Need help choosing an Lcd

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DeltaForce
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Need help choosing an Lcd

Post by DeltaForce » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:04 am

Hi, I need some help in choosing an lcd. I am disabled enough in the short term that I can't get to a store to compare models, and have to rely on reviews, etc. While an lcd is not quiet-component related per se (unless it's buzzing), the silentpcreview forum has good advice.

I have narrowed my search to the Viewsonic vp930b (19"), vp2030b (20"), and HP LP1965. Does anyone have experience with these displays? Any other ideas?

-price is not an issue compared to getting a good lcd. I built my own quiet system, spend many hours on it, and want a great display.
-I don't like monitors that can't have the brightness dimmed enough (they are too bright on min settings) Is this a problem with the vp930b?
-no widescreen lcds. I am worried about aspect ratio problems with older games, and prefer the square screens.
-clear text on the display is important to me, but I also play games alot.
-no Dell lcd's. Bad customer support experience and I'm done with them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Traciatim
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Post by Traciatim » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:01 am

Two of these monitors run in 1280x1024 and one in 1600x1200. That's a no-brainer to me since the each 19" display will have 1310720 pixels and the 20"'er will have 1920000, that's something like 45% more screen space.

I don't know about you, but I run on a 21" CRT that can do 2048x1536 in a pinch and regularly run at 1600x1200. If I didn't have the screen space I would probably go crazy trying to fit information on my screen properly. In fact, I really miss the space when on my laptop at 1400x1050.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:19 am

I can heartily recommend Viewsonic(have a VP171s(17") that is absolutely great), and if those are your choices, I'd pick the 20" for that extra resolution. 1280x1024 is okay, but with videos, layout work and on the desktop it just feels cramped. Also, you have to run everything full-size to see all the buttons and print area(in reasonable zoom), which means parallel programs are a problem. The displays at our university let me open up Word, a browser, termbank and dictionary into full-blown sizes without anything feeling cramped. It feels awkward having to alt-tab between windows at home after that.

So, if price is no issue, bigger is better, as long as you don't feel overwhelmed. Samsung is at their best with panels though, so you might want to stop by their selection as well.

My friends all use cheap or generic stuff like LGs(surprisingly good but not great) and Acer(toy feel). I vow in the name of the extra buck, for with that the quality and experience are often complete. And besides, a good display will serve you for a decade if you let it. A very reasonable investment.

Aris
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Post by Aris » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:46 am

when choosing an LCD, keep in mind what its native resolution is compared to the amount of money you have to spend on a video card to produce that resolution.

some people say go for max native resolution you can get, but if all you can afford is a mid range video card your framerates are going to suck. If your not going to be able to keep your video card up to date with a high end card every year or so and you want to play new computer games as they come out, then dont get an LCD with a native resolution about 1280x1024, which is 19" or smaller.

Toms probably has the best monitor reviews of any site ive found so far on the net. I dont really like them for anything else, but monitor reviews they rock at.

VP930b is a good gamming monitor, though i think toms now recommends the vx922 over it.

I currently use the vx922 and i love it. I was really worried about tearing/ghosting etc, but ive never seen anything like that in any game ive played on it. Best LCD ive ever seen. Plenty big for me, and the native resolution fits my video card budget.

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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:40 am

Traciatim wrote:Two of these monitors run in 1280x1024 and one in 1600x1200. That's a no-brainer to me since the each 19" display will have 1310720 pixels and the 20"'er will have 1920000, that's something like 45% more screen space.

I don't know about you, but I run on a 21" CRT that can do 2048x1536 in a pinch and regularly run at 1600x1200. If I didn't have the screen space I would probably go crazy trying to fit information on my screen properly. In fact, I really miss the space when on my laptop at 1400x1050.
that much pixels on a tiny screen is rediculous. also, if you ever want to game, you can never do native resolution without dropping framerates unless you turn down visuals or buy a 8800gtx.

go for a 24 inch I feel.

But, I can see your pain about widescreen. I personally am going that way and thats about that.

I have, on a spare computer, the 19 inch one. It is super clear and decent refresh. no dead pixels either. I can say that it is fairly standard now in reviews and recommendations to not use a 1600x1200 resolution on such a small screen. yes, while some may think that 20 inch is big, it is not for the resolution. Do some math and calculate how many pixels per inch you use right now. I have my screen size set at 1152 x 864. It is a high end crt however. It's a 22 inch badboy with 21 inches viewable. I would not want the text to be any smaller than it is and I am young and have very good eyes. imagine a SMALLLER screen with 40% smaller text. that doesnt sound like a recommendation.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:02 am

All the programs I use either scale the text or are useful regardless, so 1600x1200 has not been a problem. If software lacks adjustability, it's not the display's fault. You don't have to use the highest of resolutions if for some reason you don't want to: a big display will serve you well regardless. I know I need those extra pixels.

kittle
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Post by kittle » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:06 am

Another option to look into is multiple displays.

