Guide: Flat Screen Installation

Installation of a flat screen is simple in case you are comfortable hanging pics & mounting shelves & used to using tools like a power drill, screw driver etc. You must be aware of A/V cables that meet fire codes & local buildings for this job. In case you need to hide the power cable of your TV, it is a more complex exercise & you might need an assistant to help you. In case you yourself are not aware of AV outlets, it is better that this assistant be an electrician, who can do this job for you. Safety is an important aspect in the installation of any electronic gadget & it is not a simple thing to play with safety, hence it is better to hire an electrician to hide the power cable in the wall, in case you are not confident of doing it yourself. Another safety tip is to put off the whole electric power supply of your home before beginning the installation of your flat screen TV.

The other aspects to be thought about before installing your flat screen TV are:

Height- The height of your TV ought to be at your eye-level. Installing the TV high will give you neck issues & installing low doesn't give you comfortable viewing.

Screen glare- Screen glare is & a important aspect to look in to for proper viewing of your TV, if the reflection of light is falling directly on the TV, you must think about that room ideal to put in your TV or you must try to put dark curtains or drapes in that room.

Concealing of the wires- You need to look in to the ways of concealing the A/V cables of your TV & pick on which way will be best suited for your purpose as there is numerous ways of doing it.

There is ways of installing your flat screen TV i.e. by wall mounting & the other is by installing it on a stand or table. The installation method for a wall mount & on a table are different, so initially you need to select what you need to do & then get in to the installation method. For wall mounting, do take the help of someone to lift the TV & do not try to do it all by yourself as this may show to be dicy & the TV may fall from your hand.

The Future of PC Monitors - Last Part

Curved Monitors

A little-known monitor company called Ostendo has released a 43-inch behemoth of a PC monitor called the CRVD bowed display. The Ostendo CRVD offers a stunning 2880x900 resolution with a 32:10 aspect ratio. Ostendo claims that the screen is an ergonomic & more visually appealing solution to having TFT monitors side-by-side; although the monitor is thick & heavy as well as long. Whilst this may be true, at around $6,500 per CRVD (probably around, 500 pound in the event that they make their way to the United Kingdom), you'd hope so! This monitor is also obtainable to hardcore game fanatics with Alienware branding, & it is a pleasant idea, but the current cost & resolution does present a barrier at the moment. A similar but slightly more affordable idea is that of the Eyefinity display, which is currently being offered by Samsung in the kind of the MD230 series. Unlike the CRVD they do have bezels, but they are narrow bezels & the resolution supported is even more insane- 5760x2160 in the case of the MD230 X6. You can read more about the Samsung MD230 series of eyefinity displays here.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes

OLED (organic light emitting diode) monitors are thin-film LED (light emitting diode) monitors which do not need a backlight to function. In lieu, they depend on electroluminescent materials; that is, a material that glows when an electrical current is applied. Unlike standard LCD monitors, they can be flexible which gives them the obvious advantage of portability & of being literally wearable. They also consume far less power, making them an ideal choice for mobile devices. In terms of color reproduction, contrast ratio & response time (at around 0.01ms), OLEDs are thought about superior to even the best LCD displays. The viewing angle is also superior to that of a TFT PC monitor. 

So how come they are not all using OLED PC monitors if this technology is obtainable today? The main answer to that is manufacturing costs. They are seeing an ever-increasing number of devices using OLED screens from digital cameras, to MP3 players & smartphones. The US military has also expressed interest in soldier-wearable OLED screens to display intelligence knowledge such as maps & UAV output, as well as for improved vehicle HUD data. But all of these technologies use comparatively small screens, & it may be some time before affordable OLED PC monitors & TVs make their way in to our homes & offices. An equally fascinating know-how that ought to bring similar advantages to OLED is also being developed, by a cooperative partnership between LG Display & QD Vision; QLED (Quantum dot Light Emitting Diode) so there is actual commercial interest in advancing things beyond LCD.

The Future

This article has explored some fabulous & some whacky ideas related to PC monitors. I think that they can expect lots of these technologies to be developed further & perhaps combined in the near future. I would expect that LED backlighting know-how of the humble LCD monitor will be refined, as will the 120Hz (or higher) display standard. I also expect these technologies to be combined to give a top quality display indeed. Looking further in to the future, perhaps beyond 2015, I would expect to start seeing the first batch of actual affordable OLED PC monitors hit the market. With Samsung, Sony, LG & some others displaying a keen interest in OLED know-how, it is only a matter of time before the know-how becomes affordable for the mainstream. Perhaps by 2020 we'll even see some actual 3D PC monitors, perhaps even combined with some kind of gesture interaction. The type that gives you jaw-dropping visuals, without any glasses or headaches, & from lots of different angles.

