can you suggest me, a good monitor?

[Briana]

Hi All

As part of the population that sits in front of the monitor
for hours can you suggest me a good monitor model
that will not cause eye fatigue or irritation.

something with 1024x768 @ 85 Hz resolution.
completely flat (inner & outside).

Thanks.

[Andreas Masur]

[Moved thread]

[Gabriel Fleseriu]

Originally posted by Briana
Hi All

As part of the population that sits in front of the monitor
for hours can you suggest me a good monitor model
that will not cause eye fatigue or irritation.

something with 1024x768 @ 85 Hz resolution.
completely flat (inner & outside).

Thanks.

Flat monitors (I mean flat on the "outside", that is thin ones) mostly have TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screens. As opposed to CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube), TFTs have "inertia" -- it takes a, comparatively, long time for the pixels to black out. The effect is that, even at 60 Hz, a TFT monitor doesn't produce flicker - thus being more friendly to your eyes.

OTOH, TFT monitors are very bad in producing sharp images at non-native resolutions (as opposed to CRTs). That means, that if your TFT has, say, 1280x1024 pixels, then this is the only resolution that also has an acceptable sharp image. Of course, the monitor will work at 1024x768, but the image will be blurred.

Another thing to know is that in most countries (at least in Europe), the visible screen size of a 17" TFT is more or less as large as trhe visible screen size of a 19" CRT.

Finally, TFTs are more expensive than CRTs, but the latter are out-of-fashion; many stores don't sell them any more, or at least don't have them on stock -- you need to place an order.

[Andreas Masur]

Originally posted by Gabriel Fleseriu
OTOH, TFT monitors are very bad in producing sharp images at non-native resolutions (as opposed to CRTs). That means, that if your TFT has, say, 1280x1024 pixels, then this is the only resolution that also has an acceptable sharp image. Of course, the monitor will work at 1024x768, but the image will be blurred.

This depends on the way these 'unusual' resolutions are being displayed. Some TFT's enlarge the image to the full screen (interpolation), in this case you are right. Others simply leaves the resolution as it is, resulting in a big black border...

[John E]

It's a good job that you only want 1024 x 768, since even the largest TFT's haven't yet managed to crack a higher resolution - except on laptops for some reason. My Toshiba laptop has a 15 inch screen capable of 1600 x 1200 but I use it on 1280 x 1024 because the text is easier to read.

1024 x 768 doesn't offer you much real estate on the desktop. On my main machine I use a 21" Sony GDM-F500 which I use at 1792 x 1344. The picture is superb and I can easily run multiple apps and see them all at the same time.

Whatever monitor you go for though, ALWAYS see one in operation before you buy it. With TFT's, the main things to look out for are stuck pixels and bad viewing angles (i.e. the picture looks fine if you're straight in front of the monitor but it becomes uneven if you view it from the side, or above or below).

If you go for a CRT, look for uneven focus and poor linearity - especially so on a flat screen device. Make sure that vertical lines are vertical and horizontal lines are horizontal. With a flat screen CRT they tend to go banana shaped and out of focus at the screen edges.

[Andreas Masur]

Originally posted by John E
It's a good job that you only want 1024 x 768, since even the largest TFT's haven't yet managed to crack a higher resolution - except on laptops for some reason. My Toshiba laptop has a 15 inch screen capable of 1600 x 1200 but I use it on 1280 x 1024 because the text is easier to read.

??? Well...I cannot speak for England, but I doubt that you guys will be excluded from the TFT manufacturers delievery list...the standard 18"/19" TFT's come with the standard resolution of 1280x1024. Furthermore, the largest TFT's (20"/21") provides the UXGA resolution (1600x1200) by default...

[John E]

Originally posted by Andreas Masur
??? Well...I cannot speak for England

That's a good point Andreas. Admittedly, I was speaking from a UK perspective. There's been a major crisis over here with TFT's because UK stockists completely overestimated the demand. Then, a couple of the big name manufacturers decided on a "no returns" policy in the event of stuck pixels - arguing that stuck pixels were a "feature" of the technology and not a fault. This produced a much lower demand than expected and the shops are now full of low-res models that nobody wants. It might be completely different in other parts of the world though.

[Sam Hobbs]

It has been about 40 years since the solid-state technology (such as LCD?) was expected to replace vacuum-tube technology known as CRT displays and I have not kept current about other solid-state technologies. I assume TFT is also a solid-state technology.

Yes, the old-style CRT is finally being replaced and certainly there are many advantages of the new technology. I assume one way the new technology is easier on the eyes is that electrons are not being hurled through a vacuum in our direction.

On the subject of cost, I read somewhere that new factories are being built and therefore the newer monitors will soon have more competition, therefore more affordable.

[Yves M]

Originally posted by Andreas Masur
??? Well...I cannot speak for England, but I doubt that you guys will be excluded from the TFT manufacturers delievery list...the standard 18"/19" TFT's come with the standard resolution of 1280x1024. Furthermore, the largest TFT's (20"/21") provides the UXGA resolution (1600x1200) by default...

I have a 21 inch LCD and I'm VERY happy with it. The native resolution is 1600x1200, which is still a bit small, but it doesn't take a strain on the eyes, at least not by far as much as the same resolution on a cathode-ray monitor.

Fair enough, it was a bit expensive. But here in Spain, you can get 17 inch TFTs which are very reasonably priced and are very good for work.

The only (small) remining problem of most TFTs nowadays is that they are not quite suited for fast movement yet. This is a problem for some types of games (think Quake or UT) and watching movies. There are better models which handle this pretty much flawlessly, but others do display problems.