Choosing a High-Resolution Graphic Design Monitor

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Choosing a High-Resolution Graphic Design Monitor

    A graphic monitor is one of the most important pieces of hardware a design professional can buy. Look for the right technical specifications, including color accuracy, screen size, panel type, resolution, and more.

Use our guide below to streamline the process of buying a professional graphic design monitor. Or see how ViewSonic put it all together into making professional monitors. 

    Those new to graphic design may not place picking a graphic design monitor at the top of their priority list, but it might be the difference between success and failure. Graphic design is all about creating designs that leave lasting impressions and communicate a message to the viewer. In essence, it creates a bridge between the designer and the viewer.

    If you’re a graphic designer, then you know the ins and outs of the world of graphic design and the significance that presentation plays. Getting positive reviews on any form of graphic design work is all about how the design is visually presented. 

    What Are Graphic Design Monitors, and What Are They Good For

    Would you design graphics with your shades on? Probably not. Portraying the wrong colors on-screen is exactly why having the wrong monitor can be perilous to your work. As such, obtaining a high-resolution graphic design monitor is one of the best ways you can ensure that your work will stand out visually. Needless to say, this is one investment you definitely want to make for the sake of your career path as a graphic designer. 

    The Drawbacks of Graphic Design Monitors

    Before getting into the areas you should be looking into prior to purchasing an ideal graphic design monitor, let’s consider the drawbacks. 

    Oftentimes, when it comes to purchasing electronics, customers are duped into purchasing products with unnecessary features. Of course, avoidance of this issue is easier said than done. That said, it’s understandable. In today’s well-marketed and materialistic world, it is easy to find yourself wrongly swayed. Though, if you read up on graphic design monitors, the following factors should help keep your decision-making on the level. 

            Design
Don’t ever select a monitor simply because it looks cooler than the others. A monitor that is very slim may look attractive, but that’s pretty much as far as it goes. The graphic drawing pen monitor’s internal specifications are what determines how well it will perform, not the exterior. As they say, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, so too, don’t judge a monitor solely on its looks. 

            Bloated qualities
Built-in speakers, a good range of USB ports, and a proper TV Tuner shouldn’t distract you from considering a monitor’s internal setup. Even though these are great features for a monitor to possess, they do not guarantee an overall high-quality product. 

            Response time
If you are a certified graphic designer, as opposed to a professional gamer, response time shouldn’t really matter. Basically, the response time determines the time delay when a rapid action takes place on the screen. For gamers, as many actions are taking place on-screen within short periods of time, a good response time ensures the gamer’s ability to play at the proper speed, without lags on screen.

    What to Look for in Potential Graphic Design Monitors

    Serious graphic designers want a display that not only brings an optimal level of performance but also includes a high resolution. In today’s world of wireless connections, a good display is properly wired with the newest routes for connectivity. After all, the world runs on the ability to remain connected and linked. When it comes to purchasing the right monitor, a serious graphic designer knows that there’s more to it than simple numbers. That’s part of what makes ViewSonic’s VP line of monitors so attractive. 

    As with all other technology, purchasing a monitor requires you to do some background reading. While there are quite a few selections out there, unless you know the exact specifications, you might end up purchasing an LCD that doesn’t present your work with justice. 

    The following provides you with a list of things you want to consider before finalizing any monitor purchases.

A graphics drawing tablet used for sketching new images or tracing old ones. Also called a "graphic tablet," the user contacts the surface of the device with a wired or wireless pen or puck. Often mistakenly called a mouse, the puck is officially the "tablet cursor."
For sketching, either the pen or puck is used. For tracing, the puck is preferred because its crosshairs, visible through a clear glass lens, lets you precisely pinpoint ends and corners of detailed drawings.
Most tablets allow parts of the tablet surface to be customized into buttons that can be tapped to select menus and functions in the application.
Digitizer Mode and Mouse Mode
Tablets typically support two modes of operation. "Digitizer mode" creates a one-for-one correspondence between tablet and screen. Wherever the tablet is touched, the screen is drawn in the exact same location. In contrast, "mouse mode" moves the screen pointer (cursor) relative to any starting position on the tablet surface, just like an ordinary computer mouse.
The Output Is X-Y Coordinates
When drawing or tracing on the tablet, a series of x-y coordinates (vector graphics) are created, either as a continuous stream of coordinates, or as end points. See pen tablet, tablet PC and touchscreen.

    What Are All-In-One Personal Computers?

    All in one Pc is like conventional desktop computer systems in terms of features and functionality. The only difference between an all-in-one vs. a desktop PC is the number of components. While desktops are comprised of the computer case plus a separate monitor, all-in-ones combine the display and the computer into one package. This consolidation gives the all-in-one computer system a smaller profile than a desktop computer system.

    What Are All-In-One PCs?

    The earliest form of computer displays used large cathode-ray tubes. Because of the size of the displays, computer systems were comprised of three key components: the monitor, the computer case, and the input devices.

    As the size of the monitors decreased and the computer market consolidated into IBM-compatible and Apple-compatible product lines, computer companies started to integrate the computer case into the monitor to create all-in-one designs. These first all-in-one computer systems were still large and cost more than a standard desktop setup.