The future of PC monitors is definitely a fascinating, & we'll be there every step of the way.

The Future of PC Monitors - part 2

Bright Future Ahead

A new & upcoming technology that is making its transition from high-end HDTVs to PC monitors is the use of LED (light-emitting diode) backlighting in LCD monitors. Most LCD monitors use CCFL (chilled cathode fluorescent lamps) in their backlight, which although adequate for illuminating the screen, cannot be exactly & individually controlled like LEDs. What this means is that PC monitors with LED backlighting have a contrast advantage, as specific LEDs can be dimmed in darker areas of a scene whilst others can be illuminated even more in bright areas. Some manufacturers are also experimenting with colored LED backlighting (i.e. red, green & blue than white) to further increase the color gamut of the monitor; but some think that the variable degradation of these LEDs over time will lead to bleaching or over/under saturation of colors.

As with the first generation of 120Hz 3D monitors, LED backlighting is definitely an technology in require of some refinement as it matures. Although color reproduction & contrast in LED-backlit PC monitors is excellent, in point of fact the differences are not immense compared to new & comparable CCFL-backlit PC monitors. They do consume less power & are thinner & lighter than their CCFL-backlit cousins, however, which is definitely a bonus. They expect the LED backlighting technology to evolve & for the changes to become more significant & upgrade-worthy over time & PC Monitors will of coursework follow this technological trend in the future.

Note: LED backlighting currently involves strips of white LEDs (known as edge-lit) & brings some efficiency & environmental benefits without altering the picture. As they have explored there is alternative implementations that may gain ground in the near future.

Touchscreen Monitors

On October 22nd 2009, Microsoft launched the Windows 7 operating method & embraced a used technology already made popular by the likes of smartphones & MP3 players. By offering touch screen support with recognition of multiple finger gestures (multi-touch), Microsoft opened the door for users & offered them a novel way to interact with their PCs. A flurry of touch-screen PC monitors followed the launch of Windows 7, but of coursework the technology is far from ideal. The most obvious issue with a touch screen display is that you are touching it; so it gets greasy & grubby to such an extent that cleaning becomes a frequent necessity. It seems, however, that to keep the product at a reasonable size & price-point, that the technology inside the touch-screen monitor resembles that of a basic TFT monitor, with the touch-screen being the main feature. So don't expect amazing contrast ratios & amazing dancing colors dashing vibrantly across the screen at least, not today.

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The Future of PC Monitors - Part 1

As they were growing up they had without a doubt seen something on the TV which made us think "cool, I require one". Well there were probably several things, but this particular thing was featured on Star Trek, Star Wars & even CSI Miami.

Did that last throw you a bit, because it is not a space ship? I am speaking about holographic screens. Used on lots of Hollywood films & even some TV series, the unfortunate reality is; they aren’t actually real! They are props or a small tiny small tiny small little bit of fancy CGI, & even today the humble PC monitor is not something they might've dreamt it would be by now. Although recent attempts have been made to bring such technology to life, they have so far been a case of spinning mirrors, holographic 'diffusers' & high-speed projectors; none of which is cheap, & none of which is as functional as actual PC monitors.

Perhaps the most promising step in to the realm of 3D displays has been made not in the PC monitor world, but in the TV screen world. Screen manufacturers including LG, Philips & Samsung have embraced a new technology using lenticules- hollow cylindrical lenses arranged in such a way that each eye perceives a slightly different picture. This technology is still in the prototype stage, but some early users of the devices are critical of the restrictive viewing angles; the viewer must be in a sweet spot much directly in front of the TV for the 3D effect to work. There is also the downside which, regrettably, makes this technology unsuitable for the PC monitor; everything it displays must be specially encoded & shot stereoscopically (in the same way as those 3D films where you wear those comically annoying glasses). Also, like when watching films with those annoying glasses, the feeling of seasickness is still an underlying issue. This is caused by the brain working hard to technique different signals being received by each eye. Another type of auto stereoscopic display has been showcased by monitor manufacturer Eizo. The Eizo DuraVision FDF2301-3D makes use of currently unknown technology inside an immense box to output 3D content at Full HD resolution, on a 23 inch screen, without the necessity for 3D glasses. Because so small is currently known about the technology inside the box it is difficult to say which approach delivers the best experience but without a doubt they will both be developed further.

