
Discover the Best Monitor for Your Needs
Nowadays, everyone uses computers, some only for office work or graphic design tasks, others use computers in their spare time: for multimedia (watching movies) or gaming activities for instance.
A monitor is effectively the user’s window to view the computer world; you may wonder “is it necessary to have a good monitor”? The answer to this question is simple: it depends what you use it for.
Let’s look into the history of monitor technology.
If you are using a computer just for basic office work, you may not be so interested but after reading this article, and weighing up the time spent using the monitor, you may decide that spending money on a good quality monitor is a good investment.
Back in the 90’s, monitor technology was based on CRT (Cathode-Ray tube) and this was the technology that all monitors were using, and generally the sizes ranged between approximately 13” – 19”.
The next generation of monitors used TFT LCD (Thin-Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) technology. This generation is still being used today; you can find them in electronics shops that specialise in display technology.
The next generation are LED monitors (Light Emitting Diode). These are the latest design and use the most up-to-date technology to convey crisp and clear image resolution.
Now let’s see each category from a best use perspective:
- Basic Computing: typically monitors are used for office only work and users that only need the computer for non-high performance programs. The monitor size required for this type of tasks is typically around 22”, HD ready or even Full HD in some cases.
- Home, multiuse etc.: this category of users has a computer for daily activities like streaming music and movies, sharing photos videoconferencing etc. This is where an LED monitor with 24”-27” size would be great for this category.
- Multimedia: Photographers, Graphic Designers, Video Production Artists and other multimedia professionals need a monitor designed for content creation. This means a larger screen with at least Full HD or Quad HD resolution for increased screen space and highly detailed images. If you’re editing movies and videos, look for a monitor with a response time of 5ms or less, you might also consider getting an adjustable stand or dual-display mount for easy viewing.
- Gaming: I personally love this category; gamers need a monitor that can keep up with the speed of the latest games. I recommend at least Full HD with a response time of 5ms or faster, a refresh rate at least 60Hz and a sufficient display should be 24” – 27” in size.