LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor screens appear to be the current standard for a majority of medical LCD display screens, TV screens, PC monitors, and electronic gadgets like MP3 players, cameras, and mobile phones. LCD PC monitors normally have two polarizing filters comprised of liquid crystal-filled pixels or cells. A backlight creates illumination that passes through the first filter, whereas electrodes regulate a current that passes through liquid crystals, determining how they are aligned. The electrodes regulate crystal alignment and determine the image intensity and color of light. Various terms are associated with monitor display technology.
Monitor Backlight
Backlights are applied in LCD monitors for illuminating the liquid crystals as indicated previously, and two main kinds of backlight exist. Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlight is the type used most commonly, and it illuminates the screen to varying levels of intensity.
Color Gamut
The color gamut refers to the color range a given PC monitor can produce within the visible spectrum. Monitors have variable color gamut values, whether these are white LED backlit monitors, CCFL backlit monitors, RGB, or red-green-blue LED backlit monitors, or other kinds.
Color Depth
Depth of color refers to the number of colors that a particular monitor is able to process and display, based upon internal processing. A majority of modern monitors consist of twisted nematic (TN) panels that can process 6-bits per pixel. LCD panels have the ability to output between 8 and 10 bits per pixel.
Contrast Ratio
Contrast ratio measures the relationship existing between the intensity of the brilliant mostly white and darkest black possible for a monitor to display. Manufacturers of PC monitors have their own special way of measuring contrast ratio, but figures oftentimes get overstated that cannot compare to figures utilized by other manufacturers.
Luminance or Brightness
Measured in candelas per square meter, cd/m2, Luminance expresses the level of light that a given PC monitor emits. Normal values for modern display monitors lie around 250-300cd/m2, which is more than adequate and quite respectable. The luminance of LED-backlit monitors exceeds 350cd/m2, and future PC monitors, like OLED, will probably raise this figure higher.
Display Resolution
For a PC monitor, display resolution refers to how many pixels are displayed in terms of horizontal by vertical dimensions. This number can be adjusted mechanically for a CRT monitor by the monitor itself, which makes display resolution a variable factor. The resolution is fixed for an OLED or LCD monitor by the number of pixels that are laid out in horizontal and vertical fashion inside the monitor, an aspect known as optimal or native resolution.
Response Time
Response Time gives an indication of time taken in milliseconds for pixels of an OLED or LCD monitor to transition across different states. An image that is more fluid with less trailing or “ghosting” is achieved if the response time is faster, which was a problem for the earlier LCD-display generations.
The terms above are among the many employed with respect to monitor displays in general. They apply to monitors of various kinds, whether medical LCD display screens, LED entertainment screens, or other versions.
