Monitor Shapes and Sizes

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Today, monitors are available in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Monitor size is calculated in inches. Popular monitors are available in the following sizes: 15, 17, 19, and 21 inches. The size of a monitor screen is measured diagonally from the bottom right corner to the top left corner; this is known as the monitor's nominal size The actual viewable size of the display is typically at least an inch smaller than the advertised nominal size of the monitor. For example, a 19-inch monitor (nominal size) actually has a viewable size area of less than 18 inches. A 17-inch monitor has a viewable display area of 15.6 inches. The monitor's bezel, which is the black plastic boundary that supports and surrounds the edge of the glass screen, reduces the viewable size of the display area.

Smaller monitors (generally 15 inch and smaller) have trouble displaying higher resolutions because they cannot support very small pixels. Typically, monitors that are 15 inches or smaller can only display up to 1024x768, 17-inch monitors can display up to 1280x1024, and 19-inch and larger monitors can display 1600x1200. A larger monitor that supports smaller pixels is handy for higher resolution settings and fitting in more icons on the desktop. If you increase the resolution settings in the Windows 2000 Display Properties window, the icons on the desktop become smaller (Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.2: Windows 2000 Display Properties window

Note 

If you change your monitor's resolution, video card drivers, or NIC drivers, and then cannot re-enter the Windows GUI, you can enter the operating system through the use of Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads only the drivers needed to enter the operating system for troubleshooting purposes. Higher resolution changes and other drivers are not loaded when you enter Safe Mode.

Graphics

Two technical drawing methods are used to draw an image on a video screen: raster graphics and vector graphics.

• Raster graphics. Raster images are digital images that are created from a grid of x (horizontal) and y (vertical) coordinates. The x and y coordinates represent the locations of pixels on a display screen. Raster is the most common method used to produce an image. Some of the more common types of raster formats are JPEG, BMP, and TIFF images. These raster image types are produced from software graphics applications such as Microsoft Paint. Most monitors and printers produce information in raster format and are considered raster output devices.

• Vector graphics. Vector graphics programs produce a sharper image than raster. Vector is based on mathematical equations that define where and how an image is to be drawn or sized on a display. Vector graphics programs, such as Corel Draw, Microsoft Visio, and Adobe Illustrator, are used to create scalable, detailed drawings. Two- and three-dimensional graphic animations are created using vector graphics technology and software.

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