I am looking at buying a Lcd monitor but I have been so out of the loop on technology for too long that I have forgotten what is good and bad on a Monitor please help me!
What you want to buy depends a great deal on what you want to use it for. If you play a lot of games, you want to spend some time looking at the quoted response time of the display. Unless you're a really serious gamer, an 8ms panel is probably plenty. However, you should be aware that the faster the response time, the worse color representation the monitor is likely to have, so... If you don't play many games you're probably better off with a panel around 12ms. Since speed isn't such a huge focus in the design of these, you're likely to get much better color representation and possibly a cheaper panel. You should also pay attention to the contrast ratio, which is a measurement of how the brightest white compares to the darkest black the panel can display simultaneously. Bigger numbers here are generally better, with 800:1 being a rather impressive value but things as low as 300:1 being reasonable. Somewhat related to the contrast ratio is the screen brightness. I don't think you should concern yourself too much with this one, as even the dimmest LCDs I've used tend to be brighter than CRTs. Next up is the viewing angle - LCDs look best when viewed from a position perpendicular to the screen, and on some the colors and clarity drop significantly as you move away from this position. Ideally, you want 178 degree viewing angle, which is not only the best you can actually see (if you go further you won't be able to see the screen at all, so color will hardly matter to you) but can also be found for a reasonable price any more. Next, it doesn't hurt to cast a glance at the maximum resolution of the screen. Most are 1280x1024, but if you get a widescreen or a larger monitor you might find a different resolution. It probably won't matter but if you're comparing panels it's good to take a look at this. Finally, look at the dead pixel policy. It's becoming more rare, but LCDs can still have pixels stuck on a certain color (very irritating), and some manufacturers won't replace the monitor unless there are 8 of these. I think a few manufacturers are now offering zero dead pixel guarantees, so go for one of these if you can. Above all, I encourage you to try the monitor out before you buy it. I don't know how good retailers are about this, but if possible you want to look at the exact display you'll be buying, not just the same model. That way you can not only look at the colors and response, but also check for dead pixels. And, if you're not a heavy gamer I would encourage you to look at Dell's monitors. The computer labs in my university all use current-generation Dells and they are without a doubt the nicest monitors I've ever used. The response time isn't fantastic, but if you aren't playing fast-paced games (FPSs) that isn't a huge concern.
