The ads make big promises, the selection is huge and the many technical abbreviations are overwhelming: It's easy to believe that there are some good computer monitors out there for US$100 .

But experts advise caution: "Various offer monitors that come in at just under US$100 , but in these cases there are clear sacrifices made when it comes to the equipment, connections and ergonomics," sayd Andreas Roth from the German-language display portal prad.de.

And in any case, the number of monitors offered at this price that measure 23 inches - the minimum home office size - is rather small.

Spend a little extra

"If you're willing to invest about US$150 , however, you can get a solid monitor with a 24-inch screen, good ergonomic features and good technical equipment for home office use," explains Roth.

At US$100 , you can only expect the standard set-up: "These simple office monitors usually have a full-HD display with an aspect ratio of 16:9, and TN panels are usually installed," says Matthias Wellendorf from a German-language portal for all things digital.

The panel is the central piece of the monitor and consists of millions of luminous pixels that generate images. TN stands for twisted nematic, which describes the arrangement of the liquid crystals in the screen. "TN panels are comparatively simple and can be produced inexpensively; they are also characterized by fast response times and require little power," explains Wellendorf.

A few limitations

The disadvantage of a TN panel is its limited viewing angle: "If you look at a screen from below at an angle, you can immediately spot a TN panel due to a lack of contrast and distorted color reproduction," says Roth. Monitors with an IPS panel would perform better here.

With an in-plane switching panel, the crystals are arranged parallel on top of each other, which ensures better colours and more viewing angles. That makes it ideal for office environments, explains Roth.

Then there's a third technology on the market: vertical alignment panels, which are considered a compromise between TN and IPS.

"VA panels have the best contrast values, thus delivering the richest blacks, and also have relatively high viewing angle stability, even if it doesn't match that of IPS panel technology," explains Roth.

VA panels, which feature a vertical arrangement of the crystals, are slightly more expensive to manufacture, have higher power consumption and rank behind TN and IPS panels when it comes to reaction speeds.

Check pixel density

Prefer a bigger monitor? Then be sure to keep the pixel density in mind. "A large display with a low resolution naturally delivers a poorer quality image than a small display with the same resolution," says Wellendorf. A good intermediate solution would be, for example, a 27-inch screen with an IPS panel and 2560 by 1440 pixels.

Consumers should check that a monitor has all the ports they need as well: "Even in the lower price range, monitors should be equipped with a digital HDMI input, and even better, with an additional display port," says Roth. Ultimately, however, the decisive factor is what outputs the computer's graphics card provides, Roth explains.

USB hub and loudspeaker?

An integrated USB hub can be useful, says Wolfgang Pauler from the industry magazine Chip. "You can definitely find that in a cheaper monitor," he says. USB-C, on the other hand, is rarely found in the entry-level models.

However, don't be blinded by extras such as built-in speakers. "They are often of such poor quality that any external sound solution is better," says Wellendorf. The decisive factor: panel technology.

 - dpa