Monitors

Buying a monitor is as difficult as buying a computer. There are very many models on the market. And prices range from around a hundred CHF to several thousand.

As always, it all depends on what you want. For example, accurate graphics work or competitive gaming require advanced monitors that are more expensive.

The goal here is to provide some guidance and a few recommendations for a targeted audience. Namely parents looking to buy a monitor for their kids that is suitable for everyday use in general and the MakeFest courses in particular and otherwise as inexpensive as possible.

A word of warning: looking at features or technical specifications is not enough! One monitor can be very good while another monitor with the same specifications is terrible. What counts is the quality! And that can not be judged by looking at the specifications. It is even hard or impossible by looking at the monitor in the store. So we depend on good and independent tests, for example from prad.de.

In section Criteria you can find explanations of some important criteria to consider when buying a monitor. In section Recommendations you can find three specific models at different price points that would be suitable choices.

Recommendations

Criteria

Here are the criteria I recommend to consider:

• display size
• display resolution
• refresh rate
• connectivity (for both the computer and peripherals)
• mounting options (for a monitor arm)

There are many more criteria related to image quality like number of colors displayed, contrast, homogeneity of brightness and also related to usability, documentation, up-to-date drivers etc.

Display size and resolution

For a monitor, I recommend at a minimum a 24 inch display at a Full HD resolution.

Most modern applications work on a Full HD resolution. But one can be more productive with a higher resolution: text is easier to read and more elements can fit on the screen.

There are a few 24 inch displays with higher than Full HD resolution. They offer better readability but they are generally too small to fit much more detail.

So, for a higher resolution, I recommend buying a 27 inch display instead. The most relevant resolutions for 27 inch displays are QHD which is more affordable and 4K UHD which is more expensive. There are indeed 27 inch displays with Full HD resolution and these I do not recommend because the pixels are visible. So in short: 24 inch with Full HD and 27 inch with a higher resolution.

Refresh rate

The refresh rate indicates how many images per second the display can show. Low refresh rates can fatigue the eyes. There are displays that can only use a constant refresh rate. But interactive applications typically produce images at a variable rate. This leads to annoying visual artifacts on displays with fixed refresh rates. Therefore, it is preferable to buy a display with variable refresh rate. Unfortunately there are several different standards that influence the price. So the choice is not that easy.

Mounting option

I strongly recommend to use a monitor arm and not a stand. An arm is much better for achieving an ergonomic posture which is important for health and productivity. An arm also frees up space on the desk which again is very helpful for keeping a productive work environment.

To be able to attach the monitor to an arm, the monitor needs to have a standardized mounting solution, called VESA mount.

For monitor arms see here

Connectivity

Obviously, the monitor needs one or more ports to connect a computer. A budget monitor needs to have at least a DisplayPort and/or HDMI port.

Many modern monitors now offer a USB-C port that also delivers power over the same cable (USB power delivery). That way it is possible to connect a laptop to the display with a single cable for both power and data.

If the monitor and computer are connected via USB, it is very convenient to be able to connect peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, webcam and headset to the monitor. This requires a so-called USB-Hub on the monitor which offers a number of USB ports for the peripherals and also a connection to the computer.

With a USB-Hub, the monitor serves as a docking station, connecting the computer with all peripherals over a single cable.

This feature is not that important because almost the same effect can also be achieved with an external USB-Hub. But if the monitor budget allows, I recommend choosing a model with a USB-Hub with USB-C. It is less expensive than an external hub and it can simplify the setup and cable management considerably.