Liquid crystal display or LCD as they are popularly known consist of a large number of picture elements that consist of liquid crystal molecules held between two sets of transparent electrodes.
When the electrical charge running between the electrodes is charged, the liquid crystals react in predictable ways. Here the crystals twist and move in different ways that create the colors that you see on the screen. For you to see the picture, a light source has to shine through the LCD.
There are a number of benefits that come with LCDs. One advantage is that the displays tend to have very high resolutions. For example, it’s common to find many displays with HDTV resolutions. The high resolutions ensure that the picture quality is high thus you have a great viewing experience.
Another advantage is that displays are energy efficient. Research has shown that HDTVs use very little electricity to run. For example, it has been shown that the LCD spends 30% less power than a plasma display of the same size. Since the LCD spends just a small amount of electricity, you save a lot of money.
Most LCD television displays can also work as PC monitors; therefore, you don’t have to buy a new monitor for your computer. The good side is that connecting the screen to the computer is easy. This is because all you need is a standard PC video cable and you will be able to connect the two.
Video games are known for creating images that get permanently burned into the phosphors on your screen. LCDs are usually immune to this problem because they use a separate backlight instead of creating their own light from phosphors. The immunity ensures that the LCDs retain their elegant look for a long time.
The LCDs have been shown to have the ability of easily handling progressive scan sources such as progressive-scan DVD and HDTV. The reason why they are able to handle these sources is that they don’t display their pictures using electron guns that scan lines across a screen.
Instead of this, the displays use millions of tiny transistors that are usually controlled by the “brains” inside the display.
Although LCDs have these advantages, they have their fair share of drawbacks. One drawback is that they tend to be slightly expensive than other displays.
Another drawback is that they are poor in producing black images. For example, instead of the images appearing as true black, they usually appear as various shades of gray.