    The most successful of the all-in-one personal computers was the Apple iMac. The original design used the cathode-ray monitor with the computer boards and components integrated below the tube.

    With the advent of LCD monitors for displays and mobile parts getting smaller and more powerful, the size of the all-in-one computer system has decreased dramatically. Now, the computer components can be easily integrated behind the LCD panel or into the base of the display.

    All-In-One vs. Desktop PCs

    Buying a desktop offers several advantages over purchasing an all-in-one PC. Many all-in-one PCs feature processors (CPUs), drives, memory (RAM), and other components designed for laptops. Such architecture makes the all-in-one compact, but they also hinder the overall performance of the system. Typically, these laptop components will not perform as well as a desktop benchmark.

    Another challenge with all-in-one computers is the lack of upgrade options. While most desktop computer cases can be opened to install and replace components, all-in-one systems feature a closed design. This design approach typically limits the systems to having only their memory upgraded.

    With the rise of high-speed external peripheral connectors such as USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, internal upgrade options are not as critical as they once were, but they still make a difference for some components such as the graphics processor.

    All-In-Ones vs. Laptops

    The all-in-one is smaller than a desktop, but it still is tethered to a desktop space. Laptops, conversely, move between locations and supply power through their battery packs. This portability makes them more flexible than the all-in-one.

    Because many all-in-one PCs use all the same components as laptops, the performance levels are mostly identical between the two types of computers. The only advantage that an all-in-one PC might hold is the size of the screen. While all in one drawing Pc generally come with screen sizes between 20 and 27 inches, laptops are still generally restricted to 17-inch and smaller displays.

    All-in-one systems used to be less expensive than laptops, but with technological advancements, the tables are now almost turned. You'll find many laptop computers for less than $500 while the typical all-in-one system now costs roughly $750 or more.

    How Wacom Tablets Work

    Let's get our definitions straight here, folks: Unlike the iPad, the Kindle Fire or the Nook, online teaching graphic tablet is not your average tablet PCs. Nor do they strive to be -- they're graphics tablets (also called pen tablets), devices generally used in the graphic design industry or by digital artists that allow a person to draw by hand, capturing an image or graphic in digital form. The information is displayed on the monitor of a connected PC or Mac.

    Sounds a little complicated, but imagine this: You're working at your computer when the fancy strikes you to doodle a picture of a cartoon chicken eating broccoli. (Doodles don't have to make sense.) You use the pen and paper next to you. After sitting there for a day or so, it's absent-mindedly put in the trash, only to decompose slowly in a landfill, your artistic genius never recognized.

    Unacceptable. Wacom tablets, which comprise many different models that we'll detail in this article, are designed so you can digitally doodle straight into your computer (among far more important tasks). Basically, they're the technological mating of a computer mouse with a pencil and a computer monitor with a college-ruled notebook.

    Not a perfect analogy. But graphic designers, artists, illustrators and many other hobbyists and professionals need a device that allows their hand-drawn work to be digitized or their digital image to be manipulated with an old-fashioned hand. The technology powering Wacom tablets provides a few advantages over click-and-point navigation. The pen, or stylus, that comes with the tablets can communicate much more effectively. Its pressure-sensitive system will let you determine things like how thick or thin a line should be, and it can instantly capture handwritten notations. The tablet communicates with the pen, plotting its location in microseconds as it makes your adjustments on screen.

    Graphic designers could benefit from the ease of turning concepts into digital reality. A photographer might like to be able to manipulate an image by hand more carefully. And pretty much everyone thinks it's cool to have their hand-written notes or doodles appear on their computer in the time it takes to put pen to paper.

    Unlike an iPad-like tablet, Wacom offers several different lines and models. Let's first take a look at the technology and hardware that's common to all of the tablets to grasp exactly how a Wacom tablet functions.

    We really have to start with the pen; Wacom refers to the pen's system as Penabled Technology. Sure, it looks like a regular pen but inside lurks a digital chip, a modulator and a transmitter. All of those components work in a complicated manner, but we can break it down: The tip of the pen tells the tablet what to do. And it's done with magnets! Well, not exactly. The sensor board of the tablet has a magnetic field, and the pen produces its own magnetic field -- and energy -- from it. (That's why no batteries or power adapter is needed.)

    The magnetic field emanating from the pen is recognized by the sensor board. From that, it can track the pen's location, pressure and speed. The sensor board itself is made up of a lot of little antenna coils, but it also has a control board that monitors the coils to determine where the current is (i.e., where the pen is). And that's what tells your computer that you want to add a moustache to the picture of your sister that you're photoshopping. Wacom calls this patented technology EMR, or electromagnetic resonance technology.

    It's a little different if an LCD screen is used, which is the case with the Cintiq line of tablets. In that case, backlighting or a component that gives off its own field could disrupt the pen's magnetic field. As such, all metal or problem parts must be tightly shielded to block out the field. The metal frame around the LCD screen -- which undoubtedly affects magnetic fields -- is accounted for in the control board, which recognizes a "weak" signal from the pen and corrects it so it follows a predictive course.