In This Article
What is LED Monitor?
LED monitor is the short for Light Emitting Diode monitor in which these small diodes are arranged to act as pixels and produce electric luminescence to create bright images on the screen.
These particular monitors work on the principle of additive color mixing by the red, green and blue LEDs. The intensity of the diodes is regulated in a specific pattern by LED technology.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- LED monitors offer high illumination, lumen, color accuracy and contrast ratio that improve the image quality which is all due to its better backlighting.
- These monitors can come in a wide variety of sizes ranging from 19 inches and up to 50 inches and with an average life expectancy ranging between 60,000 and 100,000 hours.
- The panels of the LED monitors can be of different types such as TN panel, VA panel or IPS panel.
- The LED monitors consume little energy to operate, which, however, may vary according to the size. Typically, it will range anywhere between 20 watts and 100 watts.
Understanding LED Monitor
The LED monitors or LED displays used in a computer nowadays refer to the screen that has replaced the relatively huge box-type display that was used in the earlier days.
The most significant advantage of using an LED display with a computer is its high efficiency and low power consumption, two most desired attributes of a computer.
Depending on the design aspects, the Light Emitting Diodes in the LED display may be arranged differently in these panels.
However, in all different types of LED monitors, there is a series of LEDs used.
The advanced technologies used in the LED monitors offer higher light intensity and more brilliance.
When these LED displays are used as computer monitors, it makes the systems ideal for office work, gaming and even for multimedia.
The brilliance of the images and better illuminating ability of the LED monitors allow using the computer at nights and even in places where it is dark.
This new technology in computer monitors consume as much as 50% less energy which will save your monthly bills if you use your computer for long hours for your work.
If you are using a laptop computer, the LED monitor will save the battery and enhance its life due to its low power consumption while operating.
Size
The size of the screen of the LED monitors is also quite large as compared to the traditional computer screens.
And, being video capable, this makes these monitors an ideal fit for using in computers.
Though the LED monitors come in different sizes and shapes, the most commonly used size for a computer would be any one of the following:
- 19 Inches
- 22 inches and
- 24 inches.
However, if you are fond of larger screen space and do not want to use multiple screens, you can even go for even larger screens such as:
- 30 inches
- 42 inches and
- 50 inches.
However, you will need to make sure that the other components of your computer, especially the graphics and the interface, support such large screen sizes.
Panels
The LED monitors may come in different panels just as the LCD monitors. These are:
- TN panels – A sort for Twisted Nematic panels, these are actually the earliest types of panels that dates back to the 1980s and were used in LCD monitors. These panels are characterized by their fast response time and refresh rates that may go as high as up to 240 Hz.
- VA panels – A short for Vertical Alignment panels, they date back to the 1990s and are also quite good in performance.
- IPS panels – Referred to as the switchboards in the plane, the IPS panels are considered to be the best panel technology and there are several different reasons for it. Typically, an IPS panel offers much wider viewing angles and comes with quite high refresh rates of about 144 Hz.
You may choose any one of these panels according to your liking and preference.
Picture Quality
There is nothing much to say about the quality of images produced by the LED monitor, which is quite excellent.
This is a very important aspect to consider when it comes to computer displays which is the first thing that attracts someone to a particular brand or model of a computer.
Well, with an LED monitor attached to a computer, there is nothing to worry about the picture quality because these displays come with high resolution support.
However, today, the resolution is not the only factor that the users consider to determine the picture quality, and, all those factors are also quite high in an LED monitor. These are:
- Color accuracy
- Lumen
- Contrast ratio
- Brightness and more.
The Light Emitting Diodes used in these monitors are capable enough to optimize all of these traits.
This eventually helps it to produce images that not only look great on the screen but also look life-like.
The higher quality of the images can be noticed clearly with the colors more vivid and the black more black with no undesired effects or halos that would attract your eyes.
Ideally, it is the high picture quality of the LED monitors that makes the computer systems today a perfect fit for photo and video editing, watching movies and videos, or playing high-end and graphics intensive games.
Energy Consumption
When it comes to energy consumption, which is another primary concern of almost every computer user, especially those who use a laptop computer, an LED monitor will not let you down.
