Specifications

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Chapter 15 Video Hardware
vendors have used a variety of trade names to identify their multiple-frequency monitors, including mul-
tisync, multifrequency, multiscan, autosynchronous, and autotracking among others.
Note
Even though a monitor is capable of displaying a wide range of video standards, you usually need to fine-tune the display
through its onscreen display (OSD) controls and Windows display properties sheets to achieve the best possible pictures.
Curved Versus Flat Picture Tubes
Phosphor-based screens come in two styles: curved and flat. Until recently, the typical display screen has
been curved; it bulges outward from the middle of the screen. This design is consistent with the vast major-
ity of CRT designs (the same as the tube in most television sets). Although this type of CRT is inexpensive
to produce, the curved surface can cause distortion and glare, especially when used in a brightly lit room.
Some vendors use antiglare treatments to reduce the reflectivity of the typical curved CRT surface.
The traditional screen is curved both vertically and horizontally. Some monitor models use the Sony
Trinitron CRT, some versions of which are curved only horizontally and flat vertically; these are
referred to as flat square tube (FST) designs.
Most manufacturers are now selling monitors featuring CRTs that are flat both horizontally and vertically.
Sony’s FD Trinitron, NEC-Mitsubishi’s DiamondTron NF, and ViewSonic’s PerfectFlat are some of the more
popular flat CRT designs, the first such screens for PCs since the short-lived Zenith FTM monitors of the late
1980s. Many people prefer this type of flatter screen because these picture tubes show less glare and provide
a higher-quality, more accurate image. Although flat-screen CRTs are slightly more expensive than conven-
tional curved CRTs, they are only one-third to one-half the price of comparably sized flat-panel LCDs.
Figure 15.2 compares the cross-section of typical curved and flat CRT picture tubes.
Electron guns
Cover glass
Shadow
mask/aperture
grille
Deflection yoke
Figure 15.2 A typical curved-tube CRT (left) compared to a Sony Trinitron FD flat tube (right).
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