Will blu-ray play on an HD monitor?

I agree but some videocards have HDMI outputs which will connect directly to an HDTV or an HD monitor with HDMI imputs.
other monitor inputs are dependent on your videocard.

FordSVT a computer has a BD-ROM drive. It happens to be able to also play BD-Video.

With the ability to add firmware updates to a standalone BR player I'd suggest saving up for one that has BD-Live Profile 2.0 as you can get a lot more content via the Internet and have less issues with new discs that have newer DRM software.

If you are purchasing a new computer monitor consider getting one with HDMI inputs.

 

I was quite happy with my Avitron AV-7TF till it died last year. I still miss the color reproduction, though the RGBLED in my laptop is pretty good.

 

I don't get your point, I didn't say otherwise.