[techtalk] Flatscreen monitors

[Amanda Owens]

On Mon, 25 Oct 1999 jenn at simegen.com wrote:

> Discussion on issues brings up a question.
> 
> We're looking into a flatscreen monitor for our next monitor purchase - for
> a number of reasons, one of which is that my doctor thinks long exposure to 
> EMR may be keeping me unwell. So.
> 
> 1. Anyone happen to know the EMR levels of a flatscreen vs a standard monitor?
> 

It's been forever since my last E&M course, and almost as long since I 
heard any seminars on liquid crystals, but I would *have* to imagine that 
the EMR off of a flat screen would be orders of magnitude less than that 
from a CRT. Mostly because of the way the pixels are twiddled - I would 
imagine that a Cathode Ray Tube shooting electrons at your face would 
have to exhibit more intense EMR than a screen which uses a current to 
change the opacity of liquid crystal.

Here's a site I found searching on go2net for liquid crystals and EMR. A 
quote about VDTs from the page is as follows:

  Video Data Terminals (VDT's)

      It's easy to redesign a workplace in which VDT's can be used safely.
      One organization, The Fund for the city of New York, changed its 
      office layout so that employees sit an arms length, 28 to 30 inches 
      from their VDT's. They found that electromagnetic radiation drops 
      off sharply at that distance. But radiation from VDT's doesn't come 
      from the screen, it comes out the back and sides as well. So the 
      organization does not allow anyone to sit within 40 inches of 
      another employee's VDT. Even safer: Laptop computers use safe liquid
      crystal displays (LCD's) that do not give off hazardous magnetic 
      fields.

The address is http://www.thuntek.net/sumeria/health/em.html - I don't 
know how scientific/paranoid the people are, but at least it's some 
support for the idea. They  might have sources.

> 2. Anyone know what issues there are with flatscreens & linux support?
> 

No clue.

> 3. Anyone got a cheaper way of buying a decent flatscreen (in Aussieland!) 
> than going to the local computer store/superstore?
>

Mail order? :) Of course, even by that route, I haven't seen a decent 
flat screen (in the US) for less than $899. For a 15".
 
Mur!

Amanda M. Owens
Duke University Medical Center
Department of Radiation Oncology

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