Quick question about computer monitors

Yo duders, sorry if this is a dumb question but I have very little experience with this stuff. Anyways, I'd like to buy one of the new consoles soon, but I would rather play games on a reasonable 24-inch computer monitor with little input lag than on a gigantic HDTV. My question is, will I have to purchase/assemble an entire PC so that the monitor will work with a console, or can I just buy a monitor on its own and use it as a simple display? Any help is appreciated!

The monitor doesn't care where the signal comes from. Get one with an HDMI input and you'll be good to go.

@kingspeedy: Oh okay, thanks for answering.