Thoughts on LCD monitors...

J

Jimko

Guest
Since my 8 year old Viewsonic 22.5 inch CRT is spitting at me, I think that it will soon become a relic.

As in a recent post, I'm going to upgrade my video card while I replace the monitor and I'm looking for some monitor size opinions particularly as applied to OFF.

I've been really comfortable with a 22 inch CRT running a resolution of 1280 X 1024... easy to read print on my 'older' eyes and yet adequate detail for most things. I am considering both 22 and 24 inch monitors but I wonder if bigger is not necessarily better because of the native resolutions, such as the 1920 X 1200 common on the 24 inch screens.

I wonder if those of you with LCDs have any comments, opinions, suggestions? (a BIG pair of reading glasses?) :costumes:

Thanks!
 
The bigger the better... you'll simply drool more.

LCD size = drool flow rate.
 
I'm with OVS. Also to be considered is the fact that you can always lower the resolution on a 24" monitor from 1920x1200. You can't however, raise the resolution on a 22" from it's native 1680x1050. Although the 24" will tax your graphics card a bit more, if the price difference is reasonably close, I'd certainly go with the 24". Response times of 5ms or less would be the ticket for gaming. Dynamic contrast is usually a load of hype. I don't place much stock in it. Look at the "real" contrast specs.

I've had really decent luck with the Samsungs, but there are others that are just as capable.


Cheers,

Parky
 
I have a wide screen LCD 22" Samsung, it's 20 1/4" any wider would mean surgery to my computer desk. I would happily perform the surgery.
22" is minimum, if I had to do it all over, I'd go for the 24"
 
one thing I'd take into account too, apart from the already mentioned 5ms response time: how good the monitor is at reproducing colours faithfully with factory settings.
Maybe it's because I'm a modeler and a skinner too, but I feel there's a lot of uncalibrated monitors out there and that it's an important and seldom mentioned aspect.
 
My gaming PC has an Ilyama 24 inch Prolite B2403WS LCD monitor. It has resolutions up 1920 by 1200 and hits around 55 FPS with Phase 3 (with all detail set at or near to maximum). Using the digital connector lead the colours look great to me. Even the analoge colours are good.

The graphics card is a GTX280 with 1 gig ram onboard and runs in Vista 64 bit with 8 Meg ram (CPU 2 Quad core Q9450).
 
Thanks for the feedback!

Now I can honestly say that my leaning has been toward the Samsung Syncmaster 2443 BW, 24 inch which I've read some great reviews on after hunting through dozens of the damn things, and which is on sale at the moment. I plan on driving it with a GTX 260 which my system will handle without a lot of other upgrading and which respects the budgetary constraints at this aerodrome...:kilroy:

I think I'll go with the "bigger is better" LCD wisdom...:jump:
 
Yep at least 24" these days if you can afford well worth it. Also it's wide screen so you get more left/right view when in the cockpit (16:10 ratio).

Like Mike with the GTX 280 it's runs P3 full whack very nicely - I'm currently also on Vista 64 with 8GB ram to get the best for the new games and OFF (still have good old XP too dual boot) (UAC off too!). I must say even basic operations are very fast with the extra RAM. Some tools we use for OFF have increased in speed dramatically even over XP since I put 8GB in.
 
I'm turning green and greener when I read about the quad-core cpu, 8 gig of RAM, and GTX 280 video cards that you guys have...:crybaby:

I'm afraid I'll have to settle for the GTX 260, 2 Gig of Ram, and my dual-core 2.20 Gig Athlon 64 processor. Hopefully that will do at least a decent job of running P3. I wonder if I should consider more RAM though, based on what you are telling me.

Hmmm...:isadizzy:
 
The Quad Core is a bit of overkill as far as OFF is concerned. If designing an aicraft from scratch, you want it, if not you don't need it.
OFF Desires Speed, a Dual Core at 3 ghtz could could run circles around my Quad at 2.4 ghtz. The only reason I bought it, it was that or a 1.7 Duo, factory order sucks.

Don't let it bother you. Somebody will ALWAYS have better:applause::applause::applause:
 
womenfly2 said:
This is what I have and is fantastic! Samsung 2493HM

I highly recommend it.

WF2
Click to expand...

