Overscan
The practice in which areas without useful video information are scanned outside the visible screen area in order to make maximum use of the screen for display of active video information. This practice is occasionally necessary because some video cards generate a video pattern that is smaller than the visible screen area, resulting in an image that is smaller (and less legible) than it needs to be.
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P
Parallelogram Distortion
See Geometric distortion.
Phosphor
Generic name for the class of substances that exhibit luminescence. To produce a picture on screen, phosphors are deposited on the inner surface of the
Pin-cushion Distortion
See Geometric distortion.
Pixel
Abbreviation for picture element, the smallest element of the picture that can be displayed on the screen. The smaller the pixel size, the better the resolution of the monitor. Pixel size is determined by the size of the electron spot on the screen and not necessarily by the phosphor dot pitch (the size of the triad). Thus, a monitor with a large electron spot covering several triads can exhibit poor resolution even though its dot pitch is small.
Pixel frequency
The number of pixels that can be written in a video line per second.
Pixel rate
See pixel frequency
