How do I Choose the Best Display Chipset?

A display chipset is the hardware that tells your computer how to communicate with your video display device, like your monitor. Display chipsets feature a differing set of features that allow them to connect to several types of video devices with different types of connectors. Determining the best display hardware for your computer requires that you know the limitations of your current computer and monitor and have a general idea of the functions you want your display chipset to perform. With all but the most high-end professional or gaming video cards, you can usually choose between internal hardware that installs in a computer or external hardware that plugs into an input on a computer.

Consider the limitations of your current display. Each type of monitor is limited by its resolution and is unable to display higher resolution video feeds like those that come from a high-end video card. Buying more video power than your monitor can display is uselessly expensive and may have the capacity to damage your monitor. When determining the resolution of a display chipset and monitor, go by the pixels per inch instead of the dots per inch (DPI) measurement. Because different video display hardware manufacturers use differing means of determining DPI, identifying resolution by pixels per inch tends to be more uniform, yielding more accurate comparisons among types of video hardware.

Deciding on the best display chipset can depend heavily on what you need it to do. Computer users who intend to use the computer as a television, digital video recorder (DVR), or a media center will need a video card designed to connect to the television. To receive a television signal from an antenna, satellite, or cable television connection, the display chipset will need to be equipped with a coaxial input that can connect to the cable commonly used to connect a cable box or receiver to a television. For users building a computer with a small space, a display chipset contained in the mainboard chipset may help save space in a computer that does not rely on heavy video display function.

Computer users who require a high-end video card because they work with digital visual media will require a more advanced video display chipset than the average PC owner. Upgraded video cards include higher resolutions, faster processing and data inputs, and outputs designed for professional video equipment. Some advanced display chipsets have upgraded features like random access memory (RAM) or processors dedicated to the display chipset function designed to boost the speed and functionality of the video card.