When the word ‘computer setup’ comes to mind, images of a big boxy desktop CPU case with all the necessary components stacked in along with web of tangled power cables/connectors, certainly crop up. Along with that, peripherals such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a display monitor kept on a desk, too form a large portion of our imagination. And while one may substitute a desktop setup with a laptop depending upon one’s preferences and lifestyle, there isn’t an equally productive substitute to the peripheral devices, especially a large display size monitor.
Now, with the current surge in hiring of I-T employees to cater to the requirement of businesses wishing to have a dominant presence online and the prevalent Work-from-Home culture, one thing has happened for sure - majority of people are spending most part of their days glued to their relatively tiny laptop screens developing and managing websites, attending meetings, working on new features to be implemented in an app, creating PPTs about the revenue forecast of their companies, etc. While our minds and bodies may be settling into the ‘new normal’, our eyes are constantly taking a hit by focusing on small text displayed on our relatively puny laptop screens and mobile phones all day.
While our jobs can definitely not be completed without requiring the use of a computing device, our eyes should certainly be spared the horror as well. Well, there should be a middle ground, and luckily it turns out that there is one too - connecting the laptop to a relatively large screen sized monitor... And, today we will talk about monitors down to the last detail.
Now, if you are a frequent visitor to the posts on this blog, you might be probably aware that we take each topic from the grass root level and we will do the same with this post as well. We will begin with the basics first, we will learn about the different display technologies the monitors come available with along with the strengths and shortcomings of each type, then we would proceed to gain insights on the display resolution - HD Ready, Full HD, 2K and 4K, the display panels of the monitors are configured in and which among them should one opt for as per one’s requirement. Following this, we would learn about refresh rates in context with the monitors and under which situations a user benefits by deciding on a monitor with one over the other. Next, we would analyse the optimal screen size one should decide a monitor in, keeping the viewing distance and one’s intended purpose of use in consideration. Post this, we would discuss about the ways in which some manufacturers cut production costs to enhance profits and in turn manufacture below-par monitors, the crucial components of which often fail only after a few months of use. The repair costs can mount considerably, thus profiting the manufacturers further. Then, we will move onto zeroing in on some of the best monitors available in the market that not only offer great better picture quality, but are also built using durable components, thereby offering great value for one’s money.
So without further ado, let’s begin.
Going by its basic definition, a monitor is an output device that interprets the graphical output signal from the graphics card of one’s computer and displays the information in pictorial or text form. Monitors are manufactured to suit the tastes and requirements of every kind of user - from a hardcore gamer to someone who prefers to have multiple windows open side-by-side, from a movie buff to someone who is a professional photo/video editor, etc. Every such use case requires a specific type of a monitor. Thus, on the basis of the purpose they solve and their hardware configuration, monitors are classified on the basis of the following parameters -
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
The kind of colour accuracy, the contrast ratio, the response time, the refresh rate, the viewing angles one can expect out of one’s monitor is primarily driven by the type of display technology its panel utilizes. Most modern LCD monitors operate on any one of the below mentioned display technologies -
- TN - It stands for ‘Twisted Nematics’, which is an effect that allows liquid crystal molecules to be controlled with voltage. The greatest advantage of such panels is their refresh rates, i.e., the number of times the display is able to draw a new image per second, and the response times, i.e., the amount of time taken for an LCD pixel to change, say from red to green. The faster the response time, the more responsive the image updates and better is the viewing experience. Typically, TN panels are capable of producing refresh rates upwards of 120Hz and their response times can be as low as 1ms. For the above two qualities, TN panels are a boon for gamers.
While refresh rates and response times are two qualities that TN panels stand tall upon, aspects like colour reproduction, viewing angles are its Achilles’ heel. TN panels tend to display the content the best when viewed from dead centre. Its colors tend to invert almost completely when the screen is viewed from an extreme angle, although in the recent years, TN panels have demonstrated tremendous improvement in this department. Another aspect where TN panels fall slightly short when compared to other display technologies is in terms of contrast ratio, with an entry-level TN panel sitting between 700:1 and 900:1 and good panels pushing only up to the 1000:1 mark. Higher contrast ratio ensures that the images appear more immersive and the text is easily visible even from a distance.
- IPS - IPS stands for ‘In-Plane Switching’ and is designed to overcome TN's shortcomings as a display technology. IPS panels also use liquid crystals but are designed to overcome the minor shortcomings of TN panels. IPS panels typically use 8-bit depth per color instead of TN's 6-bit, resulting in a full 256 shades to draw upon for each color, resulting in accurate colour reproduction with eye popping colours. In fact, most IPS panels are able to cover the entire RGB colour gamut. The entry-level ones tend to offer 95% sRGB coverage, while the majority stick to full sRGB coverage. Then with high-end displays, usually for professionals, it’s not unusual to see full DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB coverage. Furthermore, viewing angles imparted by these panels are phenomenal. The images appear vibrant and text adequately sharp even when viewed from an angle above 45°. These high-performance facets allow the LCD panels to be widely used for programming, graphic intensive applications including photo/video editing.
