I am looking for a new LCD monitor to buy. As I'm a writer and
journalist, I work mostly with text. I'd like to buy a great 17" LCD
monitor where text looks sharp and crispy; graphics are of secundary
importance. I heard about the new LCD monitors with a DVI input. My
question: what LCD should I look for? Does DVI make a great impact on
the quality of text on a LCD screen?

Hi brazilian-ga,

The main advantage of a DVI interface is the fact that the video data
produced in the graphics card can be transferred to the monitor in a
lossless digital format, while an analog connection performs a
digital-analog conversion on the graphics board and an analog-digital
conversion within the screen. The latter method introduces some signal
loss which may result in a less sharp image or pixel jitters. It's
important to note however that in order to use a DVI interface, you
need a graphics card with a DVI output connector. Such a connector is
usually found on most recent middle- and high-end video cards.

Personally, I've worked on many LCD screens, both with and without DVI
connections and I must say the difference in quality between both is
very slight. Nevertheless, it's still interesting to opt for a monitor
with a DVI connector (or both DVI and analog), as they don't cost much
more than analog-only monitors these days. A much more determining
factor is the 2D image quality produced by the graphics boards. The 2D
image quality of high-end video cards is usually noticably better than
that of lower end cards. Matrox cards for example produce an excellent
2D image, both in sharpness, contrast, color balance and saturation.
ATI is a close second and Nvidia boards usually come in third in this
category.

The LCDs screens themselves can also vary substantially in quality.
Look for displays that are uniformly bright, high-contrast and that
are viewable across a wide angle without falloff of brightness or
color distortion

When using an LCD monitor for text, use the native resolution and
refresh rate of the monitor, as this produces the best results.
Non-native resolutions are displayed by means of interpolation, which
often results in a degradded image.

Some other considerations when buying an lcd/tft monitor are the
brightness (should be better than 200 cd/mē), contrast ratio (better
than 300 : 1) and viewing angle (160 degrees or more).

Another important issue is the monitor's response time. Although the
response time is especially important when playing movies or games on
a tft monitor, it also has a great impact on the smoothness of text
scrolling. Ideally the response time should be around 25ms (or lower).

Listed below are some references to articles discussing the advantages
and disadvantages of LCD/TFT monitors and digital interfaces to set
you on your way. Before buying a specific monitor, it's always a good
idea to check the net for some reviews on that specific model.
Finally, it's good to know that most manufacturers only refund
defective monitors with a minimal amount of dead pixels. This amount
varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it's best to check for
this in the shop as dead pixels can be extremely distracting when
working on an LCD monitor.

Hope this helps,

rhansenne-ga.


Keywords:

"tft" "lcd" "2d image quality" "dvi"

References:

http://www.toms-hardware.ru/display/19990707/index.html
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,102513,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,102513,pg,2,00.asp
http://www.monitorsdirect.com/pdf/lcd_buy_guide.pdf

Very helpful comments.