| -B- |
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| Backlight |
The light source for a transmissive LCD. Basically, two techniques are used in transmissive LCD designs, direct lighting and side lighting. Direct-lit backlights use CCFTs (cold cathode fluorescent tubes) and a diffuser panel directly in back of the LC (liquid crystal) layer. Side-lit backlights use CCFTs and a light pipe on one or more of the edges of the display. |
| Bandwidth |
The number of cycles per second (Hertz) expressed as the difference between the lower and upper limits of a frequency band; also, the width of a band of frequencies. Practically speaking, bandwidth is the amount of data that can pass through a given connection per unit of time. |
| -C- |
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| Candelas (cd/m2) |
An international unit of luminous intensity per projected area normal to the line of observation. Luminance may be described in units of Candelas per square meter, or units. |
| Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) |
Analog display device that generates an image on a layer of phosphors that are driven by an electron gun. |
| CCFT's |
Cold Cathode Fluorescent Tubes – These are the fluorescent tubes that provide the light for the LCD unit. These tubes are generally very thin, approximately 2 mm in diameter.
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| Chromatic |
Perceived as having a hue; not white, gray, or black |
| Contrast |
The level of variation between light and dark areas in an image. |
| Component Video |
A method of delivering quality video (RGB) in a format that contains all the components of the original image. |
| Composite Video Signal |
Single signal version of video where both chroma and luma are carried with chroma on a 3.58MHz sideband of the luminance signal, usually through a 75 Ohm cable. Poorest quality signal type. |
| Contrast ratio |
The ratio of intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black of a particular device or a particular environment. |
| Convergence |
Alignment of the vertical and horizontal lines in an image. |
| COTS |
Commercial-off-the-Shelf. |
| -D- |
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| Digital Visualization Interface (DVI) |
DVI is the standard for processing the video signal all the way from the CPU to the LCD in its original digital format without converting it to analog and back to digital. |
| Dot Pitch |
The distance between side-by-side phosphor color groups (RGB) on a direct view display that uses phosphors. The smaller the better. |
| -E- |
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| ECDIS |
Electronic Chart Display Information Systems. |
| -F- |
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| Fixed-Pixel Display |
Any device that has a 'native' pixel resolution. CRTs are the only non-fixed-pixel displays where resolution is determined by bandwidth. |
| FPS |
Frames Per Second. |
| -G- |
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| Grayscale |
An achromatic scale ranging from black through a series of successively lighter grays to white. |
| -H- |
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| Heliobond |
KME’s Transflective and optically bonded display technology. |
| Helioview |
KME’s Transflective display combining transmissive and reflective properties. |
| -I- |
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| IBS |
Integrated Bridge System |
| IP (as in IP65 sealing) |
Ingress Protection (Rating for equipment and enclosures). |
| IP65 |
Ingress Protection sealing 6 = Totally sealed against dust and water; 5 = Protected against low pressure water jets from any direction. Limited ingress permitted. |
| -K- |
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| KME |
Kent Modular Electronics.
