PC monitor is a significant device of a computer even though the computer was invented without the monitor. The monitor display images generated from the output of computers, which make more convenience for users to communicate with the computer. Until today, the monitor evolves slowly from CRT to LCD and the newer one, Plasma. The old style monitor, CRT, becomes extinct and replaced by LCD and Plasma. However, who knows the LCD was first studied almost ten years before the CRT. According to the article of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia website, in 1888 Friedrich Reinitzer discovers the liquid crystalline nature of cholesterol extracted from carrots and published his findings at a meeting of the Vienna Chemical Society on May 3, 1888. On the other hand, the German physicist, Ferdinand Braun, invented the CRT in 1897.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is an electro-optical amplitude modulator realized as a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome p
ixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It is often utilized in battery-powered electronic devices because it uses very small amounts of electric power. Nevertheless, the LCD was studied first time in 1888 as the liquid crystalline of cholesterol. It was studied continually until the year 1964, George H. Heilmeier, working on the effect discovered by Williams realized the switching of colors by field-induced realignment of dichroic dyes in a homeotropically oriented liquid crystal. Practical problems with this new electro-optical effect made Heilmeier to continue work on scattering effects in liquid crystals and finally the realization of the first operational liquid crystal display based on what he called the dynamic scattering mode (DSM). Then the UK’s Royal Radar Establishment at Malvern undertook pioneering work on liquid crystals in the late 1960s. Next, on December 4, 1970, the twisted nematic field effect in liquid crystals was filed for patent by Hoffmann-LaRoche in Switzerland. Hoffmann-La Roche then licensed the invention to the Swiss manufacturer Brown, Boveri & Cie who produced displays for wristwatches during the 1970s and also to Japanese electronics industry which soon produced the first digital quartz wristwatches with TN-LCDs and numerous other products. In 1971, the company of Fergason ILIXCO produced the first LCDs based on the TN-effect, which soon superseded the poor-quality DSM types due to improvements of lower operating voltages and lower power consumption. After that, the first active-matrix LCD panel was produced in 1972, United States.
The LCD evolved slowly when compared with the CRT. The CRT was studied after about ten years the LCD, but the CRT was available on sale before fifty years the LCD. The cathode ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun (a source of electrons) and a fluorescent screen, with internal or external means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam, used to form images in the form of light emitted from the fluorescent screen. The image may represent electrical waveforms (oscilloscope), pictures (television, computer monitor), radar targets, and others. The earliest version of the CRT was invented by the German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1897 and is known as the 'Braun tube'. It was a
cold-cathode diode, a modification of the Crookes tube with a phosphor-coated screen. The first version to use a hot cathode was developed by John B. Johnson (who gave his name to the term Johnson noise) and Harry Weiner Weinhart of Western Electric, and became a commercial product in 1922.
The newer technology became another competitor in the monitor market known as Plasma display. The Plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display. Many tiny cells located between two panels of glass hold an inert mixture of noble gases. The gas in the cells is electrically turned into a plasma which then excites phosphors to emit light. In the late-1960's graduate student, Larry F. Weber became interested in plasma displays and completed his PhD studies in this area at the University of Illinois. After his graduation in 1975, he joined the university as a research professor and began a period of 15 years of intensive research into plasma displays, filing 15 patents and eventually developing the sustainer power-saving circuit and color plasma panels. In 1983, IBM introduced a 19-inch (48 cm) orange-on-black monochrome display (model 3290 'information panel') which was able to show up to four simultaneous IBM 3270 terminal session. Then in 1992, Fujitsu introduced the world's first 21-inch (53 cm) full-color display. Two years later, the Plasma display panel facing certain death from an onslaught of color LCD displays, Weber demonstrated color plasma technology on the last day of an industry convention in San Jose. Panasonic was interested, and began a joint development project with Plasmaco, which led in 1996 to the purchase of Plasmaco, its color AC technology, and its American factory. In the next year, 1997, Fujitsu introduced the first 42-inch (107 cm) plasma display; it had 852x480 resolution and was progressively scanned. Also in 1997, Pioneer started selling the first plasma television to the public.
