Best small, cheap HDMI monitor on Amazon?

January 22, 2014 8:00 AM

I got a nice Amazon gift card for Christmas and I've decided I'd like to buy a new small monitor for my Raspberry Pi and other small computing trinkets. HDMI input is required! What brands should I search out or avoid?
posted by mkb to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

No specific recommendation, but HDMI is compatible with DVI so you just need a simple plug adapter to use it with pretty much any monitor. The HDMI output is probably limited to 1920x1080, so one of the cheap 1080p monitors will work for you.
posted by Nelson at 8:53 AM on January 22, 2014

Raspberry Pis are picky about their output. Best place to ask is on the forum. Getting the right settings for the computer to even recognize a screen can be tricky. It might be worth factoring in the cost of a USB TTL serial interface for debugging.

Lillput Direct claim to have Raspberry Pi compatible models. Another option is to get a verified HDMI to VGA Video Adapter and buy one of the plethora of cheaper small VGA monitors.
posted by scruss at 9:20 AM on January 22, 2014

Are you talking about a tiny monitor (that one's not HDMI) or just a smallish desktop monitor?
posted by Zed at 11:06 AM on January 22, 2014

Response by poster: I'm looking for a smallish desktop monitor.
posted by mkb at 11:15 AM on January 22, 2014

Well, then it becomes really easy... pretty much any modern LED-backlit monitor with HDMI or DVI will do. Since you probably aren't planning on any of color-accuracy-sensitive graphics work, demanding videogaming, or movie viewing, most of the criteria that people use to say one monitor's better than another don't apply.

How small do you want and what's your budget?
posted by Zed at 12:41 PM on January 22, 2014

I came in to say what Zed said. I recently bought an LG 24" TV for under $150. It is both HDMI and DVI compatible. There were smaller options as well, though I felt that they didn't offer as much value for money as a 24" did, for my purposes. YM will obviously V.
posted by Sara C. at 1:18 PM on January 22, 2014