Flat Screen Monitor Recommendations

Discussion created by Steve Frank on Dec 30, 2007
Latest reply on Jan 2, 2008 by Gary Garrison

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I think I'm the last person on earth still using a CRT and want to upgrade to a flat panel monitor. Looks like there are lots of choices in the $3-500 range. What are the most important factors in selecting a monitor? Hi resolution? Refresh rate? I'm looking at maybe a 22 inch monitor. Any recommendations (or NOT recommendations) on brands etc? Running SW 08 on Window XP with a Fire GL video card. Also, will my rendering/rotation performance slow down with the new monitor? Would appreciate any helpful insight.

Steve F.

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Charles Culp Dec 31, 2007 1:08 AM
if you are looking solely for CAD, refresh rate isn't as big of a deal. that's really more important for viewing videos and video games. At work I get whatever IT buys from Dell. I did plenty of research 3 years ago and got a Samsung, and have gotten 2 more since then. The higher resolution should not make any difference for Solidworks models and their rendering performance.

That being said, most current monitors are damn good, even the cheaper ones. I find you will be most impressed with higher contrast ratios, and those with the proper color saturations. Newegg.com user recommendations are usually fairly correct.
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- Gary Garrison @ Charles Culp on Dec 31, 2007 1:12 PM
  I just picked up a LG 19" Widescreen (Model: L196WTQ-BF) at Best Buy for $199 (US). It's a bit smaller than some users would prefer, but I like it so far.
  
  It has the following specs:
  Screen Size19"
  Viewable Screen Size19"
  Maximum Resolution1440 x 900
  Aspect Ratio16:10
  Response Time2 ms
  Brightness300 cd/m²
  Ratio3000:1
  Flat DisplayYes
  TV TunerNo
  InputsD-sub, DVI-D with HDCP
  CompatibilityPC and Mac
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  - bob hern @ Gary Garrison on Dec 31, 2007 9:59 PM
    i use to be extremely anal about all the specs for certain items, especially displays. but now, even the cheap lcds look excellent, especially once home w/ nothing to compare to. one thing to note is that as far as i know, even response times don't have a standard, so different manf can be doing it different ways to get different results thus the reason some of the 2ms units and 8ms units look the same.
    
    at this point, unless you need a particular panel lcd for color accuracy, i would go to the store or even online and find one you like in your price range that has the inputs you need and be happy. the only thing i worry about anymore is dead pixel policy, which is what keeps me from buying an lcd online. i know the local stores around my like samsclub and costco don't care if you bring back and lcd for even 1 dead pixel.
    
    hope this helps
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    - Todd Engle @ bob hern on Jan 2, 2008 11:40 AM
      
      I went from a CRT that was pushing 1600x1400 resolution to a LCD that would only push 1400x900.
      
      It took me quite a while to get used to the shorter resolution (the 900).
      
      If I was buying a LCD for myself, I would want one that was at least 1200 tall.
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    - Gary Garrison @ bob hern on Jan 2, 2008 2:19 PM
      
      bob hern wrote:
      
      i use to be extremely anal about all the specs for certain items, especially displays. but now, even the cheap lcds look excellent, especially once home w/ nothing to compare to. one thing to note is that as far as i know, even response times don't have a standard, so different manf can be doing it different ways to get different results thus the reason some of the 2ms units and 8ms units look the same.
      
      A big reason they look the same in the store is that they are sharing the same source regardless of the native resolution of the monitor. At a local store I was shooing at, every monitor not connected to a standalone PC as a demo was showing the same slideshow. This caused some to look just fine, but others of different native resolution to look "blurry", when in actuality they would look great if connected to the a proper source.
      
      As stated previously, go online and read the customer reviews on places like Newegg, or CNet. These will most likely cover any issue/questions you may have.
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