LCD Monitors Introduction

Jan 7 2007 David Thompson

LCD vs. CRT

LCD Advantage
+ Size + power + wide screen format + Availability + Brightness

LCD Difference
Viewing Angle Response time (latency) Resolution (fixed) Color Gamut Color Accuracy Contrast

LCD How it works

LCD How it works

Variations
Electrodes & Circuitry

Variations
Color Pattern

TN Viewing angle Problem

IPS Technology employs pairs of electrodes at the sides of each cell, running the electric field horizontally through the material. This approach keeps liquid crystals parallel to the front of the panel, increasing viewing angle. (Fujitsu)

Variations In Plane Switching

Variation II - MVA
Multi Domain Vertically Aligned Phillips Developed

Variations III PVA

Pattern Domain Vertically Aligned Samsungs variant of MVA

Variations Comparison
TN IPS Hitachi LgPhillips 0 -- + -MVA PVA Fujitsu Samsung Chi Mei + --0 - -- 0 + 0 0 -- +

View Angle Response (Latency) Contrast Color Gamma (Accuracy) Cost

-0 -- + --

--*
--* $-$$

+ -- ++
+ $$$$

0
+ $$-$$$

0 -- +
+ $$-$$$

* Color Gamut Trickery

8 bit/ Color channel is Industry Standard
16.7 million colors (2563)

6 bit/ Color channel is typical for TN type displays (to improve response time)
262 Thousand colors (643) Dither schemes used to approach 16 million The SRGB gamut may be covered but a slice through it would look like Swiss cheese owing to missing color values. Only the values 4,8,12 would be represented in 8 bit space, so values 5,6,7 for example, would be approximated by switching between 4 & 8. ex: 5~:4,4,8; 6~:4,8,4,8; 7~:8,8,4

Resolution

Choose resolution to fit your needs

Unlike CRT, LCD resolution does not scale well
Low resolution + big screen >> big pixels High resolution + small screen >> small pixels (small type, small icons etc.) Look for a pixel pitch of about .25 - .3 mm to replicate a CRT.

Buying a Monitor
Contrast - 400:1 minimum
Check for fall-off vs. viewing angle >600:1 is fuzzy math on part of vendor usually high brightness with gray blacks

Brightness - ~ 200 Cd/m2 is adequate

Reference: CRT ~100 Cd/m2

Video Driver Digital Video Input (DVI) mandatory for adjustment/calibration

Buying Contd
Color- If you care about color, 8bit is mandatory (16.7 million colors advertised does not imply 8bit. Check the specs!
Gamut- Does it match SRGB? At least 95% should be available Accuracy- As sold accuracy may be poor.
Can it be corrected? LCD color is stable, so one- time correction may be enough for non-critical work

Buying contd
Low $ promotion monitors will rarely meet all the criteria.
An extra $100 will generally buy much better performance Try before you buy
Dead pixels are allowed and you wont get a replacement, so dont take it home! Uniformity is desirable and non-uniformity is not correctable, if an area is noticeably dark, try another

References
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcdguide.html(28 pages!) http://www.behardware.com/ (Monitor reviews) http://www.tomshardware.com/graphics/displays/inde x.html (Monitor reviews) http://www.anandtech.com/displays/(Monitor reviews)

Acronym Glossary
DVI Digital Video Input (as opposed to analog video control) IPS In Plane Switching (type of display) ITO Indium Tin Oxide (transparent electrode) LCD Liquid Crystal Display MVA Multi-domain vertically aligned (type of display) PVA Pattern-domain vertically aligned (type of display) TN Twisted Nematic (type of display) TFT Thin Film Transistor ( a necessary component of LCDs)