It's the beginning of the end
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 // 6:15 PM
Today I continued my quest to learn the ropes of a Liquid Crystal Display Monitor. Continued from where I left off last time, I refreshed my memory briefly. I reminded myself that an LCD monitor worked with two pieces of polarized glass (which I have figured out the definition for - at last!) that have liquid crystal matter in between. The way it worked was by blocking light. First, the backlight creates light which passes through the first piece of glass. Then, electrical currents cause the liquid crystal matter to shift and move around to allow a variety of levels of light to pass on from the first glass to the second.
With that in my head, I continued to search for more information. Like I mentioned earlier, I did come across the definition for polarized glass which means glass that is designed to only allow light in only a certain direction. I also discovered a simpler meaning for matrix which simply can be stated as a grid.
Most LCD monitors use active matrix technology (flat panel display that basically is refreshed
more often than passive matrix technology, which gives it very good image quality, good response time, lighter weight and more variety of colours). I've learned the way active matrix technology works is that the thin film transistor (TFT) arranges the tiny transistors and capacitors in a grid on the glass of the display. Just like playing battleship, TFT addresses a specific pixel by switching on a proper row & then sending a charge down the correct column. Since all the other rows the column crosses are shut off, the capacitor at the specific pixel receives a charge which it is then able to hold onto until the next refresh cycle.
Some of the extra information I learned was that liquid crystal is a material that possesses qualities that are in between the qualities of a normal liquid and that of a solid crystal. A transistor is a semiconductor which means it only lets some electricity pass through. A capacitor is a device that doesn't act visibly & stores energy in the space surrounding the electric field (electrical charge) between two conductors (a substance that makes it able for electricity to pass along or through).
Today my brain was truly crammed with much information and hopefully it will all settle in time for the poster making process tomorrow in class.
Peace out,
Serena
Labels: LCD Monitors