You will spend many hours looking at your monitor, so it is important to choose the right one. At its simplest
a monitor is just a display screen for your PC, but like all computing products nowadays, monitors come
in a range of styles and sizes to suit different needs.
This guide will make sure you choose the right monitor to suit your needs.
• Choose the monitor that suits you
• What is a CRT?
• What is a TFT/LCD?
• TFT/LCD versus CRT
• Accessories
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Choose the monitor that suits you [Top]
Home computing
Home users need to balance the price and performance. Extra features such as speakers or USB ports
are an important consideration, and depending on where the computer is located, aesthetics may matter as well.
Key Features:
- Price
- Good colour performance
- Sharp text
- Design/appearance
- Video input
- Contrast ratio (The ratio of the brightest and darkest images a display can reproduce)
Value for Money
Academic life often means lots of costs with a budget to match. Students need a lightweight, portable design and image quality good enough for both work and play.
Key Features:
- Pixel-response time (Response time is a measure of how long a display takes to change the image)
- Accuracy
- Large image area to display more of the action
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is a CRT? [Top]
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors are traditional displays that use the same technology as inside a television.
All monitor screens are measured in inches and are measured diagonally across the screen. They come in varying sizes ranging from 15" to 21". The larger monitors tend to have a very large "footprint". This means that they will take up a lot of room on the desk because of the depth of the cathode ray tube required for a larger screen.
Most of these have slightly curved screens and work by using an electron gun to shoot beams onto the inside of the screen. CRT monitors are affordable and offer good picture quality but usually need quite a lot of space and can be heavy.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is a TFT/LCD? [Top]
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors are space saving flat panel displays. They are sometimes referred to as TFTs (Thin Film Transistors).
The major selling points of LCD monitors are the stylish design and slim profile, which creates a smaller "footprint". LCDs also weigh much less than CRTs and also require much less power and emit much less electromagnetic radiation.
LCD monitors provide bright, sharp displays as each pixel is produced by a tiny cell which contains a thin layer of liquid crystals. They also have a higher resolution than an equally sized CRT monitor and so the visible screen is larger.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TFT/LCD versus CRT [Top]
In a marketplace full of so many types of displays, in so many sizes, finding the right monitor can be a challenge.
Advantages of a TFT/LCD:
- Thin and stylish
- Energy efficient
- Relatively lightweight, especially in larger sizes
- Crisp image
- More display area (a 15 inch LCD is equivalent to a 17 inch CRT)
- Space saver
- Perfect screen geometry
- No convergence problems
Disadvantages of a TFT/LCD:
- Although the price of TFT / LCD displays has dropped significantly, they are still more expensive than CRT monitors
- Fragile
- Limited viewing angle
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Accessories [Top]
Braintone offer a wide range of accessories to compliment your monitors and to help make life easier.
Monitor arms
Attach your monitor to your desk for maximum flexibility with our range of monitors arms from world's leading manufacturers.
Monitor stands
Raise your monitor to the correct height for maximum comfort with our comprehensive selection of monitor stands.
Screen filters
Maintain privacy whilst surfing the web, accessing online banking and writing assignments.
|