Chapter-3

Monitor/video and Sound

 Monitor
The term monitor,
however, usually
refers to the entire
box, whereas display
screen can mean just
the screen. In
addition, the term
monitor often implies
graphics capabilities.
 Monitor
Display produced by a
device that takes
signals and displays
them on a computer
screen.
 Monitor

The most basic is in terms of color capabilities, which

separates monitors into three classes:
monochrome : Monochrome monitors actually
display two colors, one for the background and one for
the foreground. The colors can be black and white,
green and black, or amber and black.
gray-scale : A gray-scale monitor is a special type of
monochrome monitor capable of displaying different
shades of gray.
color: Color monitors can display anywhere from 16
to over 1 million different colors. Color monitors are
sometimes called RGB monitors because they accept
three separate signals -- red, green, and blue
 CRT Monitor
The primary component in a display monitor is the display tube or cathode ray tube
(CRT). This fan-shaped glass tube contains a vacuum through which electrons may
travel. At the rear end of the CRT is a (usually nickel) cylindrical cathode, or electron
gun, which is heated by a small 6.3 V heater in order to "boil off" electrons - this is the
principle of harmonic emission.
Electrons, being negatively charged, are attracted to the positively charged anode at
the other end of the tube, and accelerate, in a stream, to strike the phosphor coating
on the in-side of the glass face of the tube. When the electron beam hits the phosphor,
the phosphor emits light;
Left to its own devices, the electron stream will simply strike a single point in the
centre of the tube face. However, because a magnetic field exerts a force on charged
particles we can apply a magnetic field around the electron beam, and "bend" the
stream to strike any spot on the face of the tube. The magnetic field is supplied by two
sets of electromagnets mounted ;one set deflects the beam horizontally while the
other bends the beam in the vertical axis.
CRT Monitor
 Flate-Panel/LCD Monitor
Short for liquid crystal display, LCD
technology can be found in digital watches
and computer monitors. LCD displays use
two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid
crystal solution between them. An electric
current passed through the liquid causes the
crystals to align so that light cannot pass
through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like
a shutter, either allowing light to pass through
or blocking the light. Color LCD displays use
two basic techniques for producing color:
Passive matrix is the less expensive of the
two technologies. The other technology,
called thin film transistor (TFT) or active-
matrix, produces color images that are as
sharp as traditional CRT displays, but the
 Difference between LCD & CRT monitor
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) (CRT) Cathode-Ray Tube display
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
compact bulky

lightweight heavy

low power (c.20W)

high power (c.150W)
perfectly sharp
limited sharpness; tend to blur more at high brightness, and with age
perfect image geometry tend to suffer from geometric distortions, which may be picture (brightness) dependent, and
worsen with age
"consistent" tonal scale
strong bright areas can cause other regions of the picture to dim
excellent text contrast
poor text contrast (bandwidth limited)
do not normally flicker
inherently flicker (although peoples sensitivity varies)
contrast/colour change with viewing angle
consistent image irrespective of viewing angle
poor black on dark images
good blacks (quality monitor, properly adjusted)
 Paper-White Display
A high-quality monochrome
monitor that displays
characters in black against a
white background.
 Electroluminescent Display
A technology used to produce a very thin
display screen, called a flat-panel display,
used in some portable computers. An ELD
works by sandwiching a thin film of
phosphorescent substance between two
plates. One plate is coated with vertical
wires and the other with horizontal wires.
When an electrical current is passed
through a horizontal and vertical wire, the
phosphorescent film at the intersection
glows, creating a point of light, or pixel.
 Plasma Display
A type of flat-panel display that works by sandwiching a
neon/xenon gas mixture between two sealed glass plates
with parallel electrodes deposited on their surfaces. The
plates are sealed so that the electrodes form right
angles, creating pixels. When a voltage pulse passes
between two electrodes, the gas breaks down and
produces weakly ionized plasma, which emits UV
radiation. The UV radiation activates color phosphors
and visible light is emitted from each pixel.

