GLOSSARY

Active Matrix refers to the technology of TFT. See TFT.  Active Matrix as opposed to Passive Matrix. See Passive vs. Active

AMLCD is Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display.  See TFT and Active Matrix.

Antireflective Film is a film coating over the screen that prevents reflection of outside light that distorts the image.

 Backlight is a source of light from behind that light up the display. The three ways are CCFL, LED and EL. See below.

Backlight Enhancement refers to any change to the native backlight that improves the visibility of the display.

Bezel is metal or plastic frame that fits over the display to hold it together and protect the glass.

Capacitive refers to a touch screen technology in which the screen is coated with a material that stores electrical charges. When the screen is touched a small charge is drawn to the point of touch and is measured by circuits in the panel and is then sent to the controller for processing. A capacitive touch screen only reacts to a human touch whereas resistive and SAW screens react to a finger or a stylus. Capacitive screens are a little clearer that resistive and are not affected by dust or water but they are more expensive. See SAW and Resistive.

 CCFL is a Cold Cathode Fluorescent bulb used to light a display from the back. See backlight

Character Display. A display that shows characters such as numbers and letters but not pictures. Used for clocks or temperature gauges or alarm displays or calculators. Smaller and less expensive that Graphic displays or TFT displays.  

 CRT is Cathode Ray Tube, a predecessor of the flat panel display. It is larger, heavier, uses more power and generates more heat.   

DVI is Digital Video Interactive it’s a technology that makes it possible to store graphics and audio on a CD Rom then display them on a monitor.

 EL is Electroluminescent. It’s a technology used as one of the ways to backlight a TFT display. It can also be used as a display itself. It is an older display technology and has a yellow tint. See backlight

 EMI is Electromagnetic Interference. Electromagnetic waves that come from electronic devices which interfere with the performance of the display. See filters.

 Filters  EMI or RFI Filters. Electronic devices that filter out the waves to prevent interference. 

 Flat Panel Display is any type of display that is comprised of two sheets of glass in close proximity to each other so that it is flat or narrow as compared to CRT display. The most common type of flat panel display is a Liquid Crystal Display.  See LCD

 Graphic Display ia display that shows pictures in addition to numbers and letters. Usually larger and more expensive than a Character display and smaller and less expensive than a TFT display.

 High Brightened is an enhancement to a display that increases the brightness so that it is readable in day light i.e. visible in direct sunlight. Usually over 500 NITS. See NITS

 Integration refers to putting several components together to work as a system. For example displays in an enclosure with a touch screen on it and attach to a printer as in a bank ATM.

 Inverter is a small circuit board used to power EL and CCFL backlighting. See EL and CCFL and Backlight.

 LCD is Liquid Crystal Display. A flat panel display made of two sheets of glass with a liquid crystal solution between them. As electric current passes through the liquid it causes the crystals to move and align so that light passes through them or is prevented from passing through. This action creates the images that you see from the display. An LCD can be a Character, Graphic or TFT display.

LED is Light Emitting Diode is a source of light that lights up a display from the back. See backlight

Nits is a unit of light. It’s a way to measure how much light comes from a display. The more nits the brighter the display. Displays usually range from 70 to 2000 nits.  

 NRE.  Refers to a Non Reoccurring Engineering cost which is a charge for designing a custom integration.

 NTSC is National Television Standard Committee which sets the standard video signal format that’s used for displays in the and .

 Plasma is a type of flat panel display similar to LCD but instead of liquid crystals Plasma has neon gas between the two pieces of glass. See LCD

Passive Matrix is a type of display. It refers to the technology that uses crossed wires instead of transistors with each pixel. 

 Passive vs.  Active  See passive matrix and active matrix. Passive is slower not as bright and not as colorful as active. The only advantage is that it’s less expensive than active.

 Pixel is short for picture element. It is the smallest unit of an image. The more pixels the greater the resolution and image quality. Also called a dot. Pixels are arranged in ways to create pictures.

Reflective refers to how the LCD is illuminated. A reflective display reflects light from the front i.e. from whatever light is in the environment.  The advantage of this type is that it uses very little power. Best used in a well lit environment such as an office. See Transflective and Transmissive.

 Resistive refers to a touch screen technology comprised of a thin metallic layer that conducts and resists electricity. It causes a change in the electrical current when touched and send it to the controller for processing. Resistive touch screens are the most common of the three types and are less expensive and are not damaged by dust or water but they are not as clear.  See Capacitive and SAW.

Resolution refers to the number of dots (Pixels) per inch. The more pixels or dots the better the quality of the image. Resolution also refers to the way the pixels are organized on the screen; for example, QVGA resolution is 320x240 which means there are 320 pixels across the screen and 240 columns of pixels down the screen. There are a total of 76,800 pixels.    

Resolutions   There are nine resolutions available in TFT displays they are:

QVGA 320x240   = 76,800 total pixels

VGA     640x480   = 307,200 total pixels

SVGA  800x600

XGA    1024x768

WXGA 1280x768

SXGA   1280x1024

UXGA  1600x1200

QXGA  2048x1536

QUXGA  3840x2400

 RFI is Radio Frequency Interference. This is high frequency electromagnetic waves that interfere with the performance of the display.

 SAW  Surface Acoustic Wave technology is a touch screen technology that uses ultrasonic waves. When the screen is touched the wave is absorbed. This registers the position of the touch and sends the information to the controller for processing. This is the most advanced of the three types but can be damaged by dust or water. The other two types are Capacitive and Resistive.

Smart Panel is a LCD that has a controller and inverter attached.

TFT is  Thin Film Transistor. It refers to a type of display in which transistors are built into each pixel to improve and maintain image quality. Also called an Active Matrix Display

Transflective refers to how the LCD is illuminated. This is a combination of Transmissive and Reflective. It is partially lit by backlights i.e. the pixels are illuminated from behind (See backlight) and partially lit by reflecting light from the environment.  See Reflective and Transmissive. This is best used under various lighting conditions from darkness to sunlight. 

Transmissive refers to displays that are illuminated from behind. See Backlight. This type of illumination is best used in dark environments. In very bright environments such as sunlight the image looks dull unless the display has high brightness backlight. See High brighted.   

Touch Screen is a clear computer display screen that fits over a monitor and allows the user to access the computer by touch instead of by mouse or keyboard. The touch screen reacts to the touch and sends a signal to the controller board which processes it and sends it on to the computer which reacts to it the same as it reacts to a mouse or keyboard. There are three types of touch screen technology… see Resistive, Capacitive and SAW.

Vandal Shielding is a display screen overlay added for ruggedization.

Viewing Angle refers to the angle at which the display can be viewed before the picture becomes distorted.