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Rotation of LCD monitors

Poor side-viewing image quality of an LCD monitor rotated into portrait orientation.

Good side-viewing image quality of a typical landscape LCD.

Rotation of LCD monitors is easier and less complicated to do since the mass of the panel is low, the heat generated is low, and there are no magnetic effects to be concerned about. Many higher quality panels feature built in pivot points to allow the user to easily rotate the screen into portrait mode.

However, due to the light polarization technology an LCD monitor, the angle of image viewability will degrade when rotated. Liquid crystal displays vary in contrast when viewed from different angles along one axis. This axis is normally oriented to be vertical so that the image quality appears unchanged when the screen is viewed from the side, and image contrast is adjusted by tilting the panel up or down. By rotating the screen 90 degrees, the varying contrast axis is now horizontal and a viewer to one side will see a washed out light contrast image, while a viewer on the other side sees a very dark contrast image.

Rotation of projectors

Projectors can generally operate from any angle due to the compact, rigid design and a cooling system utilizing a forced-air fan. However for large heavy projectors the problem is how to mount the projector sideways, since nearly all ceiling mounts assume the projector hangs down from the mount in an upside-down landscape position. Extra-heavy bracing or weighted counter-balancing may be required to support a projector in a sideways portrait orientation. Projectors using an Hg-lamp (most of them, nowadays) should not be turned sideways as this shortens the lifespan of the bulb extremely.