Monitor

Monitors are used to view your data on a computer. The characteristics of your monitor are very important for your system performance since the quality of your video will significantly affect your computing experience.
Most monitors today consist of a picture tube and electronic control circuitry which are used to transfer the signal to the screen. There are some monitors that do not use a picture tube, but use electronics to display information. These monitors are more expensive and are not usually very large, but are primarily used for smaller computers such as notebooks and laptop computers. We will not discuss the flat video displays in this section at this point in time.

The primary and most expensive component in a standard monitor is its picture tube. The most important characteristics of a monitor generally refer to picture tube specifications although other circuitry can also be important in providing picture clarity. A picture tube is basically a large vacuum tube with a phosphorescent coating on the front of it. At the back of the picture tube is a large electron gun ( actually 3 guns ) which shoot(s) electrons onto the phosphorescent coating at the front of the tube. When the electrons strike the coating, the coating glows. The coating provides the primary colors which are green, red, and blue. These component colors and their combinations can be used to make every other possible color combination. There is other circuitry which works with the gun to direct the electron gun to the proper color at the correct time, and to direct the gun to the correct location on the screen depending on the phase of the video signal that is being sent to the monitor. There is magnetic circuitry which is used to bend the electron beam to strike the appropriate area on the screen. This is referred to as deflection.