Types of monitors available
Taking a look at what is out there
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
- These are the big monitors which dominated the 90′s and early naughties. They are big and heavy but very reasonably priced and the technology is mature and well tested. They do cost more to run on a daily basis for those of you who are energy/environmentally conscious. Ironically they are making a comeback as an inexpensive way to break the 120hz mark.
CRT Refresh Rate – This is the number of time the screen is redrawn per second, most new monitors should have reasonable refresh rates, 75Hz or higher. Some older CRTs had lower refresh rates that can cause screen flicker and induce eye strain.
CRT Dot Pitch – Dot pitch is the distance in millimetres between two dots of the same colour on the screen, it’s usually measured diagonally and you should be looking for something around 0.26mm
LCD/TFT (Liquid Crystal Display)
- The industry “standard” now, these are much lighter and take up less space on the desk having a physical and environmentally smaller footprint to CRT’s of the past. Handy for gamers who attend events and need to drag their monitors around.
LCD Response Time – Refers to just how quickly a pixel can change colour. It’s measured in milliseconds with 5-10ms being the normal at the moment. Gamers and people who watch a lot of movies on LCD screens would be better opting for something with a fast response time, around 2ms as this reduces the ghosting effect of fast motion.
General Resolution/Size – Size matters, CRT’s are generally available from 14″ to 22″ and LCD’s range from 14″ to 40″ with some anomalies either side of those figures. Resolution is the number of pixels displayed on screen at one time, it’s usually in the format Horizontal x Vertical, e.g.- 800×600 or 1024×768. CRT monitors can display multiple resolutions easily, while LCD monitors are optimised for 1 native resolution (They can display other resolutions, but are optimised for one) the higher the resolution the more you can get on screen and the sharper the image.
What to look out for
Options you should consider when buying
I will concentrate on LCD’s as not many people are buying CRT’s these days:
Start with looks – If you buy a monitor which sings to you by the moonlight with a 1ms response time and makes your tea in the morning.. but you hate looking at.. you have failed. Your monitor is literally your portal or your computer and something you will spend a large amount of time staring at. Make sure you like the look of it before you buy it.
Specifications – Many manufacturer specifications are complete fabrications or simply technical garble to confuse you into thinking they are superior to the competition. The most important things to look out for are response time (5ms or less for gaming) and hertz (60 – 120). For more information please check this article. If in doubt go with “trusted” brands like Sony, Asus and so on. Cheap brands are cheap for a reason.
Warranty period and quality – Right after you have short-listed some monitors to buy you should seriously consider the period they are covered for under manufacturers warranty. Think about how long you are likely to have the monitor for before upgrading and make sure that your cover is as long or longer. It’s often better to go for a more inclusive warranty which covers you for a shorter time because you will eventually be upgrading that screen and if something is going to go wrong it is likely to happen in the first year.
Setting up your monitor correctly
Things to keep in mind once you have decided on a monitor.
Position – Always try to face your monitor directly, in some circumstances people sit side-on to their monitor, this bad for two reasons. The fist being that you will eventually give yourself some kind of RSI in your neck from extended periods of use. Another reason is that LCD panels show colour correctly head on and although technology has come on quite a lot and the variance is only slight now it is still a good idea to face your monitor directly to get a proper colour/shade perspective.
Lighting – You should always do your best to keep the lighting in the room you have your computer in ambient, strong light can affect your eyesight and prematurely tire and strain your eyes. It is also a good idea not to have any direct lighting or window reflections on your screen, its a good idea to back light your monitor with a table lamp, this will give your eyes enough light without straining them and produce the best screen quality from your monitor.
Gamma/Brightness settings – When you fist get your monitor its a good idea to hit the “auto set up” button (most monitors have these) and then adjust from there. 99% of monitors out there are set up incorrectly and so everyone sees screen colours and brightness different. Taking a moment to set this up correctly will greatly enhance your experience with your monitor. Too many people just plug it in and go.
Dated but still relevant websites to use when setting up your monitor:
http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm – Gamma and colour
http://perso.telecom-paristech.fr/~brettel/TESTS/Gamma/Gamma.html – Gamma tool (requires Java)
http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/others/monitorsetup.htm
You will find most of those are for photographic viewing, this is still the best reason to set your monitor up correctly and with current games titles becoming more and more realistic its imperative that your screen is adjusted correctly to get the full picture.
