HD versus Regular LCD Monitor

[Marty1976]

Hi,

My question is about the difference between an HD LCD or LED PC Monitor and a Regular LCD PC Monitor. I know for a fact LED visuals are superior to the LCD, but what I'm trying get to for an answer is; why the industry will advertise on some of the PC monitors "FULL HD" and others not? Is there an actual difference? I thought all PC monitors; well at least all LCD PC monitors were HD capable? Was I wrong to think this? Please help, since I in the process to buy a new screen and I really don't want to be the poor sucker who gets tied in with all the nice bells and whistles at the store!

Thank you!
Marty, Ottawa, ON, Canada

 

[jaguarskx]

1. "LED Monitors" are simply regular LCD monitors with LED backlight instead of traditional florescent backlight. There is nothing really superior about LED backlight unless you are concerned with power consumption. I think LED backlight consumes about 1/3 the power of normal florescent backlight.

2. It is the panel technology that actual determines the quality of images and videos on the screen. Most monitors use TN panel tech because it is inexpensive to produce, but they have the narrowest viewing angle and you may sometimes have color banding issues or other visual artifacts. S-PVA and P-MVA panel techs are more expensive to manufacture, but generally have no color issues and wider viewing angles. IPS panels are generally the best when it comes to image quality, but generally rank amongst the most expensive of monitors. You will only TN panel monitor sold in a walk-in store, unless it is a high electronic store and they might only have a handful of non-TN panel monitors.

3. "Full HD" generally refers to 1920 x 1080 resolution monitors. Monitors with 1920 x 1200 resolution can be set to display 1920 x 1080, but are not known as "Full HD" monitors because of the higher resolution.

4. Not all monitors can display 1920 x 1080 resolution (or higher), therefore not all monitors are considered "HD capable". Lower resolution monitors can be used to watch HD movies/videos, but because the have lower resolution, the video's resolution must be shrunk down to fit the screen.