Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Basic tools
Before you begin building or refitting a computer, you should have some basic
tools:
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3
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#2 Phillips-head (cross-shaped) screwdriver
Needle-nose pliers
Anti-static Wrist Strap
A large level working space

Optional, but useful tools
Some other tools and equipment can come in handy as well, such as:
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3
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Electrical tape
Wire or nylon ties
Flashlight, preferably hands-free
A second, working computer to swap parts, look for tips, ask for help online, download drivers and patches, etc
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A can of compressed air - useful when working with older parts that have
collected dust
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7
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Zip ties or velcro ties for cable management
Preparation
Proper preparation is the key to a successful build
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At this point you should
leave the parts themselves in their protective anti-static bags, and assemble all the
accompanying manuals
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If there is anything you don’t understand, now is the time to do a
little extra Internet research or call the manufacturer with your questions
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You should have plenty of light
and if possible, you should choose an area without carpet on the floor, as carpet
tends to generate a lot of static
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Safety precautions
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It’s important to use your
anti-static wrist strap to prevent damage to these components
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(Never plug your computer in while you are
connected to it by a wrist strap
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It’s also helpful to have an anti-static mat to set the case and other
components on
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Nobody but you is at fault if you shock your components with static
electricity
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(Note: if you really must
work on a computer and have not got proper anti-static equipment, it is
usually OK if you make sure that you do not move about much; are not
wearing any static-prone clothing; handle components by the edges; and
regularly (once a minute or so), touch a grounded object
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As noted
above, touch it every few minutes while you are working on your PC if you
haven’t got a wrist strap
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Turn off your computer and switch off your Power Supply at the wall before
installing or removing any components - if power is flowing to components
as they are installed or removed, they can be seriously damaged
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The neutral line may be
earthed
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This "safety ground"
stands between you and potentially lethal voltages inside the power supply
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Be wary of sharp edges! Many lower-end PC cases have sharp, unfinished
edges
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Use care and take your time to avoid cutting your hands
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Be extra careful not to cut
yourself when installing the I/O Shield
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∑

Motherboard/Mainboard – As the name indicates, this is the electronic
centerpiece of the computer: everything else connects to the motherboard
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∑

RAM – random access memory, the "short-term memory" of a computer,
used by the CPU to store program instructions and data upon which it is
currently operating
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∑

Storage - either HDD (Hard disk drive - slower of the two but less
expensive) and/or SSD (solid state drive
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e
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The
operating system, and all your programs and data are stored here
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Optional components follow: (Components that depend on the function that will be
given to the machine)
∑

Optical Drive – device for reading/writing optical disks
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It is essential for
installing many operating systems and programs, although the vast majority
can be run from USB
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Some people like to have two such drives for copying disks
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Some motherboards have an "onboard" GPU built in so you don’t need (but
may add) a separate video card
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These plug into a slot on the motherboard and provide a place to connect a
monitor to your computer
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Many motherboards won't even boot without a
keyboard attached
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Unless you chose a text-based operating
system, you will likely want one of these
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They come in many forms,
the most common being CRT and LCD
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They are screws, usually brass, with large hexagonal heads that are tapped so you
can fasten screws into the top
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Set these
aside
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There may be small metal tabs on the inside of this face plate, if so you may have
to adjust them to accommodate the ports on the back of the motherboard
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If the power supply is in your way, take it out and set it
aside (we'll put it back in later)
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Put a standoff in each of these holes
on the tray and position the motherboard so that you can see the holes in the top of
the standoffs through the screw holes in the motherboard
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The small metal
tabs are intended to make contact with the metal parts of the connections on the
back of the motherboard and ground them, but you may have to bend these tabs a
bit to get the ports all properly mounted, this is where those needle-nose pliers may
come in handy
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These screws should be snug but not tight, there is no reason to torque
down on them, hand tight is fine, otherwise you can damage the motherboard
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Computer Processor:
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If you've

