How to Choose the Best Computer Monitor

Because you may use your computer for several hours a day, it is important that you are comfortable with it and it meets your needs. When purchasing a new system, most people often think about hard drive size, memory, additional features, or battery life. One of the most important things to consider, however, is the one thing you will actually be looking at—the monitor. 

1. Determine what size monitor you want. If you have limited space, choose a small monitor that is preferably a flat screen. Older cathode ray tubes are big and bulky and can take up a lot of desk space. Larger flat screen monitors are a good choice if you want a large viewing surface for opening multiple windows on your desktop and don’t have much space.


2. Choose the type of screen you want your computer monitor to have. Cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma and organic light-emitting diode monitors are all options to consider. Cathode ray tube monitors are the least expensive but are bulky, can suffer from screen burn-ins, and have size restrictions (monitors can only be made 7 to 24 inches). Liquid crystal display monitors are very light, use little power, and can be almost any size, but have a limited viewing angle, can suffer from dead pixels, and have a fixed bit depth. Plasma monitors have high contrast ratios and good viewing angles but can be heavy, power consuming, and may have glares from the glass screen. Organic light-emitting diode monitors are very light weight and have good viewing angles but can have screen burn-ins and are also rather expensive.


3. Consider the resolution you want. 1650 x 1050 or greater should suffice for most uses, but 1920 x 1080 is ideal. 


4. Decide how much money you are willing to spend on your computer monitor. You can pick up a cathode ray tube monitor for virtually nothing, but these monitors are space consuming and large. A smaller liquid crystal display, plasma, or organic light-emitting diode monitor may be more convenient for you but will leave less in your wallet. 


5. Look at brands when you are shopping. Brands such as Acer, Sony, and Toshiba are well known and generally make higher quality products. If you have never heard of the brand, you probably shouldn’t purchase it.