Features to Look For Before Buying an LCD Monitor

LCD monitors are in use in almost every organization as they offer a good RoI

in the long run. An average LCD monitor consumes 1/3rd of the energy consumed by

a conventional CRT monitor. Now if your organization has a seating capacity of

1000 people then you can very well figure out how much energy costs you can

save. Through this article, we discuss some of the key aspects about LCD

monitors that you should evaluate before making a purchase.

Screen size



The size of a screen is directly proportional to the amount you pay. 15”

monitors are good enough for regular office use but the ones that are more than

15” in size display more data, resulting in better efficiency. If a major part

of work in your organization is graphical in nature, then monitors of size 17”

or more give you better visibility.

Aspect ratio



The ratio of width to height is known as aspect ratio. Conventional CRT

monitors had a 4:3 ratio but nowadays widescreen displays with a typical aspect

ratio of 16:9 are more popular. The benefit of using widescreen is that besides

better video displays, one can keep such monitors alongside each other to view

more than one document.

Native resolution



We all know that higher resolutions result in better image quality. However,

one should look for two features here. The different resolutions supported by

the monitor and the level of comfort with the native resolution. Even though the

best image quality is delivered working with the native resolution, quite often

you may require different resolutions for different applications. The resolution

also depends on aspect ratio, a typical 4:3 LCD flat screen can support a

maximum resolution of 1280x1024. On the other hand, a widescreen display can

have resolutions of 1440x900, 1680x1050 and 1920x1200.

Viewing angle



This is the only aspect where CRT scores over LCD; the viewing angle of CRT

is wider than LCD, which means you will get a clear view of picture even at

180*. With LCD one can get the best view of displayed image only when you look

at the screen from the front. The brightness and image color fade as you move

away from the center. Therefore one should get LCD with maximum viewing angle

both vertically and horizontally. We recommend LCDs with viewing angle of more

than 160 degrees.

Pixel response rate



Also known as response time, this is the time taken by the crystals of LCD

to change from full white to black and vice-versa. The response time is measured

in milliseconds and it varies between 2 to 16 ms amongst currently available

monitors. The lower the value the lower the ghosting and streaking and hence

better viewing quality. If most of the official work in your organization

revolves around Internet surfing and document processing then a response time

between 8 to 16 ms is sufficient but in case you are into video editing or

gaming then it should be below 5 ms.

LCD monitors now come with DVI along with D-sub connector for better display quality

Dot pitch



The distance between each pixel is known as dot pitch and lower value of

this distance results in crisper image. 0.22 mm is recommended for intense

graphical work, while for regular office work LCD monitor with dot pitch value

of between 0.26-0.30 mm is enough.

Brightness and Contrast ratio



These parameters are important for image quality. While brightness is

measured in nits or candelas per square meters, contrast ratio indicates the

difference in light intensity between the darkest black and brightest white. Now

more brightness means better image quality. For regular use, value of 250

candelas per meter square is enough, otherwise go for 400:1 contrast ratio.

Connections capabilities



Best results can be obtained from LCD monitor if digital signals are fed

into it. If analog signals are sent to the monitor it first converts these

signals into digital that in turn results in signal loss. Therefore, connecting

LCD monitors with DVI (with HDPC for encryption) is recommended. If you are

working with HD content, then one can go for LCD monitor with HDMI interface

that provides lossless HD content transmission.

Different Modes and adjust ability



There are some LCD monitors that can be rotated 90 degrees with the help of

software giving two different modes of display -horizontal (landscape) and

vertical (portrait). This feature can be handy if you have to view long

spreadsheets or web page. One more important criterion is ability to adjust LCD

monitor at different angles and height, so as to get better view.

Audio capability



Audio capabilities give addition dimension to display unit. Some LCD

monitors come with built in speakers which can be a good feature for casual

listening. Other factor is placement of headphone jack, prefer audio jacks in

front or on sides of monitor, so that you don't have to move monitor every time

you plug in or plug out your headphone.