SPECIFICATIONS DEMYSTIFIED

Panel Size

This is the visible diagonal of the screen, measured in inches. Screens are built to different aspect ratios, so this can be a little misleading at times, especially when you’re looking at some of the superwide panels. This specification needs to be considered in tandem with the resolution to make real sense of what’s being offered. For a curved screen, we quote the monitor curvature, with the number before the “R” being the radius of the curve in millimeters.

Native Resolution

The number of horizontal and vertical pixels present on the screen.

Pixel Density

Take the native resolution and divide by the physical panel size to get the pixel density, measured in pixels per inch (ppi)—or dots per inch (dpi). Modern screens have crazy pixel densities, although for most desktop panels, you’re looking at something between 100 and 160 ppi. Generally speaking, the higher the better, although you can get to a stage where it’s difficult to see what you’re actually doing—the Dell P2415Q was a 24-inch panel with a native 4K resolution (185 ppi) that was just a bit too small to be useful.

Panel Type

There are three main panel types in modern screens: TN (twisted nematic), IPS (in-plane switching), and VA (vertical alignment). There are many variations on these that try to offset some of the problems associated with them, such as MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment), which offers improved response times over VA, but the base concepts are the same.

Maximum Refresh

The refresh rate is the number of times the display updates per second, measured in hertz (Hz). Low refresh rates equate to flickering, while the norm for LCDs has been 60Hz for generations. There’s been a push for higher refresh rates, as that produces a smoother experience; 100Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz are now fairly commonplace.

Response Time

The amount of time it takes a pixel to change, measured in milliseconds (ms). This tends to be from one gray state to another gray, referred to as gray-to-gray. There is no industry standard when it comes to the measurement of response times, which means that you can often take these figures with a pinch of salt. Slower response times create blurring, so lower numbers are better.

Contrast

The ratio between the lightest color (white) displayable by the screen compared to the darkest color (black). Modern displays offer dynamic contrast ratios, which means that there is more granularity in particularly bright or dark scenes. Again, there is no industry standard for measuring this.

Display Inputs

For your display to be useful, you need to be able to connect it to your PC. There are numerous connection standards related to doing this, plenty of which are now defunct, but generally you’re looking at DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C, and mini DisplayPort for modern screens.

Connectivity

In many situations, the monitor can be the main focus for your computing use, so having USB ports on the screen makes sense. Indeed, as we move over to more displays supporting USB-C inputs, we are starting to see screens with integrated hubs offering RJ45 networking ports as well—great for plugging your laptop into.

VESA Mount

Most display stands offer height and tilt adjustment, but if you want to take full control of your screen, it’s worth keeping an eye out for VESA mounting. The VESA Mounting Interface Standard (MIS) supports a range of mounting options, depending on the size and weight of the screen. Most monitors adhere to the 100 x 100mm standard.