While there is plenty of guidance available to help shoppers buy a monitor for home PC use, when it comes to equipment of a more industrial type, information is a bit scarcer. If you have a computer in an industrial setting, it’s probably installed in a rack and this is also the best place to have your monitor located, possibly along with a keyboard and pointing device such as a mouse.
If you’ve never had to get familiar with rackmount displays before, this short guide should be of use in helping you to choose the right rackmount LCD monitor for your industrial application.
Simple Panel Rackmount LCD Monitor
The most basic form of rackmount LCD monitor is the simple panel. This is, as its name suggests, a very simple flat panel display which affixes to the front of your computer equipment rack. Typically this type of monitor is equipped with a 16 to 21 inch screen. A rackmount panel is ideal if you have a very simple need to monitor a system and don’t need to use the screen for intensive computer management. The main drawback to the simple panel is that it takes up a lot of vertical space. Of course these panels are very slim, so you can store items in the rack behind them as long as you don’t need regular access to them.
Folding Rackmount LCD Monitor
This type of monitor is similar to the LCD panel, but is equipped with a folding mechanism. Connected to the computer via a standard VGA port, the monitor can be folded away, usually horizontally into the rack, which saves a considerable amount of space.
KVM
A KVM is a folding rackmount LCD monitor which comes complete with a keyboard and mouse, touchpad or trackball. This device turns your LEC panel into a complete control system for your industrial computer.
KVM with Switch
If you have a number of computers housed in industrial racks which you need to monitor and control, then you really need a KVM unit with a KVM switch. The switch is housed in the KVM console and you can use the KVM to navigate between the different computers you need to control. Using a switched KVM allows you to control up to 15 or 16 separate computers from a single console. If your budget allows, you may find it beneficial to have a KVM with multiple fold-out display panels, so you can keep an eye on more than one computer at a time.
Whichever type of rackmount LCD monitor you decide to buy, make sure it’s rugged enough to withstand the environment in which it will be located. If the equipment is likely to come into contact with liquid or high dust levels, you may need to buy a unit with a specialized enclosure to protect it. Click here to know more
