20-inch monitors galvanize games, do more windows
By Kim Komando
Gannett News Service
If you're shopping for a new monitor, don't discount large-screen 20-inch liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Prices have dropped considerably over the past six months and the benefits are many.
The screens are so large that you can work with multiple windows open. You can surf the Web on the right-hand side of the screen and type notes in Word on the left. Normally, you would switch between overlapping windows.
If you do any kind of image editing, large screens are heaven. Editing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, often have numerous toolboxes. Using more than a handful leaves little room to work on the actual image. A 20-inch display gives more than enough room.
The same goes for any kind of Web design or video editing. These processes can be done on smaller monitors but it's much easier with the extra screen real estate.
After working with the Dell 2001FP (www.dell.com), Sony SDM-S204 (www.sony.com) and ViewSonic VP201s (www.viewsonic.com) — all 20-inch LCD displays under $1,200 — I don't want to use anything else.
All three units produced clear images in a variety of tasks. They have an optimized resolution of 1,600-by-1,200 pixels. Word processing, digital photo editing and game playing are accomplished with equal clarity.
The Dell and ViewSonic models allow you to rotate your screen from a horizontal to vertical view. This might benefit businesses that want to use their monitor to display messages. It's also beneficial to people with poor eyesight. A maximized Word document can be displayed at 200 percent without scrolling back and forth.
These large-screen LCDs are good with moving images. Traditionally, video editing and game playing has been relegated to cathode ray tubes (CRTs). LCDs refreshed screens too slowly, causing blur. These LCDs did not show any blur, although they still don't refresh an image as quickly as a CRT.
The Dell and ViewSonic have a response time of 16 milliseconds. This will project an image at 60 frames per second — a sweet spot for gamers. Sony's monitor has a response time of 25 milliseconds. All three monitors displayed a demo of Quake III, a fast-paced action game, without any noticeable blurring or ghosting effects.
The Dell and ViewSonic units come with adjustable stands. This allows you to raise and lower the height of the monitor. The two also have built-in Universal Serial Bus hubs. You can plug in digital cameras and MP3 players without having to scramble under your desk looking for a USB port.
A 20-inch ViewSonic LCD with stand weighs 24.7 pounds and is 10.5 inches deep. A 20-inch viewable ViewSonic CRT weighs 77 pounds and is 20 inches deep.
Back in 1994, I paid $1,000 for a top-of-the-line 17-inch CRT monitor. Today, $1,000 will get you eight (or more) 17-inch CRT monitors, or a nice new 20-inch LCD.
Ted Rybka contributed to this report. Kim Komando hosts a national talk radio show about computers and the Internet. Reach her at www.komando.com/findkimonair.asp.