Good to know, womenfly2 :applause:

It appears that the 2493 may be more of an offering in other countries...
But, it seems to be a very comparable monitor to the 2443...with a few more bells and whistles.

Cheers!
 
gimpyguy said:
Don't let it bother you. Somebody will ALWAYS have better:applause::applause::applause:
Click to expand...

Yes, I know it! I'm just acting silly... I'm too laid back at my age to get very bent out of shape over a better system...:d

Even my system was leading edge at one time...for about 15 minutes until something better came along! :costumes:

But, I guess we always wish for something that will give us the very best graphics and game play. I can remember watching my CFS2 grind into a slide show because it was so full of add-ons and enhancements...until I upgraded my system.

Thanks for the comments, gang!
 
bzhyoyo said:
one thing I'd take into account too, apart from the already mentioned 5ms response time: how good the monitor is at reproducing colours faithfully with factory settings.
Maybe it's because I'm a modeler and a skinner too, but I feel there's a lot of uncalibrated monitors out there and that it's an important and seldom mentioned aspect.
Click to expand...

Well 2 days ago I picked up my new PC. The first thing I noticed is the contrast in the new LCD is greater than the old CRT monitor.
The video card is a Nvidia GTX280 and the monitor a Samsung 19" 5ms 8000:1 running at native 1280 X 1024, AA maxed out to the full. I wanted a 4x3 ratio monitor.

When I plugged in the old CRT the colours are much better than the new monitor. Also with FS2004 & FSX the scenery sort of waivers around the edges, some gauges do as well. Far more than the CRT did.

Flight Simulator & photos are where I notice the difference the most.
CFS3 looks ok and the scenery does not waiver. I will not install OFF again till P3 comes out so I can not comment on that.

Overall the LCD is not bad, but a new CRT would have better colour and better AA.

And the worst thing it is thicker at the top and my trackIR no longer clips on the top, bugger.:banghead:

So what do I think. I am going to buy a CRT just for FS2004 & FSX and use the LCD for everything else. They are so cheap it does not matter.

Cheers MarkL
 
Hello,

first do you really mean LCD, or TFT ?

@ wf2: great screen (literally), and 1.5 ms reaction time for this ?! - it is not even too expensive for this performance.

I have an older Iiyama 20" monitor, and the brilliance of that (old) thing ist still better than on the TFT monitors i have seen - but i have apparently not seen all.:kilroy:
I cannot explain, but on the TFT there are sometimes clear borders to see between areas that have the slightest changes in colour.

What i really like is the size of those new TFTs, the background lighting, and the power consumption. Apart from this for brilliance and sharpness i would still prefer a 24" CRT monitor.

Greetings,
Catfish
 
He means LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). TFT would indicate a type of LCD panel that uses Thin Film Transistor technology as opposed to Twisted Nematic/TN, or In-Plane Switching/IPS technology.

There are differences, but an LCD is an LCD.

I think you're comparing the difference between Cathode Ray Tube and Liquid Crystal Display technology....which are vastly different as you know.



Cheers,

Parky
 
I just upgraded my system this past August and snagged a 24" Sceptre monitor for $279.00. The monitor has a native resolution of 1920x1200, which is fantastic, really.

I can imagine the bigger screen will go good with P3 (if it ever gets here--sorry guys, just a little frustration boiling over).
 
Not all LCDs are great at colour reproduction. Read the reviews if that is important to you.
 
Jim I picked up one of these at FS a few weeks ago in Victoria for about $260 (before the Canadian dollar crash)

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10100850&catid=

Samsung SyncMaster 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (T220)

I'm very happy with it, and it has a 2ms refresh rate.
I checked it out beside others and was very impressed.
Remember; the larger the screen the more horse power you'll need in the way of a graghics card.

Good luck
Fawlty
 
Hi Fawlty,

Thanks for the note!

I just ordered the Samsung 2443 at FS which is also on sale and I'm replacing the graphics card with the GTX 260 and another Gig of Ram. My friends, trained computer techs, suggest that this should be a decent system, built on my existing MB and processor configuration without having to take out a second mortagage...:d

The next logical step would be to build a completely new system at far greater cost.

Glad that you like the T220...I've read some good reviews on it.

Cheers!
 
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