I got 2 samsung 970p 19" monitors for my system, and the amount of screen real estate is great!
Just make sure your video card has 2 DIGITAL outputs on it and you'll do fine. One analog and one digital monitor makes for odd looking displays.

Both monitors run native resolution of 1280x1024 and my older 6800EN card runs games just fine.


but if at all possible i would highly reccomend finding some way to visit a store and see these monitors for yourself.

sun.moon
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Post by sun.moon » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:44 am

Hello,

For excellent advice, as well as lively forums concerning the subject of LCDs, may I suggest you take a look here? You will undoubtable find very helpful and useful information to guide your decision concerning your purchase of an LCD to suit your particular needs and pocket book.

Personally, I swear by EIZO.

Regards,
sun.moon

Arvo
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Post by Arvo » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:09 pm

From three monitors above, I'd prefer VP930B. We've got two of these in our office (choosen after careful reserach on internet), very good monitors.

Thanks to their technology (M-VA) these monitors have excellent looking angle, color quality (true 8bit) and high contrast (although in absolutely dark room there's some grayness on black screen, not visible in normal conditions). Thanks to properly calibrated RTC (Response Time Compensation) they are fast (suitable for games) and have almost no visual artefacts.

Well, I won't say more - I personally can't sit behind [standalone] LCD monitors at all :( What makes me worry about what I have to do, after my CRT screens die...

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:53 pm

kittle wrote:Another option to look into is multiple displays.
Yes, if you can afford to double your investment, can stand the doubled cable mess and have the desk space to fit them in. Many people report being able to squeeze by with their halved card resources, but I wouldn't bet on it.

What games are you running with your dual-display 6800?

Max Slowik
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Post by Max Slowik » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:34 pm

price is not an issue compared to getting a good lcd.
If you're serious, I can recommend a couple of displays that run about $2500. If you're looking for something more reasonable, you should go back on your decision to avoid Dell; competitors' customer service is no worse, and you're likely to get a crappier display.

But Gateway doesn't know jack shit about getting good TFTs. I would consider Samsung equal to Dell, if not a little better.

jackylman
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Post by jackylman » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:34 pm

I'd recommend the Viewsonic VX2025. Now I know you said you didn't want a widescreen, but I think you'll end up liking it better than any of those other ones and you'll find your fears of stretched images are unfounded with an nVidia gpu. (If you have an ATI gpu, then it's not as easy to determine whether the card supports fixed aspect scaling).

Once you get used to the widescreen, you won't want to go back. I have both a vx2025 that I've used for about two years and a vp930b that I bought for my mom and use once in a while. The lack of desktop space on the latter annoys me and the color isn't as good. Below are some links to one of the best monitor review sites I've found. As you'll see, the VP930b's color quality is questionable.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/619- ... 16-ms.html
http://www.behardware.com/articles/602- ... above.html

~El~Jefe~
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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:53 am

IS it true that nvidia 8800 cards can add black bars to the sides for older games?

eh?

mg2plus
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Post by mg2plus » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:23 am

Here is a good review of LCD monitors:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... erthread=y

I have Belinea 10 19 20, which has exactly the same matrix as VP 930b . It's a great monitor, and you definitively wont be disappointed. Great viewing angles, contrast , and deep black. Good for movies and office work, surfing Internet, mediocre for fast games.

I would still recommend vp2030b , because, as I hear, it has the same great picture quality with MVA matrix.

Contrary to what others say, VP 930b has 6-bit display electronics with FRC (not 8-bit), but I don't see the big importance.

I don't know about HP LP1965.

You should avoid TN matrices, because they suffer from bad viewing angles (with common fault where the top of the monitor is dark, and the bottom is bright), and bad contrast also.

I put my monitor's brightness to about 130cd (standard office brightness), in my monitor's settings it's 10% brightness 10% contrast. For movies and games, I set contrast to 100% and increase brightness depending on lighting in the room. All monitor's usually ship with default brightness set too high, and my Belinea also shipped with 50% brightness, 50% contrast, which was too bright.

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Post by cmthomson » Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:14 pm

I've ben delighted by my Samsung 24" 244T screen, running at 1920x1600. The color is very true and the extra screen space supports lots of simultaneously open windows.

It comes with some software (Natural Color) that makes it very easy to adjust the color and brightness settings to provide outstandingly accurate rendition.

Far better than my old CRT, which was in its day state of the art...

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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:35 pm

what model was your crt

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