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LCD Computer Monitors

Introduction
A m onitor or display (som etim es called a v isua l display unit) is an electronic v isu al display for computers. The m onitor com pr ises th e display dev ice, circuitry , a nd an enclosure. The display dev ice in m odern m onitor s is ty pica lly a thin film tra nsistor liqu id cr y stal display (TFT-LCD) th in panel, while older m onitors use a cath ode r ay tube about as deep a s the scr een size. Origina lly com puter m onitor s were used for data pr ocessing and telev ision r eceiv ers for enter tainm ent; increa singly com puters a re being u sed both for da ta processing a nd enterta inm ent a nd TVs implement som e ty pical com puter functionality . Until around the y ear 2 008 m ost monitors h ad the aspect ratio 4 :3 . Since then m ost compu ter m onitors are pr oduced with the a spect ra tio 1 6:9. LCD sta nds for Liquid Cr y stal Display , r eferr ing to the technology behind these popular flat panel m onitors. An LCD monitor is distinguisha ble from a traditional CRT m onitor as the la tter has a bulky footprint with a depth of sev er al inches and a weight of 3 0 - 50 pounds (1 3 - 2 3 kilogram s) or m ore, while LCDs a re comm only 1 - 3 inches (2 .5 - 7 .5 cm ) thick and weigh less than 1 0 pounds (4.5 k). LCD displa y s were used on laptop compu ter s before the technology im pr ov ed enough to m ake the jum p to desktop monitors. An LCD m onitor consists of fiv e lay er s: a backlight, a sheet of polarized glass, a "m ask" of colored pixels, a lay er of liquid cry stal solution responsiv e to a wir ed grid of x, y coor dinates, and a second polarized sheet of glass. By ma nipu lating the orientations of cry stals through precise electr ical cha rges of v ary ing degr ees and v oltages, the cry sta ls act like tiny shutter s, opening or closing in response to the stimu lus, th ereby allowing degrees of light tha t hav e passed throu gh specific color ed pixels to illum inate the screen, cr eating a picture. As LCD technology ev olv es, different techniques for pr oducing color em erge. Activ e-m atrix or TFT (thin film tra nsistor)technology produces color and im ages as sharp as any CRT and is generally considered super ior to passive-

tra nsistor)technology produces color and im ages as sharp as any CRT and is generally considered super ior to passivematrixtechnologies. Im por tant specifications to consider when shopping for an LCD m onitor inclu de contrast ratio, brightness (or "nits"), v iewing angle, and response tim e. Contrast ratio r ela tes to the display 's com para tiv e difference between its br ightest white v alues and its darkest black v alues. A higher contrast ra tio will hav e truer colors with less "wash out." The sta ndard offering for lower end m odels is com m only 3 50:1 . Many ex perts recom m end a contr ast r atio of 500:1 or better. An LCD m onitor is brighter than a CRT, giv ing the consum er little r eason to hunt for an especially bright m odel. Brightness is m easured in nits, or one ca ndela per squar e meter . Any where from 2 50 - 3 00 nits is sta ndar d. If the nits are m uch higher y ou'll likely end up adjusting the brightness wa y down. The v iewing a ngle is an especially im porta nt consider ation if y ou plan to ha v e mu ltiple people v iewing the LCD m onitor at any giv en tim e. There is a v ertical and a hor izontal v iewing angle specification, which refers to th e degr ee y ou ca n stray fr om dead center before the pictur e starts to wash out. High contrast lev els usu ally go hand-in-ha nd with wider v iewing angles. Many recom mend a v iewing angle of at least 1 40 degr ees horizontal and 1 2 0 degrees v er tical. The wider the v iewing angles, th e better . Response time is measu red in m illiseconds (ms) and refer s to how long it takes pixels to turn fr om com pletely white to bla ck and back again. Sm aller v alues r epr esent a fa ster response tim e and are m or e desir able, especia lly for gam ing or v iewing v ideo. If the response tim e is slow, "ghosting" or "trailing" can occur with fa st-m ov ing im ages, as repaints of the scr een ov erlap. A m aximum response time should be no more tha n 2 5ms for genera l use, and 1 7 m s is better. Ma ny gam ers report no ghosting using an LCD m onitor with a response tim e of 1 6m s or less. LCDs use only one-third to one-half th e electricity of their CRT counter parts. They are m uch easier on the ey es, take up 90% less spa ce, a nd only weigh a few pou nds. They also em it far less low-fr equency radiation than CRTs. This ma kes LCDs a gr eat choice for nea rly ev ery one, a nd ideal for people who work a ll day in front of th e scr een. Colors m ay change hue as one mov es to the ou ter lim its of the v iewing angle, particula rly on displa y s with narr ow v iewing angles and low contrast ra tios. For this r eason gra phics pr ofessionals tha t requir e exa cting color consistency regardless of v iewing angle generally use CRTs, though LCDs ha v e im pr ov ed in this regar d.

