Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
angleevenforanindividualuser,thesemoreadvancedtechnologies areoftenusedonlar-
ger and more expensive panels.
Benefits of LCD Panels
LCD monitors offer a number of benefits when compared to conventional CRT glass tube
monitors. Because LCDs use direct addressing of the display (each pixel in the picture
corresponds with a transistor), they produce a high-precision image. LCDs can't have the
common CRT display problems of pincushion or barrel distortion, nor do they experience
convergence errors (halos around the edges of onscreen objects).
LCD panels are less expensive to operate than CRTs because they feature lower power
consumption and much less heat buildup than CRTs. Because LCD units lack a CRT, no
concernsexistaboutelectromagneticVLForELFemissions.AlthoughLCDsofferacom-
parable mean time between failures (MTBF) to CRT displays, the major reason for LCD
failures is the inverter or backlight, which might be relatively inexpensive to replace in
some models. CRT failures usually involve the picture tube, which is the most expensive
portion of the display and is often not cost-effective to replace.
LCD panels offer a significantly smaller footprint (front-to-back dimensions), and some
offeroptionalwallorstandmounting.LCDpanelsalsoweighsubstantiallylessthancom-
parably sized CRTs. For example, a 17-inch LCD weighs less than 10 lbs., compared to
the 50 lbs. weight of 19-inch CRTs with a similar viewing area.
LCD Monitor Selection Criteria
When selecting an LCD monitor, I recommend taking the following criteria into consid-
eration:
• LCD monitors work best at their native resolution, and can vary greatly in how they
scale to lower resolutions. Because higher resolutions result in smaller text and icons,
make sure you don't purchase a display with a higher resolution than you can easily
seeoruse.LCDmonitorsvarygreatlyinhowwelltheyscalefromnativetoalternative
resolutions, so you should evaluate the panel both at its native resolution and at any
other resolutions you plan to use.
•Forlargerdisplayssupportinghigherresolutions,usingaVGAanalogconnectionwill
result in a poor quality image. In that case, you will want to use a digital connection,
which means that both the video adapter and display will need compatible digital con-
nections such as DisplayPort, DVI, or HDMI.
•LCDshaveslowerresponsetimesthanmostCRTs.Forgoodperformancewithgames,
video, and animation, look for gray-to-gray (G2G) response times of 5ms or faster.