already purchased either the motherboard or the processor or both, be sure
that your computer processor is compatible with the processor socket on the
motherboard
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∑ Prepare the motherboard: If you're simply upgrading an old computer
processor on an old motherboard, you may want to disassemble the
computer and remove the motherboard from the computer case
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Touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge static from your body
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∑ Inspect the computer processor: The bottom of your processor will have
many tiny pins
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4
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This means you won't need to press down on the
processor to install it
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CPU Cabinet
Installing the CPU, and the CPU’s heat-sink and fan, are by far the most difficult
steps you’ll have to complete during your build
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During the
process, if anything does not seem to fit or make sense, put the parts down and
look things over carefully before you proceed
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The details of the installation process differ in slight but important ways for each
manufacturer’s processors, and even within a manufacturer's product line
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The two things that go wrong the most often and most expensively (minimum of a
killed CPU, sometimes more) in building one's own computer are both related to
the CPU and its cooler:
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Without cooling, CPUs heat up at extreme rates (a CPU heats
up anywhere between ten times and a thousand times as fast as a cooking
area on your stove!) By the time you see the first display on the screen, your
CPU will already be severely overheating and might be damaged beyond
repair
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Mounting the CPU cooler improperly
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If you buy a third party cooling solution for your CPU make sure you get one that
is compatible with the CPU you have
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"

Most brands come with multiple mounting brackets that will suit many different
chipsets, but it is best to check for compatibility just in case
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The plain metal back of the CPU, which
is what you're now seeing, is exactly matched by the bottom plate of the cooler
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Very little is
needed
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(The cooler surface may have a
protective piece of film over it; don't forget to remove it
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This is rare nowadays,
but read the instructions
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(There are
numerous videos on Youtube advocating one or another, some with photos using
glass plates
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Some
people suggest spreading paste over the whole surface, then cleaning it off with a
razor blade, then adding the pea
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This is probably overkill, and involves extra handling of the CPU, never a
good idea
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You should receive a tube or applicator
of thermal paste in the CPU or cooler package
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If using a thermal pad supplied with your cooler, make sure you remove any
protective tape from the die just before installing and do not get it dirty - and do
not combine thermal pads with thermal paste, it is either one or the other
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One option you may consider, before installing the heat-sink, is to "lap" the heatsink, which means to smooth out the bottom surface
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Fasten your sandpaper
on the flat surface, invert the heat-sink on the sandpaper and sand in small circles,
applying minimum pressure
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) Remember that you are not trying to remove any material, just polish out
surface irregularities
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Some companies producing
heat-sinks lap the surface themselves, so if the surface already looks like a perfect

mirror, leave it alone
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Tighten the cooler using only the specified holding devices - if you did everything
right, they will fit
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After mounting the cooler, connect any power cables for the fan that is
attached to the cooler
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A last note: if something goes wrong and the cooler has to be removed (like maybe
you realize you didn't take the protective film off the cooler surface), the paste will
have to be removed from the CPU for the restart
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Thermal paste removes easily with a little
gentle rubbing
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If you've got the CPU and its cooler installed, and the motherboard in the case,
you’re over the hump, there are just a few more easy pieces to go before that
momentous first power-up
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Some computer cases do not use screws
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Remove the doors or panels as necessary
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Securing the drive to a cage usually requires four screws on the sides or bottom of
the drive
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Connect the hard drives with SATA
Once the drive is mounted, connecting it to your system is quick and easy
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SATA uses simple cables that are keyed to fit on the
drive and motherboard connector one way
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Memory slots
Next, you will need to install your RAM (random access memory)
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To install the RAM modules, first push on the levers (white plastic in the picture)
on either side of the DIMM socket, so that they move to the sides
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Put the RAM module in the socket
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Push down on the module until both levers move up into the notches on
the sides of the module
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Although this does require a fair bit of force, do not overdo it or you may
break the RAM module
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As you handle the
RAM, try not to touch the copper stripes you can see along the bottom edge, as
doing so is the best way to damage the part
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If you do not have a
stick in "Bank 0" or "DIMM 1" the system will think there is no RAM and will not
boot
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For example,
slot 1 is blue, slot 2 is black, slot 3 is blue, slot 4 is black
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Put the first 512MB stick in slot 1, and put the 2nd

