LCD Rentals and Purchases – How To Select the Best Monitor for Your Needs
If your business hosts a lot of meetings or training sessions, you may have considered both LCD rentals. Or maybe you’ve considered buying. Either way, you have probably been baffled by the language used in the specs for the average LCD monitor. This brief guide will discuss the main specifications you need to be aware before selecting the model for your LCD rental or purchase.
Should You Worry About Response Time When Renting an LCD Display?
Response time is one of the most discussed specifications for LCD monitors, but it is hard to gauge the accuracy of manufacturers’ claims. Response time is the minimum time necessary to change a pixel’s color or brightness. Response time actually consists of a rising time and a falling time – that is, the amount of time required for pixels to turn off and then on. Rising times tend to be fast on LCDs, but falling times tend to be slower, which can cause blurring of images.
Some manufacturers use a black-to-black scale and some use gray-to-gray, which is considerably shorter. Always try to find out which measurement they are using. And, as the people at insidegeek.ca caution, take manufacturers’ specs with a grain of salt.
If you need an LCD rental for a training session, response time may be more of a factor since poor image quality can impede students’ understanding. If you are renting a large LCD panel for a trade show, response time may not be as much of an issue since people are not viewing it as intensely as they would in a training session.
LCD Displays and Native Resolution
Resolution is the number of vertical and horizontal pixels in the LCD matrix. LCD panels have only one, which is why it is called the native resolution. Higher resolution means better picture quality. When it comes to renting an LCD display, you need to consider the ways you plan to use it. You will need a higher resolution for displays with lots of video. If you are using a lot of static images and text, you may be able to drop the resolution lower. The size of the space you plan to use will also affect your choice. Your LCD rentals agent can help you determine the right resolution.
Note that if you set your computer’s display lower than the native resolution of the monitor, you can distort the images.
Contrast Ratio and Brightness
The picture quality can be greatly affected by these two measurements. Brightness, or luminance, is measured in cd/m2. Ideally, a measurement of 400-500 will ensure you get optimal brightness. A higher contrast ratio will mean brighter whites and darker blacks on the LCD screen, which can mean clearer images. A good contrast ratio used to mean 800:1, but now some screens offer ratios of up to 5000:1.
Your decision on these specs will depend on the environment in which you are using your LCD panel. Again, your LCD rentals agent can advise.
Size and Viewing Angle on an LCD Screen
Of course the size of the LCD screen is of tremendous importance. A 24” screen might be okay for training, while a trade show booth might require a much larger size. Unlike the old CRT monitors which measured the housing and screen, the measurement of an LCD screen is the actual viewing area.
The viewing angle is expressed in degrees. This measurement is especially important if you will have multiple people viewing the screen, as you would in a trade show or training session. The higher the viewing angle is, the greater the visibility will be.
Talk to Your LCD Rentals Agent
The best way to decide on an LCD panel is to speak to your LCD rentals expert. After a few questions about how you plan to use the monitor, they can help you select the best LCD display for the job.
