Flat Screens: Good Or Bad?
Mar 18 '01
The Bottom Line I recommend buying PC mags who review panels. Just so you get the best for an amount of money.
A flat panel screen for computers are usually the LCD type, this is similar technology found on calculators, except in colour and in high resolution.
The Way They Work
I'm no expert but I think that the monitor uses pixels which change colour these are LC or liquid crystal and are dull. So to brighten up the dull pixels a lamp is used. This is placed behind the pixels. The pixels are in between two plates of glass, and the pixels change the RGB or red green blue amounts to produce a certain colour. This is why LCD screen are so flat, because they are quite simply a glass sheet and a lamp.
With all LCD screens they have a max or standard resolution, usually 1024x768. This is because there are 1024 pixels width ways and 768 pixels height ways, and so you can go to that resolution only. With some panels you can go lower but is usually looks a bit distorted or blurred because the pixels have to be used together to produce a single pixel colour.
What else do I need to know?
Well you really don't need a LCD flat panel. Yes they are slightly better than traditional monitors, but aren't as good for multi resolution like standard monitors. Yes the advance in size as they are rarely larger than 15cm thick. One other point is that they are hugely expensive, some of the cheaper models reach £500 just for a 15" display. Though these 15" are supposed to be as large as a 17 standard monitor.
In short the LCD monitor is only necessary if you have no space on your desk for a normal monitor. Its good if you can afford it. But why would you, okay the picture is loads better but a standard 19" monitor can cost as little as £400. While a 15" LCD monitor costs around £500-£600.
So, I am going to buy my first LCD monitor. What should I look for?
In that case you should really look though magazines. Not all LCD are as good as they really should. As I said these are very expensive and you don’t want to through away you cash on something not up to the job.
USB hubs are a neat idea, this allow you to connect USB peripherals to the monitor without going behind your PC. Inbuilt speakers are also quite a good idea, although they aren't the best sound system you could buy for the PC.
One of the most important thing which I also should mention is that LCD monitors can only be looked at from the front, and are hard to see from the side, just like calculators. They go black when looking form the side or top. So check the viewing angles as you don't want to have a bunch of people who want to see something on the monitor crowding in front of your head to see the screen. Although it is useful for keeping things personal, when someone’s in the house.
One last thing to look for is the amount you can tilt the panel. Its sometimes available to rotate the panel through 45 or 90 degrees. And also turn and tilt back the screen, and possibly even remove it from the mounting to place flat on a desk.
I hope I've helped, but if you do decide to go for one, be careful, they are expensive, and buy from a large store.
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