Comparison Philips 278E8QJAB 27 " vs Samsung C27F591F 27 "

The vertical refresh rate supported by the monitor.

Initially, the term "sweep frequency" was used in the characteristics of CRT monitors that work with an analogue signal. By tradition, it continues to be used for LCD matrices, however, for such screens, the refresh rate is actually the frame rate. See above for more on frame rate; here we note that in this case it is not the maximum frequency that is indicated, but the frequency range supported by the monitor — from the minimum to the maximum. This allows you to evaluate compatibility with certain video cards and operating modes: the frame rate of the video signal must match the frame rate of the monitor (or at least be a multiple of it), otherwise twitches and other unpleasant phenomena are possible.

It is worth noting that the monitor usually does not support any refresh rate from the range given in the specifications, but only certain standard values — for example, 50 Hz, 60 Hz and 75 Hz for the 50 – 75 Hz model.

The horizontal refresh rate of the image on the monitor screen.

This parameter was relevant for CRT monitors, in which the image was formed by an electron beam that "ran through" each individual line on the screen and illuminated the pixels. The horizontal refresh rate described the number of lines drawn per second. However, modern LCD matrices do not use a scan, but a full-frame image. Therefore, today this parameter is rarely given in monitors, and it describes the maximum horizontal frequency in an analogue video signal (for example, via the VGA interface), with which the screen can work normally.

Dynamic contrast provided by the monitor screen.

Dynamic contrast refers to the difference between the brightest white at maximum backlight intensity and the deepest black at minimum backlight. In this way, this indicator differs from static contrast, which is indicated with a constant backlight level (see above). Dynamic contrast ratio can be expressed in very impressive numbers (in some models — more than 100,000,000: 1). However, in fact, these figures are poorly correlated with what the viewer sees: it is almost impossible to achieve such a difference within one frame. Therefore, dynamic contrast is most often more of an advertising than a practically significant indicator, it is often indicated precisely in order to impress an inexperienced buyer. At the same time, we note that there are "smart" backlight technologies that allow you to change its brightness in certain areas of the screen and achieve a higher contrast in one frame than the claimed static one; these technologies are found mostly in premium monitors.

The colour depth supported by the monitor.

This parameter characterizes the number of shades that the screen can display. And here it is worth recalling that the image in modern monitors is based on 3 basic colours — red, green, blue (RGB scheme). And the number of bits is indicated not for the entire screen, but for each base colour. For example, 6 bits (the minimum colour depth for modern monitors) means that the screen is capable of producing 2 ^ 6, that is, 64 shades of red, green and blue; the total number of shades will be 64 * 64 * 64 = 262,144 (0.26 million). An 8-bit colour depth (256 shades for each base colour) already gives a total of 16.7 million colours; and the most advanced modern monitors support 10-bit colour, allowing you to work with more than a billion shades.

Screens with support for FRC technology are worth a special mention; nowadays, you can find models marked " 6 bit + FRC " and " 8 bit + FRC ". This technology was developed to improve picture quality in situations where the incoming video signal has a greater colour depth than the screen, such as when 10-bit video is fed to an 8-bit matrix. If such a screen supports FRC, the picture on it will be noticeably better than on a regular 8-bit monitor (although somewhat worse than on a full-fledged 10-bit monitor, but “8 bit + FRC” screens are much...cheaper).

High colour depth is important primarily for professional graphics and other tasks that require high colour fidelity. On the other hand, such features significantly affect the cost of the monitor. In addition, it is worth remembering that the quality of colour reproduction depends not only on the colour depth, but also on other parameters — in particular, colour gamut (see below).

The colour gamut of the monitor is based on the NTSC colour model.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Specifically, NTSC is one of the first colour models created back in 1953 with the advent of colour television. It is not used in the production of modern monitors, but is often used to describe and compare them. NTSC covers a wider range of colours than sRGB, which is standard in computer technology: for example, coverage of only 85% in NTSC gives about 110% in sRGB. So the colour gamut for this model is usually given for advertising purposes — as a confirmation of the high class of the monitor; a very good indicator in such cases is considered to be 75% or more.

Monitor colour gamut Rec. 709 or sRGB.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Nowadays, sRGB is actually the standard color model adopted for computer technology; This is what is used in the development and production of most video cards. For television, the Rec. standard, similar in parameters, is used. 709. In terms of the range of colors, these models are identical, and the percentage of coverage for them is the same. In the most advanced monitors it can reach or even exceed 100%; These are the values that are considered necessary for high-end screens, incl. professional.

— Mini-Jack input (3.5 mm). Audio input with standard 3.5mm mini-jack. Usually, it looks like a socket into which a mini-jack plug is connected from a signal source. The signal itself from such an input can be fed either to the monitor's built-in speakers or to the audio output (see below for both).

