LCD Monitor Parts

Like all electronic gadgets there are a number of parts that are intricately arranged to make up the final design of a LCD monitor. If a layman opens up the casing of a LCD monitor, he will be able to see a maze of small items connected to each other on circuit boards. Some parts are so small that you cannot even handle them with your fingers, you will need special instruments to work with them. The major components of any electronic device are ICs, transformers, and circuit boards.

LCD stands for liquid color display and this technology was originally used for laptop computers, but now it has found its way onto desktop computers. There are two types of LCD monitors, flat panel and wide-screen, and both are available in different sizes. The price of a LCD computer monitor can be as low as USD 150 and go up to a few thousand dollars.

The size of a monitor also varies, you get monitors that are 15'' and go all the way up to 65''. They are light weight, compact, easier on the eyes, offer better picture quality, and cleaning them is also very easy, these are the main reasons behind their growing popularity.

The increased demand has led to healthy competition and this in turn has caused the prices to come down. The only drawback seems to be the backlight and hence most flat panel parts come with only a 1 year warranty for the backlight. Some of the parts of LCD monitor are:

Capacitors: One of the most important yet vulnerable parts of any electric device is the electrolytic capacitor. The primary function of an electrolytic capacitor is to store charge which is used to manipulate output voltage and current fluctuations.

In a LCD monitor, they are mounted on an internal power supply board. If you have a defective capacitor, which happens more often than not, you will see horizontal lines on your screen. It is one of those parts which is most likely to go bust, because the voltage fluctuations cause the electrolyte to dry up or over heat, hence causing problems.

Backlight Bulb: The LCD screen uses a CCFL backlight bulb for illuminating the screen, CCFL stands for cold cathode fluorescent lamp. The other sources of backlight are LED and EL, wherein LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and EL stand for Electro Luminescent. The LED technology was in use since 1962, but most modern LCD screens use CCFL backlight bulbs.

These CCFL bulbs have low power consumption and low heat generation, and can last up to 5,000 hours. If you have a problem with your backlight bulb, your screen will look dim and might eventually become totally dark. Replacing a backlight bulb is not an expensive affair, as they cost around USD 10 to USD 20.

VGA and DVI Connectors: The Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a 3 row 15 pin DE-15 connector, it is found on all new LCD monitors and it helps carry the RBGHV video signals with the help of cables. Digital Video Interface (DVI) maximizes the quality of flat panel LCD monitors and modern video graphics cards. There are three types of DVI connections, digital, analog, and integrated, DVI cables are used to send information using a transition minimized differential signaling.

These are some of the parts which make these screens display high quality images for our viewing pleasure. The LCD monitor is replacing the old CRT monitor in almost every household and business today.