What Are The LCD Monitors?

By Matthew Kerridge

Monitors are often described with the acronym LCD and even some of the older, bigger monitors are described with the acronym CRT. The problem with using this form of description is that many people do not know what LCD or even CRT stands for. What are the LCD monitors? Let's take a look and see.

Liquid crystal display is what the letters LCD stands for, which somehow sounds superior to a cathode ray tube better known as CRT. LCD monitors are not big and bulky like the older CRT monitors. That is because the LCD displays are flat panels, lightweight in construction, used for displaying electronic images like images and text. With the LCD being lightweight and more versatile in construction it can be used to produce larger screens and even portable devices. This is not possible for the cathode ray tube which is bulky and a more complex structure to construct, not to mention heavier.

What exactly is a liquid crystal display? Well, the display consists of what are called pixels and these pixels are filled with liquid crystals also known as electronic modulated optical devices. The pixels are illuminated by a back-light or reflector to create color or monochrome images. Pixels are utilized in two different matrix called passive and active.

The difference between passive and active matrix is defined by the difference in response time and contrast differences. Passive matrix displays often have poor resolution and a very slow response time whereas active matrix offers sharp clear images with an expedited response time. The current liquid crystal display monitors on the market today have the active matrix allowing them to provide users with a crisp, sharper, brighter picture.

As with most products on the market today there is always going to be some type of cons, which is also true for LCD monitors. One major concern with LCD monitors is the non-native resolution issues. Images and videos are displayed with either high or low resolution. LCD monitors have problems with non-native resolution and will scale the image to adjust the resolution causing blurring and distortion of the image; it is more commonly referred to as high definition blur. This being said, LCD can not display very low resolution images because of scaling limitations.

Coloring is also an issue with LCD monitors. Due to what is known as back-light bleed the color black, which is the only color affected, can not be displayed as deep and dark. This puts some limitations on intricate graphics requiring color variations of black. There is also what is known as ghosting or trailing images which is a very possible occurrence on LCD monitors. This happens when images change rapidly and the display is trying to change. The way in which you view an LCD screen can also be a problem; this is especially prevalent on laptop computers. The screen can not be viewed at extreme angles or degrees without the display image becoming distorted.

Yes there are some cons to LCD monitors; however, in this case the pros far outweigh the cons. LCD monitors are the way to go when looking for crisp sharp images in a more compact, lightweight design. Liquid crystal displays are here to stay while the older cathode ray tubes are fizzling out. - 29854

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here