UK Computer Monitor Guide

A computer monitor, also knows as a 'Visual Display Unit' (VDU) - but more commonly referred to simply as 'a monitor' - is a piece of electrical equipment which displays visual images as generated by a computer.

The computer monitor's constituent parts are: the display device; circuitry to generate a picture from the computer's signals; and an enclosure or case.

There are currently three types of computer monitors in general use – a Cathode Ray-Tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Plasma. CRT and Plasma monitors are used only on desk tops, although desk tops can use LCD, and laptops mostly use LCD.

CRT and LCD monitors are in the widest use, as Plasma technologies are very expensive, and so inaccessible to most people. LCD monitors are by far the most popular for new computers, as they are an extremely low weight, have very minimal power needs, and zero geometric distortion.

The main problem with LCD computer monitors is that due to demands for affordability, some manufacturers produce monitors with 'dead pixels' or 'stuck pixels'. This refers to certain sub-pixels, which are individually always stuck on or off. However, some relatively simply measures (such as physically flicking the malfunctioning pixels) can generally see this problem being partially or fully reversed.