— Mini-Jack output (3.5 mm). Analogue audio output using a standard 3.5mm mini-jack. Usually it is universal, it can be used both for connecting headphones and as a line output for computer speakers or other active acoustics. The presence of an audio jack on the monitor is convenient because such a port is usually closer to the user than the audio card outputs, and connecting headphones or speakers directly to the monitor is easier than pulling a wire to the system unit.

-LAN. Standard connector for wired connection to computer networks. The presence of such an input in most cases turns the monitor into a network device: any network user with the appropriate access rights can display an image on it. Another use case for LAN is a direct connection to another device. For example, in this way you can connect a laptop with a LAN output without disconnecting the monitor from the PC (to which it can be connected, for example, via the DVI interface). And some especially advanced models have embedded software tools that allow using t...he local network to view the contents of devices connected to this network, and even use some web services directly from the monitor, without using a computer as such.

— Component. An analogue interface that transmits video components over three separate wires (hence the name). It is the most advanced of the common analogue standards, allows you to transmit HD-image and provides better quality than S-Video and even more so the composite connector. It is practically never found in computer video cards, but it is still quite popular in various video equipment; may be useful for connecting the monitor to a media centre, DVD player, or other similar device. However the sound will have to be connected through a separate connector — the component interface does not support audio transmission.

— Composite. One of the simplest and most common analogue audio/video inputs. Like component, it uses three wires and in its standard form consists of three RCA connectors; in some monitors, both interfaces can even be implemented through one set of connectors, switched to "component" or "composite" modes in the settings. The peculiarity of this standard is that it allows you to transmit both picture and sound: one of the wires is used for the analogue video signal, and the remaining two are responsible for the left and right stereo channels. However the composite interface is considered outdated: due to video transmission over a single cable, the quality and noise immunity of the picture are low, and there is no talk of HD resolutions at all. On the other hand, such outputs are still quite popular in video technology — both modern and frankly outdated (like VHS VCRs). And the ability to connect both video and sound at once is very convenient. However, if the monitor has neither audio outputs nor built-in speakers, it usually provides a stripped-down version of this connector — "composite video", with one RCA jack.

— Coaxial (S/P-DIF). An electrical version of the S / P-DIF interface: through one coaxial RCA connector (tulip), sound is transmitted digitally, including multichannel. This connector is found mainly among large-format plasma and LCD panels (see "Type"), where it plays the role of an output for connecting external audio systems — primarily home theaters and other advanced multi-channel acoustic sets.

— Linear. The line interface is a standard audio interface for transmitting an audio signal in analogue format. In general, the most popular way to use this connector is to output sound to active speakers and/or an external amplifier. However, monitors can have both outputs and inputs of this type. In this sense, the line interface is similar to the 3.5 mm jack described above; moreover, in some models, the mini-Jack plays the role of a linear connector.

— Optical. Another type of S / P-DIF connector, in addition to the coaxial output described above. It is used for the same purpose — to output multi-channel sound to external acoustics — however, it uses not an electrical, but an optical (light-guide) cable, so that such a connection is absolutely not subject to electrical interference. On the other hand, optical fibre requires careful handling, as it can crack from bending or strong pressure. It is also worth noting that, unlike coaxial, the optical output is found in both large and relatively small monitors.

— COM port (RS-232). Universal digital interface for transferring various data. In monitors, it usually plays an auxiliary role: it allows you to control the screen settings from a connected computer or other device, and in models with touch screens it can also be used to transfer data from the sensor to the computer. It is much less common than USB, it is practically not used in laptops, but it has the advantage of a maximum cable length — 15 m versus 5 m.

— S video. One of the common analogue video interfaces, along with the composite and component ones described above. The video signal is transmitted on two separate wires, so you can achieve better quality than in composite video; and compares favorably with the component interface S-Video in compactness (both wires are connected through one connector). Audio transmission over this connection is not provided. This standard is considered obsolete and has almost gone out of use in computers, but it is still found in various video equipment and can be useful for non-standard monitor applications.

Rated power of the speakers installed in the monitor (see "Built-in speakers"). The higher the power, the louder the acoustics can sound, the easier it is to cover a vast space. However, in most cases, the user is directly in front of the monitor, and high volume is not required for normal hearing. So this parameter is critical mainly for plasma and LCD panels (see "Type").

This feature is indicated for monitors that have a very small screen frame(relative to the size of the screen itself). There are no strict criteria for determining which frame is thin; however, in most cases, the width of such frames does not exceed 5 mm. And anyway, such monitors look sleeker and more attractive than models without a thin frame (although this elegance also noticeably affects the price).