LCD M

Monitors
it

IS 311 G
Group P
Presentation
t ti
 Topics to be covered

• Beatrice - CRT & LCD Monitor History

• Sici - LCDs Advantages & Disadvantages
• Gil - Current LCDs
• Jerry - Future Trends
• Julio - Buyer
Buyer’ss Guide
CRT & LCD Monitor History

How it all started

 Monitor Overview
• The most-used output device on a computer.
• Most desktop displays use a cathode ray tube
(
(CRT).)
• Laptops use liquid crystal display (LCD), light-
emitting diode (LED),
(LED) and gas plasma or other
image projection technology.
• Monitors using LCD technologies are beginning to
replace CRT.
 LCD History

• Liquid
q crystals
y were first discovered in 1888 by
y
Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer.
• Melt cholesterol-like
cholesterol like substance.
substance
• When cooled, the liquid turned blue before finally
crystallizing.
• RCA made the first experimental LCD in (1968).
(1968)
• Manufacturers have been developing creative
variations and improvements since on LCDs.
 What is Being Used Today?

• The most ppopular

p display
p y todayy remains CRT.
• It has been available for more than 70 years.
• CRTs:
1. Vivid colors and detailed images and text.
2. Cost less than LCD monitors.
3. Continue to evolve.
 LCD Market Trend

• Market for flat screen LCDs grew rapidly during

the ‘90s.
• Hugeg success of the laptop
p p computer.
p
• It has still been slow in matching the market share
of the CRT
CRT.
• Color LCDs hit the market in the early ‘90s.
• Has
H only l now bbecome popularl enoughh for
f vendors
d
to mass-produce.
 From CRT to LCD
• CRT
– B
Bulky,
lk hheavy, use vacuum ttube
b
technology.
– Using technology that was
developed in the 19th century.
• LCD
– First LCD laptop monitors were
very small due to manufacturing
costs.
– Light, sleek, energy
energy-efficient,
efficient,
have sharp picture.
 How Monitors Work
• Most use a cathode-ray tube as a
display device.
device
• CRT: Glass tube that is narrow at
oonee end
e d and
a d opens
ope s to a flat
at screen
sc ee
at the other end.
• Narrow end contains electron
guns.
– Single gun for monochrome and
three guns for color.
– Display screen is covered with tiny
phosphor dots that emit light when
struck by the electron gun.
 Monitor Classifications

• Monochrome: Display two colors, one for the

background and one for the foreground.

• Gray-Scale: A special type of monochrome monitor

capable of displaying different shades of gray.

• Color: Can display anywhere from 16 to over 1 million

different colors. Sometimes called RGB monitors.
 Monitor Quality and Resolution
Quality:
• Manufacturers describe quality by dot pitch.
pitch
• Smaller dot pitches mean pixels are closely spaced
which will yield a sharper image
image.
• Most monitors have dot pitches that range from
0 22mm to 0.39mm.
0.22mm 0 39mm
Resolution:
• I di
Indicates how
h densely
d l packed
k d the
h pixels
i l are.
• Most modern monitors can display 1024x768 pixels.
• High end models can display 1280x1024.
 LCD Technology

• Used for displays in notebooks,

notebooks small computers,
computers
pagers, phones and other instruments.
• Uses a combination of fluorescent-based
fluorescent based backlight,
backlight
color filters, transistors, and liquid crystal to create
and illuminate images.
images
• Until recently, was only used on notebook computers
and other portable devices
devices.
• In 1997, manufactures began to offer full size LCD
monitors as alternatives to CRT monitors.
monitors
 IBM Advances in
Display Technology

• In 1981, IBM introduced the Color Graphics Adapter

((CGA)) display,
p y, able to display
p y 4 colors and max
resolution of 320x200.

• In 1984, Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) display,

able to display 16 colors and resolution of 640x350.
 IBM Advances in Display
Technology (cont.)

• In 1987, Video Graphics Array (VGA) display.

– Most computers today support the VGA standard.

