Active Matrix
Active Matrix- LCD's that depend on thin film transistors (TFT). These tiny transistors and capacitors arranged in a matrix on a glass substrate are used to give charge to each one of the pixels. This allows most displays today to offer 256 levels of brightness and up to 16.7 million different colors.
AMOLED
AMOLED- OLED describes a specific type of thin film display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix refers to the technology behind the addressing of pixels. OLEDs can provide brighter, crisper displays on electronic devices and use less power than conventional LED's.
Amperage
Amperage- Also known as current, can also be expressed as Amps, is the amount of electrical energy flowing through an appliance at any given time.
An LCD Monitor Teardown
Bill Hammack takes apart an LCD monitor and shows how it works. He explains how it uses liquid crystals, thin film transistors and polarizers to display information.
Annunciator
Annunciator- A word or special symbol which is driven as a single segment
Array Process
Array Process- Method of manufacturing whereby displays are arranged in rows and columns on a large laminate, and separated after they are filled with LCD fluid.
a-Si
a-Si- Amorphous silicon, unlike a crystalline silicon, can be deposited into thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.
Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio- The relationship between the width and height. This is then used to prevent a stretched image to be displayed. Typically 4:3 but for HD panels 16:9 would be a better ratio.
Backlight
Backlight- The source of illumination for liquid crystal displays (LCD). Typically either a LED or CCFL is used to produce a visible image from the back of a display panel.
Backplane
Backplane- A common electrode connection. There can be multiple backplanes in a multiplexed display.
Bit Rate
Bit Rate- The color depth of a liquid crystal display (LCD). This is the amount of colors that a display can produce, 6-Bit or 8-Bit is commonly the standard color depth for LCD panels.
Cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL)
Cold cathode fluorescent lamp "CCFL"- To produce a bright white light used in LCD's, the cold cathode lamp produces a discharge in mercury vapor to develop ultraviolet light. This causes a fluorescent coating on the inside of the lamp to emit visible light.
Color STN (CSTN)
Color STN (CSTN)- Each pixel of a CSTN display are 3 separate colored pixels of Red, Green, and Blue. Each of those colors are controlled individually by the graphic controller chip.
Connectivity
Connectivity- Typically either LVDS or RGB/TTL, this is the the method in which the liquid crystal display uses to get its digital signal that produces the images that are displayed.
Contact Ledge
Contact Ledge- The area along the edge of parts where there are electrical connections.
Contrast
Contrast- The measurment of light intensity emited by the brightest white pixel to the darkest black pixel.
Contrast Ratio (CR)= Brightness on the "White" state/Brightness on the "Black" state