LCD monitor recommendations?

[Daniel Pittman]

anthony baldwin <anthonybaldwin at optonline.net> writes:

> Is there anything I should know before purchasing a LCD monitor, such
> as, which drivers are already available, or, are there any brands for
> which a driver is troublesome, etc.?

>From a Linux / driver perspective, no.  

In terms of the raw hardware, three things:

Using an analog cable to connect an LCD is not great for quality[1]; look
for one with a DVI-D input as well to you can send direct digital data
to the hardware if/when your video card supports that.


A cheap LCD has a completely awful video scaler, and may even have
something crazy like a floating "change your resolution" message that
you *cannot* dismiss, when you use a non-optimal resolution.

Ensure you will be happy (and able) to drive the display at full native
resolution, since anything else will be wearyingly unpleasant.


Make sure you know what their dead and hot pixel policies are; nothing
is more annoying that a center screen hot pixel or three -- and no
recourse to replace the LCD.

Regards,
        Daniel

Footnotes: 
[1]  Data is converted to analog over the cable, then back to digital in
     the LCD monitor.  The less expensive the monitor the less good that
     second conversion is, leading to (minor, typically unseen) colour
     shifts.

     That can be a problem if you, for example, want to do colour
     managed photo work or something in future.

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