Computer monitors

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by pluto2, Jan 17, 2010.

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  1. pluto2 Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Digital computer monitors with DVI-D

    I have several questions for computer monitor experts on this forum. I tried to figure out this stuff by myself but I simply don't have enough knowledge and information on this topic.

    My questions are:

    1. How does the signal flowing from the computer through the DVI-D cable to the monitor look like?

    And...

    2. What information does this signal carry and what happens with the signal when the signal reaches the DVI-D female connector and gets inside the monitor?

    3. From the DVI-D signal, how does the computer monitor know the position of each and every pixel and what color to give each one?

    I understand from what I read on the net that there are two drivers, one is a row driver and the other is a column driver which activate the rows and column grid when a video signal is fed into these drivers. But how is the signal fed into the drivers and from the signal, how exactly do the LCD drivers know how and which columns and rows to turn on?
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2010
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  3. Blue_UK Drifting Mind Valued Senior Member

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    I used to work for a semiconductor company making graphics chips

    DVI sends the video uncompressed through three channels (RGB) and has a fourth channel for data information (get monitor info etc). On the connector, there's space for two DVI channels and also an analogue video out (so graphics cards do not need a second output for older monitors, you just use an adapter).

    Although uncompressed, DVI can be encrypted (it's been hacked, but some media companies insist partner hardware companies implement it).

    If you put a scope on one of the DVI video pins - you wouldn't be able to make anything of it; it's not a one-to-one pixel map. First you have RGB split over three pins (pairs of pins, actually) and then you have some kludging of the stream to ensure that you don't get too many ones or zeroes in a row (for electrical reasons).

    An LCD panel then takes this signal and converts it to another format which uses many many more pins. These then go to the chips which drive the actual elements (of which there may be more than one for a single monitor - each handles a block of pixels).
     
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