An LCD m onitor comes in standa rd sizes fr om 1 5-inches to 2 1 -inches, a nd lar ger . The v iewing scr een is the same size as the r ated display , unlike CRT monitor s. Th erefore a 1 5-inch LCD will hav e a 1 5-inch v iewing screen.

A potential wea k link of an LCD m onitor is the backlight. Many monitor s com e with a 3 -y ear warr anty , but stipulate 1 y ear for th e backlight. Models with 3 -y ear warra nties that cov er th e backlight usually cost a little m ore but ma y be worth the extra inv estm en t.

Features
To ev aluate the specification s of LCD m onitors, her e are a few more th ings y ou need to know.

Nativ e Resolution Unlike CRT monitors, LCD monitor s display inform ation well at only the resolution they are designed for, which is

known as th e n ativ e resolution. Digita l display s address each indiv idual pixel u sing a fixed ma trix of horizontal and v ertical dots. If y ou cha nge the r esolu tion settings, the LCD scales the image and the quality suffer s. Nativ e resolutions are ty pically : 1 7 inch = 1 02 4x 7 68 1 9 inch = 1 2 80x 1 02 4 2 0 inch = 1 600x 1 2 00 Viewing Angle When y ou look a t an LCD m onitor from an angle, the im age can look dim m er or ev en disappear. Colors ca n also be misr epr esented. To com pensa te for this problem, LCD m onitor m akers hav e designed wider v iewing angles. (Do not confuse this with a widescreen display , which m eans the display is phy sically wider.) Manufacturer s giv e a measur e of v iewing angle in degrees (a gr eater num ber of degr ees is better). In general, look for between 1 2 0 and 1 7 0 degrees. Beca use m anufacturers m easure v iewing angles differ ently , the best way to ev a lua te it is to test the displa y y ourself. Check the angle from the top and bottom as well as the sides, bearing in m ind how y ou will ty pically use the displa y . Brightness or Luminance This is a measurem ent of th e a mount of light the LCD m onitor produces. It is giv en in nits or one candelas per square meter (cd/m2 ). One n it is equal to on cd/m2 . Ty pical brightness ratings range fr om 2 50 to 3 50 cd/m 2 for m onitors that per for m gener al-pur pose tasks. For displa y ing m ov ies, a brighter lum ina nce ra ting such a s 500 cd/m 2 is desirable. Contrast Ratio The contra st r atio rates the degree of differ ence of an LCD m onitor's ability to produce bright whites a nd the da rk blacks. The figur e is usually ex pressed as a ra tio, for exam ple, 500:1 . Ty pically , contrast ratios range fr om 450:1 to 600:1 , and they can be ra ted as high a s 1 000:1 . Ra tios m or e than 600:1 , howev er, prov ide little im pr ov em ent ov er lower ratios. Response Rate The response rate indicates how fa st th e m onitor's pixels can change colors. Faster is better becau se it reduces the ghosting effect when an im age m ov es, leav ing a faint trial in such applications a s v ideos or gam es. Adju sta bility Unlike CRT m onitor s, LCD m onitors hav e m uch m ore flexibility for positioning the screen the way y ou want it. LCD monitors can swiv el, tilt up and down, a nd ev en rotate from la ndscape (with th e horizontal plane longer than th e v ertical plane) to portrait m ode (with the v er tical pla ne longer than th e horizonta l plane). In addition, because th ey are lightweight and thin, most LCD m onitors ha v e built-in brackets for wall or ar m m ounting.

Reference
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