Monitors - reviews and price comparison

Size

The first thing to be decided is how big screen you need. The size is, just as on televisions, measured in inches on the diagonal.

The pictures below show a 17" screen in proportion to a 20" screen (flat).

17 inch screen	20 inch screen

Widescreen

Monitors come in to different formats, ordinary 4:3 and widescreen 16:9. The widescreens are of course wider, which may be an advantage if you

• want to watch movies on the computer
• do a lot of text editing. A high-resolution widescreen will let you view two pages at a time, which gives you a better overview of the document.
• use spreadsheets frequently. You might want to fit many cells horisontally without needing to scroll.

Resolution

The higher resolution a monitor has the more things can be displayed on the screen. If the screen size for two monitors are the same but one monitor has higher resolution it will be able to display more information/windows with the same level of detail.
Text and pictures of course becomes a bit smaller, but also clearer compared to just reduce the text size on a low resolution screen.

The flat screens have a recommended resolution on which the computer should be set to get the best picture.
Most screens today have at least 1024 lines.

Comparison between resolutions:

1024x768 (768 lines)	1280x1024 (1024 lines)
1600x1200 (1200 lines)

Certifications

Many new monitors on the market are TCO-marked depending on which requirements on environment/ergonomics they fulfil. New standards are introduced certain years and because of this the TCO-markings are written in years. A monitor with “TCO ‘03” has higher standards than one marked with “TCO ‘99”. You can read more about this on the TCO webpage on computer screens.

TCO'99	TCO'03

Input connections

The computer is connected to the monitor using either a DVI-port or a VGA-port. Image quality is higher using DVI, since the image transmission will be completely digital. Check which type of connection you computer has.
Some monitors have both DVI and VGA, meaning you may use DVI for better image the next time you upgrade your computer or graphics card.

DVI	VGA

Some models have double video inputs so that you can connect two computers to the same monitor. Apart from that some models also have the possibility to connect USB-devices, headphones and more to the monitor.

Brightness

In general you can say that the more brightness the better. The screen gets easier for the eye to scan and less sensitive to sunlight and such.

Contrast

Higher contrast means bigger difference between the light and the dark pixels on the monitor, which in reality means a clearer picture. A contrast of over 400:1 is to prefer; the higher factor the better.

Response time

If you are going to use the monitor to watch movies or play games it is important that it has a short response time. (show more)

The response time is a measurement of how fast a pixel on the monitor can change from black to white and back to black again. The response time is measured in ms (milliseconds) and is of importance when the picture is about to be changed with high rate, as for example when watching movies of playing fast action games. In these cases it is recommended with a value of 10 ms or lower. When surfing on the Internet and doing office work this value is of less importance.
The response time for different nuance can be longer than the one stated above, so a low response time is no guarantee for a good picture. Please read the product reviews to learn more about how the picture is experienced.
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Viewing angle

On flat screens it is not granted that you can see the screen picture from the side. That is why the term "horizontal viewing angle" has been introduced, this is measured in degrees. The higher viewing angle the better, above all if many people are watching the screen at the same time or if you don’t have the possibility to sit right in front of it.

Additional functions

A common and quite essential function is a lever to adjust the screen vertically and laterally. Some monitors have a so called pivot-function, which means that you can turn the 90 degrees.
Another additional function is a built-in TV-tuner, which means that you can watch TV on your screen, with the computer turned off. This additional function usually costs a considerable amount extra. Speakers are also a common extra function. These usually don’t have the same audio quality as separate speakers.
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Defective pixels

Flat screens can sometime suffer from defective pixels (Show more on that)

This means that a pixel shines with the same colour all the time, or is constantly black.
Most manufacturers have guarantees where the monitor is being replaced, but the minimum of defective pixels or how long the guarantee lasts can vary. It can be worthwhile to look extra into these conditions.
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Rating/awards

On testwinner.co.uk all the different ratings given by expert testers have been translated into a percentage from 0 to 100 with 100 being the maximum rating.
The average rating for a product can indicate different things. A low average rating is a warning that the product maybe won't live up the expectations created by the ads for the product. A high rating often means that the product has great features and works well. The more tests of the product the better accuracy in the average rating.

The amount of test wins/awards shows how many times the product has been named winner or been selected "Editor's Choice", "Best Buy" or received similar positive awards in tests. An award means that the product stands out from the competition in one way or another. It can be by giving value for money or by being innovative, or simply by just filling its purpose in a really good way.