Terms 1
VGA
VGA - Short for Video Graphics Array,
VGA is a popular display standard
developed by IBM and introduced in 1987
VGA provides 640 x 480 resolution color
display screens with a refresh rate of 60Hz
and 16 colors displayed at a time. If the
resolution is lowered to 320 x 200, 256
colors can be displayed VGA capability is
built into plug -in video cards, VGA chips,
and monitors that can work with the VGA
cards. Today VGA has been replaced by
SVGA.
SVGA
Super Video Graphics Array or Super
Vector Graphics Adapter (PC monitor
display standard that allows
resolution above 640 by 480 pixels
and up to 16.2 million colors).
This is the type of connector you will find for most typical
PC monitors and some LCD screens
VGA / SVGA
This is a S/VGA port.
This is a S/VGA connector.
DVI
Short for Digital Visual Interface,
DVI is a digital connection used to
connect devices such as
projectors, TVs, etc.
This is the type of connector you will find
on modern Mac monitors, high-end LCDs,
and HDTVs
CRT
Cathode Ray Tube
A vacuum tube in which a hot cathode emits a
beam of electrons that pass through a high
voltage anode and are focused or deflected
before hitting a phosphorescent screen.
A vacuum tube in which a hot negatively
charged electrode (the source of electrons)
emits a beam of electrons that pass through a
high voltage positively charged electrode (by
which electrons leave) and are focused or
deflected before hitting a lighted screen.
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display
A digital display that uses liquid crystal
cells that change reflectivity in an applied
electric field; used for portable computer
displays and watches phosphorescent
etc.
A digital display screen that uses liquid
crystal to define the color contrast
for better visibility.
LED
LEDs are special diodes that emit light
when connected in a circuit. They are
frequently used as "pilot" lights in
electronic appliances to indicate
whether the circuit is closed or not.
Traditional bulbs control current with heated filaments.
LEDs are a solid-state device and do not use filaments.
This makes LEDs very reliable with a long lifespan
(typically 100,000 hours). LEDs have low power
consumption and low heat output making them an ideal
replacement for traditional bulbs. LEDs can be dimmed.
OLED
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology
uses substances that emit red, green, blue or
white light. Without any other source of
illumination, OLED materials present bright,
clear video and images that are easy to see at
almost any angle.
Prior to standardization, OLED technology was also referred to as OEL or Organic
Electro-Luminescence. One of the great benefits of an OLED display over the
traditional LCD displays found in computer displays is that OLED displays don't
require a backlight to function. This means that they draw far less power and they can
be used with small portable devices which have mostly been using monochrome lowresolution displays to conserve power. This will also mean that they will be able to last
for long periods of time with the same amount of battery charge.
Jaggies
The stair-stepped or star like appearance of
diagonal lines where there should be smooth
lines. This is caused in output devices, such as
the monitor and printer, when there are not
enough pixels in the image or on screen to
represent them realistically, or not enough
resolution. Jaggies often occur when a bitmapped image is converted to a different
resolution.
Also called "stair-stepping" and "aliasing".
Anti-aliasing
A software program that rids a computer of
jaggies by smoothing the jagged appearance of
diagonal lines in a bitmapped image. The pixels
that surround the edges of the line are changed
to varying shades of gray or color in order to
blend the sharp edge into the background.
This technique is also called "dithering," but is
usually known as anti-aliasing when applied to
diagonal and curved lines.