However, a minor niggle with IPS panels arises from the fact that they too offer contrast ratios of up to 1000:1 and fall slightly behind TN panels in terms of refresh rates and response times, with most IPS panels supporting refresh rates up to 60 Hz and response times upwards of 3 ms. Though these shortcomings are barely discernible to an average user who generally performs day-to-day tasks such as browsing the web, reading e-mails, creating PPTs and attending virtual meetings, a specific user base - the gamers would find their needs better met by a TN panel.
- VA - It stands for ‘Vertical Alignment’ and such panels are designed to act as a decent middle ground between TN and IPS panels. VA based monitors combine the advantages of both IPS and TN panels. When compared to IPS display panels, VA panels typically offer higher refresh rates comparable to those of TN panels, therefore the window transitions, scrolling, movement of mouse cursor appear more natural and true to life. And, by borrowing the qualities of IPS displays, VA panels are able to produce vivid colors and an overall commendable picture quality. A distinct advantage of VA panels arises from their ability to achieve contrast ratio several times higher than both IPS and TN panels, typically up to 4500:1. The result - eye strain and fatigue is reduced, one can differentiate between different shades of black, even in darker rooms, text appears sharp, pictures feel more immersive.
While VA panels tick almost all the right boxes, the aspect of viewing angle is something they fall shortly behind at when compared to IPS panels, however VA panels definitely fare better in viewing angles when put against TN panels. To have the best experience, viewing the screen from off-centre angles is generally not advisable.
Now, having discussed the various types of display technologies that one can choose to have a monitor based upon, let us examine the different display resolutions one can find in a monitor -
DISPLAY RESOLUTION
Display resolution is measured by the number of pixels contained on a display screen. It is expressed in terms of number of pixels on the horizontal axis and the number of pixels on the vertical axis. The sharpness of an image depends upon the resolution and size of the display screen.
For the same pixel resolution, an image will appear sharper on a small screen and would gradually lose its sharpness as the size of the display screen is increased. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, the bigger the display screen, the higher should be the display resolution to facilitate pleasurable viewing experience.
Display resolution is denoted as ‘A x B’, where A denotes the number of pixels along the width of the display screen and B denotes the number of pixels along the height of the display screen. The product of A and B gives the total number of pixels in the screen.
Now, the display resolutions one can find in a monitor are:-
- HD Ready. This display resolution is commonly seen in entry level monitors and the number of pixels along the width and the height of the screen are 1280 x 720. Another pixel configuration that comes under the umbrella of HD Ready resolution is 1366 x 768. HD Ready resolution is often known by the numeric name 720p.
- Full HD. Full HD display resolution has 1920 pixels along its width and 1080 pixels along its height, i.e. 1920 x 1080 pixels. The numeric name for Full HD resolution is 1080p. For everyday use such as reading e-mails, taking online classes, browsing the web, attending meetings, etc., this display resolution gets the job done pretty well.
- QHD. QHD stands for ‘Quad High definition’ and constitutes to a display resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels - or four times that of 720p, hence the name. The numeric name for QHD resolution is 2K and it is also labelled as 1440p. QHD resolution is generally catered towards gaming enthusiasts as, in most cases this display resolution is available with fast refresh rate configuration - a boon for gamers. Another user base, monitors with QHD resolution has is that of software developers.
- Ultra HD. Ultra HD resolution is generally found in premium monitors. The number of pixels along the width and the height of the screen are 3840 x 2160. The numeric name for Ultra HD resolution is 4K as these display screens have four times the number of pixels found in Full HD displays. Creative professionals like graphic designers, photo/video editors and movie enthusiasts would benefit the most from this display resolution.
Now, let us proceed to discuss another crucial attribute about monitors that majorly dictates - the refresh rates
REFRESH RATE
The refresh rate of a monitor refers to how many times per second the display is able to draw a new image. This is measured in Hertz (Hz). For example, if a monitor has a refresh rate of 144Hz, it is refreshing the image 144 times per second. When paired with the high frame rates produced by a GPU and CPU working together, this can result in a smoother experience and potentially higher FPS. It is imperative to note that the monitor can only display an image at the rate the system produces it, so it is necessary that the CPU and GPU of one’s computer are capable of completing this process quickly. If the CPU and GPU are incapable of supplying the monitor with a sufficiently high number of frames then the monitor won’t produce a high-refresh rate image regardless of how good its specs are.
