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INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Umer Tariq
CHAPTER 3A
VIDEO AND SOUND
MONITORS
Most common output device
Connects to the video card
All monitors can be categorized by the way they display colors
Monochrome
Display only one color i.e. white or green, with black background
Used for text only displays where user does not need to see color graphics.
Grayscale
Displays varying degrees of gray(very light gray to black) against a white or off white background
Essentially a type of monochrome monitor
Color Monitors
Display 4 to 16 million colors

4A-6
MONITORS

Monochrome means single color channel, can be red, green, blue.

Grayscale means single color channel of grey (extreme being black or white).
MONITORS

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Most common type of monitor

It looks a lot like a television screen
and works in much the same way
Heavy up-to 30 pounds
Electrons gun at the back
MONITORS

CRT color
Phosphor dots arranged in triads
Red, green, and blue dots
Three colors blend to make colors
Varying the intensity creates new colors
MONITORS
CRT Working

Near the back o f a monitor's housing is an electron gun.

Electron gun shoots beam of electrons through
magnetic coil called yoke. It aims the beam at front of monitor
Phosphorus at the back of screen glows when
struck with electron beam.
The screen’s phosphorus coating is organized into a grid o f dots
Smallest number of phosphorus dots that
gun can focus on is called a pixel
MONITORS

CRT Working

Near the back o f a monitor's housing is an electron gun.

In a color monitor there are three electron beams instead of one. The three guns represent the primary additive
colors (red, green, and blue)
In a color monitor, each pixel includes three phosphors—red, green, and blue—arranged in a triangle
When the beams of each of these guns are combined and focused on a pixel, the phosphors light up
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HOW TO CHOOSE MONITORS?

Check the following,

Size.
Resolution.(sharpness or clarity)
Refresh Rate. (No of times electrons gun scanning pixel)
Dot Pitch. (distance between two same colored phosphorus dots)

The dot pitch should be no greater than 28 mm and the refresh rate should be at least 72 Hz.
MONITORS

CRT drawbacks

Very large:
they take up desktop space and can be difficult to move

Very heavy:
A standard CRT monitor may be more than 16 inches deep and weigh about 30 pounds

Use a lot of electricity

TASK

How to find pixels on the screen?

Does it depend on the resolution?

MONITORS

Flat Panel Monitors

Commonly found on laptops

Desktop versions exist

Solve the problems of CRT

Take up less desk space and run cooler than traditional CRT monitors
There are several types of flat-panel monitors, but the most common is the liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor
MONITORS

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

Commonly found on laptops

Desktop versions exist

Solve the problems of CRT

Fluorescent lights provide illumination

MONITORS

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

The LCD monitor creates images with a special kind of liquid crystal that is normally transparent but becomes
opaque when charged with electricity.
CATEGORIES OF LCD DISPLAY

Passive matrix LCD

relies on transistors for each row and each column of pixels

Pixels arranged in a grid
The color displayed by a pixel is determined by the electricity coming from the transistors at the end of the
row and the top of the column
Pixels are activated indirectly
Row and column are activated
Animation can be blurry
Narrow viewing angle
Don’t “ refresh” the pixels very quickly
CATEGORIES OF LCD DISPLAY:

Active matrix LCD

Assigns transistor to each pixel
Each pixel is turned on/off individually
This enhancement allows the pixels to be refreshed much more rapidly
Active matrix displays use thin-film transistor (TFT ) technology in which pixels have 4 transistors
One each for red, green, blue
One for opaqueness
Transistors arranged in a thin film
Animation is crisp and clean
Active matrix screens have a wider viewing angle than passive matrix screens
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MONITORS

Drawbacks to LCD

More expensive than CRT

Limited viewing angle: Must sit directly in front of screen
Can be more fragile than CRT
Their images can be difficult to see in bright light.
MONITORS

Paper-white displays

High contrast between fore and background

An LCD version of the paper-white display is called a

page-white display
Used by:
Document designers such as desktop publishing specialists,
Newspaper or magazine compositors
People who create high-quality printed documents
MONITORS

Electro-luminescent displays (ELD)

Similar to LCD

Use a phosphorescent film held between two sheets of glass to produce light
MONITORS

Plasma monitor
Created by sandwiching a special gas (such as neon or xenon) between two sheets of glass
Gas is excited to produce light: When the gas is electrified via a grid of small
electrodes, it glows
COMPARING MONITORS

