Monitor

A computer monitor is one of three possible ways the data produced by a computer can be communicated to a user. The other two ways are through voice synthesis or by sending information to a printer. At this stage of development, the visual component of a computer system--the monitor or display--is the fastest and easiest method for sighted individuals.

1. History

   • Early computer monitors were called video display terminals (VDT) or, since they were powered by a cathode ray tube, CRTs. They had a built-in keyboard and a monochrome display.

   Function

   • Output from a computer's memory or central processing unit is binary. It must be converted into human language and displayed for the user. A computer monitor is the endpoint of that conversion.

   TVs as Monitors

   • After the early video display terminals, some home computers without built-in monitors were designed to display on a TV set through an antenna adapter.

   CRT Development

   • Beginning in the 1980s with the introduction of personal computers, video cards in the computers drove cathode ray tubes from small to 19-inch units and from green text on a black background to full color.

   LCD Displays

   • Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) have been displacing CRTs for the last several years as prices fell. This type of monitor can display higher resolutions than CRTs and be built in considerably larger sizes.