the basics on LCD's

[emericanchaos]

everyone is getting on this band wagon and it's time for a place that can define what the stats on these monitors mean.

for example
contrast ratio :

response time: lower seems to be better but why?

brightness: we're given a measurement but what is a good figure in this category?

also what is the truth behind the low refresh rates on these monitors? is it a limitation of the DVI connector, the screen itself or both?


it'd be great to find out what all these mean and get this stickied

[Titan386]

Here are some links I found:

http://www.lcdprojectorbulbs.com/lcdprojectorbulbs-lcdterms.asp
http://www.pctechguide.com/07panels.htm
http://www.monitorworld.com/faq.html

Hope those help, if I find any more I'll post them too.

Edit: here are some more:

http://www.stereopsis.com/LCD.html
http://www.stanford.edu/group/eventservice/techdefinitions.htm

These overlap quite a bit, but I decided to post them all anyway.

[KraziKid]

Originally posted by emericanchaos
everyone is getting on this band wagon and it's time for a place that can define what the stats on these monitors mean.

for example
contrast ratio :

response time: lower seems to be better but why?

brightness: we're given a measurement but what is a good figure in this category?

also what is the truth behind the low refresh rates on these monitors? is it a limitation of the DVI connector, the screen itself or both?


it'd be great to find out what all these mean and get this stickied

1) Contrast ratio. Higher is better. The contrast ratio is basically the ratio of blackness to whiteness (I think, it might be whiteness to blackness). The higher the better. IIRC, most CRT's are in the range of 700:1-800:1. Most LCD's are in the range of 250:1-500:1.

2) Response time is basically the time it takes for a pixel to turn on (meaning no light can pass through), or the time it takes to turn off (become transparent). When reponse time is reported, it is the total response time (time up + time down).

3) Brightness is given in candela per meter sqaured. The higher it is, the brighter your monitor is.

4) Refresh rates are meaningless for a LCD. There is no such thing as a refresh in an LCD. on a CRT every pass of the electron gun redraws the screen. The number of times per second it can redraw the screen is the refresh rate. On a LCD, if a pixel remains the same color, it does not get redrawn; it only gets redrawn when the pixel changes.