LCD Monitor shopping tips

Monitor is one of the essential parts in a PC and you’ll surely aim for a good one. But it depends upon the applications you want to use, how much compact and of course, the money you want to spend. Here we’ll give you monitor shopping tips and the reasons for switching from CRT to LCD.

CRT Vs LCD

If you have PCs in your home which is about 4-5 years old, then you’ll probably be using a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Monitor. If your monitor is in good condition, then its ok, most of the monitors last up to five years. But if the condition is opposite, you might be suffering from 800 by 600 pixels resolution or little above it.

Whereas in LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), pixels have well-defined edges, which produces sharp letters. Many people prefer LCDs over CRTs for many reasons. Physically or mentally, you can easily identify the differences between today’s LCD and yesterday’s CRT.

Key Features of  the LCD monitors to be aware of before you are buying

1. Resolution :

LCDs have fixed resolution at which the display looks fine. Depending upon the size of the monitor, resolution varies.

• Monitor Size Resolution

• 15- inch – 1024 by 768

• 17-, 18-, or 19- inch – 1280 by 1024

• 23- and 14- inch – 1920 by 1200

• 30-inch – 2560 by 1600

Note :

1. If you are using Windows XP or earlier versions, then set monitor to have lower than native resolution. This upsizes very small size.
2. You cannot display 1600 by 1200 resolution on a LCD with has 1280 by 1024.

2. Aspect Ratio :

LCDs monitors have screen aspect ratio of 3:4 normally like Television. But wide-screen LCD monitors have 16:9 screen aspect ratio like HDTV.

Note :

1. The screen size is measured diagonally.
2. Area of wide-screen monitor’s display is smaller than regular format display.

3. Viewing Angle :

It indicates how far we can adjust the monitor to a side above or below from the center of display. It is measured in degrees. The larger the monitor, the more important a wide viewing angle is.

Recommended : If monitors are 17-inch or more, then viewing angle of atleast 150 degrees required.

4. Contrast Ratio :

It is the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and darkest black that a LCD monitor can produce.

Recommended : Contrast Ratio of 400:1

5.Brightness :

This measures the greatest amount of light that comes from a screen displaying pure white. It is measured in Candelas per square meter (cd/m2). CRTs have about 100 cd/m2 in average.

Recommended : Brightness level of 250 cd/m2 or greater.

6. Refresh Rate :

The refresh rate indicates how many times the screen can refresh itself. Good LCD monitors are capable of a refresh rate of at least 72, which will allow you obtain the best picture clarity absent of flickering.

Recommended : Refresh Rate of at least 72.

7. Video Resolution :

• VGA            640 X 480 Pixels

• SVGA         800 X 600 Pixels

• XGA           1024 X 768 Pixels

• SXGA        1280 X 1024 Pixels

• UXGA       1600 X 1200 Pixels

• QXGA       2048X 1536 Pixels

>8. Response Time :

It is the time required for a pixel to change. It is measured in milliseconds.

Types Of Response Time :

1. Rise and Fall Respone Time : It measures the time taken for a pixel to turn from black to white and back to black.
2. Grey-to-Grey Response Time : It measures the time taken for a pixel to change from one shade of grey to another.

Donate or recycle your Old CRT Monitor to Save the environment

Older monitors contain hazardous and toxic chemicals. Most of CRT monitors contains lead which can seep into the soil and groundwater if the CRT monitor is crushed. So if you know a charity or some school, you can donate your old monitor, it can be useful to someone. You can also recycle it, by which materials like lead can be reused.