Advantages Using Flat Panel LCD Than CRT Monitor

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Digital flat panel LCD displays are the latest achievement to make life easier for people who use computers all day (and often much of the night). If you are short on desk space for dual monitors, consider having dual flat panel LCD.

Flat panel LCD is becoming ever more popular. In homes and offices Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens are rapidly replacing the heavy and bulky Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) glass screens – in some large offices every single user has switched to a flat screen within 2 years – an incredibly rapid rate of uptake of new technology! Flat panel LCD screens look very stylish and take up less space.

The two most common types of monitors that are being used today are CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors. LCD type monitors are based on a newer technology and are becoming very popular, mainly because they have great space and energy saving advantages over CRT monitors. CRT and LCD monitors are based on completely different technologies, and thus have quite different display characteristics.

One of the biggest advantages of LCD monitors is that they are compact and lightweight. An LCD monitor is based upon a very thin screen as opposed to the bulky tube of a CRT monitor. This means that not only do they take up less of your desktop space, they can also be used in many places where a larger CRT monitor can not fit. Shown here, a 12.1″ LCD monitor with a stand takes up only about one-third of the desk space of a typical 14″ CRT monitor.

The most commonly available flat panel LCD computer displays use Thin Film Transistor (TFT) technology to produce a high quality digital image. The LCD screen requires greater care – it should not be touched or prodded! For years people have safely used a finger tip or pen to touch a spot on a solid glass CRT screen – many people continue this habit with LCD screens. LCD screens are also used in laptop computers and palm pilots/pocket PCs/Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Each pixel on the screen is commonly made up of 3 layers or cells of red , green and blue transistors. A typical 15″ screen has 1024 by 768 pixels and a typical 17″ screen has 1280 by 1024 pixels. On LCD panels the maximum native resolution (e.g. 1024 x 768 pixels on a 15″ screen) must be used for best results – setting to a non-native resolution (e.g. 800 x 600 pixels) produces an inferior result.

Most CRT monitors are capable of displaying unlimited colors. Some LCD monitors are only capable of hundreds or thousands of colors, but many of the newer LCD’s are capable of unlimited colors.

Typically, brightness is not a concern with CRT monitors. LCD monitors are backlit and have different levels of brightness. The brightness rating for an LCD monitor is commonly referred to as ‘nits’, and commonly range from 70 to 250 nits. 

Another issue with the LCD monitor is the viewing angle. A CRT screen can be looked at from a very wide angle, practically from the side, but an LCD monitor typically has a smaller viewing angle, needing to be viewed more directly from the front. From the side, the image on an LCD screen can seem to disappear, or invert colors. Newer displays that are coming out have wider viewing angles so this is not as much of an issue as it has been in the past.

Besides being compact and space saving, LCD displays offer several other benefits. CRT monitors are known to emit harmful radiation, whereas LCD monitors do not. LCD monitors consume much less energy than CRT monitors. This makes the LCD great for laptop and portable computers.

CRT monitors are generally more affordable than LCD monitors. In the past LCD monitors have been very expensive but their costs have come down quite a bit in the last 1-2 years. One thing to consider is the up-front cost versus the long-term cost. A CRT monitor will cost less up front but will use more energy than a flat panel monitor. An LCD monitor will cost more up front but will conserve energy in the long run. The energy savings may not be much for an individual user, but if you are looking at a corporate office where 50 displays are in use, the energy savings might be more of an issue.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Lcd Panel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.