do the components behave in the manner that they do? What laws or principles govern this behavior?

You might even use an analogy appropriate to your audience. Make sure, however, that this analogy is well explained and that it applies to the concept being explained.

1.3.2 Criteria: This section also needs to establish the connection between these concepts (basic principles of CRT display operation) and the more general purpose of the report. You will have to clearly identify the new requirements of display technologies brought about by new home entertainment applications. That is, what do the changes in home entertainment mean for new display technologies? What will they have to be capable of doing? Many of these requirements can be found by analysing the limitations of CRT displays, as they begin to be phased out . . . if you can identify why CRTs are beginning to lose market share, you might be able to find what features and capabilities consumers are now asking for.

Therefore, you should be identifying clear design criteria for a successor to CRT displays which can satisfy consumers' home entertainment needs and the CRT limitations. These are essential because you will be using them to evaluate the two alternatives you are describing. These criteria should also be prioritized; which ones, for example, are the most important?

The design criteria that you identify also need to be measurable: terms like "cheap," "large screen," and "light" aren't precise enough to be helpful. "Average cost equivalent or less than average CRT prices for the same size screen," "capable of more 40 inch screens," and "less than 100 lbs for a 40inch TV" are more precise, and allow for a more comprehensive discussion below. Keep in mind that these precise criteria will also have to be justified.

1.3.3 Alternative Display Types: This section should also identify and describe the display technologies which are under consideration in the report. Some considerations here include:

a. Identification: The scope of your report is an important consideration here. Dealing with every single type of alternative will allow the report to be comprehensive, but it might also reduce the amount of detail you can provide on each type. Two is the requirement; anything more than three means that it is very likely that you won't be going into enough detail about the different types, especially in the analysis section.

b. Description: Although the display technologies may all work on similar principles (some will work quite differently from others), there are functional differences or differences in composition between them. It is important that your report should describe the principles behind each individual type, focusing especially on any differences in composition, design, and principles of operation. You should strive to do the same things you did in the above description of CRT technologies (Mechanism, Process, and Principles)

Note:

1.4.1 Linked to Criteria: The evaluation of display types must be clearly connected to the criteria identified in the above section of the report. Remember, this report focuses on finding display types suitable for current and future home entertainment applications. You should be evaluating whether or not the display type meets or does not meet the requirements set out above, rather than simply listing their advantages and disadvantages. You should also make sure that the listed advs/disadvs are relevant to the home entertainment applications.

1.4.2 Analysis Made Explicit: The evaluation must also conduct an analysis of the display types - it must compare/contrast them explicitly in terms of how they meet, fail to meet, or exceed the criteria defined above, rather than depend on the reader to do this on their own (A list of advs/disadvs would depend on the readers to conduct the analysis themselves)

1.4.3 Future of the Technology: Based on their relative performance, you are required to provide a recommendation for a battery type to be used in this particular device. the recommendation should be clearly linked to the criteria and justified by the above analysis.Your recommendation, however, should be multifaceted. It must consider the current state of the technology in making a recommendation, but also should consider both 1) the future needs of the home entertainment applications (not just the current ones) and 2) the developments necessary for the display technology type to become a the dominant technology for display devices in the home.

a. Any summary should directly engage and address your purpose statement. If your purpose statement has been "to discuss" something, summarize exactly what you have said about it; if it has been "to explain" something, be sure to concisely restate the basic principles behind the concept – how different technologies enable displays - you're explaining; if it has been to evaluate something, be sure to concisely restate the results/conclusions of the evaluation. Furthermore, the summary (especially for a report of this length) should not be more than one or two sentences long. Instead, focus on the following two suggestions.

b. Moving beyond mere summary, you might perhaps mention some of the implications of your analysis of display types for home entertainment. Again, this depends in large part on your imagination and creativity; might it, for example, play a role in the expanding the way that we think of home entertainment?

c. Assume that your audience already knows the preliminary information, such as the subject field, the background information, and the boundaries of the paper, and perhaps gesture beyond them. What sorts of future developments in these display technologies are on the horizon; what sorts of changes/improvements will this development lead to (in both our use of displays and the displays themselves)?

Hint: Given that your final section also looked at the limitations/future of the technology, you may want to consider this section an expansion of that part of the discussion.

• How to make an outline
• How to use an outline
• The ECC's Guide to Short Reports

• ECE 110 Course Web site