Desktop monitor A desktop monitor was a personal computer console used as early as 2151 aboard starship s and starbase s by space - faring organizations such as Earth Starfleet and the Federation Starfleet , the Cardassian Union , and the Klingon Empire . These devices were used for personal library computer retrieval and for visual communications . Desktop monitors were also commonly used by civilians living on such planets as Earth , Romulus and Cardassia . Starfleet . 22nd century . During the 22nd century , Starfleet employed at least two styles of desktop monitors aboard its deep space vessels and at Starfleet Headquarters . Flat panel monitor . Used aboard such vessels as the starship as early as 2151 , flat panel monitors , similar to those utilized in the bridge consoles , were placed in all officers ' quarters . Consisting of a simple touch - sensitive screen , this flat panel monitor was distinguished by two rows of gray and white buttons lining the bottom and right - hand side of the screen . As in future incarnations , this monitor allowed the user a wide variety of data retrieval as well as log recordings and access to subspace communication s , enabling face - to - face conference . These monitors were also in use at Starfleet Headquarters , San Francisco , Earth , during the 22nd century . ( ) Three - sided monitor . Also used at Starfleet Headquarters , San Francisco as early as 2154 was a distinct , three - sided monitor . Found in conference room s , this multifaceted monitor featured three display screens , arranged in a triangular shape and allowing multiple users to view data simultaneously . It also featured a touch - sensitive screen and a small row of buttons just beneath the display . ( ) A similar monitor was located at the center of a large console in the main laboratory of Cold Station 12 . ( ) 23rd century . During the 23rd century , Starfleet employed at least two styles of desktop monitors aboard its deep space vessels . Standard monitor . A standard desktop monitor employed as early as 2266 aboard such Federation vessels as the , and at the Janus VI colony , was a large , free - standing model . Sitting on a heavy base in which tape s could be inserted , this desktop viewer featured a large monitor , blue - gray in color . ( ) A flatter and more compact variant of this monitor was in use aboard Federation starships as early as 2268 . Consisting of the same basic design as the standard model , this monitor did not include the heavy base , nor the interface options below the display screen . One such monitor was located in the Captain ' s quarters aboard the , lost to an interphasic rift . ( ) Three - sided monitor . Also in service aboard " Constitution " - class starships , a three - sided monitor , similar in design to those used a century earlier by Earth Starfleet , was often found in a Federation starship ' s briefing room . Resembling the top portion of the single - faceted viewer , this three - sided monitor featured screens facing away from each other in three directions and sat on a conference table aboard such ships as the " Enterprise " . It could be controlled by button pads embedded in the tabletop . ( , , ) 24th century . Throughout the 24th century , Starfleet utilized varying styles of monitors , some based on function , with others differing only in aesthetics . " Galaxy " - class . Common aboard starships such as the – as well as other ships commissioned during the 2360s – desktop monitors were available for use in many personal spaces aboard ship . Used in such areas as crew quarters and in the captain ' s ready room , these small desktop monitors were often black or grey with white accents , or taupe - colored with dark accents . These monitors featured a touch - sensitive monitor and a large control button . These monitors were capable of a wide variety of functions , utilizing the LCARS network common aboard Starfleet vessels in the 24th century . They were also sometimes used for secure communications . ( , " et al . " ) Starbases . Utilized by Starfleet personnel serving on Federation starbases and at Federation colonies such as starbase Deep Space 9 , Starbase 375 , Jupiter Station , and the Volan III colony , a large desktop monitor was available as early as 2369 . Metallic silver in color , this style of monitor featured an irregular , square shape with display and input areas of roughly the same size . Some models featured additional button pads as well as ports capable of reading isolinear rod s . Despite the common use of other styles of desktop viewer , this type was available for use aboard such Starfleet vessels as the and at Starfleet Headquarters . ( , ; ) " Intrepid " - class . In service during their launch during the early 2370s , " Intrepid " - class starships such as the were equipped with yet another style of desktop monitor . Ranging in color from gray to green , these monitors were also used in personal areas , as well as in sickbay and consisted of a rounded design , consistent with the aesthetics of the " Intrepid " - class . ( , " et al . " ) This monitor was capable of interfacing with the upper part of a TR - 590 Starfleet tricorder and projecting a recording from the tricorder onto the monitor . ( ) " Sovereign " - class . For officers serving aboard vessels in the 2370s , at least two styles of monitor was available for use by Starfleet officers . One such style featured a monitor that laid flush against its base , rising up when activated by the user , or when receiving an incoming communique . Such a monitor was used by " Enterprise " - E captain Jean - Luc Picard as early as 2373 until it was replaced some time around 2375 by a stationary model . ( ; ) By the