Computer monitor

Computer Monitor

A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial form. A monitor usually comprises the visual display, circuitry, casing, and power supply. The display device in modern monitors is typically a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) with LED backlighting having replaced cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlighting.

History[edit | edit source]

Early electronic computers were fitted with a panel of light bulbs where the state of each particular bulb would indicate the on/off state of a particular register bit inside the computer. This allowed the engineers operating the computer to monitor the internal state of the machine, so this panel of lights came to be known as the 'monitor'. As early monitors were only capable of displaying a very limited amount of information and were very transient, they were rarely considered for program output.

Types of Computer Monitors[edit | edit source]

There are several types of computer monitors that have been used over the years. Each type of monitor has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Cathode Ray Tube Monitors[edit | edit source]

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors were the standard in the early days of computing. They are bulky and heavy due to the large cathode ray tubes they contain.

Liquid Crystal Display Monitors[edit | edit source]

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors are much thinner and lighter than CRT monitors. They use a layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched between two layers of glass or plastic.

Light Emitting Diode Monitors[edit | edit source]

Light Emitting Diode (LED) monitors are a type of LCD monitor. They use LEDs to provide the backlighting instead of the cold cathode fluorescent lamps used in standard LCD monitors.

References[edit | edit source]

Computer monitor Resources
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