How To Choose The Monitor Of Your Dreams

The choice of which monitor you use with your computer can determine your ability to work comfortably, enjoy high quality videos and efficiently manage multiple tasks at the same time. But oddly enough, most people will choose their computer's monitor based on what comes in a package deal, or choose the largest screen that they can get within their budget. While size does in fact matter, there are plenty of other factors to consider before purchasing the screen you'll be staring at for hours at a time.

Before you let the monster 32 inch screens seduce you, keep in mind that the screen will only be a few feet away from your face at the most. Make sure you have a big enough desk to handle that much viewing area without overwhelming your whole space.

Remember when you were always told not to sit too close to the TV or you would hurt your eyes? The same thing is true about a monitor that is too large and too close to your face. It can cause eye strain. If you're going to be using the monitor for work or surfing the net, you'll probably find that 21 to 29 inches is right where you want to be depending on the distance from your screen to your chair.

There are some other things that become more important when you enlarge the size of your screen. Resolution, meaning the amount of pixels on the screen, and pixel pitch, meaning the distance between pixels, are the biggest factors when it comes to image quality. Pixels are basically tiny boxes that change color in order to produce an image. The more pixels per square inch on the screen, the more crisp the image. A low resolution on a large screen will result in a bad picture. Smaller pixel pitch will give you a higher clarity

The graphics card inside your computer is going to determine the quality of information sent to your monitor and the speed that is is delivered. An old or low quality graphics card paired with a new top notch monitor will decrease the monitor's performance and also lower the clarity of the image that is produced on the screen. This means that most basic PC owners will not get the full value of a high end, large screen monitor unless they upgrade their computer's graphics card.

If you are upgrading your monitor but not your computer, make sure to check the connection ports on your graphics card. DVI used to be very common, but more monitors are dropping them to instead use HDMI connections instead. Both support the data transfer that is required for a high definition video, but DVI cables have pins that are prone to getting bent and require a separate cable for sound. HDMI cables do both audio and video together. DVI cables also lack support for HDCP encryption, which could limit your ability to watch any HD content at all, including blu-ray disks. You could get a DVI to HDMI converter, but that would make for a messier connection. It's best to just go with a monitor that has multiple connections.

DisplayPort connection are up and coming these days. They have a higher bandwidth, which means that they can transfer a larger amount of data at one time than DVI and HDMI. These may end up being the next big thing, but don't worry too much if your monitor of choice does not support that type of connection.

It is also important to consider a warranty when purchasing a new monitor. Most issues will either be apparent right away or surface within the first month or two of use. Make sure the monitor you choose has at least a 90 day money back guarantee, and/or a return policy that does not include restocking fees. Parts and labor should continue for another two to three years. Always make sure to read the warranty information to confirm that there is also coverage for defective pixels and backlight.

Just remember that not all monitors are made the same. Hopefully this helps you pair up with the screen of your dreams. I wish you a happy shopping experience.

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Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD Monitor

Everybody loves things that are big. Big cars, big houses, big t.v.'s and now it seems that the love for anything big is spilling over to the computer world. Until recently, monitors didn't come in very large sizes like t.v.'s or anything like that. The biggest one you could previously get waqs around 24 inches. But our insatiable desire for big has driven us to upgrade.

Now you can get a computer monitor in a 30 inch size! There are only a handful of vendors in the market supplying this monster monitor: Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and Samsung. Samsung has come out with the SyncMaster 305T LCD monitor that is, obviously, 30 inches. Now unlike other monitors, the SyncMaster does not come with a ton of feature sets. Included with the monitor you get one DVI ort, a USB 2.0 cable for the integrated hub, and an AC power cord.

The SyncMaster sports a 2,560x1,600 resolution but in order to view it like this you are going to need a high-end video card and a dual-link DVI cable because if you use a single-link cable then your video card will not support it thus making the highest resolution 1,920x1,440. If you like to tinker with the settings of your monitor then you will be sad to know that the only thing you can alter is the brightness. To adjust something like contrast, you must access the monitor's panel which is locked by Samsung. However, if you have a video card that has these abilities then you can adjust them from there.

The video connections for the Syncmaster are also limited. Other than the DVI port on the back left side of the monitor there are no other connection options. There are, on the other hand, four USB downstream ports and one USB upstream ports. As expected with such a big monitor it supports HDCP. A downer for this monitor is that it does not have any HDMI or component video connections which greatly limits the number of devices the screen can be connected to. You can extend the height of the screen 3" and can rotate it 30 degrees to the back and 60 degrees to the left and right by way of a lazy susan design.

The SyncMaster 305T is impressive no matter what you use it for. It plays blu-ray and regular DVD's with incredible clarity boasting a 999:1 contrast ratio. The monitor also works gretat for gaming. The picture is so clear its like you are there in the game. This 30 inch monitor is top of the line all around. While it could come with a few more features it is definatley one to look for if you are in the market. The Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30" LCD monitor comes under a price tag of around $1,330 but can normally be found cheaper online, but $1,330 is still a great deal compared to some of the other models out there so you can't go wrong with the SyncMaster 305T.