Looking for a new monitor but aren’t sure what all the technical information means? Let us fill you in
If you’re a desktop PC user, you’ll have some form of monitor connected to your system. Laptops, all-in-ones and tablets have no such concern, as they all have their own built-in displays, but the more traditional PC is not so lucky and needs to be accompanied by the ever present monitor.
These have changed greatly over the years, embracing new technology and offering increasingly better image quality, but one thing has remained the same: the confusion many face when it comes to buying a new one.
Most are familiar with the basics of buying a monitor, such as the size, resolution and things like 1080p or 3D. The problem here is the undercurrent of technological terms and important specifications that aren’t as apparent and not freely as discussed by sales reps in shops. Too often people simply rely on the help of others when making a purchase or base their decisions solely on a big name manufacturer or screen size, and this is often not the best way to go about picking your next display. There’s a lot more to it and, depending on your uses, the type of monitor you’ll want to buy and the cost that comes with it can often vary.
With this in mind, we thought we’d have a look at this monitor jargon and try to demystify the most important elements of it, as well as looking at the best kinds of purchase for different PC users.
Old Vs New
Before the LCD revolution that led to almost all PC monitors being flat screens, the clunky and heavy CRT monitor ruled the roost. This older tech, which basically came from standard TVs, used a cathode ray tube (CRT) to project the image, and it was limited in terms of maximum resolution, visual fidelity and overall performance. Oh, and did we mention they were big?
Today these models are all but extinct, and unless you hunt around specialist retailers or auctions, you’ll only see modern flatscreen models. This is good, as the latter are much better in terms of quality and energy efficiency, but there are still some uses for the old tech.
Older PC users and gamers often find themselves missing CRT displays. Just like many audiophiles prefer the sound of vinyl records over CDs, some PC users prefer CRT screens, and some older software and games look and function better on these models, especially software that runs at lower resolutions. Many users still keep an old CRT around for such purposes, and they’re great if you need to work with older video footage or just hanker for the good old days. For most, however, CRTs are long gone, and we’ve moved on for good reason.
Technical Tour
Buying a monitor seems like a simple task, but as we’ve already said, it’s far from simple if you really want to make a good purchasing decision. A good deal of this complexity comes from the technical jargon that covers a monitor’s specifications. To many, these different details are nothing more than gibberish and understandably so, but getting to grips with this information can be a major help, so let us guide you.
We’ll cover some of the most important details you need to look for when buying a monitor, including some of the core specifications, beginning with the resolution.
Resolution
The resolution of a monitor isn’t the be all and end all of a display, and for many users, as long as a monitor offers at least 1280 x 1024 resolution, there’s little to worry about. Often, monitors will come with all sorts of higher-resolution possibilities, such as the new 4K models, but unless you’re a serious gamer, major movie buff or a power user such as an artist, you’re really not going to need such a high resolution. If it won’t affect your price too much, go for it, but if the higher resolution adds considerably more to the outlay (which it almost always will), it may be best to reel in that resolution until the price drops and the technology is more widely used.
All monitors have a native resolution, which they’re built to support for optimal viewing. This is determined by the number of pixels across and down the screen of that particular model (this is also how a resolution is worked out, of course). By setting a monitor’s display lower than its native resolution, the graphics card of your PC will have to rescale the image, fitting a smaller output onto a larger screen. This often results in a blurry, far less clear image. Likewise, if you try to force a larger resolution, the graphics card will attempt to scale an image up, which can also cause problems, if it’s even possible.
It’s also important to know that graphics cards have limits and likewise support limited resolutions. If you have an older card and are thinking of buying a new monitor, be sure your current graphics card is capable of handling the new monitor’s resolution. This may require an upgrade, but some card may be able to support higher resolutions with new drivers.
Refresh Rate
Measured in Hz, the refresh rate of a monitor represents the speed at which a display buffer can be refreshed and how quickly identical frames are reproduced. It was once a more important feature with CRT models, as lower refresh rates would cause a lot of screen flickering and strobing, leading to vision problems and headaches.