Typically, the design and components used in the LED monitors enable them to have an incredibly low footprint in terms of electricity when compared to the electricity consumption of the older monitors.
In fact, it is due to the design of the LED monitors, especially in recent years that these are considered to be one of the more eco-friendly monitor options.
Basically, it is due to these and the efficient components of the LED monitors that allow them to operate perfectly even by consuming the least amount of power.
According to some records and survey reports, the LED monitors of the computers consume energy depending on their sizes.
However, it can be summarized as follows:
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 19 inches will consume as much as 20 watts of energy on an average
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 22 inches will consume as much as 30 watts of energy on an average
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 24 inches will consume as much as 40 watts of energy on an average
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 30 inches will consume as much as 50 watts of energy on an average
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 42 inches will consume as much as 80 watts of energy on an average and
- An LED monitor with a screen size of 50 inches will consume as much as 100 watts of energy on an average.
Therefore, you can see that the energy consumption increases with the increase in size.
So, consider this aspect when you want to connect a larger LED screen to your computer apart from its support.
Life Expectancy
Now, with such a low amount of energy consumed, you may wonder what would be the life expectancy of the LED monitor of your computer.
Well, in general, the average life expectancy of an LED monitor is anywhere between 60,000 hours and 100,000 hours.
However, this will depend on the several factors such as:
- The usage – If you use your computer to play games only along with a few odd jobs done now and then, it will last for a comparatively shorter period of time if you use it for your home or office jobs that involve basic computing tasks.
- The time – The duration of using your computer will also have an effect on the life of the LED display, unless you are using a ‘headless’ computer. If you use the computer, or the display to be precise, for day and night, 24/7 it will last for a shorter time in comparison to using it sparingly as and when needed.
- Screen setting – The way you set the display as well as the resolution setting when you play a game on your computer will also affect the life of the LED display. Higher settings will reduce the life of the monitor pretty fast as compared to lower settings.
Even then, an LED monitor can last for about 45 years (!) considering the rate of energy consumption mentioned above and the average energy consumption.
However, there is no proven or universal way in which you can predict the total lifespan of an LED monitor accurately.
Often, even if the manufacturer offers a chart for it along with the true specs, there is actually no direct correlation between the hours of usage and the degradation of pixels.
Common Issues and Troubleshooting
So, the LED monitors are far better than the traditional CRT or LCD monitors in more ways than one.
However, there may be some common issues that you may encounter while using an LED monitor with your computer.
But then, this can happen with any other hardware component of your computer as it can happen with any other electronic device.
And, there are some easy and quick fixes for it as well.
The common issues of the LED monitors are:
- Screen flickering – This is a condition encountered especially when there is a loose connection or a faulty video cable is used. Tightening the cable from the monitor as well as to the source will often fix this issue. If not, the cable may be faulty and should be changed.
- Image defects – There may be cracks, blotches and spots in the image when displayed on the LED monitor. While the cracks in the image may be a result of a structural defect, spots and blotches indicate internal issues and the working of the monitor. These issues typically may be caused when moving your computer from one place to another or due to improper handling or even dropping it. It is best and cost-effective to replace the monitor in such situations rather than repair it.
- Random shutting off – This is the result of power issues. Most of the time, unplugging and plugging in the monitor again will resolve this issue. Also, make sure that the cable connecting the monitor and the CPU is not loose.
However, anything that you do not understand or have any clue of is best left for the professionals.
The most important thing is to handle it properly and keep it clean in order to keep the LED monitor of your computer functioning just the way it is supposed to be for many years to come.
History
The LED or Light Emitting Diodes were introduced in 1962 and were red in color primarily and it stayed like that for quite some time.
A practical LED display was first developed and introduced in 1968 by Hewlett-Packard or HP.
It was the result of the developmental research led by Gerald P. Pighini and Howard C.
Borden at the HP Associates and HP Labs which continued for a period ranging from 1962 to 1968.
Later, in February 1969, the HP Model 5082-7000 Numeric Indicator was introduced by them which is considered to be the first LED device that used an IC or Integrated Circuit technology.
This was the original intelligent LED display which created a revolution in the digital display technology and industry.
