Posts Tagged ‘design’
Gaming and Graphic Design Computer Monitor Solutions
Posted by Parkzone Corsair in computer on August 16th, 2010
CRT screens are fast moving towards obsolescence and are now almost the preserve of Graphic designers, gamers and photographic professionals. In effect their large, bulky size has resulted in them being consigned forever to the recycling bin. Even so, their abilities far outstrip even the most modestly priced LCD or flat panel display. Why? Well, the refresh rate, color saturation, even-ness of brightness and ability to multi-sync (have more than one native resolution) means that they can still meet the requirements of high end digital users. Only a LCD displays offer true multisync and these are significantly more expensive than any CRT screen, either new or refurbished. So where do LCD displays beat the traditional CRT? I’ve already noted than they take up less desk space, but they don’t flicker either and the glare is much less. As a result of this, eye strain is reduced significantly.
Liquid crystals were discovered in 1971 and comprise a liquid chemical compound that can be aligned precisely when subjected to an electric field. By placing rows of liquid crystals in between 2 polarizing filters (the same filters used in sun glasses) no light can pass through. Upon applying a charge to the liquid crystals, they are excited which causes them to align with the polarizing filter. If a light is shone through the layers, only those crystals that have been excited will allow the photons to pass through and align then up with the second filter. This is in effect how a monochrome screen was produced (basically black and white or on and off). Backlights, that produce the light source are cold sodium cathode tubes similar to ceiling strip lights.
In a color LCD screen, three liquid crystal cells make up each pixel. Each of those three cells has in front of it either a red, green, or blue filter. Light passing through the filtered cells creates the colors you see on the LCD. Nearly all modern color LCDs use a thin-film transistor (TFT), also known as an active matrix, to activate each cell. The process of manufacturing a TFT is similar to the process used to manufacture a silicon integrated circuit or silicon chip. Extremely thin insulators, conductors and transistors must be laid into a glass substrate, which becomes the lower glass of the LCD. TFT LCDs create sharp, bright images. Previous LCD technologies were slower, less efficient, and provided lower contrast. The oldest of the matrix technologies, passive-matrix, offers sharp text but leaves ghost images on the screen. This is because the electric field was not delivered directly to the liquid crystal because the TFT layer was not present.
Because LCDs address each pixel individually, they can create sharper text than CRTs, which, when badly focused, blur the distinct pixels that make up the screen image. But the high contrast of LCDs can cause problems when you want to display graphics. CRTs soften the edges of graphics as well as text, and while this can make it hard to read text at very small resolutions, it also means CRTs can blend and convey subtleties in photographs better than LCDs. Also, LCDs have only one “native” resolution, limited by the number of pixels physically built into the display. If you buy a modern 15 inch TFT, it’s native resolution will be 1024×768. Emulating 800 x 600 on this screen will cause it to produce a picture where everything displayed looks to have fuzzy edges. A further note is that Many people claim that TFTs are crisper, but at close working distances the pixel structure is visible on a TFT. This is not the case on modern CRT screens, where the dot pitch is at or below 0.25mm.
Fractal Design Tesla 650W Silent Power Supply Unboxing & First Look
Posted by Parkzone Corsair in Power Supply on August 10th, 2010
Having a quick look at the Tesla 650W power supply from Fractal Design. They tout it as an efficient (80+) unit that is also very quiet.
Energy Efficiency in Uninterruptible Power Supply Design
Posted by Parkzone Corsair in Power Supply on July 26th, 2010
Uninterruptible Power Supply users – and data centres in particular – have never been under greater pressure to manage and reduce energy consumption. On one hand there are ever-stricter environmental requirements and the need to be seen as a good corporate citizen; on the other, the commercial imperative that balances increasing data centre performance with the balance-sheet-led requirement to cut operational costs.
Increasingly green UPS technology
Throw in a few misconceptions about Uninterruptible Power Supplies and the scene is set for an epic debate – with the integrity and performance of the datacentre (and its green credentials) on the line if the wrong approach to energy efficiency and UPS design is taken. In one corner: a small but vocal minority advocating fresh air cooling, UPS-free data centres and higher ambient temperatures (thereby reducing air-conditioning requirements); in the other, the supporters of increasingly green UPS technology as they embrace the latest energy efficient hardware and celebrate a tradition of close co-operation with a trusted UPS manufacturer.
Four main energy efficiency issues affect UPS selection: the energy needed to power them; the way they draw energy; and their effect on upstream supplies and the management of consumables such battery sets and switchgear. The best of modern UPS design offers tangible improvements in all three areas, along with an ever-improving carbon footprint. It’s just as well, because if data centre operators agree on one thing it is the importance of reducing power consumption.
The downside of non-UPS data centre operations
Those who argue against proven UPS technology claim that repeated AC to DC switching raises power consumption. Another minority advocate only fresh air-cooling (no power-hungry, server-room air-con) and even the conversion of data centres to DC-only in the interests of energy efficiency.
Unfortunately, this view overlooks possible damage, and almost invariably accelerated wear-and-tear, to sensitive datacentre hardware, fans, consumables and battery sets. That’s the likely consequence when equipment is forced to work harder in raised temperature and humidity – or run on a non UPS-unconditioned power supply. How much costly downtime can any business carry? And that’s after the potentially massive costs of installing the unfeasibly large quantities of copper wire a DC-only call centre would require.
Rather than taking these radical steps, the intelligent route forward appears to be that which the majority of enlightened data centre operators already follow. A proven route, whereby hugely experienced UPS manufacturers develop increasingly energy efficient devices such as the latest Riello UPS Multi Plus the specification, design and installation phases to tailor correctly-sized UPS solutions without expensive (and power–greedy) over-specification.
Handling the latest high-density servers
It’s a fact. As well as reducing electricity consumption, thoughtful UPS design (eliminating, for example, the need for over-specification of power-hungry air-conditioning) supports end users’ redefined energy efficiency and environmental objectives. What’s more, the latest energy efficient UPS have improved ability to handle the latest high-density servers required by those ever-more-demanding data centre customers
With the latest zero-impact designs, UPS such as Multi Plus, demonstrate low input current distortion, reducing the need for dramatically oversized supply, such as generators and upstream switching. What’s more, the latest systems give a near Unity power factor sine wave, again leading to less wasted energy. It all adds up to lower carbon and physical footprints (.26sqm at 20kVA for Multi Plus) – the latter allowing more revenue-earning high-density servers to be fitted into floor space that would previously have been required by older UPS.
Utilising a UPS supplier’s energy efficiency consultancy capability
There’s one final aspect of UPS energy efficiency that’s easily overlooked, but that a suitably experienced manufacturer can offer great help with. While it may be tempting to explore esoteric datacentre solutions for tomorrow’s energy efficiency improvements, a more immediate benefit would come from utilising a UPS supplier’s energy efficiency consultancy to improve understanding of current and future requirements. Only then is it truly possible to realize the low carbon footprint, high-density data centre of the future.
Alison Campbell-Boreham is the editor of The Power Protection Guide and provides PR services to Riello UPS Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Riello UPS (RPS S.p.A). For more information visit the Riello UPS – uninterruptible power supplies website.
