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What is a TFT Monitor?

R. Kayne
R. Kayne

A TFT monitor uses thin-film transistor technology in an LCD display. LCD monitors, also called flat panel displays, are replacing the old-style cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in both televisions and computer displays. Nearly all LCD monitors today use TFT technology.

The benefit of thin-film transistor technology is the separate, tiny transistor for each pixel on the display. Because each transistor is so small, the amount of charge needed to control it is also small. This allows the screen to refresh very quickly, as the image is re-painted or refreshed several times per second.

A desktop computer with a TFT monitor.
A desktop computer with a TFT monitor.

Prior to TFT, passive matrix LCD displays could not keep up with fast moving images. A mouse dragged across the screen, for example, from point A to point B, would disappear between the two points. A TFT monitor can track the mouse, resulting in a display that can be used for video, gaming, and all forms of multimedia.

A 17-inch TFT monitor has about 1.3 million pixels and 1.3 million transistors. That leaves a significant chance for a malfunctioning transistor or two on the panel, and "dead pixels" are not uncommon. A dead pixel is a pixel whose transistor has failed, thereby creating no display image so on a solid black background, for example, dead pixels will stand out as tiny dots of red, white, or blue. Most manufacturers will not replace a monitor that has fewer than 11 dead pixels. Many don't have any dead pixels, although even in those that do, they are not really noticeable unless they are located in a critical position on the screen.

Flat panel monitors are quickly replacing old CRTs.
Flat panel monitors are quickly replacing old CRTs.

There are only a handful of TFT factories that turn out panels for all brands of monitors. Since there is a given failure rate — considering how many transistors are on each panel — only so many of the displays come out bearing no dead pixels. A certain percentage have some, but not an unreasonable number, and other panels are unusable. The panels that have some dead pixels are often sold to be used in discount models. Consumers, therefore, should read online feedback from buyers to get an idea of the quality of particular brands. By scanning the reviews for several brands, it is easy to get a feel for which models have consistently good panels that rarely bear dead pixels.

A good TFT monitor delivers crisp text, vibrant color, and an improved response time for multimedia applications. People who are interested in gaming, video editing, or other multimedia applications should look for a monitor with a response rate of 16 ms or less.

Discussion Comments

JanHegarty

We have a 15" TFT LCD monitor in our caravan. Will this receive HD TV? If not, what do we need to do?

anon165736

What are the advantages of tft over lcd and crt?

anon165735

how can i connect a tv card in a tft monitor?

anon155912

what is the currently used monitor? this site is more informative.

anon137823

what is a pixel?

anon109554

Seems like half the people here didn't even bother to read the article. Pfft. Anyway, I found it very helpful. thanks.

anon80394

Hi can someone explain what would be the difference of a TFT display and an HD display and which would be a better specification?

anon77643

what is the difference between TFT monitors and LCD monitors?

anon66002

What is the difference between a TFT monitor and CRT monitor? - Shoukat

anon52789

I have not found this site useful. I came here looking to find out what a TFT was. Instead there's just too much jargon on here. this only helps those who have an idea of what computers are and not the everyday person who does not know the difference between a CLI and a GUI.

nsmoorthi

i have bought a new TFT monitor. My problem is that the screen suddenly disappears and for a moment the screen is blank. But then it comes again and is working properly. When i typed this post it happened twice in the span of just a minute. Please do explain it to me.

anon51756

What is the full form of LCD. --RGCSK

anon47504

Please tell me the working principle of tft monitor with diagram.

anon45850

From this article I understand that TFT monitor means Thin Film Transistor Monitor. For all of you who are looking for the full form of TFT.

anon44593

what is the full form of a tft screen?

anon42828

i want to buy a monitor. Please let me know the difference between LCD, TFT and CRT. Suggest to me the best one now and the advantages too. Venkat

anon42484

what is the full form of tft screen?

anon41876

What would be the power consumption of a standard TFT monitor and a digital monitor? How much would I be able to save on electricity consumption unit wise?

anon35557

I love your article. It provided me very good information on TFT Monitors. It is good to know that the TFT Monitors consist of separate transistors for Separate Dot Pixel. Even in my cousin's home on his LCD he got 2 black dots. I think it is dead transistors. So this is not good if some transistor fail it will corrupt whole display. What is the solution for this?

anon35541

What is the full form of TFT in use with monitor?

anon29721

A TFT monitor is also a mounter on a fire truck with a deck gun on top to spray water on the fire.

anon29390

i am going to buy a new pc. should i buy TFT or CRT?

anon24501

this is a good site!

anon24293

How it is possible to implement 1.3million transistors on a single 17 inch TFT monitor???

Are transistors available in such a tiny size???

anon21885

What would be the power consumption of a standard TFT monitor and a digital monitor? How much would i be able to save on Electricity consumption unit wise?

anon19912

Which directive for CE used in LCD-TFT screen?

anon17943

what is the difference between TFT monitors and LCD monitors?

anon15563

what is the full form of TFT?????

anon9518

i have +2.5 power so it becomes very difficult for me to sit in front of computer regularly for seven to nine hours. is there any tft monitor on which i can sit regularly for more than ten hours? due to this reason i resigned three previous jobs.

Asif

dhanbad

anon8276

you've been had by the people who sold the monitors to you, I've had mine for quite a while and it works wonderfully to me.

anon5631

I have a 19" TFT monitor that is working properly, but on the right edge of the monitor the display is very light.

anon5079

check the black light.

craigmd49

I have a 17" drop down TFT monitor that I installed in my boat. It starts up fine, but after about two or three minutes, the picture freezes and then the unit turns its self off. Any idea what might be wrong with it?

charma1ne

Hi there,

I would like to know if it is possible to watch the TV through a tft moniter.

Thank you. Charmaine

chandru

i have bought new TFT monitor. My problem is that the screen suddenly disappears and for a moment screen is blank. But then it comes again and is working properly. When i typed this post it happened twice in the span of just a minute. Please do explain it to me.

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    • A desktop computer with a TFT monitor.
      By: Dmitry Rukhlenko
      A desktop computer with a TFT monitor.
    • Flat panel monitors are quickly replacing old CRTs.
      By: smotrivnebo
      Flat panel monitors are quickly replacing old CRTs.