Older cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors are being replaced by liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors in many homes and offices. LCD television panels are increasingly replacing CRT televisions in homes and hotels. LCD panels offer a number of advantages over CRT monitors, especially once the cost of purchasing LCD monitors matches the cost of the CRT models they are replacing.

LCD monitors take up much less space than CRT monitors. LCD monitors are also known as "flat panel" monitors because they do not need the space taken up by the cathode ray tube in a conventional CRT monitor. This means that there is more space on the physical desktop for documents and other peripheral computer equipment.