Monitor spec

kookai9

What should 1 look for most in a Computer monitor? ?

benjrsmith

You need at least 800:1 Contrast ratio anything less is really bad, no need to go to huge numbers because you wont notice much difference unless you intend to use it for gaming. (Be careful, different companies measure it in different ways)

19 inches is the other main attribute that I would look for, or larger.

Flatscreen is a must.

2ms -5ms response time. (Not essential but helps)

Make sure that you have a DVI port on your computer if you are buying a DVI monitor. DVI is the cable type, rather than VGA, however VGA isnt too bad it can still support High Def.

You can pick up that for between £90 - £110

Humphrey10

Two other things I look for/choose are:
matte or gloss (or glossy? can't remember what they're called exactly!) - this is whether the screen is shiny or not. It's very much personal preference. Gloss screens can look more 'colourful', the colours are brighter/more vibrant than a matte screen, but they are reflective so if the computer screen is going to be facing a window you might have problems. See if you can have a look at a couple in a shop to see which you like.

The other thing is resolution. This is how many pixels there are. If you want to watch films etc in full high res you'll need 1920x1200. Otherwise you don't need that high res really. The higher it is, the more things will fit on the screen at once, but they will also be smaller so may be hard to read.

Marty_J

benjrsmith wrote: »

You need at least 800:1 Contrast ratio anything less is really bad, no need to go to huge numbers because you wont notice much difference unless you intend to use it for gaming. (Be careful, different companies measure it in different ways)

Contrast ratios are pretty meaningless.

Or at least, the numbers stated by the manufacturers are.

Humphrey10 wrote: »

The other thing is resolution. This is how many pixels there are. If you want to watch films etc in full high res you'll need 1920x1200. Otherwise you don't need that high res really. The higher it is, the more things will fit on the screen at once, but they will also be smaller so may be hard to read.

And then there's the question of screen size. 1080p isn't really going to be noticeably better than 720p on a smaller monitor.

Humphrey10

That's true re: screen size and resolution!

RobTang

Dont forget aspect ratios too if you going for a widescreen monitor

16:10 is most common, (normally 1680X1050 for 22s, or 1920x1200 for higher)

16:9 is the same ratio as TVs and will probably be 1920x1080.

16:10 is better for working but if you your only watching movies 16:9s are ok.

-TangleFoot-

I suggest y'all take a look at this, then start reading some reviews.