How to Select an LCD Monitor: A Personal Approach

(June 11, 2007)

by Geoff Walker, Technology Editor

Selecting an LCD monitor for your PC isn't easy. There are more than a dozen combinations of diagonal size, resolution and aspect ratio to consider, and within each combination there are as many as 75 models to choose from. This article presents a personal but systematic approach to simplifying the madness. The approach makes four basic assumptions, as follows:

 

1. More dots per inch are good because it makes the image sharper.
2. I want to spend no more than $200.
3. Widescreen is good because it's better for Windows Vista and allows side-by-side documents.
4. Screen height is more important than diagonal screen measurement.

 

Dots per Inch

 

Since you're going to spend hours and hours staring at this monitor, sharpness should be one of the primary considerations. Sharpness can be quantified in terms of dots per inch (often abbreviated as "dpi"). The resolution of the monitor (e.g., 1440x900) doesn't actually tell you anything about sharpness by itself. Resolution can only be translated into sharpness when it's combined with the diagonal measurement and a dots-per-inch value is calculated.

 

In a monitor, more dots-per-inch are always better. For a character of a given size on the screen (say, 1/8-inch high), the more dots that make up that character, the sharper it's going to look. Of course, you can always move further away from the screen to make something look sharper. However, the flaw is that argument is that in the case of a PC monitor, most people want to view it at around 18 to 24 inches away, so you can't move very far back. People who wear reading glasses are especially limited in their choice of viewing distance, since their range of sharp focus is typically relatively narrow.

 

How many dots per inch are enough? PC monitors on the market today range from a low of around 85 to a high of around 100. However, they tend to clump into two ranges: 85-90 and 96-100. My opinion is that the lower range is simply not sharp enough. Characters and images look too "pixelated" at less than 90 dots per inch, meaning that you can see the individual dots too clearly. For that reason, I disqualify any monitor with less than 96 dots per inch. That includes all the monitors highlighted in blue in Table 2 below.

 

The monitor industry almost never presents dots-per-inch information to the consumer. Most of the time, monitors are sold on the simple premise that "bigger is better". One example of where this premise really does the consumer a big disservice is in the difference between "square" (4:3 aspect ratio, meaning that the screen is 4 units wide and 3 units high) 17-inch and 19-inch monitors. One hundred percent of all 17-inch and 19-inch square monitors on the market have the same resolution: 1280x1024. That means that in the larger 19-inch monitor, the same number of dots is spread out over a larger area. This means that the dots-per-inch is lower: 86 versus 96. The difference is clearly noticeable -- at the same viewing distance, a 19-inch monitor is more pixelated (less sharp) than a 17-inch monitor. In my opinion, the only valid reasons for buying a 19-inch monitor are (a) you want to sit further back from the screen than normal, or (b) you want a group of people to be able to comfortably see the screen, which translates into a greater viewing distance for each person in the group. If you use your PC alone and you sit a normal distance from the screen, then don't buy a 19-inch monitor. Period.

 

Monitor Prices

 

Table 2 below lists essentially all of the common monitor sizes that are available for sale at reasonable prices. The table stops at 22 inches because all larger sizes cost far more than $200. In the table, "Number of Choices" is the number of available models listed in that size at www.newegg.com. Newegg is a typical computer hardware online store; the numbers just give a general indication of the popularity of each size. All of the prices in the table are Newegg prices, broken into three categories. The "Lowest Price" is in fact the lowest price in the store, regardless of brand. Often these are no-name brands -- but not always. "Middle Brands" include names such as Acer, BenQ, Sceptre and ViewSonic. "Top Brands" include names such as LG, NEC, Planar and Samsung. The prices listed are always for the low-end model in each brand. For example, in 20.1-inch wide, there is an NEC (a top brand) for $280 -- but there are also NEC models for $370 and $570.

 

Given that one of the basic assumptions in the beginning of this article is that I don't want to pay more than $200 for an LCD monitor, I have disqualified all monitors where the Lowest Price is more than $200. That includes all monitors highlighted in red in Table 2 below.

 

Note that the "Lowest Price" doesn't mean that you may not be able to find a one-time lower price on sale. For example, as I write this, a ViewSonic 20.1-inch wide (normally $200) is available from Newegg for $180 after a $20 mail-in rebate. The prices listed are simply general guidelines to normal prices as of the date of this article.

