A high-quality television display device, generally without a tuner or audio circuitry.

Also called a display. A device that displays text and graphics generated by a computer. Desktop monitors are usually cathode-ray tubes, and laptop monitors are usually liquid crystal display. A monitor can be monochrome (black and white) or colour. Colour monitors may show either digital or analog color.

A fancy name for the TV-like screen that you use to view your programs. The Apple iMac comes with the monitor built in. Most computers, though, require a separate monitor. Monitors are measured across the diagonal of the screen, and the most commons sizes are 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 and 21 inch monitors. As you might expect, the larger the screen, the more it costs. Avoid the 13 and 14 inch monitors unless you are extremely strapped for space. 15 inch monitors are common, but I find that I get headaches if I use one for too often. 17 inch monitors are a good size for most uses. 19 inch and 21 inch monitors are better for engineering use where lots of small details on the screen are important.

A television that accepts un-modulated baseband signals (audio and video) to reproduce a broadcast.

A video monitor is similar to a television. It is used to monitor the output of a video generating device, such as a video camera, VCR, or DVD player. It may or may not have audio monitoring capability.