What to look for when shopping for a new monitor?

[Clean PG]

i'm in the market for a 2nd display, which will be come my primary and my current 20" LCD will be my secondary. my 2 main requirements are that it has an HDMI port and it also is VESA compatible so i can mount it to a wall. with that said, i stumbled across this LG 23" IPS LED HD monitor but have no idea what i should be comparing it to or thinking about when reading through its specs list.

i primarily do video editing and some gaming (diablo 3, borderlands) if that matters or not.

any help would be appreciated, or even a simple "yup, thatll get the job done" or "no, keep looking" would be useful.

[theevilshiftkey]

That actually looks like a very good deal.

I have a personal beef with 16x9 resolutions, but it's just me.

[Clean PG]

haha, that was an interesting thread

i ran to bestbuy to check out their monitors and although the specs on that LG appear to be quite impressive, the picture just didnt look that great on the shelf? i adjusted various settings and it still wasnt as sharp and bright as a couple of the smaller cheap LED's and even LCD's (with LED backlight) they had for sale.

to be honest, more than half of the 21"+ LED monitors, of all brands, didn't impress me. the clarity just didnt seem to be there. i compared specs of the small 19" that looked pretty damn amazing and was an off-brand for only $100 and on paper it didnt compare to the bigger ones, yet it had a better picture. wtf?

[Power5]

Same resolution on a smaller screen will look sharper. 1080p on a 19 will look better than 1080p on a 27.

Get one of the korean 27". I have had mine for a hand full of months now. Gamed and done all with it. 100% flawless operation. 1 dead pixel in the bottom left about 2" above the start menu. I call that perfect for $335 delivered in less than a week. I truly can not say enough good about it. I was nervous when I ordered it, but it was definitely worth it.

[BRealistic]

That actually looks like a very good deal.

I have a personal beef with 16x9 resolutions, but it's just me.

Ha.
I forgot about that thread.
And I actually did buy some cheap standard format 19" LCD monitors off ebay to use for work (35 bucks shipped).


What do I use widescreen for other than watching top gear?... I actually use the windows 7 click windows to the right and left halves of the screen.. like I have two monitors side by side.
But it is great for first person gaming.

How does the OP's deal compare to this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=IPS231B-BN

[Clean PG]

Same resolution on a smaller screen will look sharper. 1080p on a 19 will look better than 1080p on a 27.

wow, didnt even realize or think of that. oops! thanks for pointing it out though

what am i overlooking then when i consider the fact that at 1080p on a 24" led television the picture is much nicer than on this 23" monitor? could i just buy a tv, mount it on the wall and connect it to my pc via HDMI? they appear to have the same refresh rate (or very close anyhow)

How does the OP's deal compare to this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=IPS231B-BN

that looks like the same monitor with the only difference being it doesnt have an HDMI port but it does include speakers.

[Power5]

Are you comparing side by side with the same signal input quality? I have not shopped at BB but I will assume they have a single video feed being split a million times to all the monitors in the area. That could degrade the signal. Settings could be off on the 23" as well. No telling what some other customer has done to the thing. Same with the TVs though as well.

[Saintor]

I just got a new 27" and I am stunt.

It replaces a glossy HP w2207h 22" which I thought would be hard to replace.

Wow. This new Acer H274HL just rocks. Specially at 258$. Check reviews on Amazon.com.

Colors are much more defined now. Unlike my previous monitors, I can't leave 100% brightness.

[Clean PG]

Are you comparing side by side with the same signal input quality? I have not shopped at BB but I will assume they have a single video feed being split a million times to all the monitors in the area. That could degrade the signal. Settings could be off on the 23" as well. No telling what some other customer has done to the thing. Same with the TVs though as well.

i have no idea how each monitor is hooked up, but youre right they may not be receiving their own signal. since the sale ends today i was considering just buying it and hooking it up via hdmi to my pc. if it sucks, i got 30 days to return it so it may be worth the effort anyway.

[Clean PG]

came across a bit nicer one for a similar price. higher contrast ratio (if that rating even matters...), includes 4:3 mode which can be handy and also has a 2ms response time. will be getting this shipped to the store and picking it up to give it a test run.

Asus - 23" Widescreen LED Monitor VS238H-P

thanks for the help everyone

[theevilshiftkey]

The original choice was IPS. I think you took two steps back.

[Clean PG]

The original choice was IPS. I think you took two steps back.

well i can always return it if i dont like the Asus, but the IPS LG looked like garbage on the shelf no matter what settings i messed around with. just wasnt impressed, but if this one doesnt work out either i'll keep searching.

[PhReE]

The original choice was IPS. I think you took two steps back.

x2, $189 for a 23" IPS is a great deal. Also Any LCD can do "4:3" mode, with the right settings from the computer.

[Clean PG]

x2, $189 for a 23" IPS is a great deal. Also Any LCD can do "4:3" mode, with the right settings from the computer.

luckily that price on the 23" ips is still there, so if i dont like the quality of this one i'll consider exchanging it for the LG. just hard to want to purchase a monitor when the demo video on display at the store looks washed out and not very sharp whatsoever. not sure what the reason for that may be, unless it's just a lower-end IPS model

[theevilshiftkey]

Buy both and compare them at home.

[OOOO-A3]

i primarily do video editing and some gaming (diablo 3, borderlands) if that matters or not.

any help would be appreciated, or even a simple "yup, thatll get the job done" or "no, keep looking" would be useful.

Just make sure you get actual 24-bit color, not fake 18-bit color.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#18-bit

[Clean PG]

Just make sure you get actual 24-bit color, not fake 18-bit color.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#18-bit

i did take that into consideration and my new monitor does support 24-bit color.

i also picked up the LG ips i was considering and compared them side by side this past weekend. i'm guessing even though i was comparing an IPS to a TN, the LG model i got must be lower on the scale of monitors they make and did not look nearly as sharp as the Asus monitor i bought. so i stuck with the Asus and i have no complaints about the monitor itself or its picture quality.

thanks for the help again everyone

[Sean A]

16:9, 1080p, stable base,