Lots of images to choose!

MonitorTest displays 25, specially designed, images on the screen so you can test for optimum visual performance. Each image has been created to test a particular aspect of the monitor. With this type of testing, you can better adjust your display, or if you still are at that point, select a quality unit.

With it's aid, graphic designers (or you, who care about the quality of your monitor) might rethink the whole TFT business. Not surprisingly, MonitorTest will work at any resolution, aspect ratio and color depth supported by your system.

You like the lottery? Try Samsung! At the end of last year they launched a new family of screens that had very fast TN 2 ms panels. Not only that, they were also pre-calibrated. For a moderate price, that's more than you can usually expect.

Perhaps because everyone wanted one, they ran out of stock and started selling monitors with the same name but with a panel not their own. Soon afterwards, another one entered the scene, and another...

To sum it up, this is what you can get if you go buying one right now (maybe tomorrow there will be more panels on "display"):

- a 226BW with an S panel (the real deal, if you find one you won the prize)
- a 226BW with an A panel (from AU Optronics, close but not cigar)
- a 226BW with a C panel (from CMO, you should try your luck again)
- a 226BW with a C panel (from CPT, you Casanova)

If you're curious about how much difference there is among them, go to BeHardware and take a look. Our recommendation? Either wait for Samsung to replenish their stock or start some monitor hunting. Some customers are already unpacking them to see the label, but more distrustful ones (and why shouldn't they be?) turn them on to check hidden menus.

Thanks to Samsung for making the process of buying a monitor as interesting as the search for a CPU intended for overcloking (now that Core 2 took all the fun out of that).
 

Now that everybody has, or plans on having, an LCD monitor it's important to know where manufacturers position themselves when it comes to answer the dreaded question: can I exchage my brand new screen for another one with no dead pixels?

I have no personal experience on this, but I have seen it a lot from the other side and customers get rather angry when they find their money hasn't been well spent. It's an unpleasant policy from some computer shops: not telling the buyer what's the deal with dead pixels and not letting them see the monitor before purchasing. The problem is, once they find out what it is... they already have them (dead pixels usually come in groups and ready to party).

A cople of years ago, Behardware did a piece on this subject, and they are updating it now. There,  you will find everything you need to know about which manufacturers to trust and which ones not to. They answer some simple questions like "what is a dead pixel?", "what percentage of screens are affected?" or "should you take an optional dead pixel policy?". They also detail what the ISO 13406-2 norm is about and point out that "if a screen is ISO 13406 certified, but the manufacturer doesn’t indicate the class, it’s automatically a Class I(*), or in other words, is guaranteed for zero dead pixels".

(*) The ISO 13406-2 norm defines 4 classes of screens. “Class 1”, allows no defects. “Class 4” authorizes an incredible amount of dead pixels. An example of a "Class 1" screen can be found in some series from Phillips. This is not to say you should buy a Phillips monitor, it varies from one screen to another, from one series to the next. At the other side of the spectrum, you will find BenQ T series, pertaining to “Class 3” of the ISO norm. Those are the worst monitors you can actually buy, and they allow as many dead pixels as you can see below.

Man, you'll finish earlier if you count alive pixels!