Analog Versus Digital Monitors
Along with the transition of television signals from analog to digital, many computer owners are faced with a similar choice. Most desktop monitors until very recently were cathode ray tube monitors. However, most monitors manufactured today are liquid crystal display monitors. The budget of the consumer and the intended use for the monitor will determine the final choice.
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Cathode Ray Tube Monitors
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Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors are based on the same technology as traditional television sets. In fact, the heart of CRT monitors is essentially the same as the screen of a TV. CRT monitors are by nature strictly analog. CRT technology has been around for a century and has been refined and perfected so that it is reliable, if clunky.
Liquid Crystal Display Monitors
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Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors are also known as flat-panel or flat screen monitors. The thin monitors contain a liquid crystal material which is designed to transmit or block light when exposed to electric current. The picture which is displayed on the screen is based on the reaction of the current to pixels, which are usually composed of red, green and blue sub-pixels. LCD monitors are digital.
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CRT Advantages
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Besides being cheaper than LCD monitors, CRT monitors are superior to LCD monitors for color fidelity, viewing angles and contrast. Most LCDs can produce a large, but limited number of colors (usually 16.7 million). CRTs do not have this limitation. CRTs also offer unlimited viewing angles, while brightness and contrast will drop off when viewing LCDs at an angle. For these reasons, graphics professionals and hardcore gamers often prefer CRT monitors.
LCD Advantages
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LCD monitors offer the obvious, yet significant advantage of size. They are usually more flexible than CRT monitors, and can sometimes even be adjusted between a landscape and a portrait orientation. Also, LCD monitors for the general consumer market are coming down in price, so that they are nearly identical to CRT monitors, with the added advantage of providing a larger actual viewing screen for the same size. LCD monitors also have brighter screen displays, which are useful in an office environment, offer clearer text, and do not have the flicker which can often occur with CRT monitors. Many computer manufacturers have discontinued making CRT monitors altogether in favor of LCD monitors.
Considerations
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Computers are by nature digital. Before the advent of LCD monitors, this necessitated the inclusion of hardware (video cards) and special connectors between the computer central processing unit (CPU) and the monitor so that the digital computer signal could be translated by the analog monitor. Although LCD monitors are digital, even if the monitor has a digital connection, a graphics card that has a DVI (digital visual interface) connector is also necessary to take advantage of it. Also, many LCD monitors are only provided with an analog cable, so a DVI cable (DVI-D, digital-only or , DVI-I , digital and analog capable) will also be needed.
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