REMEMBER paying $1,200 for my very first LCD monitor about a decade ago. It was tiny at 15inches, had crappy resolution, the brand was almost unknown (DMC) and it was the cheapest of the lot.
Today, you can get bigger monitors from top brands for about a fraction of what I paid. Say $300 for a 22-inch model and $500 for a 24-inch one.
The sweet spot, I would say is 24 inches. Yes, these are slightly costlier but you get full HD 1,920x1,080 resolution - great for playing games and watching high-definition (HD) movies.
Chances are a 24-inch monitor also has an HDMI port which lets you connect your Blu-ray player, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 console to it. That way, you can toggle between doing work on your PC and monster hunting in HD on the same screen.
At 24 inches, you can also view two pages side-by-side comfortably. I find 24 inches to be the maximum size for close-up viewing of the entire screen. Anything larger and I find it uncomfortable and end up turning my head from left to right to read the entire screen. .
Anything larger than 24 inches is too expensive now. That is why the 24-inch monitor is my sweet spot for your money.
At 24 inches, you should not settle for anything less than 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. The good news - I have not seen anything less in any of the models I tested.
Pixel refresh rate
A low pixel refresh rate or response time ensures smoother video playback and gaming experience. Do not settle for anything more than 6ms. The Acer P244W has an impressive 2ms.
VGA, DVI and HDMI ports
Your monitor must have at least one analog VGA and one digital DVI port so that all laptops and PCs can output to the screen. I would also strongly recommend one with HDMI even if you do not have a game console or Blu-ray player for future proofing.
Make sure your monitor is able to toggle between the different input sources so you can connect multiple devices to the screen at the same time. Three of the monitors tested - the HP w2448hc, Dell S2409W and Samsung T240 - came with all three ports. The other three had only VGA and DVI.
HDCP compliant
HDCP stands for 'high-bandwidth digital content protection' and you need an HDCP-compliant monitor to ensure you do not get your resolution automatically lowered when viewing high-definition movies which are HDCP-enabled.
Dead pixel policy
Those coloured or black pixels on your screen that never go away are dead or defective pixels that are an eyesore.
The problem is some panels come with these defective pixels and every vendor has a different dead pixel return policy for different models. The typical policy is fixed at five pixels, meaning you can exchange for a new screen if there are more than five dead pixels. Frankly, I think one pixel is already one too many.
Brightness and contrast ratio
Go for at least 300 cd/m2 brightness and 1,000:1 contrast ratio. Some units have 'dynamic' contrast ratios which hit five figures. Make sure you are comparing apples with apples, ask for the native or static contrast ratio numbers.
It is always best to actually ask the salesman to power-up the unit you are buying to check for image quality and to make sure there are no dead pixels.
Tested products
All of the monitors I tested offered clear and sharp image quality and resolution to the naked eye.
The Dell S2409W offered the best value for money for having the lowest price of the six with decent specs but, more importantly, an HDMI port at the low price point.
The Acer P244W and Philips 240SW9FB come close to Dell's price range but both lack HDMI connectivity. The Samsung Syncmaster T240 stood out for its beautiful rose-red bezel design, HDMI port plus a two-port USB hub, which means you can plug in USB devices like an external hard-disk drive or a camcorder into the monitor, as if you were connecting them to your PC.
The HP w2448hc was clearly the king of features with HDMI port, a three-port USB hub, built-in stereo speakers, webcam and microphone. It has a space between the monitor screen and base to park your keyboard.
Most monitors can tilt the screen towards or away from you. Some can also swivel from side to side but only the HP and the Philips 240SW9EB monitors offer height adjustment and allow you to pivot the screen 90 deg (so you can view in both portrait and landscape modes).
The HP screen also uses Brightview tech which improves image brightness but suffers from reflections, when placed near a window with sunlight coming in.
The Philips 240PW9EB was the most expensive but stood out for having the best image quality and viewing angles. That is because its panel is made with something called in-plane switching (IPS) technology compared to a more common know-how called twisted nematic technology.
IPS panels traditionally offered better images but suffered from high pixel refresh rates. But newer IPS tech has solved the problem and this monitor performed well in games with its 5ms refresh.
The Philips 240PW9EB is also the only monitor here with the wider 102 per cent colour gamut, which means it can display more colours than other typical monitors. Too bad it lacks an HDMI port.
ginlee@sph.com.sg
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 5 November 2008.
