0 What Is A Computer Monitor And How It Works?

In this introduction I will explain how a computer monitor works and I will provide a general description of the aspects such as: the viewing area, the refreshing rate and how the image appears at the screen and more.
Monitors are display units displaying images produced by the computer, and there are 2 types of those monitors used for computers, the CRT and LCD one.
Both have different aspects and technologies, especially the LCD over the CRT as you will see along this page

Computer Monitor Screens, How They Work?

CRT Monitor

The CRT monitor (Cathode Ray Tube) uses an electron gun that interacts with a RGB fluorescent screen. The gun produces a beam when it hits the screen, excites the fluorescent screen producing images.
If you look at the image on the right, you can see the screen's pixels are formed by 3 colored phosphors. Regardless the image phosphors will light up when hit by the gun producing colors. Thus creating the image, pixel by pixel.

LCD Monitor

The LCD monitor (Liquid Crystal Display) uses a crystal liquid matrix between 2 opposite polarizing filter sheets letting or not the light pass, thus creating the colors. As the CRT, pixels on LCD are formed using the RGB but made of crystal molecules instead of phosphors.

Dot Pitch Or Pixel Pitch

Dot Pitch

The dot pitch also called pixel pitch is the distance in millimeters between 2 pixels.
On the image you have an example of how pixels are disposed on a screen. Each RGB triad forms 1 pixel and the distance between 2 pixels is the dot pitch.
The pitch is what will represent the quality detail of the image on the screen. If you have 100 pixels by inches instead of 50, you will obviously get a sharper image.

Computer Monitor Size And Aspect Ratio

CRT And LCD Viewable Area

The CRT and the LCD monitor case are built differently. On CRT, the case covers a part of the screen reducing the visible area by 0.9" to 1.2" depending the monitor model or brand. On LCD, the case does not cover, thus enabling a full view able area.
To determine the monitor size, calculate the diagonal length from the upper right to the bottom left corner of the screen starting from the inside, not from the case edge. The diagonal length will be the monitor area size as the image shows above.
The aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height of the display screen like regular TVs being 4:3. On widescreen monitors the aspect ratio would usually be 16:9. From one model to another the aspect ratio can be 4:3, 16:9, 16:10 or 15:9.

Computer Monitor Resolutions

The resolution is the term uses to explain the number of rows and columns a monitor can display in pixels at the screen. A maximum resolution of 1280x1024 means, the monitor will display 1280 pixels width by 1024 pixels height. Higher the resolution, sharper the image is at the screen.
CRT monitors are known for their multisync technology. The monitor can adjust the electron beam to display lower resolution standards than the maximum resolution possible.
LCD monitors are built with native resolutions, meaning the best quality on screen will come from a single resolution perfectly fitted for that monitor. Setting the monitor to a lower resolution cause the visible area to be reduced or extrapolated. When the monitor extrapolates it tries to blend pixels together to form the image and images made from extrapolation look fuzzy.
Here a Chart for CRT and LCD monitors standards, size and resolutions capacity. Yes or no in CRT and LCD column means a monitor model exist or not in that category.

Standard	Resolution	Size	CRT	LCD
SVGA	800x600	15"	YES	YES
XGA	1024x768	15"-17"	YES	YES
SXGA	1280x1024	17"-19"	YES	YES
SXGA+	1400x1050	21"	YES	NO
UXGA	1600x1200	19"-21"	YES	YES
WXGA (Widescreen)	1280x800	17"	NO	YES
WXGA+ (Widescreen)	1440x900	19"	NO	YES
WSXGA+ (Widescreen)	1680x1050	20"	NO	YES
WUXGA (widescreen)	1920x1200	24"	NO	YES

Computer Monitor Refresh Rate And Eye Fatigue

The refresh rate is the number of times per second the monitor scans the entire screen at a given resolution. If a monitor is listed at 1024x768 with a refreshing rate of 75HZ, it means it is the best resolution to use to get the highest refreshing rate possible for that monitor.
Something important to understand about refresh rate is the eye fatigue over time in front of the screen. After a short period of time, eyes get fatigue when a refreshing rate is low. It is better for the eyes to have at least a refreshing rate of 75HZ+ if you intend to stay long period of times at the computer. Higher the refresh rate, longer it takes to the eye to get fatigue.

Computer Monitor Connectors

All computer monitors use traditional analog VGA connector. It is the standard found on every video card.
LCD monitors may have a DVI connector besides the VGA one. The DVI is a digital interface that enhances the overall quality of the image by making it look brighter and cleaner.
I strongly suggest using the DVI if your video card and your monitor supports it. It gives a better experience when watching videos or movies.

[I hope you appreciated the computer monitor guide
and I invite you to take a look at the other guides.]

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