It replaced the Nixie tube and became the fundamental component of the LED displays that were manufactured after that.
James P. Mitchell was however the first to build up an LED display in 1977.
It was shown to the public at the Science and Engineering Fair in 1978. This display was a quarter of an inch thick.
It received awards and accolades from both General Motors and National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA.
The earlier models of LED displays were all monochromatic and it was not until the late 1980 when the more efficient Blue LED was introduced which completed the color triad.
The Aluminum Indium Gallium Phosphide LEDs arrived in the late 1980s which proved to be a competent source of red and amber.
It was utilized in information displays but it still did not accomplish the full and true color.
The green light available in it was anything but green. In fact, it was yellow! Also, the early blue consumed a lot of power.
However, bigger possibilities for big LED displays opened up only when Shuji Nakumura, who was then at Nichia Chemical, made his announcement of having developed the blue LED.
This was ideally based on Indium Gallium Nitride.
It was only in the year 2009 that the LED monitors for use in desktop computers started to be manufactured by different companies but the one that led the pack was Nippon Electric Company or NEC.
Their first LED monitor was however named the MultiSync EA222WMe.
In the large displays that you get today, high-brightness diodes are normally used to produce a wider spectrum of colors.
It took a long time for the manufacturers of LED displays to design and introduce OLED, Crystal LED, and others that produced real-life images instead of performing as backlights for other types of displays.
Today, you have several other companies manufacturing LED computer monitors such as LG, Samsung, Sony, and Apple.
Working Process
It is quite evident from the name that the LED monitors work on the Light Emitting Diodes.
This technology makes these monitors both power saving and performance efficient.
This technology, as compared to the traditional CRT or Cathode Ray Tube technology, is:
- Much more compact
- Consumes a lot less energy and
- Produces a lot less heat.
The LEDs in these monitors are used for backlight illumination.
The technology of the semiconductor devices allows changing the electrical currents to light.
Ideally, the images on the LED monitors are created by RGB or Red, Green, and Blue sub-pixels.
These are actually those small sub-sections of a complete sub-pixel.
Typically, this technology helps the LED monitors to work much better and offer significant benefits in the process that include and are not limited to:
- Vivid colors
- Clearer images
- Improved contrast levels and, most importantly,
- A more environmentally friendly design.
Actually, the working process of the LED monitors involves the passage of a lesser or greater amount of light.
This helps in creating different colors and shapes, which is typically accomplished by several sheets or layers.
There are actually six such layers, where layer 2 and 5 are combined, as explained below.
Layer 1 – The backlight
This is the furthest layer which typically involves adding a light source.
This is an important layer on the working process of the LED monitors because it helps in improving the visibility as well as the contrast of the images.
This is also a very necessary process that allows using the monitors in those settings where there is very little light.
Previously, watches, calculators, and old cell phones used the same liquid crystal technology but without this additional coating.
Remember, you always needed to press a button to see the time on your clock earlier?
Well, this issue is resolved with this light source in the LED monitors where a halogen is used and is responsible for this job.
The benefits of it include:
- Consuming less energy
- Giving more light and
- Taking less space.
Typically, it is due to this layer that you would see a white light always, if this was the only layer.
The technology used in this sheet is quite crucial because it gives lights to those regions of the images where it is needed the most.
This helps in displaying true black and removing the halo around the dark objects and making the low-light scenes look more accurate and reliable by removing all other undesired effects.
Layers 2 and 5 – The filters
In each of these two layers there is a filter, one at each end. These filters are rotated by 90 degrees.
As said earlier, if only the first layer existed, you would have seen a white light always on the whole screen.
However, this does not happen because the second layer acts as the polarizing filter.
It only allows the 90 degrees polarized light to pass through.
On the other hand, the fifth layer also acts as a polarizing filter but is rotated to block that light.
Ideally, a polarized filter will allow the light to pass only in one particular direction.
However, in this case, due to the orientation of the filters, the direction of the light can be rotated.
This means that, under such conditions, you will not be able to see any light.
That is why a few other layers are needed, especially the 3rd and the 4th layers, that would be able to change or polarize that light and the other layers do not block it fully.