In addition, we used the CRT monitor to communicate with the computer in the first age, and then we changed to LCD. Today, we have the Plasma display as another choice for PC monitor. From the information above, the CRT and Plasma have developed in a short period. The market of the CRT and Plasma grow very fast and drop down very fast as well. Conversely, the LCD is the first monitor that has been studied, the developer develop them step by step. Moreover, the market of the LCD grows slowly but stable and threatens the CRT’s and Plasma’s market until the CRT monitor becomes extinct today. Anyway, the Plasma display still holds the big part of market share even though the LCD holds the biggest share. They are in the tight competition. However, the future of the LCD and Plasma display depend on the users and other equipment, they usually chose the one that is compatible with other device they used or maybe they just chose the one they like more.
Google is one of the most popular websites. Anyone who serves the internet knows Google and most of them use some services of Google. There are so many interesting services provided for visitors and all of them are free! Besides, Google always develops new services and the new interesting one is Google Translate.
Google Translate is a service for visitors to translate the language of sentences, websites, or search results. To go to Google Translate, when you are at the home page of Google, click ‘more’ at the top menu bar. Then it will show the drop down menu, click ‘even more’. Next, the page will change to ‘more Google product’ and you will see ‘Translate’ in the section of ‘communicate, show & share’. It is in the center of the right column of the page, you just click it, and it will bring you to Google Translate. Or just click to ‘http://translate.google.com’.
The first page of Google Translate shows the part of text and website translation. You will see a top menu bar for choosing other services of Google Translate, which consists of text and web, translated search, dictionary, and tools. Under the menu is a part of text translation. There is a text box for user to enter the sentences or words. Below the text box are three buttons. The first button is the button for choosing the original language that should be the same as the language of the sentence in the text box. The center button is the button for choosing the target language. The last button is the submit button, which represents as ‘translate’. Once you click a translate button, the result will show in the right of the text box in your target language. Another part of this page is website translation that shows under the part of text translation. In this part, they provide a text field for users to enter the URL of the website that they want to translate. Under the text field, there are three buttons, which are the same with the text translation part, original language, target language, and translate button. To use website translation is also easy; you just type the URL of the website in the text field. Next, choose an original language (choose the language of that website) and target language, and then click ‘translate’. The page will change to the website that you entered and it is translated to your target language. These two parts are easy to use and are very efficient.
Now, let me show you something more advance, ‘Translated search’. In general, when we use a search engine, the results will show only in the same language of the keyword that we entered. Nevertheless, Google Translate helps you find more results by letting you search your keyword in other language. For example, your keyword is ‘cat’ and you want to find information from a Spanish website, you just type the keyword ‘cat’, and then select your language as ‘English’ and choose a search page language as ‘Spanish’. Google translate will search a ‘cat’ in a Spanish website and show the result in ‘English’. In fact, it translates ‘cat’ into Spanish, gato, and then search the word ‘gato’. In the end, it will translate the result’s website into English and shows the results to you. Anyway, when you go into this page, you will see a text field for type the keyword. Below the keyword text field is the drop down menu of your language and search page language. In the third line, there is a search button. The results show under the search button, it looks similar to normal Google search but there are two columns of results. The left column is the results that are already translated to your language and the right column is the original website.
Moreover, Google Translate provides dictionary service for visitors to search for a definitions and related words. In the dictionary, you can choose the original and target language as well. Using this dictionary is very easy in just three steps. Firstly, choose the dictionary, such as English to Spanish dictionary. Secondly, type the keyword in the text field. Lastly, click ‘search dictionary’, and then the results will show below.
In conclusion, from all I described above, you might not know well about Google Translate. It seems to be a little thing or unnecessary when you serve the internet only in the language that you used to. However, if you just try once, you will see how fun it is and how useful it is when you can search more information from other languages. Just try, you will be impressed with this new service of Google, Google translate.
