Another ratio that concerns the display's image quality is the contrast ratio. It is, literally, the difference between black and white. Here again, cathode ray tubes, clunky though they may be, have rates of around 700:1, meaning that blacks will be very black, whites will be very white, and all the colors in between them will be saturated and bright. Good LCD monitors currently carry contrast ratios of around 400:1 to 500:1. The higher the number, the less muddy your picture will be.
The last of the numbers that deal directly with image quality is resolution. Resolution consists of the number of pixels displayed in a horizontal row multiplied by the number of pixels displayed vertically. This generally corresponds with size for LCD monitors: 1024 x 768 for 15-inch displays, 1280 x 1024 for 17-inch monitors and 1600 x 1200 for some 18-inch flat-panels. The higher these numbers on a given monitor, the better the image quality.
Owners of notebooks looking to add a larger monitor to their work or entertainment environment will want to be aware of the fact that the screen in their notebook, although smaller, likely has a better image quality. While it's common to have a notebook with a resolution of 1400 x 1050, you'll need to buy an expensive 20-inch monitor to get a comparable number of pixels on your screen. More pixels means you can see more information on your screen at once before you have to begin scrolling.
The last thing to look at isn't likely to be found in the monitor's specifications. Viewing angle is simply how far to the side of the monitor you can stand before the picture darkens or washes out. Good 15-inch monitors can be seen from as much as a 140o angle before distortion occurs and, with 17-inch monitors, as much as 180o. Be aware that LCDs often won't distort the picture, but will instead change its color when viewed from the side, which can be just as annoying. It must be said here, too, that this isn't a problem with CRTs. Maybe the best thing, then, is to wait for a few more generations and a few more fixes and improvements before making the switch to LCD.
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