2. Monitors

A monitor (or screen) is the most commonly used output device.

They come in many different shapes, sizes and forms. In an exam question, you will need to be able to choose the best type of monitor and then explain your reasons.

The picture on a monitor is made up of thousands of tiny coloured dots called pixels.

The quality and detail of the picture depends on the number of pixels that the monitor can display.

The higher the number of pixels, the better quality the output.

Larger monitors make working at the computer much easier on the eyes, but the larger the monitor, the more money it costs!

A typical monitor size is a 19 inch diagonal.

Modern operating systems can easily handle a dual monitor setup, (as long as the graphics card also has dual sockets).

For example, in the photo of my working setup above, there are two monitors in use on a single computer. The one on the right is set to hold most of the icons and the one on the left may be used to open applications without losing sight of the the icons. This is a very effective way of increasing your working area.