TFT Headache

[Binnatics]

Holy moly,

I just wanted to buy a new monitor, and I allready spent 2 days on the net searching for one, getting more and more concerned about the trouble a monitor could cause me if I don't buy the right one!!!

First I just wanted big, bigger, biggest. So I wanted a 27" screen, not the cheapest because I don't want to be stuck with a nasty view, but sure not the most expensive because that should be a waste of money.
Thought it would be good to do just a little research to be sure whichone to pick... since there are quite some options  :o

That was the start of an adventure through various hardware-freak-websites, topics about do's and don'ts, checklists of what to do before buying a monitor and a truckload of specs that should be understood and checked before even thinking of buying a monitor!!

And then there were the lies: Off course I read various times that manufacturers allways lie about the specs of their screens, or just simply come up with so many different ways of testing the abilities of a screen that from the single result (1ms, 2ms, 5ms) you could hardly decide wether it was fast or not (!)

So, I decided to w%&k my way through one of these checklists and hoped that this would make me find the right monitor for me.
First, I read some info about different screen-types. That was necessary to be able to choose wisely after making up what kind of a user you are: A gamer, photo- and video-editor, or die-hard moviewatcher.
I thought best was to pick a NT type. Cheap, fast, and with latest developements alos quite good imagequality (contrast, collou-brightness etc.)
Then I found out something about the resolution. So I figured it's good to have a monitor with a special chip on-board who can adjust the resolution when an image has a different than the default one. Otherwise the screen will stretch the image. You'll have all michelin-puppets walking in your screen in stead of humans.
Also I found out that above 24" the screens only get bigger, not sharper. The max resolution still is 1920-1080. which fits perfect on 24".  (there are exceptions to this, but that's all super-expensive stuff made for the pro in photo- and video editing) Basically bigger screens then 24" will get less sharp. Since I'm close to my desk that would be only annoying to me. A wate of money and deskspace, so I swiched to the idea of buying a 24".

Then someone advised that the best thing to do (after desiding where you want to use your monitor for and define the max price) is reading reviews.
And again; Holy moly!!!
There are a lot of reviews on some screens, lots with bad info and few with good. And on other screens no info at all. In my search for the best to buy I also discovered that lots of screens don't have the ability of adjusting the hight of the screen. That's definitely not what I want, because I have a high desk. Don't want to have a neck hurting due to looking up all the time  >:((

After poking round til after midnight, and the next day again, I still had my doubts. There was a screen that seemed to fit my needs, and had some good reviews. But some bad ones to, about "dead pixels" and yellow bars and "bleeding spots" and so. And still not sure if the contrast was made "dynamically" (or let's say artificial, with dito lags) or not  :D

That made me collapse.... After 2 days of intense searching, which started all enthousiast, I've ended up with no idea what to do and where to get help.
Maybe I'm just too much of a perfectionist, but I'm just confused right now. Oh, and one more thing: My eyes are hurting: according to some that is caused by starring too much time to a bad monitor, and you should be able to buy one that is less tiresome for your eyes... :-(  :-\\ ???? :-\\

So please, just tell me "buy THAT PARTICULAR monitor and stop searching". You'd give me the relief I'm looking for right now  :'(

[Art Blade]

The simplest thing to do would be to go to a shop and see for yourself what the monitors they've got for sale look like when switched on. A good sales person would demonstrate it to you, you should ask for any game to be shown in action, perhaps a video displayed and so on so you can really see if you're going to like it.

There are of course a lot of options and specs and all that, the only thing you should abstain from is 3D stuff (it's still under development and there are too few games/films that actually w@&k well in 3D). Specs that are most likely not true are contrasts if they exceed 1,000. Use your own eyes and judge for yourself, don't delve into the specs too deeply.

Regarding images (Michelin type), your graphics card will sort that for you (scale them). If you've got very good eyes then go for a crisp 24", else the difference between 24" and 27" isn't mind-boggling, so even if sitting close to a 27" doesn't mean you're going to see the dot matrix as you would when looking at an old TV tube. It's still so fine you most certainly won't be able to tell and therefore not going to say, gee, that's blurry. So if you like a big screen, go get your 27". The typical resolution for a 19:10 aspect ratio would be 1920x1200, what you came up with is a 19:9 more likely for HDMI TV or blue ray.

More common is 19:10 though, here are some specs for that.

