LCD Monitors feedback please

JH

I have a 17 inch CRT sony trinitron multiscan monitor. It's 8 years old and goes well, but I was thinking of buying a 19 inch LCD monitor. Do any of you have a LCD monitor, and are you satisfied? Any brands in particular you think I should consider? I saw a samsung 19"model for about 800$ Canadian. The picture is great, no flickers, less eyestrain, uses less power also.

The prices of conventional CRT monitors are falling as the LCD's are more popular. Do you think it's worth while to pay more for a LCD monitor?

Valis

Hey Man...you can get a good monitor for less...here's a page that might help you make your descision...

Sincerely,

District Overbeer

drwtsn32

I will never go back to CRTs. At home I have a dual 18" LCD setup. They are Sony LCDs but I don't remember the exact model. At work I use a Dell 18" UltraSharp LCD. All of these LCDs run at 1280x1024.

Things to keep in mind:

Definitely get a DVI video card if you want maximum sharpess. (Of course make sure your LCD has a DVI input.) DVI is a digital interface and avoids the whole digital-analog-digital conversion that takes place if you use a standard VGA connector.

LCD monitors really have to be run at their native resulotion to look good. So if you get an LCD that runs at 1280x1024 in native resolution, don't run it at any other resolution or appearance will suffer.

LCD monitors don't run at any specific "refresh rate" like a CRT does, but the pixels do have a "response time". Montiors with a slow response time will cause a blurring/smearing effect when things move around. If you play a lot of games, a low response time is ultra important.

Finally, don't go just by the specs... I think manufacturers tend to lie. I have seen LCD monitors with an advertised response time HALF that of my Sony LCDs but the smearing effect is worse.

JH

Thanks Valis and drwtsn32 for your answers.

Definitely get a DVI video card if you want maximum sharpess. Yea, I will because I like sharpness. I use photoshop alot and I like sharp pictures.

I always kept my resolution on 640 by 480. Most people don't.

drwtsn32

I always kept my resolution on 640 by 480. Most people don't.

You must be joking! How can you get anything done with such limited screen space? You should note that there are no LCDs that run at that resolution natively. If you choose to run at 640x480 it's not going to look very good.

Your best bet if you insist on such a resolution is to get a 1600x1200 display and run it at 800x600. Yeah, that's a little more than 640x480 but it is exactly 1/2 of the native resolution so it will scale correctly and look good.

I can't fathom why someone would not run at 1280x1024 on an 18"/19" display!

JH

I just put my settings on 800 by 600 and everything is so small. Although I have excellent eyes, I just like things big.

I guess you get used to everything.

drwtsn32

What size is your current monitor? If it's 14" I might understand that 800x600 looks too small on it for some people. But if you get a 19" LCD you need to make it worth your while... get a 1280x1024 LCD and run it at that resolution. Just think... it's like having a 2x2 grid of 640x480 monitors. You will have four times the screen space.

If text looks too small, increase the point size. If the icons are too small, make them larger. Larger fonts at higher resolutions look much smoother than smaller fonts at a lower resolution.

- Doc... who hasn't run 640x480 since 1993 in Windows 3.1.

JH

In the 640 x 480 resolution, the color quality is at highest 32 bits, and when I put it in 800 x 600 it goes down to color quality high 24 bits, and if I go to 1024 x 768 it goes down to medium 16 bits.

As for the frequency in hertz, I have the choice between 60, 72, 75, 90 hertz. It's set at 60hz.

Am I losing color quality when I choose 800 x 600 at 24 bits compared to before at 32 bits color quality?

I like it better at 640 x 480 even if everything is huge. Why strain my eyes for nothing?

Just as an example, if a person has a 20" TV set and he decides to buy a 27" TV set, he will enjoy a larger picture. If he then buys a 32" TV set, he will enjoy even more his TV especially if he is seated far away. So why would a person buy a bigger monitor and then make the picture much smaller?

In my case, I love photography and photoshop, and I love to blow up pictures and play around with them. Being in 640 x 480, I see so much more. When people post pictures, I can really see it bigger and I enjoy it better that way.

Many years ago when I had my first computer and I had a smaller screen, I was in that resolution, and with time I kept it there, even though I now have a 17" monitor which isn't that big.

I think it boils down to personal taste.

Interesting statistics below

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

drwtsn32

In the 640 x 480 resolution, the color quality is at highest 32 bits, and when I put it in 800 x 600 it goes down to color quality high 24 bits, and if I go to 1024 x 768 it goes down to medium 16 bits.

You need a new video card. One that can handle 32-bit color at higher resolutions.

As for the frequency in hertz, I have the choice between 60, 72, 75, 90 hertz. It's set at 60hz.

Yikes!! Most people can detect the flicker at 60Hz. I can't stand anything less than 85Hz on a CRT.

Am I losing color quality when I choose 800 x 600 at 24 bits compared to before at 32 bits color quality?

I doubt you'd notice. They both allow for 16 million colors. The difference is that 32-bit color adds an 8-bit alpha channel. XP for example uses the alpha channel for alpha-blending effects.

I like it better at 640 x 480 even if everything is huge. Why strain my eyes for nothing?

Nothing?! At 640x480 you won't be able to see much of anything at one time. I thought you said you have good vision? You really strain to read text at resolutions higher than 640x480?

Just as an example, if a person has a 20" TV set and he decides to buy a 27" TV set, he will enjoy a larger picture. If he then buys a 32" TV set, he will enjoy even more his TV especially if he is seated far away. So why would a person buy a bigger monitor and then make the picture much smaller?

Because you can fit more on your screen.

I think it boils down to personal taste.

Indeed! But your taste is wrong.

Aztec

I have a computer. It's purdy!

~Aztec

LCD Monitors feedback please

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