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Dual Display Hardware

How to select an LCD Monitor

So you thought it was time to upgrade that 15" chunky CRT to something a little more modern but don't know where to start? Here is a guide for you that will make that buying process a little easier..

Monitor Size

Monitor size is all a personal preference. Although if you have a large desk area, I have no reason why you wouldn't get a larger monitor - I.e. nothing less than a 19" LCD Monitor. Prices have come a lot in the last few years that large LCD monitors are more than affordable and also worth every dollar. 22" LCD monitors will become the next standard, and these days there is nothing wrong with having a 30" display on your desk.

Widescreen vs Standard

The main difference is that the widescreen aspect ratio is different to standard screens. In general a widescreen is smaller in height, but wider (seems fairly logical!). A widescreen is nicer for watching movies, but can be harder for reading articles. However, on a widescreen monitor, reading 2 articles side by side is easier. Another downside to widescreen monitors is that some games do not support the widescreen resolution although most modern games now do.

Native Resolution vs Maximum Resolution

The native resolution of a monitor is the number of pixels that it is designed to display. The maximum resolution is the highest resolution that the monitor can up scale to (which in theory is of a lesser quality). For a 22" monitor you want to get nothing less than a 1680 x 1050 native resolution. Preferably you want to get 1920 x 1080p which is also known as the Full HD resolution.

Refresh Rate

This little number is the difference between fresh eyes and a headache! The refresh rate is the number of times the screen refreshes every second to show changes. A slower refresh rate puts more strain on your eyes, whereas a faster refresh rate means a smoother transition from screen to screen. Having said all that, the technology in modern LCD's have improved greatly that this may not be an issue anymore. When monitors were 10-12ms this was more of a problem.

You want to look for a refresh rate under 5ms. This is pretty much the standard now, and if you can afford a 2ms or 3ms then that is even better.

DVI vs VGA

DVI stands for Digial Visual Interface and is just the connection between your monitor and your computer. There is a large difference between VGA (being the old standard) and DVI so make sure you find a DVI monitor. VGA monitors are beginning to become extinct now, so this may not be a problem for you anyway.

DVI vs VGA
This shows the difference in connections. The DVI is the one on the top-left.

Contrast Ratio

This is quite a big thing to look for. It is especially noticeable on cheap laptop monitors! The contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest white, and the darkest black. If you have a monitor with a low contrast ratio then you will notice the display is really washed out, and not vibrant at all. You want to look for something greater than 500:1. If you get one around 10,000:1 then this will be really good. There are some companies that advertise 1,000,000:1 but this is dynamic contrast ratio, which is just their way of skewing figures for marketing purposes!

Brightness

The brightness of an LCD comes down to whole powerful the backlight of it is. Although it's not a huge issue, you still want something that gives you that vibrant feel. Something over 250 cd/m² is more than adequate.

This rounds up my guide to purchasing an LCD monitor, if you have any other questions about this area, feel free to comment below and I will attempt to follow it up for you.

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