Display Devices & Interfacing

(8 Marks)

Contents
3.1 CRT colour monitor : Block diagram and function of each block
3.2 Characteristics of CRT monitor : Dot pitch, Resolution, Video bandwidth, Horizontal scanning frequency, vertical scanning frequency, Interlaced versus non interlaced monitor 3.3 Advantages of CRT display related to LCD display 3.4 LCD monitor : functional block diagram of LCD monitor, working principal, advantages and disadvantages, Types : Passive matrix and Active matrix, Important characteristics : Resolution, Refresh rate, Response time. 3.5 Basic block diagram of a video accelerator card

CRT color monitor

Fig.1 Basic elements of a cathode-ray tube.

CRT color monitor

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the principal elements of a cathode-ray tube. The interior of the tube is a very good vacuum, with a pressure of around 0.01 Pa or less. At any greater pressure, collisions of electrons with air molecules would scatter the electron beam excessively. The cathode, at the left end in the figure, is raised to a high temperature by the heater, and electrons evaporate from the surface of the cathode. The accelerating anode, with a small hole at its center, is maintained at a high positive potential V1, of the order of 1 to 20 kV, relative to the cathode. This potential difference gives rise to an electric field directed from right to left in the region between the accelerating anode and the cathode. Electrons passing through the hole in the anode form a narrow beam and travel with constant horizontal velocity from the anode to the fluorescent screen. The area where the electrons strike the screen glows brightly. The control grid regulates the number of electrons that reach the anode and hence the brightness of the spot on the screen. The focusing anode ensures that electrons leaving the cathode in slightly different directions are focused down to a narrow beam and all arrive at the same spot on the screen. The assembly of cathode, control grid, focusing anode, and accelerating electrode is called the electron gun. The beam of electrons passes between two pairs of deflecting plates. An electric field between the first pair of plates deflects the electrons horizontally, and an electric field between the second pair deflects them vertically. If no deflecting fields are present, the electrons travel in a straight line from the hole in the accelerating anode to the center of the screen, where they produce a bright spot.

Characteristics of CRT monitor

5. Vertical Scan Frequency It is also called "refresh rate," it is the number of times an entire CRT screen is refreshed, or redrawn, per second. Measured in Hertz, display systems typically range from 56Hz to well over 100Hz. A minimum of 70Hz is recommended to help prevent eye strain, and many experts believe 80Hz and above is best. For example, most movie projector advance from one frame to the next one 24 times each second. But each frame is illuminated two or three times before the next frame is projected using a shutter in front of its lamp. As a result, the movie projector runs at 24 frames per second, but has a 48 or 72 Hz refresh rate. Horizontal Scan Frequency The number of lines illuminated on a video screen in one second. For example, a resolution of 400 lines refreshed 60 times per second requires a scan rate of 24 kHz (60 x 400) plus time to bring the beam back to the beginning of the next line.

6.

Interlaced versus non interlaced monitor

Interlace
To illuminate a screen by displaying all odd lines in the frame first and then all even lines. Interlacing uses half frames per second (fields per second) rather than full frames per second. The interlace method was developed for TV broadcasting because the allotted bandwidth for TV channels, defined more than a half century ago, was not sufficient to transmit 60 full frames per second. Interlacing with 60 half frames was visually better for moving images than 30 non-interlaced full frames. Interlaced screens display every other line (1-3-5 etc., then 2-4-6, etc.), while non-interlaced screens, known as "progressive scan," display lines consecutively(1-2-3)

Characteristics of CRT monitor

1. Dot Pitch It refers to the space between the pixels that make up the images on your screen, and is measured in millimeters. The less space between pixels, the better the image quality. Resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed (e.g., 19201080). Monitor resolution is measured in pixels, width by height. Pixel

2.

3.

A pixel is the smallest element of a video image, but not the smallest element of a monitor's screen. Since each pixel must be made up of three separate colors, there are smaller red, green, and blue dots on the screen that make up the image.
4. Video bandwidth The transmission capacity required to display video, measured in MHz, and calculated by horizontal x vertical resolution x frames/sec. For example, an 800x600 resolution at 60 fps yields a 28.8 MHz video bandwidth.

Interlaced versus non interlaced monitor

All non-digital TVs are interlaced. Older CRT computer monitors were also interlaced at their highest resolution and progressive scan at lower resolutions. Some digital TV standards are interlaced, such as the high-definition 1080i format, and HDTV sets support both interlaced and progressive scan signals

Comparison of video resolutions. White background denotes resolutions with less than one million pixels.

Advantages of CRT display related to LCD display

functional block diagram of LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor

FireWire is Apple's name for the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus. Low-voltage differential signaling, or LVDS HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), Transition-minimized differential signaling (TMDS)

Active and passive matrix

active matrix
The common display technology used in graphics-based screens, which are a matrix of rows and columns. All modern LCD and OLED computer monitors and TV sets are active matrix, which are sharper and have more contrast than less expensive passive matrix screens. Active matrix does not suffer from the "submarining" effect, in which the cursor disappears when moved rapidly.

One Transistor Per Sub pixel

Using one transistor for each red, green and blue sub pixel, active matrix screens are addressed one row at a time for each electronic frame. Since it uses thin film transistors (TFTs) deposited on the backplane, active matrix LCD displays are also called "TFT displays."

passive matrix
A display technology that is used for graphics-based screens (a matrix of rows and columns). Using one transistor for each row and one for each column, passive matrix screens are addressed one row at a time for each electronic frame.

They are not as sharp and have less contrast than active matrix screens, and they suffer from the "submarining" effect, in which the cursor disappears when moved rapidly.
Passive matrix LCD screens typically contain no more than 240 lines of resolution. They were used in the first LCD screens on laptops by addressing two 240-line modules simultaneously to make a 480-line screen.

Characteristics of LCD monitor

Resolution A screen resolution of 1920x1200 means 1,920 pixels horizontally across each of 1,200 lines, which run vertically from top to bottom. Very often, a third number is added to the specification to designate colors; for example, 1920x1200x65K indicates a setting of 65,000 colors. However, the third number may also be the refresh rate; for example, 1280x1024x60 means 1280x1024 pixels at 60Hz (refreshed 60 times per second). Refresh Rate The number of times per second that a device, such as a display screen or DRAM chip, is re-energized. Response Time The time it takes for the computer to comply with a user's request, such as looking up a customer record.

Video Accelerator Card

A modern graphics accelerator is measured by screen resolution and refresh rate capabilities, TV-out compatibility, video playback, image quality and 2D GUI primitive support.