Display Technologies Flashcards
Tiny liquid crystal molecules
Sub-pixels
A tiny distinct group of three sub-pixels - one red, one green, one blue
Pixel
Process to create an image by charging each area at the same time
Static Charging
Process to create color by varying the amount of voltage on the wires making different levels of red, green, and blue
Passive Matrix
Type of liquid crystal display (LCD) that replaced the passive matrix technology used in most portable computer displays
Thin Film Transister (TFT)/Active Matrix
Creates the image
LCD Panel
Illuminates the image so you can see it
Backlights
Sends power to the backlights that need AC electricity
Inverters
LCD panel type that is the fastest but only offers adequate color
Twisted Nematic (TN) Panels
LCD panel type that displays beautiful color
In-Plane Switching (IPS) Panels
LCD panel type that falls somewhere in between TN and IPS panels in responsiveness and color accuracy
Vertical Alignment (VA) Panels
Typical implementation for backlights where the LCD has two backlights: one at the top and one at the bottom
Edge LED Backlighting
Puts a bank of LEDs behind the panel, providing better uniformity of image. More expensive and uses more power than edge LED backlighting
Direct LED Backlighting
Technology used in early LCDs that were popular for its low power use, even brightness, and long life
Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL)
Describes the number of pixels on a display
Resolution
The resolution that an LCD monitor is designed to run. Higher than native cannot be run, lower than native will severely degrade the image quality
Native resolution
Edge-blurring technology that softens the jagged corners of the pixels when running at lower than native resolution
Interpolation
640x480 resolution
VGA
1366x768 resolution
WXGA
1920x1080 resolution
1080p/FHD (full high definition)
The number of pixels arranged on the screen
Aspect Ratio
Aspect ratio for a typical widescreen monitor running at 1920x1080
16:9
Aspect ratio for a video workstation monitor running at 3440x1440
21:9
The combination of the resolution and physical size of a display. Higher number means that a smaller, hi-res monitor will look substantially better than a much larger monitor running at the same resolution
Pixels Per Inch (PPI)
The strength of an LCD monitor’s backlights, measuring in nits. Average LCD panels are around 300 nits
Brightness
Screen fade out when looking at a screen from a certain angle. IPS panels have 2.5 times better angle than TN panels
Viewing Angle
The amount of time it takes for all of the sub-pixels on the panel to change from one state to another. Measured in milliseconds (ms) with lower being better
Response Rate
Response rate measurement for how long it takes the pixels to go from pure black to pure white
Black-to-white (BtW)
Response rate measurement for how long it takes the pixels to go from one gray state to another. Always faster than BtW
Gray-to-gray (GtG)
How often a screen can change or update completely. Measured in hertz
Refresh Rate
The difference between the darkest and lightest spots that the monitor can display
Contrast Ratio
Measurement of the difference between a full-on, all-white screen, and a full-off, all-black screen
Dynamic Contrast Ratio
The amount of colors an LCD panel can display. Reflected in the bit-depth if the panel: x bit depth corresponds to 2^x color variations
Color Depth
Generate an image in one device and then use light to throw it onto a screen or some other ibject
Projector
Proprietary tech from TI that uses a single processor and an array of tiny mirrors to project a front-view image. Softer image than LCD, uses more electricity but not as heavy as LCD projectirs
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
The amount of light given off by a light source from a certain angle that is perceived by the human eye
Lumen
The size of the image at a certain distance from the screen
Throw
Standard lamp for many years. Produce a tremendous amount of lumens in a small form factor. Drawbacks are excessive heat and fan noise, an average life span of about 3000 hours, and the expense to replace them
Metal Halide Lamp
Use red, green, and blue LEDs to provide light. They don’t heat up so fans are smaller and quieter. Don’t offer nearly as much in the way of lumens as metal halide, but they have lifespans of 20,000+ hours
LED Lamp
Produce vibrant, high-contrast images and very little heat; can last 30,000+ hours. Expensive but the price is coming down
Laser Lamps
Create an immersive experience by mounting two high-resolution screens into a headset that blocks external visual sensory input. Uses OLED tech
Virtual Reality headset
Display tech where an organic compound provides the light for the screen, thus eliminating the need for backlight or inverter. Used in high-end TVs and small devices such as smart watches, smartphones, and VR headsets
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED)/Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED)
A 15-pin, three row, D-type monitor connector. Goes by many other names such as D-shell, D-subminiature connector, DB-15, DE15, and HD15. The oldest and least-capable monitor connection type
VGA Connector
Special video connector designed for digital-to-digital connections; most commonly seen on PC video cards and LCD monitors
DVI (Digital Visual Interface)
DVI for analog (for backward compatibility if the monitor maker so desires)
DVI-A
DVI for digital
DVI-D
DVI interchangeable, accepts either DVI-D or DVI-A
DVI-I
Has a max bandwidth of 165 MHz which limits the max resolution of a monitor to 1920x1080 at 60Hz or 1280x1024 at 85Hz. Variety of DVI-D and DVI-I
Single-Link DVI
Uses more pins to double throughput and thus grant higher resolutions. With it, you can have displays up to 2048x1536 at 60Hz. Variety of DVI-D and DVI-I
Dual-Link DVI
Single multimedia connection that includes both high-definition video and audio. Used to connect a computer to LCDs, projectors, and headsets
High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
Digital video connector used by some Apple Mac desktop models and some PCs, notably from Dell. Designed by VESA as a royalty-free connector to replace VGA and DVI
DisplayPort (DP)
An open standards connector interface that is primarily used to connect peripherals to devices, including mobile devices, if they have a corresponding port
Thunderbolt
The small version of DisplayPort
Mini DisplayPort (mDP)
Wired video transmission system to carry uncompressed HD video over Cat5a or Cat6 network cables
HDBaseT
Menu enabling a number of adjustments on a monitor. All monitors provide two main functions: physical screen adjustment and color adjustment
Onscreen Display (OSD)
A screen or display bracket that follows the industry standard - established by the Video Electronics Standard Association - which specifies size, location, and type of mounting points
VESA Mount
Design architecture for the expansion bus on the computer motherboard that enabled system components to be added to the computer. Used parallel communication. Local bus standard, meaning that devices added to a computer through this port used the processor at the motherboard’s full speed (up to 33 MHz) rather than at the slower 8-MHz speed of the regular bus. Moved data 32 or 64 bits at a time rather than the 8 or 16 bits the older ISA buses supported
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
A 32/64-bit expansion slot designed by Intel specifically for video that ran at 66 MHz and yielded throughput of at least 254 Mbps. Later versions (2x, 4x, 8x) gave substantially higher throughput
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
Serialized processor that helps the CPU by taking over all of the 3D rendering duties
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
Digital theft technology that stops audio and video copying between high-speed connections, such as HDMI, DisplayPort, and DVI. Also stops playback of content encrypted by this on devices designed to circumvent the system
High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