 

Widescreen

 

We've disqualified all the blue and red monitors in Table 2. All that's left is the four green monitors, three of which are widescreen. Widescreen (16:10 aspect ratio) is the wave of the future. Monitors and notebooks are all going widescreen -- not necessarily because the market is demanding it, but because it means greater efficiencies and therefore higher profits for the LCD manufacturers. Windows Vista is better with a widescreen because of Vista's "Sidebar", an area to one side of the screen where the user can put always-on mini-applications called "gadgets". Gadgets can include time, weather, sports scores, games, business data, calendars, sticky notes and any number of other things. A widescreen monitor allows room for these gadgets. Widescreen is also useful because you can put two documents side-by-side on the screen. For example, if you're writing an article from notes, you can put your notes file on the left and the final article file on the right. Square (4:3 aspect ratio) monitors are gradually going away. Within a few years, almost all monitors will be widescreen. This means that if you're purchasing a monitor now and you expect it to last for 3-5 years, it's better to purchase a widescreen than a square screen.

 

Screen Height

 

If this is your first LCD monitor, then you're coming from one of three sizes of CRT monitor, as shown in Table 1 below:

 

Table 1: CRT PC monitors

 

The main difference in the three CRT monitors in the table is the screen height, which ranges from 8.3 to 10.8 inches. Studies have shown that when consumers move from a square TV to a widescreen TV, they care most about maintaining an equal or greater screen height. In other words, people judge the size of the picture by its height, not by its diagonal measurement.

 

Three of the four green monitors in Table 2 below are 10.6 or 10.7 inches high, and the fourth is 9.0 inches high. In my opinion, the only reasons to choose a nine-inch-high LCD monitor are (a) you're very limited in available height at your computer desk, or (b) you're coming from a 15-inch or 17-inch CRT and you really like the shorter height. For this reason, the 17-inch widescreen monitor is rated as the fourth choice.

 

Another negative about buying a 17-inch widescreen monitor (the third line in Table 2) is that there are very few of them for sale. Newegg only carries three models, versus 76 square models. The reason for this is again due to the LCD manufacturers. The LCD manufacturers believe that consumers are going to stop buying 17-inch monitors because "bigger is better", so they're focusing their new developments mainly on 19-inch and larger. Therefore relatively few manufacturers are converting their existing 17-inch monitor LCD production lines from square to widescreen.

 

The 17-inch square monitor (the second line in Table 2) is rated as third choice even though its squareness is less desirable, because (a) bigger really is better when it comes to screen height, and (b) there are many more models to choose from. As a result of intense competition, even top brands are available for only $180. If price is your number one concern, then a 17-inch square monitor at $150 to $180 is probably the best choice for you.

 

The remaining first choice and second choice monitors in Table 2 are almost identical. Their height differs by less than 0.1 inches, which is insignificant. They have the same number of dots per inch, and the prices are in the same ballpark. The only reason that two different sizes this close exist is that some LCD manufacturers are unable to make 20.1-inch LCDs, so if they want to be competitive they have no choice but to make 20.0-inch models. For all practical purposes, they are the same product. I put the 20.1-inch wide monitors first only because there are more models to choose from. However, as shown in Table 2, the 20.0-inch wide monitors have a $10 lower starting price.

 

Table 2: Data on the common monitor sizes available for sale at reasonable starting prices.

 

How to Choose Between Models

 

Now that we've zeroed in on 20.0 & 20.1-inch widescreen as the size that best meets the four initial assumptions, let's explore how to choose between models. The following factors can be more or less important, depending on your individual needs. You have to put a value on each factor and make your own decision.

 

Price: There's not a lot of leeway here, since the lowest-price models are already near the limit at $190-$200.

 

User Reviews: In my opinion, this is one of the most important factors in selecting a monitor model. Newegg and Amazon both have extensive user reviews of models they sell. You'll find that every monitor model has some negative reviews; what I think is important is the percentage of reviews that are negative. If more than 15% of the reviews are in the bottom three (out of five) categories, I consider it to be a warning flag.

 

Brand: Brand is always a factor to be considered, but at the low-price end of the scale, you may be choosing among several unknown brands. In many cases, the reputation of the store from which you buy the monitor may actually be more important than the brand.

