One thing to remember about purchasing a monitor is that it
doesn't lose value as fast as all of your other computer system components. Advancements
are still made in monitors, but the technology doesn't change anywhere near as fast as say
CPUs and RAM. In fact, by purchasing a high quality monitor, you most likely will be able
to use it on the next computer that you purchase. Shortly, I'll get into what qualities
you should look for in a monitor, but first I want to say that monitors are very
subjective to the viewer. The saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder",
applies very much to monitor purchases. While it's important to pay attention to the
"numbers" of a monitor, your final decision should always lie with what looks
best to you. It's your monitor anyway, and you'll be the one staring at it for the next
few years.
Let's start off with how a monitor works.