Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Seeing the Light: LCDs and Video ...........................................................
In This Chapter
Learning to love and protect an LCD
Delving into the technology of a computer display
Dealing with video display misbehavior
T
he first transportable computers were nothing more than desktop com-
puters squeezed as tightly as possible into a plastic or metal suitcase
with a small 5- or 7-inch cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor. Oh yes, there was a
power cord, too. Today laptops are smaller than a pizza box and feature a
larger, sharper, and dramatically more colorful LCD screen. And with a bat-
tery instead of a power cord? Oh the places they can go.Listing an LCD’s Wonders (and One Downside).......................................
An LCD has lots to offer:They use much less power than a standard computer monitor.
They produce little or no heat.They don’t flicker or strobe, and individual pixels can be sharper than a
monitor.
They require a much narrower frame around their edges, meaning that a
15-inch LCD delivers about the same viewable surface as a 17-inch CRT
monitor.They don’t weigh 75 pounds and take up 2 square feet of desk space.