Monitor Optimisation - Roareye Black

This is a CRT monitor, the old type monitors with the long backs to support the CRT tube. If you manage to find a brand new CRT monitor, you should get as good quality as you could expect out of this old style of monitor.

These old monitors are incapable of showing High Definition imagery and for art, this type of screen is good but not perfect. It is easier to see shades of different colours because the screen supports more of the colour spectrum than an LCD (Going to late 2008/early 2009 generation monitor resolution standards). However the brightness of the screen can make artwork easier to commit to for long periods of time, whereas alot of LCD screens are much darker and not as well lit. Better for the majority of visual art, but not so good for pixel art, as pixels are less defined.

This is an LCD monitor, the flatness of the monitor is the best visual indicater of this.
All LCD monitors are High Definition, meaning that the sharpness of the picture is better than a CRT monitor.

If you are looking to upgrade your monitor to an LCD, then there are several things that you want to look for.
First of all, you want to look for trustworthy monitor brands rather than anything with a big name on it. Sony monitors cost more and give less, what you want is a brand such as LG or Samsung. Of course, different monitors have different specs and a company that might be a rip off this year could be a bargain the next. So what should you look for when looking for a new monitor?

The main factor in screen quality is Contrast Ratio. Most stores should have these details, all LCDs have a contrast ratio of something to one, for example 300:1 or 3000:1. The best monitors have the highest ratio, so a 300:1 monitor is pretty poor whereas a 3000:1 monitor is vastly superior. As long as you look for the highest ratio, then you should get a much sharper monitor image.

Something that will help alot when doing precision artwork is brightness. Unfortunately LCD screens tend to be much darker than a standard CRT, and your work may suffer because of this. A higher contrast ratio will help but won't totally solve the problem. If you can, I'd suggest buying a monitor with a brighter backlight. The brightness of the baclight is indicated by it's CCD number. A 450CCD is a standard LCD backlight brightness, but really you want at least a 600-100CCD for the best image output. These will, however, take up alot more electrical power. Companies will advertise this on Laptops and PCs, and if in doubt all you need do is ask. Toshiba are a make I know to use brighter backlights in their monitors, however I'm sure other companies have monitors with this feature too.

This is a LCD Television, has in-built speakers, aerial analogue/digital tuner and multiple plugins at the back including Scart ports, Jack Ports, HDMI Ports, Coaxial Ports and most importantly, a VGA (Computer Monitor) port. For more information on getting the best quality from this type of screen, read through the LCD monitor explaination.

All LCD televisions are High Definition, HD being simply a flash marketing name for the standard picture definition of an LCD screen, and most LCD televisions are High Definition compatible. If you are running your PC through an LCD Television (Through a VGA/PC monitor port at the back) then it is also running the screen in High Definition, even if your television is not "High Definition Compatible". In this way, you can run any appliance in High Definition through any LCD screen as long as the screen has a PC port in the back and you have the relevant VGA cable.

However combining a PC monitor and a television can have some downsides. If you don't buy a more expensive model, then the High Definition quality will be less (Usually at 460i) and it won't have an enhanced backlight. More expensive models of LCD televisions might come with these improvements, however buying a good quality LCD TV is more expensive than buying a good quality LCD monitor, and unless you really need to conserve physical space in your room/house, you'd be better off keeping your TV and PC monitor seperate.