There are a few points to consider when buying a monitor. In the following, I will show you which factors you should pay particular attention to when purchasing a monitor for your home office or open-plan office.
A look at our shop and our filters shows the many aspects that you can consider when buying a monitor. This article focuses on monitors that are used in home offices and open-plan offices. Are you looking for a gaming monitor? Then you're in the wrong place and right here. While the factors response time, refresh rate and resolution are essential for a gaming monitor, they are not very relevant for most office jobs. The majority of smaller monitors today offer at least Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) anyway. For monitors over 32 inches, QHD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels) is standard. When purchasing office monitors, factors such as brightness and contrast, energy efficiency, ergonomics and the size and number of screens are therefore more important than the resolution.
The two factors of number and size are closely linked. A typical workstation today comes with either a slightly larger monitor or two smaller monitors. Parallel employees working with different programmes and the increased use of online meetings justify a setup that goes beyond the small single monitor. The open notebook often rounds off the infrastructure as a computer and second or third screen. I personally work in the office with two 24-inch monitors and an open notebook. At home, I have purchased a 34-inch widescreen monitor. The combination of two 24 or 27-inch models or a single 34-inch widescreen monitor are also the most frequently requested solutions among our business customers.
In order to avoid unnecessary cable clutter and a connection bottleneck on the notebook, it is advisable to use daisy-chain technology when using multiple screens. With daisy-chain technology, hardware components are connected to each other in series. Only the first component is connected directly to the computer system. The other components are each connected to their predecessors and thus form a chain. At this point, the use of a docking station should be mentioned. Among other advantages, this also helps to avoid a connection bottleneck on the notebook. My colleague Zeynep writes here more about the use of docking stations
Most manufacturers have monitors in their range that come with integrated peripherals. These are primarily speakers, microphone, camera and USB hub. While integrated speakers and microphones offer real added value in the home office - you can do without the possibly uncomfortable headset for your online meetings - the use of such monitors in an open-plan office is not much fun due to the noise level. The integrated camera is also only useful in special cases. This is the case if your notebook does not have an integrated camera or if you are using a closed notebook at your workplace for space reasons. Our sales show that monitors with an integrated camera are particularly popular for large inch sizes. When using two small monitors, it makes more sense from an aesthetic point of view to opt for a peripheral webcam. Here you can find all webcams.
Do you have even higher aesthetic demands? Then look out for an integrated USB hub and the highest possible power supply via USB type C. With the former feature, peripheral devices such as a keyboard and mouse can be connected directly to the monitor. With sufficient power via USB type C power supply, your notebook's network cable is no longer necessary. You can easily charge your notebook and other end devices such as smartphones via the cable that connects the notebook to the monitor. With this setup, only the monitor is supplied with power from the socket and your workstation is tidy.
If you spend a lot of time at your desk, it's a good idea to take ergonomic aspects into account. While standing desks are only available from many employers against a doctor's certificate or cost sharing, ergonomic monitors are commonplace. Here you can find all monitors that are both height-adjustable and tiltable. From an ergonomic point of view, the aspects of brightness and screen surface are also relevant. The brightness can be adjusted manually on almost all monitors today. Rule of thumb: the brighter the ambient light, the brighter the screen can be.
In addition, it is advisable to use an anti-glare monitor for intensive screen work. This is easy on the eyes, especially in overexposed open-plan offices, and promotes focussed work. You can find all anti-glare monitors here. Energy efficiency also plays a more important role than ever when purchasing a monitor. I would like to add here that it is not only the monitor's energy label that has an impact on the device's ecological footprint, but also raising awareness of the need to completely disconnect the setup from the power supply when work is done.