• In 1990, Extended Graphics Array (XGA) display,

capable of resolutions 800x600 in true color ( 16.8
million colors)) and 1024x768 in 65,536
, colors.
P IBM
Pre-IBM

Apple II
• Released in 1977
• First true “personal computer”
• Based on the Apple I design
with some additions
– Plastic case
– Able to display color graphics
• Able to display 6 colors at
280x192 resolution.
Apple II Control Panel
 Pre-IBM (cont.)
TRS 80
TRS-80
• Developed in late 1970s
b Radio
by R di Shack.
Sh k
• First product in store
hi t
history to
t fetch
f t h more than
th
$500.
• Monitor
M it was basically
b i ll an
RCA TV with the tuner
removed.
removed
• Became a direct
competitor to the Apple
computer.
TRS-80
 Heath Desktop

• One of the first

computers designed as
complete
p desktopp
machines.
• Included monitor,
monitor
floppy disks and
keyboard.
keyboard
• Was eventually bought
by Zenith
Zenith.
 IBM PC-1981

• IBM’s
IBM s 5150 model
introduced in 1981.
• The PC featured a 5-5
MHz Intel processor,
18K of memory and
an optional color
monitor.
monitor
• Starting price: $1,565
Windows Screen Shots Throughout Time:
MS-DOS

Windows 3.1
Windows Screen Shots Throughout Time:

Windows 98

Windows 2K
Windows Screen Shots Throughout Time:

Windows XP
 Advantages of LCDs
• Physical Size
– Compact and Lightweight
– Space saving
– Can
C bbe mountedd on a wall
ll or panell
 Advantages of LCDs
• Display Size
– Available at comparable in screen size as traditional
CRT
– Shown on the next slide,
slide a 12.1"
12 1" LCD display (left) has
only a slightly smaller viewing area than a typical 14"
CRT monitor. Newer, larger LCD monitors are also
appearing that have 15", 17", and even larger screen
sizes that are comparable to the largest CRT monitors.
(One thing to note is that LCD monitors are typically
sized by their actual viewable diagonal measurement,
but CRTs typically are not.)
Advantages of LCDs
 Advantages of LCDs
• Power Consumption and Radiation Emission
– Consume less energy and more durable
• A typical CRT losses approximately 50% of its brightness
after
f 10 10,000
000 hhours. A
An LCD bulb
b lb will
ill maintain
i i itsi brightness
bi h
anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 hours.
• LCD consumes fewer watts than a CRT. LCD will use an
average 30 watts compared to 120 watts for the CRT.
• Can reduce electric bill by 40-85%.
• Uses
U a combination
bi ti off fluorescent-based
fl t b d bbacklight,
kli ht color
l
filters, transistors, and liquid crystal to create and illuminate
images. It blocks light rather emit light
 Advantages of LCDs
• Power Consumption and Radiation Emission
– Doest not emit Radiation
– Not subject to Electromagnetic Interference
 Advantages of LCDs

• Viewingg
– Cause less eyestrain
– Does not flicker or glare

(Source: Dailey News – June 22, 2002

2002, TouchScreens
TouchScreens.com,
com unicomplabs
unicomplabs.com,
com
TheVisualLink.com)
 Advantages of CRT

• Color
– Most are capable of displaying unlimited
colors.
• Resolution
– Multiple video Resolutions.
 Advantages of CRT

• Response
p Time
– Faster response time. Critical to people who
watch videos or play games on their PC
PC’s.
s.
– The fastest LCD’s offer a response time of
about 25 milliseconds as apposed to CRT’s
CRT s
that have a response time of about 13
milliseconds.
milliseconds
 Advantages of CRT
• Viewing Angle
– Look @ a very wide angle

(Source: PCWorld.com, TouchScreens.com)

 Disadvantages of LCDs
• Resolution
• Displays Native Resolutions (Resolution that it
displays best)
• Viewing Angle
• Smaller, needed to be viewed more directly from
the
h front.
f
• From the side the images on an LCD screen can
seem to disappear
disappear, or invert colors
colors.
• Newer displays that are coming out have a wider
viewing angle so this is not as much of an issue as it
has been in the past.
 Disadvantages of LCDs

• Price
– Upfront cost it is more costly but long-term
cost but will conserve energy in the long run.
– The energy savings may not be much for an
individual use,
use but for a corporate office where
50 displays or more are in use, the energy
savings might be more of an issue.
issue
 Disadvantages of LCDs

• Installation
– Need a plug interface to connect to the
computer.
– Some require a special digital plug-interface in
order to work .
– Problem: is that this plug is not available on
mostt computers,
t so another
th video
id cardd or
adapter must be purchased to plug these LCD
monitors
it into
i t the
th computer.
t
 Disadvantages of LCDs

• Response
p Time
– It is much slower. The delay can cause a
ghosting effect on images it displays.