Refresh rates are still present with more up-to-date screens and dictate the number of times per second the display draws the data sent to it. There’s rarely any flickering, but higher refresh rates can cause artefacts to appear without added enhancements to smooth things out. Additional processing is usually used to correct this, which can cost a lot more.
A general rule for this specification is to go for a faster, higher refresh rate, but this is also tied to our next specification: response time.
Response Time
This is a very important specification if you’re planning to use your monitor for games, movies or intricate tasks like image work or video editing, and it’s also very simple. The response time of a monitor measures how fast a display can update its images. The faster the response time, the smoother the image. Slower response times often result in blurry images and other distortions. This is most noticeable with fast-moving images, such as games or sports, and could also cause problems during fine detail work.
Clearly, you’ll always want a lower response time, ideally below 5ms. This will deliver the most fluid image, and even if you don’t use a monitor for tasks that demand it, it’s best to go for the faster response.
Contrast Ratio
A monitor’s contrast ratio is the ratio between the brightest white to the darkest black a monitor can produce. The higher the ratio, the bigger the range between the two extremes, which in turn means a better quality and range of whites and blacks. Simply put, you’ll get a richer, more detailed image.
This is a specification that’s often emblazoned on boxes and sale signs, mainly as it often includes ridiculous numbers that draw people’s attention, such as 1,000,000:1. Clearly the more zeros you stick on a number, the more attractive it is to a paying customer, because it’s better. Or is it?
In truth, this isn’t always the case. While a higher number is technically better, and a higher ratio can produce a better image, it’s arguably not actually that accurate, and many high ratios are more of a sales bluff than a real measurement.
There are also two different kinds of contrast ratio: native and dynamic. Native is a measurement of what the actual hardware is capable of producing on its own and the range it can reproduce. A dynamic ratio is a different technique that adjusts the range of a display on the fly, altering the highs and lows of the screen to accommodate different images and levels of black and white.
Although it’s often debated, it’s usually perfectly fine to stick with a contrast ratio of around 1000-3000:1. Mammoth 1,000,000:1 options don’t really offer true results, so aren’t really worth paying for. As with many of these specs, though, if the extra cost is low or non existent, go for the better option.
Dot/Pixel Pitch
This is the measurement between a screen’s pixels, triads or LED clusters, depending on the tech used. The shorter the distance is, the more can be fitted onto a display, meaning the monitor can handle higher resolutions, thus providing a crisper, more detailed image. There is a downside, however.
Take LED screens. The distance between LED clusters dictates how many clusters are contained on a screen. The more clusters, the higher the resolution, and the better the image. More clusters also means more power is needed to power the display, and it often means the monitor itself will cost more to buy. High dot pitches can also mean OSD menus are smaller. It’s a balancing act in terms of cost, but if you’re looking for high-end monitors, you’ll probably care more about a crisp image, so go for the better rating.
Gamut
The gamut rating of a monitor dictates the range of colours that can be displayed. More colours will always make for a better display, so it’s important to pick a monitor that features a high or large gamut.
Luminance
Measured in candles (cdm2), the luminance of a monitor is simply the measurement of the unit’s maximum brightness. The higher the luminance, the more intense the brightness. This is a double-edged sword, though, as a higher brightness is often great for multimedia use, such as gaming and movies, but if you’re using your PC for a lost of writing or web browsing, the brightness can be harmful to the eyes after prolonged use. It can also affect your ability to determine colours, whites and blacks if you’re using an image editor. Of course, you can adjust the brightness, so it’s not a major problem, and having the ability to utilise a higher brightness makes for a more flexible display.
Aspect Ratio
You’re probably familiar with the term 4:3 and 16:9. These are aspect ratios, and they describe the proportion of the display panel and its physical size and dimensions. The two figures stand for the width and height of the screen and also signify the orientation of a unit.
4:3, for example, is the classic almost square, full-screen, standarddefinition (SD) display, while 16:9 is the most popular widescreen, high-definition aspect, with a much more elongated width to accommodate a wider image. There are many different aspect ratios. 4:3 and 16:9 are the most common, but 16:10 and 21:9 are also widely used.