Monitors impacts user effectiveness

Look for a monitor that displays graphics nicely and is easy on your eyes
Allow you to work longer and more comfortably
Monitors should have:
Crisp text
Clear graphics
Adjustable controls
Clear edges
COMPARING MONITORS
SEVERAL SPECIFICATIONS TO CHECK:

1. Size of monitor
Measured in inches
Measured diagonally
17-inch monitor measures 17 inches from the lower left to the upper right corner
Actual size
Distance from corner to corner
Viewable size
Useable portion of the screen

Buy the largest monitor you can afford

COMPARING MONITORS
SEVERAL SPECIFICATIONS TO CHECK:

Resolution
The term resolution refers to the sharpness or clarity of an image
Resolution is determined by number of pixels on the screen
The more pixels a monitor can display, the higher its resolution and the clearer its images appear
a resolution of 640 X 480 means 640 pixels horizontally and 480 pixels vertically
Higher number creates sharper images
Higher number creates smaller images
MONITORS AND VIDEO CARDS

Refresh rate
Number of time the screen is redrawn
A monitor's refresh rate is the number of times per second that the electron guns scan every pixel on the
screen
Refresh rate is important because phosphor dots fade quickly after the electron gun charges them with
electrons
If the screen is not refreshed often enough, it appears to flicker, which causes eye strain
Modern equipment sets this automatically
Refresh rate is measured in Hertz (Hz)
This means that if a monitor’s refresh rate is 100 Hz, it refreshes its pixels 100 times every second
When purchasing a monitor; look for one with a refresh rate of 72 Hz or higher
MONITORS AND VIDEO CARDS

Dot pitch
Distance between the same color dots
If we measure the distance between the red dots of two adjacent pixels, we are measuring the monitor's dot pitch
Dot pitch is measured as a fraction of a millimeter(mm)
Ranges between .15 mm and .40 mm
Smaller creates a finer picture
Should be less than .22mm
VIDEO CARDS

Device between the CPU and monitor

It contains the video-dedicated memory and other circuitry necessary to send information to the monitor
for display on the screen
Better cards result in better output
Have their own processor and RAM
Modern cards have up to 512 MB RAM(*)
Capable of rendering 3D images (process of generating a photorealistic or non-
photorealistic image 3D model by means of computer programs).
VIDEO CARDS

In most computers, the video card is a separate device that is plugged into the motherboard
In many newer computers, the video circuitry is built directly into the motherboard, eliminating the need
for a separate card
Today's video controllers feature their own built-in microprocessors which frees the CPU from the burden
of making the millions of calculations required for displaying graphics
ERGONOMICS AND MONITORS
Eyestrain
Eyestrain is basically fatigue of the eyes, caused by focusing on the same point for too long
Eyestrain can lead to headache
Steps to avoid
Choose a good monitor that hold steady image without flickering
Place the monitor 2 – 3 feet away:
so that the screen’s center is a little below your eye level. Then tilt the screen’s face upward about 10 degrees. This angle will enable
you to view the monitor comfortably without bending your neck

Center of screen below eye level

Avoid reflected light
Keep your screen clean
Avoid looking at the monitor for more than 30 minutes without taking a break.
ERGONOMICS AND MONITORS

Electronic magnetic fields (EMF)

Generated by all electronic devices
EMF may be detrimental to health
Can be liked to cancer
Steps to avoid
Keep the computer at arms length
Take frequent breaks
Use an LCD monitor which does not radiate EMFs
DATA PROJECTORS

Replaced overhead and slide projectors

Data projectors are also called digital light projectors and video projectors
A data projector plugs into one of the computer’s port and project image onto wall or screen
LCD projectors
Uses LCD technology
Most common type of projector
Small LCD screen
Very bright light
Require a darkened room
DATA PROJECTORS

Digital Light Projectors

use digital light processing (DLP) technology to project brighter, crisper image
DLP devices use a special microchip called a digital micromirror device
A series of mirrors control the display
May be used in a lighted room
SOUND SYSTEMS

Any new multimedia-capable PC includes a complete sound system, with a microphone, speakers, a
sound card
Integral part of the computer experience
Capable of recording and playback
SOUND SYSTEMS

Sound card
Device between the CPU and speakers
Converts analog form to digital
Can be connected to several devices
Modern cards support Dolby Surround Sound
SOUND SYSTEMS

Headphones and headsets

Replacement for speakers and microphones
Offer privacy
Does not annoy other people
Outside noise is not a factor
Headsets have speakers and a microphone
CHAPTER 3A
END OF CHAPTER
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