Recommendations for a good 16:10 aspect gaming monitor?

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Wibla
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Re: Recommendations for a good 16:10 aspect gaming monitor?

Post by Wibla » Sat Aug 13, 2011 3:19 am

<rant>

16:10 isnt going anywhere, we are seeing a rennesaince of affordable but good 16:10 aspect ratio monitors in the mid-end market.

16:9 is not a good pc resolution, and while the above gif/screenshot of 16:9 vs 16:10 looks favourable towards 16:9, you have to remember that by going from 16:10 to 16:9 on 1920 wide panels, you are sacrificing vertical resolution, not gaining horizontal resolution. The only 16:9 panel in the 22-24" size I really liked was the Sony with 2048x1152, but alas, they're hard to find now.

That being said, if I had to choose between a 16:9 27" with 2560x1440 res, and a 16:10 24" with 1920x1200, my choice would be the 27", but only because of the higher total resolution. My preferred choice of monitor with 2560 horiz resolution would be the 30" 16:10 with 2560x1600.

Also, remember that a quality monitor lasts for years, I have a LG 24" (1920x1200, P-MVA) that was bought new in 2007, and I also have two HP L2335 (23" 1920x1200, IPS) that was produced in 2005. They're doing a great job still, and hold their own in image quality versus newer consumer monitors.

Monitors are one of the few things, including power supplies, cases and fans, that you really shouldnt skimp on. Consider that the monitor is your main interface along with keyboard/mouse, why would you want to ruin your eyes on a crappy monitor that only lasts 1-2 years anyways?

</rant> :mrgreen:

ck8-04
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Re: Recommendations for a good 16:10 aspect gaming monitor?

Post by ck8-04 » Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:37 pm

doveman wrote: Still not sure about the HP ZR24W or Dell U2412M though. I hear that Dell have appalling customer service if you have a fault and the ZR24W doesn't do scaling properly. As I'm only going to be using it with my PCs, I can use the scaling options in Catalyst, but I'm not sure how well they work. They were greyed out for me, until I changed resolution to 800x600 and then they became enabled and stayed that way even after I switched back to 1280x720, but until I've actually tested with the monitor in question it's hard to say for sure that it'll work.

Do either of these have that horrible anti-glare coating, as I don't think I could deal with that?
When my friend's 2709W developed a green vertical line on the center of the screen, he talked to Dell over the phone and there was another 2709W sitting on his doorstep the next day. Inside were instructions on where and how to ship the defective monitor back. I've heard pretty bad things about the consumer side of Dell's support, but their business unit seems to be top notch.

It's true that the ZR24W doesn't scale properly (I have to use my Xbox 360 at 1680x1050), but what programs are you running that don't support the native resolution? If your answer is nothing, then the scaling issue wouldn't affect you. I play Warcraft 3 occassionally, and I've set my 5850 to perform the scaling rather than the monitor and it works perfectly. Perhaps you need to update your Catalyst version.

Wibla
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Re: Recommendations for a good 16:10 aspect gaming monitor?

Post by Wibla » Sat Aug 13, 2011 4:19 pm

Scaling is indeed a non-issue as long as you use a PC as a source, the graphics card is often just as capable of doing this task as the in-monitor scaler.

For xbox/ps3 etc its more complicated, and certainly something to keep in mind if you live in for example a dorm and dont have a TV :)

lhopitalified
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Re: Recommendations for a good 16:10 aspect gaming monitor?

Post by lhopitalified » Sat Aug 13, 2011 10:20 pm

Wibla wrote:Scaling is indeed a non-issue as long as you use a PC as a source, the graphics card is often just as capable of doing this task as the in-monitor scaler.

For xbox/ps3 etc its more complicated, and certainly something to keep in mind if you live in for example a dorm and dont have a TV :)
I can attest to this. I have an HP L2335 (1920x1200), which I used for gaming (via component inputs). While I loved the fact that it rotated the correct way to enjoy Ikaruga in vertical format (right edge of monitor rotates to face up), the video processing chip in it scales up 1080p signal to be full-screen, so that images are stretched vertically (10:9, obviously). I don't know if the newer 16:10 monitors with digital inputs (e.g. HDMI) have the same issue or not.

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