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by Tomas Hernandez, Jr.

Resolution and refresh rate

Sony’s 19-inch Trinitron CRT display, popular for general office work.

Two numbers you’ll need to know when buying a monitor are the resolution and the refresh rate. Resolution is the number of pixels spread across the display in the horizontal and vertical directions. The higher the resolution, the more detailed and crisp the information shown on screen. The refresh rate—a concern only for CRTs—is the number of times the screen is redrawn each second. Higher refresh rates mean less flicker on the screen, which translates into less eyestrain. It is possible to live with a refresh rate of 75 Hertz (Hz) for a 17-inch monitor with a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels, but for monitors 19 inches and larger, with a resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 or greater, a minimum of 85 Hz is recommended. Some graphics cards can push resolution even higher, but the improvement probably won’t be noticeable.

Dot pitch is the physical distance between phosphors on displays. The smaller the dot pitch, the sharper an image will be rendered on-screen. For designers viewing very thin lines and crisp, 24-bit photography, a dot pitch of 0.25 mm or less should be the bare minimum. Dot pitch is measured slightly differently on wide-body CRTs, flat-screen LCDs, and other display types, so check specs for comparative units of measure.

The newest monitors offer convenient additional ports for devices such as handheld organizers. They also offer speaker and microphone jacks. Some even offer additional jacks to connect more than one computer to a single monitor. Front-panel screen controls for brightness, contrast, and other settings also improve ease of use.

Enter the flat panels

NEC MultiSync LCD 2010, a flat-panel display.

Just a few years ago, a debate over the advantages of a standard wide-body CRT versus those of a flat-screen LCD would have been a short one. The selection of flat-panel displays was limited, the technology was shaky, and the prices prohibitive. Today, the flat-panel display’s main attributes are that it uses significantly less desktop space than a traditional CRT monitor and offers lower power consumption. An LCD can be mounted on a backboard to free an entire work surface. Like CRTs, many LCD displays offer USB ports for printers, scanners, and other peripherals.

Prices on flat-panel displays continue to drop. A 17-inch LCD can be purchased for as little as $800, while top-of-the-line, 20-inch units can go for as much as $5,000. An average-priced high-quality choice is ViewSonic’s 19-inch Viewpanel
VG 191, which lists for under $1,200. It comes with proprietary PerfectPortrait software, which lets you change the display to portrait mode, reducing the need to scroll through Web pages or desktop- published documents. Along with a sturdy base, a wall-mount kit and optional USB hub are available.

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