Monitors in a Rather Large NutshellAug 06 '00 (Updated Jan 22 '02) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Everything you need to know about purchasing any kind of monitor.
Your future monitor is one of the most important, and perhaps the most overlooked component you will have to buy with a new PC. It is imperative that your purchase be a wise one. I've formatted this Epinion to help you narrow down your choices from the myriad monitors available and to find the one best suited to your needs. I've written quite a bit in this guide. If you'd like a quick summary, skip down to the section titled "Purchasing Notes" near the bottom of the page. There are two major types of monitors on the market today: LCDs and CRTs. You may have seen LCDs on display in some of the larger computer stores; they’re only an inch or two thick and have something of a modern look. The other relatively bulky displays that resemble little televisions are called CRTs; they’re what most people are referring to when they say “monitor.” LCDs are thinner, lighter, and sharper, use less power, and reflect less glare from overhead lights than CRTs, but their high price ($400-$1500) confines them to a largely corporate audience. The remainder of this guide will focus on CRT monitors. Size Your first decision to make as a future CRT owner is that of its size. There are 4 primary choices: (15", 17", 19", and 21") Size is a measurement of the diagonal of a monitor’s façade, plastic included. The viewable screen itself is an inch or two shorter. Manufacturers advertise monitors first by façade, and then by viewable screen size in smaller print. Odd numbers such as 15, 17 are façade measurements. 15.4, 18, and other even or non-integer numbers are in reference to the viewable screen size. I’ll be referring to the former for the remainder of the guide. 15" displays are confined to budget PCs, 17" is for most PCs and college students, 19" is the entry-level size of a professional display, and 21"+ CRTs are for those who crave the maximum viewable area. With the exception of certain short-depth monitors, almost all CRTs extend as far back as their advertised diagonal screen measurement. A 19" CRT will have a depth of 19", a 21" CRT of 21", and so forth. An important consideration when purchasing a monitor: is there room for it on your desk? Check the listed length/width/height dimensions of a monitor before you buy it to make sure it will fit in the space you designate. Larger sizes mean higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, less eyestrain, more technological improvements, a more involving PC experience, and more room to work with onscreen. On the flip side, larger displays displace more desk area, weigh more, and cost more. As a rule of thumb, think 'bigger is better'. Tube Design: Aperture Grille or Shadow Mask? CRTs are based on vacuum tubes. Your second consideration in this purchase is whether to buy a monitor with an Aperture Grille tube or a Shadow-Mask tube. Shadow-mask-based monitors constitute the majority of displays sold in the United States today. They're inexpensive, have relatively few pitfalls, and function well. Aperture-grille monitors are a relatively new product segment pioneered by Sony. They're more expensive than CRT monitors, but offer sharper text, more vibrant colors, a brighter overall picture, and a flat display that contrasts to the mildly spherical shadow-mask CRT. For a technical explanation of the two, check out: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/crt/crtMask-c.html There are 2 types of AG (Aperture Grille) tubes: Sony Trinitron and Sony Trinitron FD. Mitsubishi’s Diamondtron and Diamondtron NF series are slight variations of the former and latter respective Trinitron designs. All of the tubes above share the inherent benefits of an AG design; the differentiating factor is flatness. The original Trinitron and Diamondtron tubes are perfectly flat on the vertical plane, with slight curvature on the horizontal. The more recent Trinitron FD and Diamondtron NF tubes are flat on both planes, offering a perfectly flat screen with many of the same benefits of an LCD. This type of monitor has two pitfalls; first, it can appear slightly concave to SM (Shadow-Mask) CRT user for the first few hours of use as their eyes adjust to the flatness of screen. The second pitfall is more physical in nature: The metal that composes the aperture grille has a tendency to vibrate. To stop this vibration, there are two horizontal wires placed at 1/3 and 2/3 of the monitor's height. These wires cause minute shadows barely visible on the screen. They are more noticeable when the monitor displays light colors than dark. Most people either don't notice them at all or gradually get used to them over time. If they continually distract you in the store, consider buying an SM CRT. Now... there are two specific exceptions to the AG vs. SM rules. Sony