Computer monitor

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A liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitor

A cathode-ray tube (CRT) 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. Older monitors used a cathode ray tube (CRT). Monitors are
connected to the computer via VGA, Digital Visual
Interface (DVI), HDMI, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, low-voltage differential
signaling (LVDS) or other proprietary connectors and signals.
Originally, computer monitors were used for data processing while television sets were
used for entertainment. From the 1980s onwards, computers (and their monitors) have
been used for both data processing and entertainment, while televisions have
implemented some computer functionality. The common aspect ratio of televisions, and
computer monitors, has changed from 4:3 to 16:10, to 16:9.
Modern computer monitors are easily interchangeable with conventional television sets
and vice versa. However, as computer monitors do not necessarily include
 integrated speakers nor TV tuners (such as Digital television adapters), it may not be
possible to use a computer monitor as a TV set without external components. [1]

Contents

 1History
 2Technologies
o 2.1Cathode ray tube
o 2.2Liquid crystal display
o 2.3Organic light-emitting diode
 3Measurements of performance
o 3.1Size
o 3.2Aspect ratio
o 3.3Resolution
o 3.4Gamut
 4Additional features
o 4.1Power saving
o 4.2Integrated accessories
o 4.3Glossy screen
o 4.4Curved designs
o 4.5Directional screen
o 4.63D
o 4.7Touch screen
o 4.8Tablet screens
o 4.9Ultrawide screens
 5Mounting
o 5.1Desktop
o 5.2VESA mount
o 5.3Rack mount
o 5.4Panel mount
o 5.5Open frame
 6Security vulnerabilities
 7See also
 8References
 9External links

History[edit]
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. Instead, a line printer
was the primary output device, while the monitor was limited to keeping track of the
program's operation.[2]
As technology developed engineers realized that the output of a CRT display was more
flexible than a panel of light bulbs and eventually, by giving control of what was
displayed in the program itself, the monitor itself became a powerful output device in its
own right.[citation needed]
Computer monitors were formerly known as visual display units (VDU), but this term
had mostly fallen out of use by the 1990s.

Technologies[edit]
Further information: Comparison of CRT, LCD, Plasma, and OLED and History of
display technology
Multiple technologies have been used for computer monitors. Until the 21st century
most used cathode ray tubes but they have largely been superseded by LCD monitors.
Cathode ray tube[edit]
Main article: Cathode ray tube
The first computer monitors used cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Prior to the advent of home
computers in the late 1970s, it was common for a video display terminal (VDT) using a
CRT to be physically integrated with a keyboard and other components of the system in
a single large chassis. The display was monochrome and far less sharp and detailed
than on a modern flat-panel monitor, necessitating the use of relatively large text and
severely limiting the amount of information that could be displayed at one time. High-
resolution CRT displays were developed for the specialized military, industrial and
scientific applications but they were far too costly for general use.
Some of the earliest home computers (such as the TRS-80 and Commodore PET) were
limited to monochrome CRT displays, but colour display capability was already a
standard feature of the pioneering Apple II, introduced in 1977, and the speciality of the
more graphically sophisticated Atari 800, introduced in 1979. Either computer could be
connected to the antenna terminals of an ordinary colour TV set or used with a purpose-
made CRT colour monitor for optimum resolution and colour quality. Lagging several
years behind, in 1981 IBM introduced the Color Graphics Adapter, which could display
four colours with a resolution of 320 x 200 pixels, or it could produce 640 x 200 pixels
with two colours. In 1984 IBM introduced the Enhanced Graphics Adapter which was
capable of producing 16 colors and had a resolution of 640 x 350. [3]
By the end of the 1980's colour CRT monitors that could clearly display 1024 x 768
pixels were widely available and increasingly affordable. During the following decade,
maximum display resolutions gradually increased and prices continued to fall. CRT
technology remained dominant in the PC monitor market into the new millennium partly
because it was cheaper to produce and offered to view angles close to 180 degrees.
[4]
 CRTs still offer some image quality advantages[clarification needed] over LCDs but improvements
to the latter have made them much less obvious. The dynamic range of early LCD
panels was very poor, and although text and other motionless graphics were sharper
than on a CRT, an LCD characteristic known as pixel lag caused moving graphics to
appear noticeably smeared and blurry.
Liquid crystal display[edit]
Main articles: Liquid-crystal display and Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display
There are multiple technologies that have been used to implement liquid crystal displays
(LCD). Throughout the 1990s, the primary use of LCD technology as computer monitors
was in laptops where the lower power consumption, lighter weight, and smaller physical
size of LCDs justified the higher price versus a CRT. Commonly, the same laptop would
be offered with an assortment of display options at increasing price points: (active or
passive) monochrome, passive color, or active matrix color (TFT). As volume and
manufacturing capability have improved, the monochrome and passive color
technologies were dropped from most product lines.
TFT-LCD is a variant of LCD which is now the dominant technology used for computer
monitors.[5]