Technology and ergonomics: Think long term when buying displays

By Andreas Thieme Sep 19, 2010, 12:14 GMT

Frankfurt - Displays are getting progressively better and more snazzy - and cheaper as well. Users are ultimately the big winners from this trend. The biggest problem facing buyers is probably trying to sort through the enormous selection to find the right display for your own personal needs.

The good news: you'd be hard pressed to make a bad choice right now when it comes to new computer monitors. Even so, finding the perfect unit means taking several points into consideration before making a purchase. Displays are typically used much longer than the desktop or laptop to which they're connected. Users are therefore well advised to think about the long term, not just their current needs, recommends Markus Schuetz from PC maker Dell.

The intended use of the monitor is the decisive factor. That means thinking through carefully before the purchase whether the device will be used for games, photo editing, video editing, and desktop publishing or simply to surf the web and use office applications. Characteristics like size, resolution, and colour range will then reflect those needs.

Classic 22-inch devices are perfect all-rounders, says Robert Kraft from the computer portal chip.de. Twenty-four-inch screens offer a higher resolution and thus are well suited for games and any and all office tasks. Film fans can feed their passion with bigger displays: 27-inch TFT monitors with a 68 cm diagonal can produce an intensive cinematic experience in full HD resolution.

Gamers seek out monitors with short reaction times, Schuetz notes. This ensures that fast-moving scenes with quick image changes don't leave trails behind on the screen. 'For photo or video editing, by contrast, it's all about a big image area and the highest possible resolution for comfortable and above all else precise work,' the computer expert explains.

Another factor is the available ports on the display, since they dictate how many and what kind of digital devices like webcams, camcorders, gaming consoles, media players and external TV tuners can connect to the monitor.

'High quality digital connections include DVI, HDMI, or the new display port standard,' explains Schuetz. For users with older devices and video cameras, analog connections like VGA, Composite and S-VHS are needed.

Upper-end models also include USB ports, webcams, or card readers for storage cards of all types, ready to be read out directly in the display. Another feature of potential interest is Picture-in-Picture (PiP), which allows for a text document to be edited while a separate window - perhaps a sports match - runs in the corner of the screen through a connected TV receiver.

Computer owners who need the monitor just for surfing the web, handling office tasks and photo editing really don't require all of the bells and whistles. 'There are good entry level models for as little at 160 dollars,' Kraft says. For that price, you can expect a respectable Full-HD format resolution, but not outstanding image quality.

The price/performance ratio is very good in that range, Kraft says. Users should therefore pay more attention to how well the monitor can connect to peripherals and whether the monitor supports the HDCP protocol for digital image and sound transmission.

Those working with tight budgets have good prospects as well. As little as 100 dollars will get you the G922HDL TFT monitor from BenQ, praised as best in its size in a recent comparative test in PC Games Magazine. The best devices in the entry level start at around 200 dollars, Kraft says. Those displays offer a DVI port and improved contrast.

The performance jump is nevertheless massive for devices starting at 300 dollars, which are intended for watching Blu-Ray content. For that price, the user can get a fast screen with reaction times of two to three milliseconds (ms), with the displays in many cases already equipped with internet loudspeakers.

Buyers should consider more than just a monitor's technical prowess. Its ergonomics are also a key factor to preventing exhaustion and poor posture. The selection of a monitor size should be made with a consideration of how far away from the monitor you'll be sitting and how many hours of use it will see each day, says Dell's Schuetz.