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| -L- |
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| Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) |
A display composed of liquid crystal suspended between two transparent sheets. The display is composed of pixels or other shapes which can be turned on or off with electrical stimulation. Typically, a light is passed through the LCD to illuminate the pixels. |
| Lumen |
A measurement unit of total illumination. Typically a 100-watt light bulb outputs 1700 lumens over a wide area. Projector light output is measured in ANSI lumens. A projector with a higher lumen number will produce a brighter image for a given image size |
| LUX |
A standard for measuring light equal to the amount of visible light per square meter incident on a surface. 1 lux = 1 lumen/square meter or 0.093 foot-candles. |
| -M- |
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| Maximum Resolution |
Refers to the highest resolution that a given display device can support. |
| Multiscan |
A display device capable of operating at multiple scan rates, usually starting at 30KHz up. |
| -N- |
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| Nanometer (nm) |
A unit of length equal to 10-9 meter. In light measurement, the wavelength of light is measured in nanometers. The portion of the spectrum that we perceive as visible light includes wavelengths from about 380 nm to 770 nm. |
| Native Resolution |
The number of physical pixels in a display device. For example, an XGA display has a native resolution of 1024 physical pixels of resolution horizontally and 768 pixels vertically or 786,432 total pixels. |
| -P- |
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| Persistence |
The time it takes for the visible glow of a CRT's phosphor to darken after the scanning electron beam is removed. A long persistence means less flicker, but may create smearing when images are in motion. |
| Phase Alternating Line (PAL) |
Broadcast standard developed in Germany in 1963 and adopted in 1967. It’s used in many countries throughout Europe including the UK and transmits 576 viewable lines at 25 frames per second interlaced. |
| Pixel |
Picture Element; the smallest element on a computer CRT or LCD unit. |
| Pixel Pitch |
The equivalant of the dot pitch of the CRT monitor. The smaller this number, the closer together each pixel is. |
| Polarizer |
A light filter which only allows light waves of a certain rotation through. Polarized material with perpendicular filtering is used in LCDs to enclose the liquid crystal. The liquid crystal is then used as the medium which twists the light waves 90° in order to allow the light to pass through or not. |
| -R- |
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| Refresh Rate |
The number of times per second the screen is refreshed or redrawn. This number is usually stated in Hz (Hertz) or cycles per second. A rate of 60 Hz is equal to 60 times per second. |
| Resolution |
A measure of the ability of a display or sound system to render detail. |
| RGB |
Red, Green and Blue. A component signal representing each color separately. Sync signals can be sent on green or sent separately as a composite signal or dual H/V signals (Horizontal sync/Vertical sync). Very common signal for analog computer displays. |
| -S- |
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| Sub-pixel |
Each pixel is made up of three independently controlled sub-pixels. In a color display these sub-pixels have red, green, or blue color filters. Or, in the case of a grayscale display, each sub-pixel will have a clear transparent filter, allowing the full grayscale range to be displayed. Each sub-pixel is capable of generating different intensities, creating a range of colors or grayscale values, which is perceived as a mixture of each sub-pixel value. |
| S-Video |
A video transmission standard that uses a 4 pin mini-DIN connector to send video information on two signal wires called luminance(brightness, Y) and chrominance(color, C). S-Video is also referred to as Y/C. Considered a higher quality video source than composite video. |
| SXGA |
A display resolution measuring 1280 pixels horizontally by 1024 pixels vertically giving a total display resolution of 1,310,720 individual pixels. SXGA has a 5:4 aspect ratio. |
| -T- |
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| TFT |
Thin Film Transistor – Usually made from amorphous silicon (a-Si) and used as a switch to a charge storage device located below each sub-pixel on an active matrix LCD.
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| -U- |
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| UXGA |
A display resolution measuring 1600 pixels horizontally and 1200 pixels vertically giving a total display resolution of 1,920,000 individual pixels. UXGA has an aspect ratio of 4:3. |
| -V- |
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| Viewable angle |
This is extremely important in multi monitor computing in that it enables you to view a screen from an angle without it fading and appearing weak. |
| VGA |
A display resolution measuring 640 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels giving a total display resolution of 307,200 individual pixels. VGA has a 4:3 aspect ratio |
| -W- |
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| Widescreen |
Any aspect ratio that is wider than 4:3. Widescreen televisions are 16 units wide and 9 units tall. Common widescreen film aspect ratios are 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2:35:1. |
| WXGA |
Defines a class of XGA displays with a width resolution sufficient to create an aspect ratio of 16:9. Resolution is defined by the number of pixels that a display uses to create an image. A WXGA display has 1366 to 1280 pixels horizontally and 768 to 720 pixels vertically. |
| WSXGA |
Defines a class of SXGA displays with a width resolution sufficient to create an aspect ratio of 16:9. A WSXGA display has 1920 to 1600 pixels horizontally and 1080 to 900 pixels vertically. |
| -X- |
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| XGA |
A display resolution measuring 1024 pixels horizontally and 768 pixels vertically giving a total display resolution of 786,432 individual pixels. XGA has a 4:3 aspect ratio. |