Name    Dimensions    Diagonal screen size
WXGA    1280×800    13–15 in (33–38 cm)
WXGA+    1440×900    15–19 in (38–48 cm)
WSXGA+    1680×1050    20–22 in (51–56 cm)
WUXGA    1920×1200    23–28 in (58–71 cm)
WQXGA    2560×1600    30 in (76 cm)

Have fun  :-D

[Binnatics]

I'll definitely pass by a shop. Why haven't I come to that conclusion myself? ::)

Guess I was too confused after all that reading  ;) :-X

[Art Blade]

I had almost the same experience, and then I just happened upon a 27" monitor in a shop for 400€ back then, had the guy demonstrate it to me and I deemed it "good enough", so I took it right away and I've never regretted it  :-()

[Binnatics]

After quite a while, I restarted my search for a new monitor and, finally I found what I was looking for.
I decided, first of all, that I wanted to have a 24" screen, preferred above bigger ones. Bigger ones mean bigger pixels and less sharpness. I like sharpness best ;)
Second, I decided that I don't want to risk ghosting with slow and expensive monitors using IPS or other new tech that's good for colours and contrast. First of all I'm a gamer and NT screens do perform quite well according contrast and colour quality nowadays. :)
So: 24" NT. Well, still plenty more to choose from. thousands or so, still. Since all screens have more or less the same quality imho, you just have to have luck not to get a dead pixel, I decided to get a nicely designed and not too expensive monitor; the Acer S243HL. It has a very nice design, it has good reviews on the net and it is low in consumption of energy since it's LED back-lighted. The actual screen is very thin (15mm) and has a tiny border. Nothing is too glossy and it fits perfectly on my desk.  ^-^
I'm 100% sure of having not one dead pixel, since it's the one that was shown in the shop that I brought with me. That has a downside as well, since the guys from the shop must have been in a hurry and didn't include all necessary cable to connect the damn thing :-\\
It needs to be connected with an AC adapter, which is not there and neither is there a proper power-connector cable and HDMI cable. So I'll have to go back to the shop next Monday to get the proper cables for the damn thing before I can enjoy it :'(

Anyway, I'm sure this monitor is the solution to what I've been looking for. There's not yet a solution good enough that gives you both perfect colour depth and contrast AND fast response times, unless you're willing to pay over €700,- which I don't want to. There are bigger screens already with bigger resolution and thus graphics as sharp as I want them to be, but they cost a fortune and probably most games aren't prepared for these resolutions yet.

So I decided to get this screen, no t too expensive and fitting all my needs :)

[Art Blade]

n-joy  :-() :-X

[Dweller_Benthos]

I've had good luck with the Samsung displays. My last one was a 22" TFT which I thought was pretty good, but the new one is a 23" LED which I like a lot, 1920x1080. Got a 24" of pretty much the same thing at w@&k here. Does great playing games, no ghosting, fast response, videos look good on it, though I haven't watched a bluray or other HD video on it yet. Normal video and DVDs look fine.

[fragger]

Sounds like mine D_B, I've got a Samsung 23" LED SyncMaster XL2370 1920x1080. I got it about a year ago and I've been very happy with it ever since. In addition to gaming I do virtual 3D modelling and rendering and watch DVDs on this monitor and as you say, everything looks good on it. It's my first widescreen and I remember playing FC2 on it for the first time and saying "wow" a lot.

I had to start wearing glasses a few years ago for reading and computing and one advantage is it makes the monitor screen look bigger than it is. The specs appear to add a couple more inches to the screen size :-()

[Binnatics]

 :-()

So far, I'm very happy with the new monitor. Just got it installed and it gives good, sharp images. No ghosting at all, everything runs smooth ans looks nice. The only downside is that the contrast isn't too deep. Could have been better imho. :-D

[fragger]

Glad to hear you're happy with your new toy, Binn :) :-X

[Art Blade]

indeed.. must be a world of difference, having jumped from 4:3 to 16:9 :)

[PZ]

It would be difficult for me to revert back to 4:3

[fragger]

Me too

[Binnatics]

I still have to get used to the space :-D

[fragger]

But it's a good get used to :-D

[PZ]

 ;)  I doubt it will take too long!

[Art Blade]

you'll want more  :-()

[Binnatics]

It is indeed an easy getting used to ;)
I found out a way to get the contrast a bit better on this screen. That was something that bothered me somehow. The fact is, that this screen seems to never be absolutely black. Well, it stays sort of grey when exposing something dark. That makes the darker parts in a game a bit less intense. There's a button called "e" on my monitor and there I can choose between various 'modes'. So I can choose 'eco' mode, 'graphics' mode or 'movie'. Best results for the real dark is with 'movie'. Other thing I found out is that there are quite a lot of grey components in the current page layout. Never saw that before ^-^

[wassja]

If you are getting eye pain, then you need an LCD without PWM. PWM is what makes the backlight flicker and what causes headaches and eye pain. Ditch the idea of all other parameters, the only two important parameters for eye comfort are NO PWM and A GOOD PIXEL DENSITY. The Dell U2713HM is perfect in that regard. You should totally buy it! ^-^

[Binnatics]

The endless variety of monitors, options and ways to describe the quality of monitors was in fact the cause of my headaches. But I'll keep that option in mind the next time I buy a monitor :-X ^-^

[fragger]

Hey wassja, welcome to the site :)

Good info, thanks for posting it (I say as I squint at my monitor through glasses that need replacing)

Btw, what does PWM stand for?

[wassja]

PWM is pulse width modulation, a really nasty thing.

[PZ]

Welcome wassja!  I too did not recognize the acronym PWM.