Similar technology has been demonstrated by Sharp in a new inch auto stereoscopic 3D display that is designed for mobile devices. Rumored to be used in the upcoming Nintendo 3DS, the screen is ideal for 3D viewing without glasses at the fixed distances & viewing angles that handheld betting devices are often used at. Toshiba have also developed an auto stereoscopic display that is slightly larger 21 inches, making it suitable as a PC monitor. Sony also unveiled an immense & promising screen (this time a 24.5 inch auto stereoscopic 3D OLED display) at CES 2011. Due to the prohibitively costly cost it will be initially restricted to the professional use market. The aforementioned drawbacks do still apply here, however, so the technology will probably require some refinement before it is prepared for the mainstream market.

Microsoft is taking an alternative approach in an try to solve these issues -they have come up with a special wedge lens (below). The lens is thinner at the bottom than the top, & is designed to trap light from a monitor & then focus it at the viewers eyes using LEDs at the bottom of the lens. The technique includes a camera at the bottom to track head movement & focus light at the correct place (i.e. right in to your 3D-glassesless eyes)

Not only does this technique permit stereoscopic 3D effects, by projecting different images in to each eye; it can also beam different 3D images to different viewers or 2D images to different viewers simultaneously. The lens is only 11mm thick at the top & 6mm thick at the top, allowing it to be integrated in to existing monitor designs fundamentally.

Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia has launched a product imaginitively named 3D Vision. Fundamentally they are a pair of shutter glasses; the left & right eye are shut off alternately so that they each perceive a different picture being displayed by a special PC monitor. They are not actually that bad looking, are comfortable to wear & work with much any new game & out of box 3D application. They have recently expanded the experience by offering 3D Vision Surround which makes use of the power of multiple graphics cards to output 3D images across screens. a few 120Hz 3D monitors that work with the know-how are currently available from Samsung, Acer, Dell & LG with further manufacturers set to embrace the know-how in the future.

Most TFT PC monitors display an picture at a refresh rate of 60Hz - meaning a maximum artifact-free frame-rate of 60fps can be displayed. For the Nvidia 3D Vision know-how to work properly, you need 60fps in each eye; the monitor must have a refresh rate of 120Hz to be able to support this. Thankfully, a new range of PC monitors dubbed 3D monitors supporting such high refresh rates have been released for this purpose. The monitors are manufactured by the likes of Samsung & LG, & although they are currently the only way to appreciate true 3D graphics on a PC, their 2D performance has left something to be desired. Although they are by no means poor, the contrast ratio & colour richness is fundamentally not up to the standard of other similarly priced non-3D monitors. This will no doubt improve as the know-how matures, & advantage they do give to game fanatics in normal 2D viewing, is an improvement in frame rate. Because a monitor with a 120Hz refresh rate can display 120fps moving images without any kind of visual distraction or tearing, you gain additional performance when v-sync is enabled. Likewise, in some more demanding games or applications v-sync can be disabled for excellent performance without tearing (assuming the frame rate does not exceed 120fps). They do not doubt that similar or better performance could become available without 3D glasses time the autostereoscopic 3D monitors & systems (explored in the earlier section) are refined.

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The Benefits Of Control Room LCD Monitors

When it comes to equipping out a contemporary control room surroundings such as Police or Ambulance control room, a power station, or even an air traffic control room then these days you would be daft not to look at using Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors than older style cathode ray tube (CRT) screens.

They win out over CRT screens, which are now virtually impossible to buy from new, in plenty of ways.

First CRT screens tubes are made & filled with gasses that are unfriendly to the environment, & in general they cannot be recycled fundamentally as they were never designed with this thought in mind. So there is the major "Green" issue to think about.

Secondly they are far more reliable than CRT screens, & in the event that they do breakdown they can be swapped out far more quickly due to their lighter weight & smaller size (Thus also making it simpler to store spare ones).

They are well suited for use in these situations as they take up far less space, & they also benefit from pin sharp display qualities making them simple to read, & thus minimizing the risk of critical knowledge being miss-read. In addition they work well under all forms of lighting.

In an large room that may have several dozen LCD monitors, they also have major advantage over traditional CRT screens & that is the low amount of energy that they use. You may wonder why this is an advantage, well with a CRT screen using up to,000 watts, & LCD monitor using 300 watts, means that in a control room with say 40 monitors, then the energy saving per hour would be 40 x 700 = 28,000. So by using LCD monitors in lieu of CRT screens, would mean using 28kW less per hour energy.

However there is as well as a double advantage to this, as control rooms are often busy places where operators need to have the most comfortable surroundings feasible to focus on their jobs, & this is the heat saving. By switching to LCD screens you have 28kW per hour less heat for the air conditioning to deal with. This means not only do they save energy directly, but also indirectly as air conditioning costs are lowered as well.

These are a variety of the key reasons why LCD monitors are now used widely in control rooms the World over.