Industrial computer monitors are ruggedized for use in control room, factory floor, and processing environments. There are two basic types of products: cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and flat panel displays (FPD). CRTs are sealed, glass tubes that generate light from an electron beam. The beam is produced by the acceleration of electrons from a heated cathode and grid towards the front surface of the screen. The surface on the back of the screen is coated with phosphors that light up when struck by the electron beam. Flat panel displays (FPD) are thin, flat, industrial computer monitors that are often used in notebook computers. There are three main types of FPDs: liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma displays, and electroluminescent displays (ELD). LCDs use two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them. In a plasma display, a gas fills the spaces between two glass sheets that are lined up in parallel and separated by a gap just 100 to 200 microns wide. ELDs sandwich a thin film of phosphorescent substance between two plates.

Specifications for industrial computer monitors include screen size, image resolution, and dot/pixel pitch. Screen sizes that are specified as a single number are measured from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, or from the top right to the bottom left. Image resolution, a measure of image sharpness, is expressed in pixels with the horizontal value stated first. As a rule, industrial computer monitors with higher resolutions provide sharper images. Standard image resolutions include 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1162 x 864, 1280 x 1024, and 1600 x 1200 pixels. Pixel pitch is a measurement of the distance between pixels, dot-like grid points with specific color and brightness values. Industrial computer monitors with a smaller dot or pixel pitch display sharper images.  

Industrial computer monitors are ruggedized for use in control room, factory floor, and processing environments. There are two basic types of products: cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and flat panel displays (FPD). CRTs are sealed, glass tubes that generate light from an electron beam. The beam is produced by the acceleration of electrons from a heated cathode and grid towards the front surface of the screen. The surface on the back of the screen is coated with phosphors that light up when struck by the electron beam. Flat panel displays (FPD) are thin, flat, industrial computer monitors that are often used in notebook computers. There are three main types of FPDs: liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma displays, and electroluminescent displays (ELD). LCDs use two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them. In a plasma display, a gas fills the spaces between two glass sheets that are lined up in parallel and separated by a gap just 100 to 200 microns wide. ELDs sandwich a thin film of phosphorescent substance between two plates.

Specifications for industrial computer monitors include screen size, image resolution, and dot/pixel pitch. Screen sizes that are specified as a single number are measured from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, or from the top right to the bottom left. Image resolution, a measure of image sharpness, is expressed in pixels with the horizontal value stated first. As a rule, industrial computer monitors with higher resolutions provide sharper images. Standard image resolutions include 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1162 x 864, 1280 x 1024, and 1600 x 1200 pixels. Pixel pitch is a measurement of the distance between pixels, dot-like grid points with specific color and brightness values. Industrial computer monitors with a smaller dot or pixel pitch display sharper images.  

Industrial computer monitors differ in terms of mounting styles and external connections. There are four basic mounting styles: panel mount, chassis mount, rack mount, and wall mount. Devices that designed to sit atop a desk are also available. In terms of external connections, industrial computer monitors can use a serial interface, a parallel interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a small computer system interface (SCSI), or a mouse port. Serial interfaces transfer only 1 bit of data at a time. Parallel interfaces can transfer more than one bit simultaneously. Common serial interfaces include RS232, RS422, and RS485. USB is the standard serial bus for low-to-medium speed peripheral device connections. SCSI is an intelligent, input/output (I/O) parallel peripheral bus with a device-independent protocol that allows many peripheral devices to be connected to a single SCSI port.