Monitor upgrade

Polar101

I currently have a 22" 1680x1050 monitor that's almost 5 years old. I thought I'd get a 24" or a 27" 1080p monitor, but looking at the specs of those, almost all list brightness at 250 or 300 cd/m2 and contrast at 1000:1. My old monitor is 300 cd/m2 and 1000:1 - does that mean the picture quality hasn't really improved much in the last few years? I assume I'm missing something here..

ShadowHearth

in fainress there are way more variables then the ones you mentioned. at this stage i dont even check those and just go with a good reviewed monitor.

the best bang for your money in 1080p is 2312hm these days. its an IPS panel witch makes everything look sexy.

Serephucus

Your old monitor is most-likely a TN panel - they've got fast response times, so are good for fast-paced games (though modern IPS are more than adequate too, more on that in a minute), but they have pretty horrible colour uniformity, as well as viewing angles, and their colour reproduction isn't great either.

IPS panel monitors on the other hand usually have better contrast (most TNs rated at 1000:1 are only about 750-800:1 in reality; my 1000:1 IPS is actually about 1200:1), superb viewing angles* and great colour reproduction.

Shadowhearth pretty much nailed it. The best value monitor on the market at the moment is the U2312M from dell. There's also the U2412 if you want a slightly bigger monitor, or the U2713 if you want higher resolution (2560x1440) and can pay for it.

If you'd rather stick with 1080p for eyesight or performance reasons, then my current front-runner is the S27A650D from Samsung. It's an AMVA panel monitor, which means a true 3000:1 contrast ratio**, but might not be useful if you're the type of person to notice ghosting in games, as the response times are slightly behind IPS displays.

*Viewing angles might not sound like an important thing ("When the hell am I going to be looking at my monitor side-on?!") but it's actually more than that. Particularly if you have a 27" or above monitor, if you're sitting reasonably close to it, you'll end up viewing the corners of it at an angle, so you'll end up getting a circle in the middle of the monitor where the colour is fine, and the edges being slightly washed out looking. This doesn't happen with IPS or PLS displays.

** Don't be fooled if you see a monitor with a 100000000:1 contrast ratio. These are dynamic. This means the backlight gets dimmed in darker scenes, and raised in brighter ones. In reality most often it doesn't work properly and is both very annoying, and pretty horrible looking. The ones I'm quoting are static; proper contrast as you'd imagine it to be.


Apologies if that's a lot to take in, I can explain in more detail if needed. It would be helpful though if you could tell us what you'll be using the monitor for, and what your budget is.

Polar101

Thanks for the info. IPS panel looks like the way to go, I have a small desk so I'm sitting close to the monitor. I'll use the it mostly for gaming, don't really play fast-paced games. My budget is about €200, so the U2412 seems a bit expensive - but I see that's a 16x10 monitor which would be nice. U2312 might be the one to get then.

Sisko

I didn't want to make a new thread but I am in a similar situation. I built a very high end PC a year ago and was going to buy a monitor too when I realised there is a hell of a lot about monitors that I don't know so I wanted to pace myself.

I know I want a 27inch monitor and I want the best I can get for my money. 2 hdmi ports would be nice. I am not arsed with 3D.

I'm in a place where I can treat myself but I still don't feel comfortable buying a monitor for 500 euro upwards.

From recent googling I am seeing a ton of catch phrases that mean little to me. So I need help knowing what to look for. I'm seeing things like :

IPS?
AMVA?
Catleap?
120hz?

I am very out of the loop with these things it would seem

Serephucus your post was very helpful. That Samsung monitor appears to have no HDMI ports though

Looking at it on dabs.ie I notice its one of the more expensive 27inch ones that are still in the 1080p bracket. If I was scrolling through it having not read this post I'd be totally confused as to why its meant to be better than the rest on there. Jaysus I'm out of the loop


Help? :pac:

challengemaster

This might help a little with the types of monitors

The Yamakasi Catleap is a type of Korean monitor that's gotten very popular. All ordered from ebay sellers, 27" IPS 1440p and with a price tag of around €300. There's a thread on these here

120hz is refresh rate.

Also dabs.ie don't have that exact version of the syncmaster. You can find the right one here

Sisko

Thank you for the help, nice links.


Well unless I am mistaken it really seems like once I go past 1080p I have to pay 700 euro or something.

From reading 120hz only seems to matter if I'm into 3D gaming?

Not going to risk a catleap me thinks.

Sounds like IPS is the way to go, I'm a gamer so I do want response time. Also looking for a monitor that may be white or silver rather than black as it'll fit well with the set up I have then. Though that is just aesthetics and am willing to back away from that idea if I have to. Something slick would be really nice I must say.

This looked nice :



But reviews appear to be saying its not good for gaming

http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-monitor/asus-mx279h-p14957/test.html

glynf

120hz is great for 2D if your GPU can keep the frames per sec over 80+, games feel and play a lot smoother, especially first person shooters. I have three Samsung SA950D 120hz monitors in eyefinity, and have tried 3D gaming for a sum total of 5 mins, it gave me a headache looking at it so have not bothered since.

Mine are 1080p screens, some people would be concerned about pixel density but I do not find it an issue as I am about 600mm from the centre screen, if you sit up close to your monitor it would be well worth considering a 1440p like the Catleap. I would strongly sggest trying before you buy, you could go to an apple shop and give a look at their 27"cinema screen which is 1440p, this will give you a better idea of what you want-I might be hung drawn & quartered for suggesting this here

If 27" 1080p suited, there are a few decent options well under €500 that are aesthetically pleasing:

ASUS MX279H New model, and I have not seen a thorough yet, however looks good and has 2 x HDMI..


Samsung SyncMaster S27A750D Same panel as mine, but less inputs than the 950D (no DVI) but it has DisplayPort & HDMI, which should suit for a PC & xbox/PS3, and its 120hz.