Best Budget Monitors

There are hundreds of impressive screens on the market and the best budget monitors possess a wide range of great features that you’d expect to see on much more expensive models.

These days, the quality of flat screens is so good that you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one that fits the bill. And whatever the size of your workplace, you’ll be able to save money on monitors without compromising on quality.

Characteristics of budget monitors

Budget monitors can have many great features to help your business, so shop around and see which offer the best applications for your workplace. Xenta’s range of monitors are high-quality, cheap screens and come in a wide range of sizes.

Split-screen function

No longer does this have to cost you the earth. Xenta budget monitors now have a screen split facility which means that your staff can multi-task for half the price.

Multiple monitors

Trying to conduct research while jumping backwards and forwards between windows takes forever and can be very frustrating. You can multi-task like a dream when you have more than one monitor.

You can put together your very own multi-monitor rig affordably with these great value monitors. Prices of smaller displays, those between 21-inch to 25-inch are so cheap that you can afford two of three of these compared to buying a single 27-inch display at the same Full HD resolution. Why have one when you can afford two or three Full HD displays? This means you can double or triple your spatial resolution and expand your virtual horizon, while keeping to a tight budget.

Right prices at the right angle

Many low-cost monitors have versatile stands and some offer tilt and swivel facilities. These ergonomically-designed accessories help with health and well-being issues, as monitors can be placed in the best positions to prevent repetitive strain injury (RSI). This also saves you money, as it reduces the risks of staff members needing time off work with injuries, which is more and more common these days.

On-screen controls

What’s the big deal about on-screen controls on budget monitors? Well, if the monitors are mounted on the wall, then it may be difficult to reach those manual buttons.

Bright enough for business

In general, a brightness of around 200 candela per square metre, “200 nits”, is enough for use in normal workplace indoor lighting, and 120-200 cd/m2 used to be common. However, there’s a trend towards brighter screens, with 500cd/m2 being the preferred option for movies. HDTV sets go even higher.

If a screen is too bright, you can always turn it down. Only if it’s too dim do you have a problem.

Ports

Obviously, once you have bought your new monitor you have to connect it to your PC, and there are lots of ways to do that. The main ones for your purposes are VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI. Check your PC to see which ones you can use.

You probably won’t need VGA or DVI unless you have an old PC. HDMI and DisplayPort are the better options.

How good are the pictures?

Today’s standard PC monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which matches the TV industry definitions for 1080p and Full High Definition (Full HD) movies. This means crystal-clear pictures.

As prices have come down, some people are moving to Quad HD (2560 x 1440) and Ultra HD (3840 x 2160). There are also ultra-wides (2560 x 1080) that avoid having two screens side by side. Of course, you’ll pay much more for the hi-end products, and you really don’t need them unless you are a gaming or video editing business.

Fantastic budget options

Besides Xenta, several brands are worth checking out, including: ACER, Dell, HannsG, LG, AOC, Phillips and Samsung. They all have brilliant budget monitors that won’t break the bank.