 

Viewing Angle: Wider viewing angles are better. Even when you're sitting still in front on the monitor, your viewing angle varies from the top of the screen to the bottom. If the screen has a narrow viewing angle, it means that the contrast or the color of the image will be different between the top and the bottom. It's definitely worth looking for the widest viewing angles (especially vertical) that you can find.

 

Dead/Stuck Pixels: A "dead" pixel is a dot that's always off (dark); a "stuck" pixel is one that's always on (red, green or blue). Lowest-price monitors often have a couple of dead or stuck pixels -- that's one of the reasons that they're lowest-price. If you can find a monitor with a "no dead/stuck pixels guarantee" within your price range, it's worth considering. Keep in mind, though, that dead/stuck pixels can still appear later in the monitor's life.

 

VGA vs DVI Interface: Almost all PCs have a VGA (analog) interface; some PCs have a DVI (digital) interface. DVI makes the image quality slightly better, but in most cases it's not a huge difference. If your PC doesn't have DVI, you can buy a new video card that has a DVI output. As time goes on, new PCs will tend to have DVI. The most future-proof monitor therefore has both VGA and DVI inputs.

 

Adjustable Stand: More adjustability is better. Unfortunately, most low-price monitors have very limited adjustability other than tilt, so you'll probably end up putting the monitor up on some books to get it at the right height for optimum viewing. If you can find a stand that includes tilt, height and rotation adjustments, it's well worth considering.

 

Narrow Bezel: Narrow bezels are good because it reduces the space required by the monitor. Also, if you decide to add a second monitor later, they can be placed very close together to make an almost-contiguous extra-wide desktop.

 

Warranty: Longer is better.

 

Response Time: How quickly the LCD responds to rapidly-changing images is expressed in milliseconds (e.g., "5 ms"). Faster is better, but it only makes a difference for serious gamers. For everyone else, you're unlikely to notice any difference due to response times.

 

Brightness: Brighter is better, but unless you're going to be using the monitor in very bright light where every nit counts (such as next to a sunlit window), you're unlikely to notice the small brightness differences between low-price monitors.

 

Contrast: Higher contrast is better, but again you're unlikely to notice the difference in anything over about 500:1.

 

Speakers: Some monitors have integrated speakers. Generally speaking, they're a waste of time and money because they never sound as good as even the most basic desktop speakers (that everyone already has anyway).

 

Power Consumption: Lower is better, but all "Energy Star" monitors have an automatic "standby" mode in which the power consumption is extremely low, so unless you're going to use the monitor 24 hours per day, the power consumption doesn't really matter that much.

 

There are some factors that don't affect the model selection, as follows:

 

Resolution: All of the 1^st and 2^nd choice monitors have the same resolution (1680x1050, also called "WSXGA+")

 

Resolution Support: This refers to modes that the monitor supports other than the optimum ("native") resolution; unless you're a gamer, you should never use the monitor in non-native resolution modes because you lose a lot of sharpness when you do so.

 

Pixel Pitch: The same for all 1^st and 2^nd choice monitors.

 

Color Depth: Minor variations don't matter.

 

Panel Surface: Essentially all monitors have an anti-glare surface.

 

Frequency: Doesn't matter; your PC sets what it needs.

 

Controls: Every manufacturer has their own way of handling "on-screen display" (OSD) controls. None of them are perfect.

 

Editor's Choice

 

Now that I've gone through all of the above meticulous quantification and qualification, what would I buy today? The Acer AL2016WBbd, the first item in Table 3 below. All three products have essentially identical specifications, but notice the very high reported rate of dead pixels on the Sceptre -- that knocks it out. Between the Acer and the ViewSonic, I consider the brands to be equal and the ViewSonic has better user reviews, but I don't like having to deal with rebates and the Acer warranty is superior, so the Acer's the winner for me even at $10 higher.

 

Table 3: Three possible "Editor's Choice" monitors

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Geoff Walker, Pen Computing's Technology Editor, currently heads his own technical marketing consulting firm, Walker Mobile, LLC. Based in Silicon Valley, Geoff has particular expertise in touch screens & digitizers, displays & enhancements, and mobile computers running Windows. Geoff also writes for SID's Information Display magazine and the Veritas et Visus series of display-industry newsletters. Geoff can be reached at geoff@walkermobile.com or 1-408-945-1221.