Layer 3 – The liquid crystal layer
This is the most important layer of the LED monitors.
The liquid crystal material comes with the ability to alter the property of it when it is subject to a definite amount of voltage.
Typically, this 3rd layer is positioned between two electrodes.
The orientation of the crypto molecules is changed when charge is put on them and depending on that it will create a polarized filter that will be controlled by electricity.
This layer then determines the intensity of light that may pass through the subsequent layers.
Once again, the technology used here is also very vital because the speed of the monitor will largely depend on the changing colors.
This is very crucial for those who use their computers to play games.
It also determines the quality of color and the image, which, in other words, mean how similar the image would be to reality.
Layer 4 – Creating color
There is a layer that filters the color, which typically means converting the white light into colored light.
This layer is therefore just like a painted glass that creates complex colors.
Once again, three sub-pixels are used – one red, other green, and another blue.
Ideally, these are very close to the human eye and therefore cannot be distinguished, which is where the role of the graphics card comes handy.
For example, in a pixel if there is 20% red, 10% green, and 10% blue, the graphics card tells it to the monitor.
This way color creation is fully controlled and the LED monitor can handle the intensity of each sub-pixel separately.
Layer 6 – The glass panel
This is the layer on the LED monitor that is closest to you and the one that you can see and touch with your fingers.
The main purpose of it is to protect everything that is inside the monitor and allow you to see the images displayed on it by the Light Emitting Diodes.
Types
There are different types of LED monitors available and some of its types are as follows:
The Edge-Lit LED Monitor
This type of computer LED monitor has the LEDs placed at the edge of the display but faces the center of the monitor in order to light the image.
The advantage of such placement of the light emitting diodes at the edges of the screen is that it only dims a part of the images as opposed to the full dim that is common with the full-array LED monitors.
The Full-Array LED Monitor
In these types of LED monitors, the light emitting diodes are scattered all over in order to cover the real estate of the monitor.
This enables them to produce richer images with vivid colors that are with deeper blacks and whites.
These types of LED monitors are the best to have for gamers and movie addicts since the dimming is much finer and the images produced appear just as it is in real life.
The Direct-Lit LED Monitor
These displays are a bit different from the other two types of LED monitors mentioned above.
This is due to the placement of the light emitting diodes in them which is ideally in rows behind the screen.
Another aspect that differentiates these LED monitors from the others is the local dimming which is unable to produce true blacks.
Instead, it produces gray tones which make the quality of the images a bit low.
RGB LED
These types of LED monitors are also referred to as white light emitters.
However, in the real sense these lights are produced closer to the yellow light than white.
This difference results in a color shift in the images produced on the screen.
Typically, the group of RGB or red, green, and blue Light Emitting Diodes resolves this issue.
OLED Monitors
A short for Organic Light Emitting Diode, the OLED monitors are much more advanced in comparison to the standard LED monitors.
The pixels in these monitors can be dimmed or brightened separately. This produces much clearer images that are with:
- More details
- Improved black levels
- Very sharp and vivid colors and
- More enhanced contrast ratios.
QLED Monitors
QLED is the acronym for Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode.
These monitors offer much improved color accuracy and sharpness to the tune of up to 90% in comparison to other LED monitors.
These monitors typically offer the high level of color depth and brightness that are typically required for HDR.
However, both OLED and QLED are very expensive monitors and therefore are seldom used by average users with a computer.
Usefulness and Features
The LED monitors today are very useful in many different ways to different users due to the useful features that these units come with.
Typically, an LED monitor is characterized by a flat screen and its compact and lightweight design.
Some of the other popular features of the LED monitors are mentioned below.
Power consumption
These monitors are also quite well known for their low power consumption, which is one of the primary reasons for their immense popularity.
In fact, the LED monitors are found to use 730% less energy in comparison to any regular LCD or CRT monitors.
Therefore, these monitors will help you to save a lot of energy but display crisp images. Apart from that, these monitors are eco-friendly themselves.
This specific feature is very useful when you use a lot of different computer peripherals such as scanners, printers, and others.
In such situations, a low-power LED monitor will not overheat and at the same time it will prevent wasting energy.
