A Guide to Choosing the Right 19" LCD Monitor - 7 Models Reviewed
by Kristopher Kubicki on November 30, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Buying an LCD
For all the wisdom that we can give you about how to spec out a monitor correctly, all of that is worthless if the monitor doesn't fit your personality. Unlike a video card or CPU, buying a monitor is a very personal experience. People have differences on how they angle the monitor, the level of ambient lighting, and some just have different design tastes than others. If one monitor specs out better than another, but looks hideous on your desk, it probably isn't worth buying.Aesthetics aside, there are some key pointers to follow when buying an LCD. This may just be personal preference, but we always recommend buying an LCD from a retail shop. Since LCDs are such personal items - most likely the most personal computer-related item that you can buy - looking at it, touching it and just seeing it in person is something that can't be replaced by an online experience.
Keep in mind, when you go to a Best Buy or Fry's, the LCD monitors on display are out of calibration, physically dirty and probably receive a terrible signal from some sort of modulator that has been on for 5 years. There are very few exceptions where a floor model display will look better in the store than in an office or home.
Issues like warranty and pixel defect rate used to plague LCD buyers in the past, but quality control on most well recognized branded monitors today are high enough that we rarely experience these problems anymore. The most recent issues of defective pixels are usually limited to a few models like the recent debacle with Apple's cinematic displays. Almost every retail store has policies on LCD monitors that allow you to open the monitor packaging and view the monitor in the store before you take it home, and most retailers will replace LCDs that have dead or stuck subpixels, if you haven't take it out of the store yet.
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Cat - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
Kristopher, could you comment on the perceived lag that I've felt on three different 2001FPs? There's no ghosting, but the delay between moving the mouse and having an update on the screen is horrible. DVI-I and D-SUB, different video cards, systems, the works, they all have it.I don't see this on the other LCDs here at work. I know there was a Slashdot post about this a while back, and some have said it's caused by bad batches, but three of them having the same problem? I don't know if I should send my personal 2001FP back ...
InuYasha - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
>Umm, yeah what up with that? Why can't someone >explain the reason to get a 19" versus a 17" if >the resolution is the same (ignoring that the >dot pitch is bigger thus easier to see).It's the same friggin reason why people buy a 50" TV instead of a small 20"
InuYasha - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
>"Recall that 19" LCDs have roughly the same >viewing area as 21" CRT monitors, and that 17" >LCDs have about the same viewing ANGLE as 19" >CRTs.">angle = area in this case?
>Some stories get edited well on anandtech, and >some not so well...
a 19" LCD is measured EXACTLY 19"image display size, but a 19" CRT is usually like 18" or 17.x", the 19" is usally the glass size, not the actual image size for CRTs
sonicDivx - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
Umm, yeah what up with that? Why can't someone explain the reason to get a 19" versus a 17" if the resolution is the same (ignoring that the dot pitch is bigger thus easier to see).Also why not list the settings you used for each monitor to attain the results you got (during subjective tests). This way we could set the LCD to your spec and go from there. Where is the Samsung 912N in review, its a common LCD out there?
>HelToupee
>viewing ANGLE as 19" CRTs."
>
>angle = area in this case?
HelToupee - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
In the second paragraph on the first page:"Recall that 19" LCDs have roughly the same viewing area as 21" CRT monitors, and that 17" LCDs have about the same viewing ANGLE as 19" CRTs."
angle = area in this case?
Some stories get edited well on anandtech, and some not so well...
IHYLN - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
I'm no english major but "more are better" "less are better" in some of the graphs made me wonder.nastyemu25 - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
I agree, let's see a Sony HS-94P/B with x-black technology review!ocyl - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
Should have dropped Benq's colour scores to 2 (or 1, even) for its decision to use a 6-bit panel instead of a True Colour (8-bit) one :PFilibuster - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
>I think there have to be gamers here, and I do not think LCDs are there yet when it comes to refresh rates; it would have been nice to see the refresh rates on the monitors at 1024, 1280, and 1600.LCD displays don't have a refresh rate at any resolution. There is no flicker to be worried about.
Ensign - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
In the Intro, it says, "A reasonably cheap, new 21" CRT runs for about $350; a reasonably cheap, new 21" LCD runs for about $330." I'm guessing that was supposed to say 17" or 19" LCD?