In 1984 IBM introduced the Enhanced Graphics Adapter which was capable of producing 16 colors and had a resolution of 640 × 350. Lagging several years behind, in 1981 IBM introduced the Color Graphics Adapter, which could display four colors with a resolution of 320 × 200 pixels, or it could produce 640 × 200 pixels with two colors.
#Moniter pixel tester tv#
Either computer could be connected to the antenna terminals of an ordinary color TV set or used with a purpose-made CRT color monitor for optimum resolution and color quality. Some of the earliest home computers (such as the TRS-80 and Commodore PET) were limited to monochrome CRT displays, but color display capability was already a possible feature for a few MOS 6500 series-based machines (such as introduced in 1977 Apple II computer or Atari 2600 console), and the color output was a speciality of the more graphically sophisticated Atari 800 computer, introduced in 1979. High-resolution CRT displays were developed for the specialized military, industrial and scientific applications but they were far too costly for general use wider commercial use became possible after the release of a slow, but affordable Tektronix 4010 terminal in 1972. The display was monochromatic and far less sharp and detailed than on a modern flat-panel monitor, necessitating the use of relatively large text and severely limiting the amount of information that could be displayed at one time. Prior to the advent of home computers in the late 1970s, it was common for a video display terminal (VDT) using a CRT to be physically integrated with a keyboard and other components of the system in a single large chassis. The first computer monitors used cathode-ray tubes (CRTs).
Ĭomputer monitors were formerly known as visual display units ( VDU), but this term had mostly fallen out of use by the 1990s. Instead, a line printer was the primary output device, while the monitor was limited to keeping track of the program's operation. As early monitors were only capable of displaying a very limited amount of information and were very transient, they were rarely considered for program output. This allowed the engineers operating the computer to monitor the internal state of the machine, so this panel of lights came to be known as the 'monitor'. Įarly electronic computers were fitted with a panel of light bulbs where the state of each particular bulb would indicate the on/off state of a particular register bit inside the computer. However, as many computer monitors do not include integrated speakers nor TV Tuners (such as digital television adapters), it may not be possible to use a computer monitor as a TV set without external components. Modern computer monitors are easily interchangeable with conventional television sets and vice versa. The common aspect ratio of televisions, and computer monitors, has changed from 4:3 to 16:10, to 16:9. From the 1980s onwards, computers (and their monitors) have been used for both data processing and entertainment, while televisions have implemented some computer functionality. Originally, computer monitors were used for data processing while television sets were used for entertainment.
Monitors are connected to the computer via VGA, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C, low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) or other proprietary connectors and signals. Previous monitors used a cathode-ray tube (CRT) and some plasma (also called gas-plasma) displays. The display device in modern monitors is typically a thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) with LED backlighting having replaced cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlighting. A monitor usually comprises a visual display, some circuitry, a casing, and a power supply. A cathode-ray tube (CRT) computer monitorĪ computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or text form.