(Source: TechRepublic.com, PCWorld.com, TouchScreens.com)

 Disadvantages of CRTs

• Physical
y size
– Takes more desktop space.

(Source: TechRepublic.com)
 Disadvantages of CRTs
• Power Consumption and Radiation Emission
– Consumes more energy
– Emits harmful radiation. The metal shield behind the
glass of your monitor protects your body from a flood
of radiation.
– It holds a dangerous
g electrical charge
g even after turned
off and can last up to several years and be hazardous
and even deadly to anyone who opens a CRT monitor
casing.
casing
– Know to cause fires due to electrical malfunctions and
eexcessive
cess ve heat
eat if tthee ve
ventilation
t at o holes
o es are
a e accidentally
acc de ta y
covered up.
(Source: TechRepublic.com)
 CURRENT LCD’s

Current Technology
gy and Trends
 Business Aspect

1. Reasons for a sensitive market:

I. Price sensitive demand – As price drops
slightly
li htl sales
l go up sharply.
h l
II. Longg time for production
p facilities to
form.
 Recent History

• 1999 – Very y high

g demand for LCD
• 2000 – Crash of computer market causes
surplus.
l
• Prices are slashed.
Average 17” LCD Monitor Street price

Quarter Average Price

1Q 2001 $1,148

2Q 2001 $1,003

3Q 2001 $887

4Q 2001 $781

1Q 2002 $773

2Q 2002 $757

3Q 2002 $735

4Q 2002 $676
 Technology Aspect

• 1. Display
p y addressing.
g

• 2.
2 Analog
A l VS digital
di it l signal
i l handling.
h dli

• 3. Display Uniformity and Viewing Angle .

Active VS. Passive Display

Active Display Passive Display

TFT (Thin Film Transistor)
 Analog VS Digital signal handling

• On most graphic card signal goes through

DAC (digital to analog converter) to
convert to Analog signal.
• LCD must convert the signal back to digital
to determine which pixel to light.
• If conversion has error the result is "pixel
jitter", in which the image seems to
jitter
shimmer or move.
 Improved Signal Handling

• 1. DVI ((digital
g video interface)) standard
was adopted.
• i. i DVI hhandles
dl both
b th analog
l andd digital
di it l
signals
g with separate
p connectors
• 2. controlling circuitry became substantially
better in a very short time.
time
 Display Uniformity

Backlight
g

• Early
y LCD backlight
g wasn’t uniform and
“hot spots” were created.
• Display
Di l manufacturers
f t developed
d l d more
sophisticated diffusing materials.
 Viewing Angles

• Improving Viewing angels can be done by

changing cell design.
• Three
Th diffdifferent cell
ll designs.
d i
1.. Vertical
Ve c alignment
g e (VA). (V ).
2. In-plane switching (IPS).
3. Multi-domain.
LCD Future Trends
 LCD Future Trends

• Short & Long Term Prices

• 3 Important Ergonomic Features
• LCD Monitor Quality
• New Technologies
g
 LCD Future Trends

• Lower
L LCD Prices
Pi in
i the
th Short
Sh t Term
T
– The Dock Works Strike
– The Slow Economy
– More Factories Online
 LCD Future Trends
• Lower Prices in the Long-Term
– Calculators, CRTs, VCRs and DVD Players
were all very expensive at first
– They now sell at lower prices because of the
laws of supply
pp y and demand
– What do they have in common with LCDs?
– The are all electronic devices
– So if the laws of supply and demand continue to
apply,
l LCDs
LCD willill sell
ll for
f less
l in
i the
th long-term
l t
 LCD Future Trends

• Lower Prices in Long-Term

g (continued)
– Example of an LCD going down in price
• IBMs
IBM T220 LCD monitor it costt about
b t
$50,000 when it first came out
• Oct 2001 – it costs: $22,000
• Dec 2001 – it costs: $15,999
$15 999
• May 2002 – it costs: $8,400 (T221)
 LCD Future Trends

• Three Important Ergonomic Features

– Large Viewing Angles
• All LCDs approaching 170
170° both horizontal & vertical
– Minimal Reflection and Glare
• Sharp’s
Sharp s AGLR screen coating which forms a quarter-
quarter
wavelength filter that cancels reflection rather than
diffusingg it as other do.
– Thin Bezels
• When working with multiple monitors,
monitors your eyes don
don’tt
jump past wide gaps – thus less eye strain
LCD Future Trends
A workstation where all three of
these ergonomic features are useful
 LCD Future Trends

