If you read this article you won't have any difficulty replacing or buying your first time monitor. Do not let the salesman talk you in to his or her opinion as to what they think is the right one for you. First of all where ever you buy the monitor make sure that you can return it within a period of time in case you do not liked it.Also make sure that there is a good warranty, most are from one to three years

The right monitor for you will offer good image and clear type. The size of screen normally depends on how much stuff you want to be looking at all at one time. If your working with Photoshop there are many palettes that my be limited if your monitor is too small. Todays average CRT monitor start at a seventeen inches. This will give you a viewing area of sixteen inches. If you have the space and table depth you might want a nineteen inch monitor which will give you a viewing area of eighteen inches. CRTs are about three times cheaper than LCDs which are presently the new kid on the block. LCDs will offer you a flicker less picture, and it takes up less space, uses less energy and gives off less radiation. (I will talk more on them later)

If you want a monitor that you will be comfortable looking at for eight or more hours than look for a high end or professional series monitor. Most manufactures will offer different lines of monitor quality. From line to line the CRT cost average may vary within thirty dollars . So from their baseline to their professional line may cost you an extra hundred dollars. For sure your eyes will love you for it and you will enjoy your computer experience too. If you buy a LCD it is because of limited space and you have a lot of extra money to spend- that the general consensus.

The technology in a CRT monitor will give you a sharper image. Like most anything you get what you pay for. Also knowledge will be your key to getting the best monitor for the money that you want to spend

Your first concern should be size of viewing area. The more area there is the easier it is to read text and see graphics. Generally if a flat panel is advertised as a fifteen inch than that will also be the total viewing area. A fifteen inch flat panel screens is equivalent to a 15 inch viewing area. A fifteen inch FPS is equivalent to a CRT 17 inch monitor. The seventeen inch FPS is equivalent to a CRT 19 inch monitor. A noticeable difference with these screens are their size and weight. Normally their depth is no more than four inches. There will be a support of some kind to support the screen to a base. Most FPS are designed to sit on a flat surface such as a desk but a fold up base will allow it also to be mounted to a wall. The screen and assemble take up little space and weigh half as less of a CRT.

Pixels and resolution. One pixel is made up of a tiny cell which contains a thin layer of liquid crystal quarts (LCD). This quarts is stimulated by electricity to produce light. The light is what produces the one resolution of the screen. There are no options for setting the screen to different resolutions. What you see is what you will always see on that monitor every time it is turned on. Panel less than fifteen inches tend to have limited resolution and clarity.

Pixels per inch or the quality that you want your image and text to be. This is also understood as picture resolution and is measured  by a series of pixel on your monitor screen. Panels are made up of many pixels which work together to form an image or  the text that you can see. When you are presented with number like these:1024 x 768 this is pixel resolution. The more pixels the sharper your images and text will be on the screen, however this will add considerably to the total cost of the monitor.

How bright is bright enough? This is an important consideration. Screens are back lite which provide the illumination. The measurement is one unit of light this unit is called nits. Most panel screens have between 150  to 200 nits. More is better. The FPS uses a light which is rated for hours of life. A panel rated for 50,000 hours will give you many years of good service. The best test is to open up a word program and start typing. Check the text and view images for cleanness.

Hertz is not a big consideration. Flat panel screens are considered to be flicker free. In there design and the way they work flicker is less likely to cause any eye strain or fatigue. If hertz are included with specifications they are relating to the electrical out let that it will be getting its power from. People prone to having seizures are less likely to have one.

Next you may want to consider positioning. A flat monitor will cause less glare . Have a limited viewing angel of about 100 degrees, and should be viewed straight on. As you move off center the images will become distorted and washed out

FPS adjustment controls and what to look for. Most of to days panels have on screen controls or are digital. What this means is there are four physical buttons somewhere on the front of the panel. One button is for mode, another button is sub mode and the two buttons left are for changing value either up / high or down / low. So here is what you get: auto image adjustment | contrast | brightness | Horizontal size | Vertical size | Horizontal position | Vertical position | fine tune | sharpness, | color adjustment - 9300k, 6500k, and default 5400k | setup menu ( panel information like serial number, resolution back ground color and time out) | memory | recall | and languages.

Each manufacture has added a few more or a few less than what is here. In large these control allow you to adjust almost everything there is relating to the FPS/LCD that you are looking at.

Emissions are important to you cause radiation generally causes cancer and this is not something you want. The majority of panels are certified as low emissions which meet or exceed standards set by the Swedish. These panels must also have a MPRII certificate rating sticker on them or the newer certificate rating to look for is the TCO.

Power saving mode. Many panels come with software even though they are plug and play ready to go as soon as they are attached to your computer. This software detects when little or no power is required for it. When this happens for a period normally set by the user the unit will turn itself off or goes into a sleep or powdered down mode. This is to conserve energy and also will help increase the life of the light source. Did you know that the average life span of a FPS / LCD is about five years.

Conversion or VGA Many of the panels are imputed for an analog signal. So you can hook them up to a computer that may have once used a VGA CRT monitor. Some come with a converter such as Apples latest FPS/LCD screens. Ask before buying if you will need a converter for your type of purchase to your computer.

There will always be extras provided by the manufacture. You can buy them with built in speakers, or microphone or jacks for one. Jacks for external head phones or more speakers. Some allow for hooking extra USB. If you really needed this extra stuff than go for it, but generally I am looking just for a flat panel screen and that is it. You can buy that extra stuff if you need it later.

Making the connection is important too.  Something else you won't want to forget when make the final purchase is will it be used for a PC or Macintosh computer. The connectors are different on both machines and you may need an adapter. Or the power saving software may not work on your operating platform. You want to know these things before bring this thirty or fifty pound monitor home.

Bigger is better but always keep those specs in mind when your looking. Don't take some ones word that it is a great screen. Always see the screen before buying. Also make sure that it can be returned for a full refund if the screen is not meeting your requirements. Remember the screen will make or break your time of enjoyment on the computer so make sure it is what you like.

Pros

• Desk top space saver
• Good picture quality
• Good for reading text
• Less flicker
• Use less energy
• Are wall mounted
• A 15 inch can weigh under two pounds

Cons

• Are still rather costly for the technology
• Are harder to view at different angles
• Images or graphics maybe more blurred
• Works with only one resolution
• Has only one year or less warranty