What to Look for in a Monitor

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What to Look for in a Monitor

2006-01-18 13:37:32

bs6749: Member; +3|6972

I am going to be purchasing an LCD flatscreen monitor soon but I need some advice on what to look for. Before you start saying huge size monitors that come equipped with huge price tags please keep in mind that I want to spend $350 at the most so I am probably looking for NOTHING MORE THAN A 19". But first I need to know what some important factors are in choosing a good quality monitor. I want a sharp clear picture that doesn't look fuzzy. I went and looked at some yesterday and to be honest some that varied greatly in price looked about the same in quality. You will probably suggest shopping for one by actually looking at each one but I found this was harder than I thought it was going to be. I came along a Sony 17" flat panel with x-brite technology and I thought the picture was great. To compare it to another would be like comparing the paint of a newer car to that of a brand new car that has water all over its surface that provides that great shine.

Please could someone tell me more about the following:

1. Brightness (What is a good brightness)
2. Contrast (What does it do and what is a good measure of contrast)
3. Pixel pitch (Smaller is better right?)
4. Response time ( I want a fast (small ms#) time correct?)
5. Native screen size or whatever (What is this exactly?)
6. Anything that may determine or restrict which monitor I may be able to get.

Here are some of my PC specs that I thought may be of some importance:

WIndows XP Home
P4 3.0 GHz HT Tech
Intel 865GLC Motherboard
1 GB RAM (single stick)
ATI Radeon 9600 256MB AGP video card

2006-01-18 13:41:22

wooly-back-jack: Jihaaaaaad!!!; +84|6968|England

I bought a cheapo Avidav 19" and it does me fine

(edit: has DVI-input)

Last edited by wooly-back-jack (2006-01-18 13:58:12)

2006-01-18 13:47:47

beeng: Get C4, here!; +66|7014

bs6749 wrote:
I want to spend $350 at the most so I am probably looking for NOTHING MORE THAN A 19".

You probably won't come across a 19" LCD that cheap

1. Brightness (What is a good brightness)
2. Contrast (What does it do and what is a good measure of contrast)
3. Pixel pitch (Smaller is better right?)
4. Response time ( I want a fast (small ms#) time correct?)
5. Native screen size or whatever (What is this exactly?)
6. Anything that may determine or restrict which monitor I may be able to get.

1. 2. Brightness and contrast go hand in hand. Contrast will most likely be the most important bit when buying an LCD.
3. pixel pitch is the space between pixels. yes, smaller is better... however in many cases you wouldn't really notice small differences
4. yes, it's the redraw rate of the image... long times will result in blurry-ness when objects move on the screen
5. the screen resolution the monitor normally runs at. If you run a non-native resolution on lcd monitors the image may appear blurry...
6. DVI connector is one thing you missed. if your video card has a DVI out (white connector) then it's a -must- when using LCDs. The image is 10x crisper than your standard VGA, as it is a digital signal, not analog.

As you can probably tell, I'm too lazy to go into all the details for you. There's lots of good sites out there including this one http://www.cheaplcds.com/buyingguide.php that lay everthing out for you.
point of advice: do your own research before asking people for help

WIndows XP Home
P4 3.0 GHz HT Tech
Intel 865GLC Motherboard
1 GB RAM (single stick)
ATI Radeon 9600 256MB AGP video card

Like i said, just check your vid card and see if it has DVI out

2006-01-18 13:56:25

Superior Mind: (not macbeth); +1,755|6921

beeng wrote:
bs6749 wrote:
I want to spend $350 at the most so I am probably looking for NOTHING MORE THAN A 19".
You probably won't come across a 19" LCD that cheap
1. Brightness (What is a good brightness)
2. Contrast (What does it do and what is a good measure of contrast)
3. Pixel pitch (Smaller is better right?)
4. Response time ( I want a fast (small ms#) time correct?)
5. Native screen size or whatever (What is this exactly?)
6. Anything that may determine or restrict which monitor I may be able to get.
1. 2. Brightness and contrast go hand in hand. Contrast will most likely be the most important bit when buying an LCD.
3. pixel pitch is the space between pixels. yes, smaller is better... however in many cases you wouldn't really notice small differences
4. yes, it's the redraw rate of the image... long times will result in blurry-ness when objects move on the screen
5. the screen resolution the monitor normally runs at. If you run a non-native resolution on lcd monitors the image may appear blurry...
6. DVI connector is one thing you missed. if your video card has a DVI out (white connector) then it's a -must- when using LCDs. The image is 10x crisper than your standard VGA, as it is a digital signal, not analog.

