What Is a Computer Monitor

Computers are nowadays a vital part of our existence and well being. They serve us as working material, relaxation means and communication mediums. Because of these, it is very important to understand the basics of how a computer is built and how it works. The first thing you should understand about computers is their main components: the PC unit, the monitor and the peripherals (devices such as the keyboard, the printer or the mouse). Let’s get to the part that you are probably interested in – the computer monitor.

Also referred to as screen or a display, the monitor is the way to the computer’s mind. Through it we see what is it doing and how it is reacting to our commands. Without this object, using a personal computer would be a big mess with a lot of mistakes and misunderstandings. By its definition, a computer monitor is a composition of a visual display, connective circuitry and the protective case.

The display can be of many types: the first way of seeing how a computer thinks was through the CRT or cathode ray tube, the well known bulky monitor you had about 10 years ago. Because the technology I always evolving, monitor did evolved as well. Nowadays, nobody uses CRTs anymore, but the slicker, higher quality and eco friendly LCD screens, the liquid crystals displays. They started from simple monochrome features and ended up having an active matrix color such as the TFT screen, which are very good because they don’t reflect so much and the colors look better. If we do talk about the quality of a screen we need to mention a very expensive but overly cool computer monitor type named OLED meaning organic light emitting diode. These fascinating devices can be viewed from a lot of angles, have a better contrast and color generating qualities and uses less electric power than the regular LCD screens. The problem with the OLED screens is that they cost up to $6000. In the next paragraph we will go over the most known characteristics of a screen monitor and also their importance when you are working with that device. When buying a monitor is compulsory to look at the brightness and contrast ratios. Without a proper number, your images will look faded and boring, and will end up tiring your eyes. Another detail relates to the shape of the monitor and the size: the first is measured by calculating the ratio between the horizontal and vertical lengths and the other is the diagonal measured in inches. The dot pitch is a quality measurement that determines the distance between two pixels that have the same color; the smaller the pitch, the better the image. 

When buying a LCD, the viewing angle is something to carefully look at, because these screens have an issue with this measurement, the wider the angle, the better you will use your PC. Lastly, we look at the screen resolution and the power consumption, being two sets of numbers that aren’t usually taken in consideration. A large resolution will give you a clear image without any interruptions; the maximum resolution of a screen is determined by the dot pitch. The power consumption is not always interesting, but if you get a “not so hungry” monitor you will save up money through time.