year 2379 , both such desktop monitors had been replaced in the captain ' s ready room by a single , flat - panel viewer that existed as part of the desktop and rose up when activated from a small control panel embedded in the desk . In use aboard " Sovereign " - class quarters during that time was yet another style of flat - panel monitor , this one free - standing and silver in color . ( ) 25th century . In an alternate 2404 , desktop monitors at Starfleet Headquarters had a clear glass back and a much thicker base than its 24th century counterparts . ( ) Cardassian . Like the Federation in the 24th century , the more than one type of desktop monitor was available to civilians and military personnel in the Cardassian Union . Small monitor . Also sharing similarities with the Federation design used aboard " Galaxy " - class vessels at the time , Cardassian military officers like those serving at the secret base on Celtris III used a distinctive desktop monitor . Like the Romulan design , this monitor featured the same basic shape as the Federation design , enhanced stylistically with typical Cardassian brown and tan coloration and large structural changes . The display screen , for example , featured a large oval - shaped frame and was larger than its Starfleet issue counterpart . ( ) Desktop viewscreen . Similar to the typical viewscreen used aboard Terok and Empok Nor - type space station s and cruiser s , a second style of Cardassian monitor utilized a holographic projection system as early as 2369 . Resembling the larger , frame - like viewscreens in service around the 2360s and ' 70s , this desktop viewscreen consisted of a horizontal rectangular - shaped structure , mostly hollow , until active . The image of the communique would then appear within the oval - shaped frame , until deactivation . Such a device was in service aboard starbase Deep Space 9 , even after Cardassian withdrawal , and on Cardassia Prime . One was used by Garak in his tailor shop on the Promenade . ( ) Display monitor . Another type of monitor was closer to the standard monitors used by other races in the Alpha Quadrant , and was similar to the display screens used aboard Cardassian stations . A monitor of this type was used by Commander Kira Nerys , Elim Garak , and Damar to watch Weyoun ' s announcement of the Dominion attack on Lakarian City in 2375 . ( ) Earth civilian . As early as 2367 , desktop monitors used by civilians living on Earth in some instances consisted of brownish - gray consoles with square - shaped displays and an abundance of buttons and touch - pads . These monitors were roughly the size of those used aboard Federation starships at the time and served the same basic function , if bearing a less stylized design . ( ) Klingon . Like much of the equipment in use aboard Imperial Klingon starships , the desktop monitors in the living quarters aboard Birds - of - Prey ( like the one commanded by Captain K ' Vada in 2368 ) were brown in color . Similar in design to Earth civilian desktop monitors , these Klingon devices were generalized in shape , bearing a display screen and keyboard area . Unlike Earth viewers , however , the Klingon monitor utilized knobs and buttons , rather than touch - sensitive surfaces . ( ) Yet another Klingon monitor design consisted of a free - standing monitor with an irregular and angular display screen . ( ) Romulan . Sharing many of the same design features as the monitors used aboard the " Galaxy " - class starship of the 2360s , members of the Romulan Senate had at least one type of desktop monitor at their disposal as early as 2368 . As with many things Romulan , this desktop viewer was green in color and featured several square blocks added onto its structure and an irregularly - shaped display screen . ( ) Species 8472 . One of the more unusual examples of desktop - style monitors comes from fluidic space and the realm of Species 8472 , a non - humanoid society . Observed in their recreation of Starfleet Headquarters , Earth in the distant Delta Quadrant , this personal computer terminal may have been tailored to their temporarily humanoid form . While it was larger and more elaborate in appearance than its Alpha and Beta Quadrant counterparts , this monitor seemed to be suited for use by Human s , with a small display screen and tactile controls below . When inactive , the display screen glowed blue . ( ) Trill . Available to civilian members of the Trill species , a square , flat - panel - style desktop monitor could be found in homes on such distant worlds as Sappora VII during the 2370s . Consisting of a mounted display screen and flat , wireless keypad , the Trill terminal presented information in green and yellow colored text . ( ) Appendices . Background information . One of the most familiar yet innocuous props to appear in nearly every produced episode of " Star Trek " and at least four of the films , these computer terminals were never given a formal name . Referred to by Michael and Denise Okuda ' s as simply " viewer " , this device appears in production design sketches labeled " desktop viewer " and in behind the scenes references like Terry J . Erdmann ' s " " as " desktop monitor " . Closely resembling today ' s laptop or notebook computers , modern portable computers seem to have actually surpassed 24th century technology , producing ultra small models weighing less than 1 . 7 kilograms . Modern computers , however , lacking subspace communications and access to the sheer amount of information stored within the fictional future computer processors of " Star Trek " . Captain Picard ' s familiar black and white terminal was once mass - produced during the 1990s as a lights - and - sound piggy bank .