What to look for in a monitor?

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right i'm looking for a new monitor. what makes a good monitor basically?

i understand the contrast ratio is mostly garbage, also viewing angle is irrelevent when your always looking at 180 degree's.

how do we define a good monitor?

oviously using LED backlighting and 120 HZ is very controversal so i'll make that decision on my own, what about the other stuff.
 
good colours and colour accuracy, ideally under Average dE 2 with factory settings

generally at least 2MP and a good pixel density

W-CCFL or W-LED or RGB LED backlighting

if it has DCR the transitions should be as quick as possible
 
ok after doing my research. i find that LED is slightly better but theres nothing wrong with getting an LCD backlight instead. 120 HZ is useless for gaming unless you can achieve that ~120 fps which in most recent games, my rig can't handle it.


hw91? erm... i don't really know much about monitors. how do we find out these specs?

i'm upgrading from a t220.
 
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Are you sure you read what I linked to? I don't like copying things directly but you seem a little confused by the concept of LED backlighting (it is just a light - it doesn't replace LCD) -

"LED backlighting - to keep costs down and keep with the pleasing thin aesthetic LED backlighting is mainly a case of a border of white LEDs around the bezel of the monitor (often restricted to the top and bottom). They are somewhat more energy-efficient than the usual CCFL bulbs and the precision with which they can be controlled is what gives those insanely high dynamic contrast ratios. All this means is that you can enable the dynamic contrast mode and the backlight intensity will vary depending on the levels of 'light' and 'dark' colour on the screen. This is distracting at best and infuriating at worst and is best left off; LED backlighting has very little effect on static contrast (the important figure to consider) and is a nice feature to have but shouldn't be a top priority."

It isn't a case of LED vs. LCD. For further clarification - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=17625040&postcount=3

The backlight types you will consider are CCFL and LED. You can get wide-gamut variations that increase the range of colours that a display can output (W-CCFL and coloured LED backlighting) but they are only currently used in more expensive monitors.
 
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how do we find out these specs?
Some of the specs will be listed on the manufacturer's website (which usually exaggerate/lie anyway), however the rest (and true values) can only be found with good reviews, which unfortunately is becoming harder and harder to find.

It seems there's just too many monitors being released for the decent websites such as TFTCentral to make competent reviews on all of them. This means you're stuck with reading customer comments and feedback who usually don't mention things like the Delta-E value.
 
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Are you sure you read what I linked to?
The backlight types you will consider are CCFL and LED. You can get wide-gamut variations that increase the range of colours that a display can output (W-CCFL and coloured LED backlighting) but they are only currently used in more expensive monitors.


Sorry my mistake, i read what it said but just remembered it wrong. i meant as what LCD labelled screens use as a backlight.

ok so its CCfl or LED for backlighting. when i go into curry's or pc world, the LED labelled TV's have really nice colours, is this the same for monitors.
 
when i go into curry's or pc world, the LED labelled TV's have really nice colours, is this the same for monitors.
I'm just going to quote PCM2, if he doesn't mind, as it seems you're not reading what he's linking:

At this moment in time 'LED' simply refers to the backlighting of a monitor. The main advantages of this includes decreased power consumption and allowing the screen to be thinner and lighter which is good if you need to port it about a lot or you want to say "look how thin my monitor is!" to all of your mates. In terms of image quality it makes very little difference, despite what the marketing spiel may want you to think. The black level , for example, is only deeper under the fairly impractical 'dynamic contrast' mode. For all intents and purposes using edge-lit WLED backlighting has very little effect on the black level. The 'temperature' and low-flicker nature of LED backlights can also improve the appearance of whites and light colours - but an overall high luminance CCFL-backlit display can also impress in this regard. The basic advice I would give is that although LED backlighting is desirable, the actual effect on image quality is very minor and you should certainly not add much weight to this 'feature' when deciding on a monitor.
The type of panel the monitor uses will matter more than the type of back lighting, for image quality, colour and responsiveness. LED and CCFL lit displays are by in large about even if they're configured right.
 
I will point out that, as far as TVs go, most of the manufacturers are using LED backlighting in their top-end screens. So yes, when you're in curry's you will notice that the TVs with LED baclights tend to have the better colours, but this is more because they are using the high-end panels, rather than because of the LED backlight technology itself. The same isn't neccesarily true with PC monitors. Very few of the high-end IPS panels use LED backlights, even though they are the screens with 'the best colours' and viewing angles etc.
 
thanks duff man. yes cracker, i've read his post and the website many times, its all good that they say it won't make a difference but in Tv's it does look better so it still begs the question until dufman solved it.
 
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