and Mitsubishi, although their sales constitute the bulk of AG monitors sold, aren't the only ones who build AG tubes. There is a company by the name of LG Electronics that manufacturers it's own variation of the AG, called Flatron. Flatron monitors can be thought of as a cross between SM and AG displays. They have all the benefits of a good AG display (flat screen, great colors, etc.), without the support wires that have plagued Trinitron users for so long. The problem with these monitors is that they're very hard to find in the US, and their price tags are at least $100 over that of a similarly equipped AG monitor. BUT... if you can find one.. you're in for a treat! The other exception to the rules is that of flat-screen SM CRTs. Samsung's IFT/DF line falls into this category. It's basically a SM monitor with a lens on top to the screen to correct for distortion. Prices for this type of monitor are slightly lower than those of Trinitron FD screens, but although they lack the support wires, the AG monitors still hold a trump card when it comes to color vibrancy, brightness, and accuracy. Resolution and Refresh Rate Now, on to resolution and refresh rate. The refresh rate of a monitor describes how many times per second it can update the screen. A monitor refreshing at 75 hz (the minimum to prevent flickering) is updating the screen 75 times each second. Resolution designates the number of pixels the monitor displays onscreen, usually written in "Length x Height" format. The monitor you buy should support the resolution you intend to use at a refresh rate of at least 75 hz. To give you an idea what you're looking for, I've written a quick chart of the average resolution used for a given monitor size: 15": 800x600 17": 1024x768 19": 1280x1024, 1600x1200 21": 1280x1024, 1600x1200 Better monitors generally support higher resolutions at higher refresh rates. Although you may never use 1280x1024 in Windows with your 17" monitor, it should still be capable of it at a decent refresh rate. Dot Pitch Sizes One of the most important specifications of any monitor is its dot-pitch measurement. Technical explanation: Pixels are actually composed of 3 phosphor dots (red, blue, and green) that you can see if you look closely on your monitor. Dot pitch, in an SM CRT, refers to the diagonal distance between like colored phosphor dots on the monitor. With an AG CRT, dot pitch is the horizontal distance between two stripes of the same color. The same thing in English: A low dot pitch allows the pixels to be spaced together more tightly, allowing for a sharper picture onscreen. The larger and more expensive the monitor, the better the dot pitch it's likely to have. Shoot for a diagonal dp of 0.27mm or lower with an SM CRT. With an AG CRT, a stripe pitch of 0.25mm to 0.22mm is excellent. The dot pitches of AG and SM CRTs are not comparable as they are measured differently. Purchasing notes * Aperture grille-based monitors (Those with Diamondtron/Trinitron tubes; NEC FE/FP series, Samsung NF, Mitsubishi Diamond Pro, Sony CPD/GDM, Viewsonic PF, etc.) display more vibrant colors and have flatter screens than shadow mask-based monitors, but they also have two thin horizontal shadows running the length of the screen and a higher price tag. * The lower the dot-pitch, the better. At most, 0.26 mm for an SM monitor, .25 mm for an AG. * The monitor should have a max resolution of at least 1280x1024 and a refresh rate of at least 75 hz at 1024x768. Whenever possible, preview the monitor you want to buy at a PC superstore such as CompUSA before you buy it. It's always best to know what you're getting, and to have a basis for comparison should you suspect that your purchase has manufacturing or shipping defects. On a similar token, if you buy your monitor online, be sure the place from which you order has some type of return warranty (and preferably a low restocking fee) should you need to return your monitor from one reason or another. Quality manufacturers are Sony, NEC, Samsung, Mitsubishi, Viewsonic/Optiquest, Iiyama, Mag, IBM, Dell, and LG, to name a few. www.PcWorld.com has a number of online comparisons that list the best 17", 19", and 21" monitors you can buy. I strongly suggest giving these a once-over and considering their recommendations. Of all the parts you buy for your PC, the monitor will have to last the longest and will likely be the part you migrate to future PCs. The latest and greatest isn't necessary, but quality is a must. Good Luck, and thanks for reading! UPDATE: I've just finished reading jucm's Epinion of choosing a standard computer monitor. He's covered to a T everything I glazed over in regard to dot pitch and the specifics of each grille type. If you're buying a monitor and would like a more in-depth view, it's definitely one to read. http://www.epinions.com/content_1597415556/tk_~CB0011.1.1  |
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