LCD displays have quickly replaced old fashioned CRT computer monitors as the industry standard. This is hardly surprising as their improved clarity and picture quality coupled with their smaller size makes them vastly superior to CRT monitors. Interestingly, computer monitors have actually been HD for far longer than TVs because you are closer to them and they often need to be able to display very fine small writing clearly.

Since the introduction of TV cards, many people are using their computer monitors to watch television. Along with Iplayer and games computer monitors have slowly crept into a lot of our daily lives and as a society we are spending more and more time in front of a computer monitor than we ever were before. With that in mind it is a good idea to invest in quality so that you are comfortable and relaxed when using your computer monitor.

It is important also to mention that monitors that are broken, faulty or of poor quality can be quite dangerous because they can easily damage your eyesight. If your eyes have to strain to be able to see parts of the display you could quickly develop RSI.

It is also possible to actually plug a modern LCD TV into a computer tower or connect it to the internet and use the computer through your large TV monitor. This has been called ‘sofa surfing’ and it works to an extent but therre is always going to be difficulty because the internet was designed with the computer monitor and a very close reader in mind.

But LCD is far from the only technology on the market and monitor displays as well as TVs are seeing remarkable advances in technology not just in terms of definition and clarity but also in portability and cost. For example, a couple of years ago sony samsung and LG unveiled some very exciting Oled flexible displays that could even be rolled up and were reportedly thinner than paper. These displays have yet to become cheap enough to hit the market, but it is only a matter of time before you can keep a laptop monitor folded in your pocket!