Awesome Flat Screen Monitors

Parnell

Ok I'm looking into getting a sweet LCD monitor. The 21" CRT while great is just so frigging huge I think it's time to retire it.

I noticed LCD's are getting much more affordable. Being a n008 in the realms of LCD's, I'm just curious what are some good models to look into. Something around 22-24" with some sweet resolution like 1600x1200+ (or whatever the widescreen ratio is) is what I'd hope for.

Any help is much appreciated!
B

hawken

Un-ashamedly I'd suggest the apple displays.

mine at work runs at 1680 x 1050 (because all apple displays are 72dpi)

90dpi screens are pretty much useless for what I do.

Tulkamir

Hah, I just upgraded from my old CRT as well.

I think that your best bet is a Samsung, they seem to be making the top stuff right now. Though Dell would work as well (they use Samsung stuff for their monitors I believe, though don't quote me on that).

I don't know the exact model you'd want, though I imagine a quick search would work. I just got a Samsung 216BW for home and love it, and have 2 Samsung 206BW's at work, and they're great as well.

Keg

Look into Dell's ultrasharp monitors. Same screen as the apple displays and not nearly as expensive.

Emil Mujanovic

I second the Dell Ultrasharp monitors. I have a dual 24" Dell Ultrasharp LCD setup at home and they work a treat!

-caseyjones

adam

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8400456&type=product&id=1179877503230

I have 2 of these, they rock. Albeit I paid about $120 less than the US price for them (Canada, weird eh?) so it may be out of your budget.

Anyhoo, I recommend those.

Illusions

Any comment on Acer brand lcd monitors? Simply because they seem the least expensive of the brands for similar stats.

kolbyjukes

I have 3 of the samsung monitors that Adam mentioned, I love em - and they're very affordable.

StJoris

I can recommend the Dell Ultrasharps as well, I have two 20.1" standing right here. Look around for IPS panels and avoid TN I'd say.

Phobos

Acers are alright, But you want to stick with a quality brand.
The Samsungs are great, Dell ultrasharps are killer, and the apples are so sexy I would just sit in front of one and not get any work done.

TelekineticFrog

Samsung all the way. They actually will color match, unlike all the Dell monitors I've used. Depending on your budget you can always go with an LCD TV that does 1:1 pixel matching and supports DVI or use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect to the TV. Of those I would recommend the Sharp Aquos line for that use. One of the very few LCD TVs that will actually do a 1:1 pixel mapping when connected to a PC source and most likely supports a faster response time and higher contrast ratio than what you'll find on a standard LCD for PC use. I play COD4, UT3, GOW, Dawn of War and WOW from PC over to a Sharp Aquos and it's great.

JKMakowka

Dell widescreen

Will lenghen your e-penis a lot

Target_Renegade

Got a BenQ g2400w which does its job nicely and has an HDCP HDMI port for a console. Not the best contrast ratio but the most flexible option found - good price/value.

hawken

[ QUOTE ]
Samsung all the way. They actually will color match, unlike all the Dell monitors I've used. Depending on your budget you can always go with an LCD TV that does 1:1 pixel matching and supports DVI or use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect to the TV. Of those I would recommend the Sharp Aquos line for that use. One of the very few LCD TVs that will actually do a 1:1 pixel mapping when connected to a PC source and most likely supports a faster response time and higher contrast ratio than what you'll find on a standard LCD for PC use. I play COD4, UT3, GOW, Dawn of War and WOW from PC over to a Sharp Aquos and it's great.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a mac mini hooked up to a bravia LCD

over dvi to vga it was great, but couldn't support true 1:1 1080p so I bought a dvi to hdmi cable but sony have this dynamic contrast shit that you can't turn off.
So it's now 1:1 but impossible to design on, as you can't judge the darkness of colours.

I'd say avoid using a big TV as a monitor over hdmi, look for one that has dvi in

Snowfly

I'll just vouch for what I've used which are Samsung 226CW and Dell Ultrasharp, both running at 1680x1050.

I've used the Dell for print work, and when calibrated and profile matched with the printers properly, are as good as painting on paper. I chose it over the Samsung for my monitor at home as well, because of the swivel (handy for concepting upright characters!) and all the inputs it takes.

I use the Samsungs mostly for screen stuff, they're nice and vivid, and colors are consistent among all the art staff.

Pseudo

I use the Samsung monitors that Adam listed at home and the Dells at work. If price wasn't a concern I would use the Dells at home also, but the Samsungs are quite a bargain and I have seen them on sale a couple times through newegg.

Joshua Stubbles

This is the version after the model I bought (202W). My monitors are great for what I do. I spend $310 when they came out, but these ones are bigger, better (5ms compared to 8ms like mine) and cheaper!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014131

Target_Renegade

Yeah, for price/value/performance BenQs are pretty amazing.

