Out with the old, in with the new! Is it high time you got rid of that old clunker of a computer monitor? Considering an LCD monitor? Don't know what the heck an LCD monitor is? Well have you come to the right article!

Once upon a time Computers had lovely monitors that took up three-quarters of your desk space leaving you a half an inch for the keyboard. mouse pad and a cup of tea. Today there is more room than you know what to do with on your desk, unless you are like this writer. The old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors are slowly slipping away to computer heaven as the much thinner LCD monitors step in to take over. LCD or Liquid Crystal Display monitors are usually only about one to three inches thick and often weigh less than 10 pounds. The CRT was much larger and could weigh between 30 and 50 pounds!

So what exactly is an LCD monitor? The inner workings of this high tech devise rely on the use of polarized glass, pixels (or the little dots that actually come together in the process to form the picture you see), a layer of liquid crystal solution (thus Liquid Crystal Display or LCD) and backlight. There are five layers in total in these ever so slim monitors that work together with electrical currents causing the liquid crystal molecules to align. This process allows varying levels of light to pass through to a second layer of glass and create the image on the screen.

LCD monitors were first used on Notebooks and Laptops only. But as with any good technology things got better for the little monitors and they grew into the fancy and often quite big monitors we see today. The newer high tech screens are just about everywhere now and pretty much standard with most new computer purchases. For those folks still getting by with their older PC monitors a new and improved LCD monitor is welcomed upgrade.

Just about any one of the big, and little, names in technology offer LCD monitors. Dell, Samsung, Phillips and Sony are big sellers of the LCD monitors and when it comes to choosing which is right for you it is best to decide based upon compatibility as well as preference for a particular brand. If you have a particular brand you tend like better than others, chancing are pretty good they have an LCD monitor to fit your needs.

As with all things in life, size counts, at least to most people. Assess your needs and your desires for determining the monitor size you'd like. For the most part the screen size is determined by measuring the display area from lower corner to the opposite upper corner. Screen sizes range from about 17 inches to 30 inches and as the screens get bigger the option for a wider screen becomes available.

The best news in LCDs is that as popularity and common use has escalated, the prices have begun to come down a bit. Certainly the bigger and wider your choice the more you will pay, but even 30 inch widescreen LCDs are more reasonably priced. Monitors can be found for just a few hundred dollars, or less in some cases, to around a thousand dollars. Whatever you choice, you are likely to find something affordable to meet your needs.

High Tech is here to stay and it all only seems to be improving on a daily basis. LCD monitors are a part of that improved technology and a picture perfect way to upgrade your PC system.