About HDTV Flat Panel Monitors

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By Amanda Kondolojy
eHow Contributing Writer

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High definition television sets have definitely taken the consumer world by storm, and now outpace standard TVs in terms of sales and stock. However, in addition to HDTVs, HD monitors have also started appearing in large numbers. Although these monitors have not had the profound consumer impact that their HDTV counterparts have, they are slowly invading the marketplace and are replacing general flat-screen and CRT monitors at a very nice pace.

Features

HD Monitors have several distinguishing features. Most prominent is their widescreen or "letterbox" design. This wide design allows the monitor to showcase the extra lines of resolution needed to be classified as HD. Another feature of HD monitors is multiple input schemes. Because HD monitors are often used with varying hardware, many have support for traditional monitor cables as well as HDMI and S-Video inputs.

Types

The type of HD monitor you buy largely depends upon the aspect ratio you want. Most HD monitors come in 720p. which is a mid-grade aspect ratio. These monitors work well with most drives, and are also very good if you watch a lot of standard definition media as well as high definition. Higher-end 1080i and 1080p models are available, but these are generally very pricey, and can severely affect the quality of standard definition media.

Size

HD Monitors come in a wide variety of sizes, from compact to excessive. The tiniest HD monitor (designed for computer use) is 7.1 inches and is manufactured by Sanyo. The largest is 37 inches, and is available from a variety of manufacturers.

Benefits

There are several benefits to using an HD flat-screen monitor. First of all, if you are still using a large CRT monitor, upgrading to a flat-screen monitor will save you money as it uses less energy. Another benefit to using an HD monitor is that is has higher picture resolution, which can help you enjoy your games, movies and even websites like YouTube.

Warning

There was a rumor that circulated before the launch of Windows Vista that the new platform would not allow you to view HD video on a high-end monitor because of certain playback limitations. However, this rumor turned out to be false, as Vista plays High Definition video just fine.