Durability
Since the display is illuminated with Light Emitting Diodes, which also adds to the life expectancy, these monitors are supposed to be highly durable.
Image quality
The LED monitors typically display clear images of high quality.
The display screen comes with high resolution which produces clear details in the images making them look more vibrant and life-like.
Ideally, the high-end LED monitors come with quite a high resolution of more than 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Displays with such high resolution produce excellent and high quality pictures and super-detailed images.
Such sharp and crisp images with vibrant colors are very useful for work and fun.
Light in weight
The LED monitors are quite light in weight due to their slim design and small size.
It makes it a perfect choice for the mobile computer users.
Typically, the LED monitors are 30% lighter than traditional monitors and will take a lot less space on your desk.
The LED monitors use a different technology for the backlights and also offer wider viewing angle.
This helps them to emit natural colors and the light is soothing to the eyes thereby causing less or no strain or headache as it is the case with average monitors when you stare at it for long hours.
They also consume less power and therefore are more energy efficient.
All these features make the LED monitors most useful and suitable for business, home use, and even for gaming.
You will not have to worry about the energy cost since it consumes less energy.
Therefore, an LED monitor is quite useful for jobs such as:
- Video editing
- Graphic designing
- Programming and
- Playing computer games.
An LED monitor is quite useful for the professionals as well such as the graphic designers due to the factors such as:
- Faster response time and
- Improved color rendition.
These two specific features will make up for the high price of the LED monitors.
The LED monitors are also very useful for the professional photographers due to its sufficient refresh rate.
It will enable them to see all the other features of the images clearly.
As for the architects, once again, the high gray scale and high refresh rate of the LED monitors will prove to be more useful.
The images will be extremely vivid thereby meeting the high visual requirements for the architects.
The high resolution and color performance of these monitors help the architects with the CAD and other similar demanding jobs with the use of appropriate software.
And, the programmers typically look for the highest amount of space to lay out spreadsheets, charts and data so that they do not get stuck on a code that is not displayed clearly and fully on a 15-inch ordinary screen.
An LED screen of at least 22 inches in size is most suitable for them to do their jobs easily due to the larger space available on the screen for viewing.
The LED screens are also best for advertising and digital signage since it can keep up with the pace and stay strong periods without losing the image quality, no matter whatever is the size of the screen.
Moreover, the diodes used in the LED monitors are resilient to changes in temperature which adds to its robust performance.
All these features and utility of the LED monitor make them an environmentally friendly and more economical solution in comparison to other standard monitors.
It is especially considering the fact that they can run for about 100,000 hours at a stretch.
Parts
A computer LED monitor has different parts and each of them serves different purposes for the unit to function properly. These are:
The display panel
This is perhaps the most important part of the LED monitor that creates the images rendered and you see on it.
The housing frame
This refers to the cabinet or the box-like structure which holds all other components of the LED monitor inside it.
There are different materials used to make the housing frame and it comes in different styles.
However, the most common material used is plastic, though you will get a few frames of flat screen monitors made of aluminum, but those are rare.
The display unit
This is the unit that houses the display, just as the name signifies.
It also holds all other components that make the display work properly along with the screen settings.
In addition to that, you will also find the different buttons on it that will help you to control different things such as:
- The contrast
- The brightness
- The color
- The volume and others.
This is also the unit where you will find the ports, if any, to connect different input devices such as speakers, microphones, game consoles, and others.
The display units also come with built-in speakers and the modern ones may also come with touchscreen features that allow you to use your fingers or a specially designed stylus to interact.
A monitor stand
This stand or arm is usually built from aluminum or steel and supports the display of the LED monitor when it is in use.
It also allows titling the display downward while storing if needed to save space.
There is usually a locking mechanism in the arm that secures the display in place when you move the unit.
Circuit boards
There are also several internal components and circuit boards in the LED monitor that help in controlling the pixels, backlight, and video processing.
In addition to that, these components support different inputs such as digital and analog ports as well.
Conclusion
This article has surely made you more knowledgeable about the LED monitors than you were before reading it.
Now you know the components that the LED motors are made up of and what keeps them functioning properly for several years to come.