stick in slot 3 (the two slots that are blue) - leaving slot 2 empty
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putting 1GB in slot 1, or two 512MB sticks in slot 1 and 2
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Otherwise a few moments of screwdriver work will get the job
done
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Some cases place the
Power Supply
differently, see the
documentation
that came with
yours
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Other power supplies have all the cables hardwired in, you’ll want to separate
out the ones you’ll need and neatly coil the remainder somewhere out of the way
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Many newer power supplies can automatically select
and don’t have such a switch
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You may then
connect the main power, a 20 or 24 pin plug, into the motherboard
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Video card
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If you have an AGP video card: Install the video card into the AGP socket
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AGP slots are often
brown, but can also be strange colours such as fluorescent green
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These must be retracted before insertion of the card
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)
Push the card into the socket (AGP slots are often pretty tight, do not be afraid to
push it until it is well inserted), then screw it in at the top of the metal bracket
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If it has a pass
through, do not connect it to a hard drive
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PCI Express slots used for
video cards are commonly 16x as opposed to AGP 8x
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Installing drive jumpers
The drive jumpers are in the middle (between the connector for the cable and the
power connector) but the location may vary
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Before you install IDE/ATA (PATA) drives, you will need to set the drives
jumpers
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Consult your drive's instructions on how to set the jumpers
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Drives can be configured in 2 ways: Drive Select or Cable Select
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Cable select
automatically assigns slave/master based on the plug on the IDE cable the
drive is plugged into
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∑

"Drive select": If you are using a 40 pin cable, you must use "drive select"
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In this mode, configure the
drive on the end connector as the master, and the drive connected to the
middle connector as the slave
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Note that Drive Select will always work, while Cable Select will only work if you
have the proper cable
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How a drive is physically installed will depend on the case
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The ends of the cables are L shaped, just look carefully at the cable
ends and the connector on the drive and match them up
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Some SATA drives have two
different power ports - make sure you connect ONLY ONE of these ports to the
power supply, connecting both can damage the drive
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When using an IDE cable, plug the two connectors that
are closer together into the 2 drives, and the third to the controller or motherboard
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Make sure the drive that you will install your OS on is the primary master
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Next, plug a 4 pin molex power connector into each hard drive and optical drive
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Connecting both
can break your hard drive
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If you install a floppy disk drive, the cable is very similar to the IDE cable, but
with fewer wires, and a strange little twist in the middle
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The floppy disk connector is not usually keyed,
making it all too easy to plug it in the wrong way! One wire in the IDE cable will
be colored differently: this is pin 1
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The power plug for a floppy is 4 pins in a line, but
rather smaller than the standard hard drive power connector
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Plug the other end of the
floppy ribbon cable into the motherboard
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The twist between drive A: (on the end)
and drive B (in the middle) helps the computer distinguish between them
Other connections

Some cables are attached to pins on a board (e
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motherboard or extension card)
In order to turn the computer on, you will need to connect the power button and
while you are at it, you might as well do the reset buttons and front panel lights as
well
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Most of the time the plugs will be labeled
as the pins they will connect to in the motherboard, there they can be difficult to
read since the print is very small or you may not be in the right orientation to do so
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Keyboard
Keyboard is the most common and very popular input device which helps in
inputting data to the computer
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Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now keyboards with 104
keys or 108 keys are also available for Windows and Internet
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No
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It is used to enter
numeric data or cursor
movement
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The twelve function
keys are present on the
keyboard which are
arranged in a row at the
top of the keyboard
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These keys provide
cursor
and
screen
control
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Control
keys
also
include Home, End,
Insert, Delete, Page Up,
Page
Down,
Control(Ctrl),

5

Special Purpose Keys

Alternate(Alt),
Escape(Esc)
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It is a very famous cursor-control device
having a small palm size box with a round ball at its base which senses the
movement of mouse and sends corresponding signals to CPU when the mouse
buttons are pressed
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Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor on screen,
but it cannot be used to enter text into the computer
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Monitors
Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output
device of a computer
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The sharpness of the image depends upon the
number of pixels
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-Ray Tube (CRT)
- Panel Display
Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
The CRT display is made up of small picture elements called pixels
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It takes more than one
illuminated pixel to form whole character, such as the letter ‘e’ in the word help
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The screen can
be divided into a series of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a
standard character can be placed
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There are some disadvantages of CRT

Flat-Panel Display Monitor

The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume,
weight and power requirement in comparison to the CRT
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Current uses of flat-panel displays include
calculators, videogames, monitors, laptop computer, graphics display
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Example are plasma panel and LED(Light-Emitting Diodes)

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