If you currently are using a 19 inch CRT monitor and wish to replace it with an LCD, are you looking for bigger or the same size? If you want something equivalent to the 19 inch CRT you might want to actually look at a 17 inch LCD monitor. Why? CRT and LCD monitors are measured differently. CRT monitors are measured by the size of the tube diagonally and much of that tube is covered by it’s housing so in reality most 19 inch CRT monitors are actually only a 17 to a 17 1/2 inch actual viewing screen, by viewing screen, I mean the actual area that presents the image you are looking at. LCD monitors on the other hand do not have a tube that is hidden, they have a Liquid Crystal panel that is the size they claim in it’s measurement. Therefore a 17 inch LCD monitor typically measures a true 17 inches, or very close to that measurement, while a 19 inch CRT monitor on average measures about 17.25 inches or 17 1/4″. Likewise, if you do purchase a 19 inch LCD monitor it will actually be nearly the equivalent of a 21 inch CRT monitor in actual viewing size.
Another thing to take into consideration is whether or not you want a widescreen or the standard 4:3 screen. A widescreen while great for movies, and it has it’s benefits for computer work as well, is going to make a standard 4:3 image a little smaller than it would appear on a 4:3 screen of the same size. The reason being is simple, if you can envision this explanation. If you take a box sized 4:3 and draw a line diagonally across it for sake of argument we’ll say 19 inches, then while keeping that same 19″ measurement, while you stretch the image lengthwise you will have to shorten it’s height to maintain that 19″ diagonal measurement. Once you’ve stretched your 19″ 4:3 picture to a 16:9 widescreen, you have shortened the height of the picture by about 81%. So if the height was 10 inches, not to fit within the screen without cutting off the bottom of the picture, it would only be a little more than 8 inches in height. Images A and B for an example of how a 4:3 image gets crunched to fit the widescreen monitor.
To sum it up, you make a sacrifice either way in choosing a widescreen or the old standard. My personal opinion in this case would be to go with the widescreen anyway. It gives more room width wise, and if you are going from a 19 inch CRT to a 19 inch LCD widescreen, you loss in height would be minimal and you will gain real estate on the borders. If you watch movies on you computer you have the added bonus of full screen – widescreen movies. Add to this, the widescreen monitors are becoming the standard for laptops and in growing numbers for desktops as well. This means that the industry will follow the consumers likes and dislikes and you will likely see more and more Internet and software designed to utilize the widescreen formats. By getting one now, you’ll be ready for the future.
