The monitor is another hardware device.
Instead of being connected directly to the motherboard, like the video card, it is connected to the video card.
Many devices in your PC are chained together. Each device in the chain needs it's own driver.
To see this more clearly, open device manager and click on view devices by connection.
As to the specifics of a monitor driver, Windows needs to know the re-fresh rates and resolutions supported by the monitor so that it does not send a signal to the monitor that could damage the circuitry inside the monitor.
With no monitor driver installed, Windows defaults to the lowest resolution VGA setting.
(16 colors, 640 X 480 pixels)
Some monitors have special functions that can only be accessed by installing the manufactures driver.
You can think of drivers as road maps, and devices as cities.
The cables and motherboard sockets are highways that connect the cities to each other.
Once you travel down the highway and enter a new city, you need a map to find your way around.
The first time you go to a new city, you need another new map.
If the city is in a new country, you need to know the local laws.
Drivers tell Windows where to send data for the device to function, what commands are supported, and what it can do with the device.
Chas
