You don't need to change at all :-)
Have you got the desk space? If so, 24" widescreen isn't too much money and works well IME. Work gives the option of 20" and 24", many people seem to get on fine with the 20" ones, but I like the increased screen real estate the 24" gives (ie more pixels).
It probably has dvi/hdmi/vga inputs so you could use the TV.
Think you've got some good answers here. There was a monitor query thread in uk.comp.homebuilt not so long ago. This message ID will find it if pasted into the bottom of the advanced search page in google.
How do you chose a monitor? Posted 6/11/11 snipped-for-privacy@brightview.co.uk
There is this one which ticks a few of my tickboxes, big, IPS, 1080HD - but my primary monitor is a designer of breed CRT and will be in use until it packs up.
LG IPS235V IPS LCD LED 23" HDMI Monitor - £128.31inc. vat
I'll only confuse further by saying I'm also a portrait fan. My second monitor (currenly sick...) is an 18" 16:10 1280x1024 LCD monitor rotated
90deg which cuts down on scrolling web pages - and also allows the whole of an A4 document or PDF page to be viewed 'naturally'. Think like an Apple iPad but bigger :-)
I was looking for a widescreen to go alongside my 1600x1200 4:3, and found that there is very little choice at that pixel height in 16:9 these days - almost everyone seems to be using panels designed for HD TV and hence 1080 height.
(went for a Samsung 2443 16:10 in the end)
Before ordering from somewhere sensible!
In general the bigger the better.
Note that if you go for widescreen a 19" Ws will seem smaller than a 17" 4:3
I setup a Samsung monitor the other day for a customer, and for the first time hooked it up with HDMI (it was that or analogue VGA - and the computer had HDMI out). Very impressed with the results. Not only be very crisp in windows, but also on low res text screens etc which can often look a bit fizzy or blocky when running a LCD at non native pixel counts.
Cheap, reasonable, but often not that well specced. They do have a range f "hard glass" fronted ones though that can be handy for some applications.
Yes
Steer clear of some of the lower end tat like Digimate (DiGM) and most makers have some reasonable kit. Using quite a few Samsung ones recently. Had a couple of failures after 5 years or so, but both have been repairable without too much effort.
I like it because there's the options of two reasonable windows side by side, or on some programs that use a sde panel, more 'work area'
And in some more modern OS'es you can get a docker or whatever its called down one side.
I.e. you will find a way to use the real estate no matter what the aspect ratio is: modern CHEAP screens tend to be TV aspect ratio, for obvious reasons.
MY operating system will allow at least 6 'virtual screens'. One click away..
Since I cant actually look at more than one screen at a time, its just as good, and LOTS cheaper.
Especially if one of them is running windows, and the other 5 Linux :-)
No, but the current prices mean its probably no more expensive.
Probably not... refresh rate means different things on LCDs. With a CRT you have a scanning raster, and each phosphor dot on screen is only illuminated periodically - then it decays in brightness until rescanned. Hence the need for a high vertical refresh rate to avoid flicker. Personally (being quite sensitive to flicker) I found I needed 85Hz on larger CRTs to be comfortable.
With LCDs all the pixels are "lit" all the time. The refresh rate just dictates when they can next be changed in state. So even at 45Hz there will be no flicker - but that would be the limit on the number of different frames that could be displayed per sec (ought to be ample given we cope with 24 for films, and 25 for PAL video).
Many LCDs don't run above 60Hz refresh.
Cheaper, maybe (since when were you or I that concerned about saving a few pennies?), but, no way as good
I can route the HDMI through the AV box to the TV, thus having some noise (AKA video) in the background to help me concentrate while using two screens to have a couple of spreadsheets running (As I was today while doing a price list update)
scrolling through virtual screens - a nice toy, but not so useful in real world applications
Repaired my edge10s by changing the electrolytics in the power input stage of the monitor
Bottom line is that after a couple of years, new monitors are bigger and better for less money. I buy cheapish and expect to change every few years
I've just purchased 5 x 19" (AOC) and two x 24" (Fujkitsu) monitors the 19" were £60 each and the 24" were £107 delivered
crisp and clear, good enough for my requirements
Like you, I had a great old Sony CRT (which is still working fine) but needed to get something wider screened. I bought one of these a week ago, and it's brill.
What kind of side bezel size do the 24 inchers have??
i'm looking to get 3 monitors of the same type for my bus and train simulator im making, will be using eyefinity, initially with a single gfx card so will need to use a display port to dvi adaptor for the 3rd monitor, but eventually i'll get another gfx card and sli/crossfire them (i assume i can run the third monitor off one of the 2nd gfx cards outputs)
Too true - very much not as good.
My third screen is largely dedicated to Skype - not for phone traffic but for chat. Cooperative working with people around the country needs easy communication. Having that window always visible means I can know what is going on without any more than a glance. Others who do not have a third monitor keep missing messages - at least they do not notice them when needed aven if they catch up later.
Too true - very much not as good.
My third screen is largely dedicated to Skype - not for phone traffic but for chat. Cooperative working with people around the country needs easy communication. Having that window always visible means I can know what is going on without any more than a glance. Others who do not have a third monitor keep missing messages - at least they do not notice them when needed aven if they catch up later.
iiyama was always good, and is still a safe bet. Not great at the higher end though IMO - I think you pay a bit for the name and the (no longer valid) reputation.
Yeah, all the much the same (and I suspect, largely that same panels :)) in the midrange gear. Generally avoid cheap, but I'll admit to being seriously impressed with
Of course, your milage may vary - don't sue me if you have endless grief with them!
High end the Dells are good - not cheap, but basically the same panels as Apple use (which are very nice...). Mind you, their prices are in Apple territory as well:
Darren
Decide what res you want first - then find a monitor. You can get a lower resolution 19" than 17" if you aren't careful.
Equally, 1440x900 on a 19" widescreen is going to make things a lot smaller than that res on a 22" or similar. How good is your eye sight?
Darren
Only you can answer that.
I have a 24" widescreen on the main machine and a 17" 4:3 on the older box. I much prefer the larger full resolution screen.
These days you can pick up decent LCD screens for a very good price. Things to watch out for if you are into gaming or exact photographic reproduction is that the colour management and uniformity on the cheaper ones is not that good. And some cheap ones have slow reponse times and narrow angles of view which my be annoying in a fast moving game. Worth having a look at some of them in the flesh with demanding content being displayed to see if you can live with it.
Oh and make sure the PC display card supports the monitor you buy in a native resolution (and provides the right sort of output). Things are a lot sharper if the interconnection is entirely digital.
Trustedreviews isn't a bad place to look (although I don't think they review small ones) and there is a site somewhere dedicated to precise reviews of LCD monitors with all the features, faults and known defects laid bare. I can't recall exactly where it is.
BenQ and Samsung are probably worth a look at for a decent budget monitor (or one of the HP IPS displays for photographic work).
You can get open box returns/refurb bargains from the likes of Morgan but how many dead pixels are you prepared to live with?
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