Today, Plasma displays are becoming more and more

popular. Compared to conventional CRT displays,
plasma displays are about one-tenth the thickness--
around 4'', and one-sixth the weight--under 67 pounds
for a 40" display. They use over 16 million colors and
 Comparing Monitors

Size
Resolution
Refresh Rate
Dot Pitch
 Size
Screen (viewable) Size
Most people today tend to look at a 17-inch
CRT or bigger monitor. When you purchase a
17-inch CRT monitor, you usually get 16.1
inches or a bit more of actual viewing area,
depending on the brand and manufacturer of
a specific CRT. The difference between the
"monitor size" and the "view area" is due to
the large bulky frame of a CRT. If you
purchase a 17" LCD monitor, you actually get
a full 17" viewable area, or very close to a
17".
 Size
Physical Size
There is no denying that an LCD wins in terms of
its physical size and the space it needs. CRT
monitors are big, bulky and heavy. They are not
a good choice if you're working with limited desk
space, or need to move the monitor around (for
some odd reason) between computers. An LCD
on the other hand is small, compact and
lightweight. LCDs are thin, take up far less space
and are easy to move around. An average 17-
inch CRT monitor could be upwards of 40
pounds, while a 17&-inch LCD would weigh in at
around 15 pounds
 Resolution
Refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image. The
term is most often used to describe monitors, printers,
and bit-mapped graphic images. In the case of dot-
matrix and laser printers, the resolution indicates the
number of dots per inch. For example, a 300-dpi (dots
per inch) printer is one that is capable of printing 300
distinct dots in a line 1 inch long. This means it can
print 90,000 dots per square inch.
For monitors, the screen resolution signifies the number
of dots (pixels) on the entire screen. For example, a 640-
by-480 pixel screen is capable of displaying 640 distinct
dots on each of 480 lines, or about 300,000 pixels. This
translates into different dpi measurements depending on
the size of the screen..
Desktop—Rt Mouse—Properties—settings-resolution
 Refresh Rate
oThe refresh rate is the number of times a
display's image is repainted or refreshed per
second. The refresh rate for a monitor is
measured in hertz (Hz) and is also called the
vertical frequency, vertical scan rate, frame rate
or vertical refresh rate. The old standard for
monitor refresh rates was 60Hz, but a new
standard developed by VESA (Video Electronics
Standards Association )sets the refresh rate at
75Hz. This means that the monitor redraws the
display 75 times per second. The faster the
refresh rate, the less the monitor flickers.
Desktop—Rt Mouse—Properties—settings-advance—
monitor—refresh rate
 Dot Pitch
If you measure the distance between the red
dot of two adjacent pixels, you are measuring
the monitor’s dot pitch.
Also called phosphor pitch, a measurement that
indicates the distance between like-colored
phosphor dots on a display screen. Measured in
millimeters, the dot pitch is one of the principal
characteristics that determines the quality of
display monitors. The lower the number, the
crisper the image. The dot pitch of color monitors
for personal computers ranges from about 0.15
mm to 0.30 mm.
Desktop—Rt Mouse—Properties
—settings-advance—general --DPI
 Eyestrain

Eye strain occurs when you over-use

your eye muscles. Any muscle held in
one position too long will cause the
muscle to strain. When you
concentrate on reading, working at a
computer or even watching television
for any length of time, your inner eye
muscles tighten causing your eyes to
hurt and become irritated, dry and
uncomfortable.
 Eyestrain
The dot pitch should be no greater than .28 mm
Refresh rate at least 72 Hz
Position your monitor so it is 2-2.5 ft away from your
eyes.
The screen face upward about 10 degree
Place the pc where no light reflectsoff the screen
Keep your screen clean
Avoid looking more than 30 mins
 Do not let your eyes become dry.
 Sound Card
An expansion board that enables a
computer to manipulate and output
sounds. Sound cards are necessary for
nearly all CD-ROMs and have become
commonplace on modern personal
computers. Sound cards enable the
computer to output sound through
speakers connected to the board, to record
sound input from a microphone
connected to the computer, and
manipulate sound stored on a disk.
 Sound Card
Sound cards use two basic methods to
translate digital data into analog sounds:
• FM Synthesis different musical
instruments according to built-in
formulas.
• Wavetable Synthesis relies on
recordings of actual instruments to
produce sound. Wavetable synthesis
produces more accurate sound, but is also
more expensive.