Choosing a Good Computer Monitor

Choose the One That Suits your Needs

The Arts Computing Office is available to help you choose the best equipment for staff, faculty, research, and teaching/learning computing needs. If you would like detailed advice or have any questions about purchasing a computer, monitor, or any other hardware, please let us know. We want to ensure that the hardware you purchase is the best choice for you and your needs, while also ensuring it can perform to the standards required at the University of Waterloo.

Computer monitors come in many different shapes and sizes and are produced by a large number of manufacturers. This article will break down the types of monitors available to several budget ranges.

For Apple users: Apple computers mainly utilize a connection type known as a Mini DisplayPort. It is important to consider this when purchasing monitors for Apple computers. If the monitor is not an Apple monitor, you most likely will have to purchase an adapter.

Input types:

  1. VGA: the oldest available interface standard, VGA carries analog video and is used by almost every piece of computer hardware created within the previous several decades.
  2. DVI (digital visual interface): designed to transmit digital video content.
  3. DisplayPort: A relatively new interface standard designed to carry video digitally from input to output. DisplayPort is backwards compatible with VGA and DVI with the use of adapters.
  4. HDMI: HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) is a new interface standard designed to carry both sound and video digitally from output to input with very little to no signal loss. HDMI is also designed to support various DRM (Digital Rights Management) schemes such as HDCP. HDMI is a useful standard as it is supported by most products today,including:TV’s, computers and video gaming consoles.

Display types:

  1. LED (Light Emitting Diode)
  2. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
  3. CRT (Cathode Ray Tube): CRT monitors were the standard up until several years ago. CRT monitors offer a high quality picture, but have a limited screen size and are also very heavy. CRT monitors are very hard to find these days, having been replaced by smaller and lighter LCD and LED screens.

Other considerations: 

  1. Mounting options: Some people prefer to mount their monitor to a stand or to the wall rather than use the stand that the monitor came with.
  2. Bezel size: the “bezel” of a screen is the area of a monitor between the screen edge and the edge of the monitor. Smaller bezels create the illusion of a screen almost “floating”
  3. Resolution: Larger monitors are often equipped with higher resolutions. The higher the resolution, the higher the density of pixels on the display, which allows you to have more screen space, so to speak.   
  4. Panel quality: LCD panels come in various types, with IPS (in-plane switching) panels being the highest quality of panel available. The majority of panels are of the TN (twisted nematic) type. Manufacturers such as Apple receive A+ quality displays for their products, while other low-price manufacturers receive lower quality panels. The quality of a panel determines things such as colour gamut, colour uniformity, and viewing angles.

Price Ranges:

$0-200: The majority of computer monitors available today are within this price range, and are equipped with normal LCD or LED panels and range from around a 19” size to a 23” size.

ASUS VW246H  ($199 as of Nov 21st, 2012): A nice non-IPS 24” monitor with built in speakers and an HDMI port. The monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080.

$200-500: Moving up to this range enables you to get larger (24”-27”) monitors equipped with IPS displays.

Dell UltraSharp U2412M ($289 as of Nov 13th, 2012): comes equipped with a 24” IPS panel, height adjustable stand, and a 16:10 aspect ratio as opposed to the normal 16.9 ratio found on widescreen monitors. The 16:10 ratio means there is a bit more vertical room on the monitor versus any 16:9 monitor.

$500+: High-end monitors contain the highest quality IPS panels designed for exceptional colour reproduction (useful for graphic design work, etc.).

  1. Apple Cinema Display ($999): The Apple Cinema Display is Apple’s largest monitor, with a 27” screen. The monitor also comes with a MagSafe connector for charging an Apple laptop, a microphone, an iSight camera, 49-watt speaker system, and three USB2.0 ports. The Apple Cinema Display uses a Mini DisplayPort cable.
  2. Dell Ultra Sharp U2711  ($799). Dell’s equivalent to the Apple Cinema Display, the U2711 has a 27” IPS panel that is equipped with PremierColour technology, providing the best colour reproduction possible. The monitor doesn’t come with any of the extras the Apple Cinema Display comes with (built in camera, microphone, etc.), but is also 200$ cheaper. Dell also offers another UltraSharp monitor without the PremierColour technology for $699 (link).

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References

[i] [Computer Monitors]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2015/10/samsung-se790c-monitor-review-hero-1500x1000.jpg