Toomas

I use 40" W3000 series Sony lcd tv as my monitor and im very happy with how it performs. Only minus is that it kinda heats up my face but i like being warm soo its not too much of an issue.
Hawken, try to turn on the game/text mode (menu>settings>video settings), that will turn the backlight dimming off. Hope that helps, maybe you need to update your firmware, dunno but its well worth it.

rawkstar

dell 30" = best computer upgrade i ever got. not all video cards support the 2560x1600 resolution though, so you gotta make sure urs does before you bite the bullet.

Scott_W

I picked up the Dell 2707 HC Widescreen from a seller on eBay a few weeks ago, and it's the best piece of hardware I've ever bought. It's 27 inches, but retains the 1920x1200 resolution which is a good sweet spot for running most games at maximum detail.

The pixel size is physically larger, but you can't tell. At 27 inches, you're not meant to sit with your face to the screen anyhow:)

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/produ...mp;sku=222-7315

greenj2

I might as well sign the Dell UltraSharp petition while I'm here. Got one at work and liked it so much I got one for home as well.

gauss

as i've said in the last time this thread came up, apple cinema displays are absolutely worth it if looks and color accuracy are a premium for your work. if good color calibration isn't important, then i'd probably go for the equivalent dell or samsung. a lot of the bigger LCDs are technically the same panels... but you do get what you pay for. LCDs are not like CRTs in that the same factory production line can turn out incredibly varying quality of panels--color quality, response rates, dead pixels... apple gets the best panels, dell gets the next best, etc etc on down the line.

Vailias

I have a pair of 19inch acer widscreens at the moment, and they're pretty darn good as far as I can tell. From the inexpensive brands they had the highest available contrast ratio. I don't know how they compare in an objective assessment of any sort, but they work well for gaming and modeling so far.

Thegodzero

Just a little bit of info about contrast.

when you see something like this,

DC 8000:1(1000:1)

The DC means that it has a flashlight behind it that makes it 8 times brighter. All DC will do it make your eyes bleed and give your headaches. The (1000:1) part is the real contrast. If you don't see a DC in front of it it just might be the real contrast but if its over 3000:1 its DC.

tokidokizenzen

Hey Brian I have a Dell Ultra Sharp 2007wfp. Colors are perfect. My only issue is that I can notice a slight flicker if the whole screen is empty (no images or anything on screen)and if the color being displayed is a low value. I wonder if anyone else has this problem?

So the newer Dell monitors that are not ultrasharp seem to have a higher contrast ratio. The only improvement on the ultrasharps is that they have about tripple the response time which is better for gaming (no ghosting) Sorry to say I don't play that many fps's so this isn't an issue for me. In retrospect I should have bought the 207wfp and save $100.

Something else to consider is; if you're going to use the stand make sure its adjustable hight / rotation. Seems trivial but it really matters.

tokidokizenzen

Hey so i was wrong about response time. The 2007wfp actually has a pretty shitty response time :P Most of the other 20"ers have faster response. Faster = less ghosting. I don't get it, why are ultra sharp wfp's more expensive?

StJoris

You will pretty much want to read this:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/619-1/updated-survey-13-lcd-20-5-6-8-16-ms.html

It's a bit dated, but it lifts comparing out of the realm of nutty numbers stated by manufacturers.

tokido,

Your dell probably has an IPS panel, it's a little slower, but your screen doesn't turn to shit when you move your head a couple inches.

Mark Dygert

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8400456&type=product&id=1179877503230

I have 2 of these, they rock. Albeit I paid about $120 less than the US price for them (Canada, weird eh?) so it may be out of your budget.

Anyhoo, I recommend those.

[/ QUOTE ]
I picked up two of these last night, they are awesome. The factory setting where bright as hell but that was easy enough to get around.

moose

[ QUOTE ]
dell 30" = best computer upgrade i ever got. not all video cards support the 2560x1600 resolution though, so you gotta make sure urs does before you bite the bullet.

[/ QUOTE ]

i second this. make sure you get the 30" HC model!

tokidokizenzen

[ QUOTE ]
You will pretty much want to read this:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/619-1/updated-survey-13-lcd-20-5-6-8-16-ms.html

It's a bit dated, but it lifts comparing out of the realm of nutty numbers stated by manufacturers.

tokido,

Your dell probably has an IPS panel, it's a little slower, but your screen doesn't turn to shit when you move your head a couple inches.

[/ QUOTE ]

StJoris, I never knew about the IPS panel thing but wow does it make a world of difference.

I recently purchased 2 more monitors before your post, one for my wife and one for home office. Neither have IPS.

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Lots of bleed ok colors.

Acer AL2016WBbd Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Bleed less than ok colors.

In retrospect I'd pay more and get the dell 2007 wfp. After seeing the other 2, it's really an amazing monitor.