ScreenTek is proud to provide you this glossary of common terms in the laptop LCD screen industry, and in the laptop notebook industry. Feel free to become more familiar with the terms we use throughout our site. If you notice any glaring omissions, we'd be glad to hear about those. Drop us a line at sales@screentekinc.com.

Hardware Terms » 35 definitions

Active area

The actual area of an LCD screen that displays the image. The frame, or bezel, surrounding the LCD screen is not included in the measurement of active area.

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Active matrix

An electronics display system in flat panel displays, in which each pixel is separately controlled by a matrix of thin-film transistors (see TFT). The device stores each pixel's state electronically while other pixels are refreshed, creating a brighter, sharper image than can be made with a passive matrix system.

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Backlight

The main light emitting power source of a typical LCD panel. The backlight is typically a long narrow cold cathode fluorescent light located behind (the "back" in backlight) the glass and various polarizing filters of an LCD panel.

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Brightness enhanced film (BEF)

A film placed on the rear side of an LCD panel which improves the brightness of an LCD panel by transmitting the light from the backlight unit more effectively.

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CFL cable length

The length of the cable which supplies power the CFL

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CFL Voltage

The amount of volts that a particular CFL contains.

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Clock signal

A signal used to coordinate the actions of two ore more circuits

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Cold cathode fluorescent tube

A small tube that provides a bright white light for a LCD display (see backlight). Inside the tube there is a low-pressure mercury vapor, which when ionized emits ultraviolet light. The inside of a fluorescent light is coated with phosphor, which can receive energy in a particular form and emit that energy in a visible form.

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Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL)

A type of fluorescent lamp which plugs into a small light fixture, in contrast to incandescent light bulbs, have a longer life.

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Cycle time

The amount of time it takes to complete a specific cycle.

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Diffuser

Translucent material used for light diffusion placed between backlight lighting sources and the back side of an LCD.

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Double Super Twist Nematic (DSTN)

A type of LCD screen that uses less power and are less expensive to manufacture than thin-film transistor (TFT) screens. DSTN screens usually produce lower image quality and have slower response time than TFT displays.

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Frequency

The measurement of the amount of times a repeated event takes place, per unit time.

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High Proformance Addressing (HPA)

An LCD display technology which provides a better response rate and contrast when compared to a traditional LCD display.

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Horizontal back porch

The period of time between the end of the Horizontal Sync pulse and the start of the next horizontal active time.

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Horizontal front porch

The time between the end of the horizontal active time and the start of the horizontal sync pulse.

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Horizontal sync

During the horizontal blank time, the monitor receives the horizontal sync pulse which is used for synchronizing the monitor to operate exactly synchronous to the PC graphics card. After receiving the horizontal sync pulse, the monitor returns the beam to the left side of the screen.

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In-plane Switching

A proprietary LCD cell structure. IPS displays have an excellent off axis viewing characteristics, but have poor aperture ratios, contrast ratio and speed. Hitachi / NEC

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Inverter

At its simplest, a circuit that converts DC current into AC current. Typically called an "inverter board", this roughly pencil-sized device provides power to the backlight of the LCD device. Every LCD has a small cable of two wires leading to the inverter, and if either this cable, the inverter, or the backlight fail, you'll see a faint, dark image on the LCD screen. With some laptop manufacturers, such as Dell, the inverter is attached to the LCD. In this case, you must remove both from the laptop before you'll be able to detach the inverter from the LCD.

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Light-emitting diodes (LED)

A semiconductor device which displays a narrow spectrum of light when electrically biased in the forward direction. The life span if an LED is much longer than ordinary incandescent bulbs and don’t tend to get very hot.

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Liquid crystal

An organic liquid whose physical properties resemble those of a crystal in the formation of loosely ordered molecular arrays similar to a regular crystalline lattice and the anisotropic refraction of light

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Patterned Vertical Alignment (PVA)

A type of TFT LCD screen which provides high contrast and brightness.

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Pencil hardness

A test that uses a variety of pencils with varying hardness to determine the hardness of a film.

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Pixel pitch

The distance between a red, blue or green component and the next closest component, measured in mm.

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Power consumption

The amount of power that an electronic device consumes.

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Privacy film

A film that is within an LCD screen that controls the position from where the display can be viewed.

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Response time

The amount of time it takes to respond to a given command or input.

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Retardation film

Improves contrast on STN (super twisted nematic) and TN (twisted nematic)cells and to provide for black and white and color on STN display cells.

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Thin Film Transistor (TFT)

A special kind of field effect transistor made by depositing thin films for the metallic contacts, semiconductor active layer, and dielectric layer. Most commonly found in LCD screens.

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Transflective

Transflective LCDs work as either transmissive or reflective LCDs, depending on the ambient light. They work reflectively when external light levels are high, and transmissively in darker environments via a low-power backlight.

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Transmissive

A type of LCD screen in which the pixels are illuminated from behind the monitor’s screen (opposite of the user).

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Vertical back porch

The amount of time between the end of a vertical sync and the start of the next vertical active time.

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Vertical front porch

The amount of time between the end of the vertical active time and the start of the vertical sync pulse.

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Vertical sync

During the vertical blank time, the monitor receives the vertical sync pulse which is used for synchronizing the monitor to operate exactly synchronous to the PC graphics card. After receiving the vertical sync pulse, the monitor returns the beam to the upper left corner of the screen.

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Viewing angle

All of the angles in which a display may be viewed.

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Glossary index

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