It’s that time of the year here in the Midwest. Temperatures are dropping, the days are short, and everyone’s starting to wonder what they should get the loved ones in their lives for gifts this year. Roberts is here to help, to that end I’ll be putting up a few little features throughout the weeks to come to help you understand the decisions the modern camera world offers.

Today, let’s talk LCDs. They’re one of the biggest features on cameras, and everybody loves them (although sometimes they love to hate them). They’re getting bigger and fancier every year (we have several models now with some pretty exciting touchscreens for controls), but not LCDs are made equal. LCDs are made up of a bunch of small units called pixels, the same as camera sensors. The more pixels (or, the higher the resolution), the sharper your LCD will look and the easier it is to check things like focus, or to complain about Dad’s lack of smile in the family portrait.

These days LCDs, no matter the size, come in roughly three resolutions. The low resolution cameras out there tend to be around 172,000. This is the resolution you can expect on your basic entry-level point and shoot, and it’s usually fine for day to day use and snapshots. Your better point-and-shoots and many DSLRs will have a higher 230,000 pixel screen. And, finally, Nikon, Sony, and now Canon are using exciting 306,000 pixel (sometimes called 920,000 dot, but these mean the same thing) displays that are as crisp and clear as real life.

So remember, you might not need that 3″ screen over a 2.5″ one if the resolution on both is 172,000. In that case, the smaller screen will look sharper. But, if you want the best experience possible, look for the higher resolutions. Roberts includes this spec for every camera on our site, just take a look under the Specificatios tab of your favorite Canon digital cameras, Nikon digital cameras, Olympus digital cameras, or Sony digital cameras.