To gain further clarity on the same, let us take an illustration - majority of Hollywood movies are shot and produced at 24 frames per second(FPS). So even a 60Hz monitor will play that back smoothly with ease. Opting for a 120Hz or even faster monitor will provide no visible benefit to playback quality.
Now, to decide on the refresh rate one should opt a monitor with, there is a rule of thumb -
- If one is considering a monitor primarily for performing tasks that would not necessarily benefit from faster inputs such as browsing the web, checking e-mails, watching movies, taking online classes, writing code, attending meetings, editing photos/videos, etc., deciding on a 60Hz or a 75Hz monitor would make for an ideal choice.
- In scenarios when one is considering to perform graphic intensive tasks such as playing high-end games where fast inputs are vital to winning and in games with competitive fighters or shooters, it is imperative to decide on a monitor that supports refresh rate upwards of 120Hz. Other settings in which one would greatly benefit from the fast refresh rates are running 3D simulations, designing on AutoCAD.
Now having discussed about the aspect of refresh rates in detail, let us proceed to talk about the screen size one should opt a monitor with to cater to one’s requirements -
SCREEN SIZE
Screen size plays a pivotal role in helping decide the monitor to opt for. Measured diagonally from one corner to the opposite one, screen size dictates the amount of screen real estate one has to work with. The screen size suitable for a person depends majorly on two factors - one’s requirements/preferences and the distance one would be seated from the monitor.
- When one is to sit relatively close to the screen, say, 1 feet, it would be wise to decide on a monitor having screen size up to 24 inches. With this arrangement, one’s eyes and neck would not experience fatigue even during long usage sessions as the entire screen would be visible in one’s field of vision at once, thus there would be minimal movement of the neck back and forth.
- If one’s monitor is to sit slightly farther, i.e., the distance between the user and the monitor would be about 1.5–2 feet, it is imperative to decide on a monitor with screen size in the range of 24 to 27 inches. It is vital to note that in larger screen sizes, multiple windows can be stacked side-by-side for enhanced productivity.
- In settings where the viewing distance is more than 2 feet, deciding on a monitor with screen size greater than 27 inches would be an ideal choice.
Note:- Some monitor models are ultra-wide in nature, i.e., they are designed to capitalize on the 21:9 aspect ratio. The extra horizontal screen space ~ 33% makes it easy to work with two or more windows stacked next to each other. Such form factor is a boon for multi-tasking and for content creation where dragging and dropping images/video clips/text from one window to other is to be done often.
Now, having learnt about the various screen sizes monitors are produced in and based upon the viewing distance and usage preferences which configuration should one opt for, let us proceed to gain knowledge about the ways by which some manufacturers try to cut production costs and maximize their profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers the components of which often fails only after a few months of use and such monitors generally tend to have a fairly short shelf life.
COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES
- Dead pixels in the display. As learnt before, display panel of a monitor comprises of millions of individual pixels that light up when voltage is applied to them, producing such displays require deployment of precision production line, procurement of high-grade materials, carefully designing the power supply to power every pixel on the panel as well as hiring skilled workforce - all of which add to the cost of production. Thus to keep costs low, some brands tend to install a shoddily manufactured display panel in the monitors they produce. A pixels/cluster of pixels in such monitors often do not receive the power supply causing that region to not light up and display content, and rather remain permanently black. Such an occurrence can significantly hampers one’s productivity because to avoid the region where the dead pixels are, one would need to constantly scroll the page so as to make the text intelligible.
- Substandard backlight source. The monitor’s LCD display is made up of two glass panels connected to each other and a backlight - a fluorescent bulb or LEDs located behind those panels. The backlight is projected on those glasses where the liquid crystals align in a manner that allow or block the light to pass through depending upon the demand of individual frames. For its paramount significance, backlight source accounts for about 40% of the entire cost of the monitor. Thus to reduce production costs, some brands tend to install below-par, inferior grade backlight in the monitors they produce. Once the source of backlight begins losing its luminance, the content displayed on the screen starts appearing faded and colours washed out along with massive reduction in display brightness. Going by approximate calculations, those brands fit the appropriate light source that would last for almost as long as the product is covered under warranty. Once the product goes out of warranty, all the charges of repairs/replacement of parts are to be borne by the customer thus giving recurring profits to those manufacturers.
Now, having gained insights on the ways some manufacturers cut production costs for their own good, let us proceed to zero in on some of the best monitors available in the market that not only offer superior display quality, thereby imparting a pleasurable viewing experience, but are also manufactured using durable, long-lasting components, hence offering great value for one’s money.
Screen size up to 24 inches
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Screen size between 24 and 27 inches
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Screen size beyond 27 inches
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