Introduction to Monitor

Computer monitor is an output device that displays the signals in the form of viewable images and text on the screen.  A monitor comprises of display device, circuit board that contains the digital circuitry to generate the picture on the screen from the electrical signals, cathode ray tube and the case or enclosure.  A monitor is an integral part of the computer system.  The most popular manufacturers of the monitors, LCD and TFTs are the Acer, Apple, ViewSonic, Sony, Sharp, LG, Phillips, BenQ, HP and Samsung. With regards to the colors and display the monitors can be classified into the following types.

Monochrome

Monochrome monitors display two colors one for the background and one for the foreground.  The popular color combinations can be black and white and black and green.

Gray-Scale

Gray-scale monitor is capable of displaying different shades of the gray color.

Color

Color monitors can display the millions of the colors and they are also known as the RGB.

The size of the monitors ranges from the 14 to 20 inches.

Today most popular imaging technologies include the following.

• LCD
• CRT
• TFT
• Plasma Display
• Surface-conduction electron-emitter display
• Vector Displays.
• Digital and Analog Combinations

The performance of any monitor can be measured with the luminance, contrast ratio, aspect ratio, dot pitch, refresh rate, power consumption, response time, color depth and the viewable image size.  The resolution of the monitors indicates that how densely the pixels are packed. 

Modern monitors support multiple resolutions that range from 800X600, 1024X768, 1280X600, 1280X768 and 1280X800 etc.  Most of the monitors are multicasting i.e. they adjust themselves with the frequency of the signals.  The common problems that can arise in the display device are dead pixels, stuck pixels, blurred screen, phosphor burn-in, plasma burn-in, incomplete spectrum and the colors mis integration.

LCD monitors are light weight and flat panel as compared to the CRT monitors and they are most commonly used in the laptops and the portable computers.  LCD stands for the Liquid Crystal Diode and it is made up of the passive matrix or the active matrix display. They come in the standard size of 15 to 21”.