The majority of displays these days utilise widescreen ratios, but you can still buy 4:3 models if the older style suits your needs best.
Viewing Angle
The viewing angle of a monitor is the range in which the display of a monitor remains visible, clear and watchable from an angle. If you move your head to the side of a monitor and look at it from an angle, the image will often wash out or distort on displays with a smaller viewing angle. The wider the angle, the less likely you’ll notice this when viewing a display from anywhere but straight on. It makes screens much more flexible in terms of positioning, and if you’re using multiple monitors and likely need to angle them, you’ll be less likely to run into image distortion problems with better viewing angles.
OSD
On-screen display – nothing amazing here, just the abbreviation for the monitor’s menu system. It’s worth checking out before you buy, however, as these menus often reveal some of the monitor’s more useful capabilities, with features you may otherwise go unaware of. Some OSD systems are designed better than others too, while some are sluggish and unresponsive.
Screen Size
The big one, and the specification most people first look for when buying a new monitor or TV. The screen size is, of course, the size of the actual screen, and it’s worked out by measuring the actual visible screen diagonally from one corner to the other, not including the surround.
The size of a monitor can be misleading at times, as widescreen monitors may appear to be smaller on paper than non-widescreen models, but this difference doesn’t matter due to the focus on the screen’s width, not height.
Screen Type
We’ve already mentioned the older screen type of CRT. Flat panel screens are more complex, though, and come in several different forms. LCD (liquid crystal display) is probably the most popular form of flat-screen monitor, and such models are lightweight and affordable options that produce a very good display quality. They also use relatively little power. LCD displays are now usually based on a cross between LCD and TFT technology.
TFT (thin film transistor) is a different type of LCD display that comes in a number of guises. TFT isn’t usually used as a sales term. Instead monitors are usually simply labelled as LCD.
Types of TFT include IPS (in plane switching), which are considered to be the best all-round LCD displays; TN (twisted nematic), which are TFT screens usually found in laptops and are known for lesser colour gamut performance; and finally, there’s PVA (patterned vertical alignment). Better than TN models, with a superior colour gamut, PVA screens are a mid-range tech with good performance but often have limited viewing angles.
LED
The most recent and, some would argue, best form of digital display. LED screens don’t use pixels or crystal layers. Instead they make use of low-power LED clusters to produce the image. The result is a display that looks great, has fast response times and uses very low power. They’re also usually lighter, thinner and produce less heat.
Plasma
Although plasma is a television technology, not really applied to the PC market, there are still many people who use plasma displays as a monitor. This is usually because some users consider plasma screens superior in terms of colour and response time, but they also have the downside of potential image retention (aka screen burnin). This can be permanent or temporary, but it’s a definite concern as plasma sets are often very expensive.
Because PC monitors often display the same image for prolonged times (GUI toolbars and so on), plasma screens aren’t really recommended for PC use. If you do choose to do so, ensure you have a screensaver set up. Plasma screens have been all but dominated by LCD and LED in today’s market, mainly due to the much higher cost of plasma compared to LCD.
Connections
Most monitors come with a range of connection types, and it’s important to note these so you can be sure your new display will be suitable for your needs.
Most monitors will come with the basics, including a standard VGA connection, as well as DVI. Almost all now come with HDMI too, which is quickly becoming the most popular form of connection. Unlike VGA and DVI, HDMI is able to carry both video and audio, so it makes the most of monitors with built-in speakers.
DisplayPort connections are a relatively lesser-used connection type. It’s a digital connection that also includes a USB feed. Although it’s actually more recent than the older DVI, the latter connection is still more popular.
Returning to DVI, it’s also important to know the different types of DVI, because there’s more than one. There’s DVI-A, DVI-D and DVI-D Dual Link. These each come with a different connector type, so be sure your chosen monitor supports the kind you need to use.
And that’s it – the most common and important technical details you’ll come across when looking for a new monitor. With this information, you should be able to ensure you get a better quality screen and don’t make a purchase based solely on looks and screen size. Happy hunting!