As you can probably tell, I'm too lazy to go into all the details for you. There's lots of good sites out there including this one http://www.cheaplcds.com/buyingguide.php that lay everthing out for you.
point of advice: do your own research before asking people for help

WIndows XP Home
P4 3.0 GHz HT Tech
Intel 865GLC Motherboard
1 GB RAM (single stick)
ATI Radeon 9600 256MB AGP video card
Like i said, just check your vid card and see if it has DVI out

BURN!

2006-01-18 14:09:16

psychotoxic187: Member; +11|6937

There are plenty of quality 19" LCD monitors under $350. Here's a good one.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications … ;CatId=170

2006-01-18 14:09:50

comic_chimere: Member; +-1|6919|England, UK

bs749 dude. You have the same setup as me apart form the mobo. How do u find it while playing bf2?

What settings do u have it on?

and how is your video card configured in the bios, 8x or 4x?

Ive had problems like my monitor not responding and PC reseting itself while its set on 8X

Regards

thanks

2006-01-18 14:52:49

bs6749: Member; +3|6972

comic_chimere wrote:
bs749 dude. You have the same setup as me apart form the mobo. How do u find it while playing bf2?

What settings do u have it on?

and how is your video card configured in the bios, 8x or 4x?

Ive had problems like my monitor not responding and PC reseting itself while its set on 8X

Regards

thanks

I am at work right now and I am unable to answer with absolute certainty. I willl get back to you when I get home. Let me know what kind of settings you want me to tell you about. As far as the problems go I have had NONE with the monitor not responding and my PC has never reset itself. I believe it is 8x.

Beeng thanks for all of the great info and help. You have given me lots of good info for a starting point. The reason that I posted instead of looking first is because I think it is easier to talk to people that know about this shit instead of trying to guess and figure it out myself. An example is #6 where you said that I need a DVI out on my video card. I probably wouldn't have figured this out on my own and probably would have wasted a bunch of money.

Whoever said I was "burned"...whatever man. I took Beeng's respnonse to be nothing but helpful not critical in the least.

Last edited by bs6749 (2006-01-18 14:55:56)

2006-01-18 15:11:51

comic_chimere: Member; +-1|6919|England, UK

bs6749 wrote:
comic_chimere wrote:
bs749 dude. You have the same setup as me apart form the mobo. How do u find it while playing bf2?

What settings do u have it on?

and how is your video card configured in the bios, 8x or 4x?

Ive had problems like my monitor not responding and PC reseting itself while its set on 8X

Regards

thanks
I am at work right now and I am unable to answer with absolute certainty. I willl get back to you when I get home. Let me know what kind of settings you want me to tell you about. As far as the problems go I have had NONE with the monitor not responding and my PC has never reset itself. I believe it is 8x.

ok thanks. The info on it being on 8X or 4X is all i need. Just post once you check. Have a nice day at work

2006-01-18 15:21:24

beeng: Get C4, here!; +66|7014

comic_chimere wrote:
Ive had problems like my monitor not responding and PC reseting itself while its set on 8X

I'm pretty sure that's a mobo/vidcard issue

2006-01-18 15:29:13

superseal17: Banned; +1|6983

Samsung syncmaster 913N

2006-01-18 18:11:23

nitro92: I cheat.; +-6|7030|Sydney, Australia

pretty much the most important is the size its format LCD or CRT and its responsde time the best 2 get atm is about 4 ms but a value 1 is about 8 or 12

2006-01-18 18:19:34

SuB: Member; +50|6904

Belinea 10 19 27
amazing specs lovely price got 2 of the suckers thye are beautiful

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