• LCD Monitor Quality

Q y
– Backlights
• The
h onlyl thing
hi that
h can wear out
• There are more LCDs with 50,000 hour life
spans
– Zero
Zero-Voltage
Voltage Black
• lessens impact of non-functioning subpixals
 LCD Future Trends

• New Technologies
g
– On-Glass Circuitry unveiled Oct. 22, 2002
• The new screens use Sharp
Sharp’ss CGS
(continuous grain silicon)
• Microprocessor
Mi circuitry
i it applied li d directly
di tl on
the glass, enabling it to function like a
computer
t
• Produces ultra fine resolutions
 LCD Future Trends

• New Technologies (continued)

– ThinCRTs from Candescent
T h l i
Technologies
• qquarter-inch thin form factor: a "thin CRT."
• Thousands of emitters instead of a single
large cathode tube
• Has the best of both CRTs and LCDs
 LCD Future Trends

• ThinCRT from Candescent Technologies

g
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• What to consider when buying

y g a LCD
monitor
– What applications are going to be used
– How much room you have on your desk
– How muchh space you needd on a virtual
i l desktop
d k
– How much you want to spend
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Keyy features or things

g to look for when
deciding what to buy and how much to
spend
– Native Resolution
• LCD uses a matrixi off cells
ll to display
di l itsi
image, causing it to have a fixed or native
resolution
l i at which
hi h the
h display
di l looks
l k best
b
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Viewing
g angles
g
– indicates how you can move to the sides
or below the center of the screen before
image is being displayed
– an angle of 160 degrees is recommended
• Dot Pitch
– another indicator of image quality
– the smaller the better; more expensive
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Contrast ratio
– is the difference in light intensity between the
brightest white and the darkest black that an
LCD can produce
– helps determine how
ho rich the color willill be in
on-screen images
– recommendd a contrast ratio i off 300:1 or better
b
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Digital
g vs. Analog
g
– if you have a graphics card with a digital video-
out choose LCD that has digital input
out,
– image will be clearer because it won’t have to
con ert from analog to digital and back and
convert
forth
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors
• Prices
– $200 - $500 range: panel size – 15 inches;
native resolution – 120/100 to 140/120 degrees;
contrast ratio – 200:1 to 300:1
– $500 - $800: panel size – 15 to 17 inches;
native resolution – 120/100 to 140/120 degrees;
contrast ratio – 300:1 to 350:1
– $800 and up: panel size – 17 to 19 inches;
native resolution – 150/140 to 170/170 degrees;
contrast
t t ratio
ti – 300:1
300 1 tto 400:1
400 1
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors
• Buying Tips
– Stick
i k to 15 inch
i h monitors
i
• balances screen size and price together well
• Cheapest
– Look for a wide viewing angle
• good for making presentations and working with
partners
• indicates
i di t a higher
hi h quality
lit panell with
ith better
b tt
brightness and color effectiveness
• less tendency to leave trails on screen
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Buying
y g Tips
p
– Try before you buy
• actually looking at your desired monitor is
always best
• do
d nott buy
b online
li or by
b mailil unless
l theth seller
ll
has a return policy
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Comparison
p with CRT buying
y g tips
p
– Stick with a 17 inch monitor
• is big enough and doesn’t
doesn t take up too much
space
• is
i cheaper
h
• if you work with allot of graphics and image
editing, go with the $300-$400 19 inch
CRT’s
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Comparison
p with CRT buying
y g tips
p
– Need to consider power cost
• uses more power than LCD monitors
• can find low power CRT monitors that have a
TCO’99 seal
– Do not throw away CRT monitors
• contain large amounts of toxins and lead that destroy
soil and water
• Recycle
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Where To Buyy
– Electronic stores (reasonable prices)
• Fry
Fry’ss Electronics
Electronics, Circuit City
City, Compaq
Compaq,
Best Buy
– Websites – low prices,
prices but can
can’tt see what
you are buying
• tomshardware.bizrate.com
t h d bi t
• www.dealtime.com
• tigerdirect.com
Buyer’s Guide To LCD Monitors

• Conclusion
– Prices have been falling over the past two years
• more affordable for consumers
– Key features and buying tips mentioned should
l d consumers in
lead i purchasing
h i the th right
i ht LCD
monitor for the lowest price
Conclusion