Monitors and Video Cards

Question 1

Monitors and 


Video Cards


Answer 1

Monitor size is measured diag- onally. A larger monitor allows you to work more efficiently because you spend less time scrolling, but the quality of the image you see is probably more important than the size. Some monitors provide truer color rendition, and sharper text. Try out different monitors before deciding if possible.

Question 2

Active Matrix

Answer 2

A type of LCD display. Active Matrix displays are controlled by a micropro- cessor with millions of transis- tors, and each pixel is con- trolled by a separate transistor. This allows the cursor to move extremely quickly without dis- appearing (submarining).

Question 3

Aspect Ratio

Answer 3

A ratio of moni- tor width to monitor height. Aspect ratios of 4:3 or 5:4 were once common, but widescreen ratios (such as 16:9) are in- creasingly popular. Some gam- ing displays now use ultra- wide ratios such as 21:9 or even 32:9.

Question 4

Monitor

Answer 4

An output device used to display text or graph- ics from a computer.

Question 5

CRT

Answer 5

Cathode Ray Tube. A type of monitor which uses a large and heavy vacuum tube for display.

Question 6

LCD

Answer 6

Liquid Crystal Display. This type of monitor is being used more frequently with desktop systems because of its thin profile, light weight and small footprint. LCDs are used most often on portable com- puters. Colors on a more tradi- tional CRT are more accurate.

Question 7

LED

Answer 7

Light Emitting Diode. LED monitors consume less power than LCD monitors. Colors on an LED monitor are more accu- rate than colors on an LCD monitor. LED monitors also have a thin profile, light weight and small footprint.

Question 8

TFT

Answer 8

Thin Film Transistor. A type of LCD display.

Question 9

Video accelerator

Answer 9

an added card which speeds up the process of creating and mov- ing images on your monitor. These cards often come with their own RAM which is devot- ed to the creation of what you see on the monitor. Some graphic accelerators can help Photoshop filters run more quickly, and some allow your monitor to display 24-bit color as well as speeding up video operations.

Question 10

VRAM

Answer 10

Video RAM is a special type of memory used by video cards to build and store the image displayed by the screen. More video memory is better than less. Without sufficient VRAM you won’t be able to display 24-bit color at higher resolutions.

Question 11

SGRAM

Answer 11

Another type of video RAM which used to build and store the image displayed by the screen.