[vox-tech] Buying an LCD screen

[Richard Harke]

I bought an LCD monitor a couple of months ago, an HP w2207.
If I remember right it was around $350. at Frys. I have been very happy
with it. But I don't remember the contrast that they claimed. I went back to
the spec sheet and I can't even find it mentioned. My memory is fuzzy
but i think it was 1000. I believe the contrast for CRT's is normally
taken to be around 500 so that might serve as a minimum for
pure text work. I also under stand the contrast number tends not to be
very precise and subject to a lot of hype.
But be sure to check out the sharpness. When I was in the store it
seemed like several monitors were showing text rather poorly. The salesman
claimed it was because they had several running in parallel on a common feed
but salesmen have been known to fudge. I am very happy with the sharpness
of this monitor as most of my usage is text.

Richard
 
On Wed July 25 2007 10:23, Ken Bloom wrote:
> I'm looking at buying a new LCD monitor for my compuer. Looking at the
> various monitors, I noticed a number that they were reporting about
> each monitor: the contrast ratio. How does the contrast ratio affect my
> life as a programmer? Is this something where higher is better in terms
> of eye strain, or is it something that only graphic designers need to
> be concerned about? If I need to be concerned about it, is there a
> minimum that I should be looking for?
>
> Thanks
> --Ken