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19 Inch Lcd Computer Monitors

LCD monitors are based on a white back light, that lights up three colors in each pixel: RED, GREEN and BLUE. With these colors liquid crystals (that can cover them up in different proportions independently) can generate any shade of any color, at least 16.7 million different colors.

The first wide spread LCD computer monitors were small, with only 14” and 15” diagonals and they supported 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 resolutions.

Although they looked very primitive, they were much better than CRTs from all points of view. They had Lower power consumption (under 50%), virtually no electromagnetic radiation, much clearer images and they took up far less space.

After a while 17” LCD monitors set the standard with their 1280 x 1024 resolution that was also adopted by 19” monitors. People who thought that 19” monitors are better later realized that they simply had bigger pixels, but the same amount as 17” models. These all had 4:3 aspect ratio until wide screen movies began to migrate towards PCs mostly on DVDs. 4:3 was no longer acceptable so they introduced a compromise aspect ratio between 16:9 and 4:3, the 16:10 that resulted in three wide spread resolutions: 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200.

19 inch LCD computer monitors became the standard desktop computers, because they were able to display both 4:3 and 16:9 format movies with some distortions or with black on the top and bottom for 16:9 movies or at the sides for 4:3 format images. Cheap 15.4” laptops had their own 16:10 standard resolution, 1280 x 800 was the commonly used resolution.

Today’s 19 inch LCD computer monitors adopted the 16:9 aspect ratio. Unfortunately this means a reduction of the display area to 1366 x 768 from 1440 x 900 and 1680 x 1050, that were previously used. The adoption of the 16:9 aspect ratio had a negative effect on bigger LCD monitors too, they all lost 120 horizontal lines, they have 1920 x 1080 pixels instead of 1920 x 1200.

The cheapest 19 inch LCD computer monitors available today have only analog VGA inputs, 8ms response time and are still based on fluorescent back lighting. Power consumption ranges from 30W to 54W, which is twice as big as the power consumption of LED-backlit monitors.

LED-backlit 19 inch LCD computer monitors cost about 20% more, but offer a unique, never before seen contrast ratio between 4,000,000:1 and 8,000,000:1. Thanks to this new technology true blacks are no longer made by only CRTs and some plasmas, LCDs are back in the race for the title with response times as low as 2ms (under 1ms on some models).

The viewing angle and the impact on the user’s health have also been improved by the LED back lighting technology.

In conclusion it’s highly recommended to upgrade any old monitors to LED-backlit LCDs. Although they are 20% more expensive than traditional LCDs, their benefits are simply overwhelming and in the long term you recover that 20% from the reduced electric bill and increased productivity.