CHECK LIST Before buying a LCD monitor. Checkout why you may pay more for a certain monitor! .....
| Refresh rate is the time taken to renew the image on the screen. |
| The smaller the number the better for graphics such as games and
watching movies. Entry level for older monitors start at 25 milliseconds, the average being 8 ms, whilst top of the line LCD's refresh at 2 ms. |
| Contrast ratio. The difference between the colours of white and black. |
It is the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. For example. When black is 400 times darker than white, the contrast ration is 400:1. The higher the number the better. Entry level monitors start at 300:1 and top of the line models 600:1 or better |
| Viewing angles. Horizontal and vertical |
| Looking directly at the monitor you can still see a sharp image
on the screen up to 60 degrees from the centre, from the perpendicular
and vertical on entry level LCD's. State of the art monitors allow 80 degrees or more. |
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Warranty |
| Most carry a warranty of three years. Of these, some have repair on-site which means the monitors is picked up from your premises whilst others are returned to the shop for repair. |
| Dead pixel warranty. When a pixel fails on an LCD monitor usually a red or blue dot will appear on the screen. |
| Some manufacturers will replace the monitor within 30 days, others
require a number of pixels to fail, whilst a rare few have 3 years coverage. |
| Screen size Measuring the viewing area diagonally from top left to bottom right, etc |
| When choosing between a LCD or CRT
monitor please consider the viewing area. For example a 17" CRT
screen will only have a viewing area of only 16". The plastic front panel hides some of the monitor tube. A 19" CRT monitor will only give you 17", etc. Compare the price of a 17" LCD screen against the price of a 19" CRT monitor to get a fair comparison. |
| Viewing Ratio. Also refered to as Aspect Ratio, is the Width compared to Height of screen |
| The normal is 16:9 However 16:10 optimum ratio for wide screens, this can accommodate multiple Windows on screen to increase productivity. |
