I had been salivating for about an year, desperately wanting a LCD monitor for my computer but the prices were crazy so I decided to wait a while. A couple of months ago while I was in Dubai I decided to buy a LCD monitor because the prices had dropped by then. I went in search of a 17’’ monitor but ended up buying a 19’’ screen. This was because, for the money I spent in Dubai for 19’’, I was getting 17’’ in India. And as we all know...size DOES matter....at least in monitors!

I did some research before I bought this monitor which I would be delighted to share.

So why did I want a LCD in the first place? The advantages are many - easier to move around/clean as they are thinner, lighter and take up much less space, less eye fatigue, more energy efficient than a CRT (less power consumption) and of course LCD screens look good.

The first thing I thought about was the price obviously. I didn’t want a very expensive model but I wasn’t going to buy a ’’no-name’’ brand either. Then came the size - I was using a 17’’ Samsung monitor so I7’’ was good for me. During my browsing, I saw how beautiful things look on a 19’’ screen and after comparing the price with India, I went in for a bigger screen. The next thing on my list was the response time. I wanted a fast response time (8-12 ms) so that when I played games, the image didn’t ’’ghost’’ (motion blur). My Benq screen has a response time of 8 ms and I have not seen any blurring at all. I was also careful of the ’’dead pixel’’ policy of the maker. You see, LCD screens are notorious for dead pixels - even one dead pixel in the middle of your screen can ruin your LCD experience. Before you buy your LCD, get the salesperson to display a full white image on screen first followed by a full black image (easily done in Microsoft Paint) so you can weed out dead pixels. Check the dead pixel policy of the company. If you do find dead pixels in the warranty

A couple of things to remember about a LCD screen - it has a field of vision restriction which means that you have to sit directly in front of them to get a good view. The better the product, the larger will be the field of vision and there will not be a darkening of the screen from a ’’not in front’’ position. All LCD monitors have, what is known as, a ’’native resolution’’ which essentially means that they give their best performance at that resolution. For example, my 19’’ monitor has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 (SXGA). Any other resolution looks washed out and blurry. Choose your resolution depending on the size of the screen you buy. For me the best resolutions are as follows: 15’’ - 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768; 17’’ - 1024 x 768; 19’’ - 1280 x 1024. Physically try out various resolutions before you buy the screen - maybe the salesperson won’t have a clue about the native resolution.

Game enthusiasts and DTP people will still prefer the CRT screen as they can buy bigger screens for the money they spend on LCD screens. In addition, the colours are brighter and there is no motion blur on CRT screens (provided you have a good video card). If you have space limitations or work extensively with ’’words’’ - word processing, Internet browsing etc, go in for a LCD monitor, provided of course you can afford it. Some LCD monitors come with speakers which makes them perfect for offices. But serious music lovers and game enthusiasts will hate the tinny sound.

I am very happy with my Benq FP91G screen and would recommend it without hesitation. Other companies like Acer/Samsung/Viewsonic make LCD screens which are equally good but prices differ. So sniff around a little before you splurge.

I am a Merchant Navy officer living in Mumbai. When I am not sailing the high seas, I enjoy surfing the net, playing computer games, swimming, listening to music and reading books.

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