Three Tips to Remember when Buying a New Computer Monitor

If you have ever owned a computer for longer than two years you have probably found yourself in my position. The family computer monitor just stopped working, and I was left searching for a replacement. Rather than just get the exact same monitor, I decided to see what options were available for upgrades. Here are three things to consider when deciding what monitor to purchase.

What Does LED and LCD Mean?

There are two main types of monitors on the market at this time. Light Emitting Diode, or "LED", and Liquid Crystal Display, or "LCD." The old monitor type was a Cathode Ray Tube, or "CRT" monitor, but those are so outdated, I wouldn't consider them at all. As it pertains to LED monitors, not to be confused with LED televisions, they are operated by a backlight display that consists of millions of LED lights. They are light and in some cases can be hung on a wall similar to flat screen televisions. LCD monitors use an active crystal system to display virtually any image. Both types are excellent choices for your upgraded computer monitor and both can be purchased with displays supporting high definition video content.

Make Sure To Know What Your Current Video Card Will Support

Whether you are upgrading or replacing your monitor, it is important to know exactly what graphics are supported by your video card. It is possible to find this out on your Windows based computers by clicking the following sequence: Start '" Control Panel '" Appearance and Themes '" Display '" Settings (tab). Once here you can click on the drop down menu under "Color Quality" and also move the slider under screen resolution to see the maximum your video card will put out. Unless you are planning to upgrade your video card also, it does no good to buy an HD capable monitor if your video card will only display a resolution of 1024 by 768. Also, there is nothing more frustrating that getting home with your new monitor only to realize that it did not come with a video cable, or that the cable you bought is the wrong one. The standard for many years has been a VGA cable that has pins that fit into one specific plug on the back of the computer. Newer monitors use DVI-D cables and also some monitors have direct HDMI cable capability. Make sure to know what type of connection you need so installation goes smoothly.

Operating Life And Power Consumption

Upgrading your old CRT style monitor to an LED or LCD monitor will inevitably save you money every month. A study by CNET found that "the annual costs for the CRT are 63 percent higher than the 20-inch wide-screen," LCD monitor. Since most monitors are only rated for a two year operating life, it is important to find out just how long the operational life of your upgraded monitor will be. Some LED monitors have operating life is in excess of 100,000 hours, while some LCD monitors have an operational life of approximately 80,000 hours.

Keeping these three things in mind when you head out to your electronics retailer can save you some money and also keep you from over-buying something that your computer can't support or you just don't need.

Sources:

lumex.com

cnet.com