Quiet monitor recommendations

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:15 am

Alistair wrote:http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cle ... uner/1.htm

Thanks!

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 7:34 am

Elliot:
The LCD I have in mind is Samsung 173T. It does have built-in power supply which, according to the posts upthread, could be the source of the noise. On the other hand Mike wrote in his review that 173T was absolutely silent.

Question: can LCD noise vary from unit to unit within the same model line?

In test that I have read Samsungs monitors usually get very good review. However the price on them might be slightly high, but you certanly get something for the extra money.

As for buildt-in or external brick psu I believe the buildt in psu is more or less exactly the same as a brick. It is more a matter if you want the monitor to be extra small and get a brick on the floor instead.
Most brick PSU's are dead silent and most internal LCD psu's are dead silent as well.
Noise for the PSU can very from unit to unit, but I would say that the unit is erroneous if it has any sound. They same is tru for CRT screens, but the PSU (always internal) is a lot more likely to give away sound, and if may even be normal for it to have a slight humming sound.
The more power you drain from a PSU the harder it is to make it dead silent. Or actually the more expensive it is to make it dead silent.

pdf27 · Post by **pdf27** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 7:56 am

I don't know about LCD noise varying from unit to unit, but it could vary from user to user.

Some of us have better hearing in the high frequency range, especially younger people as opposed to older adults, and there is also the factor of associated equipment and environment.

Probably relevant in my case - I'm 23 and generally have very good hearing. Even then, I can only hear my TFT when everything else is switched off and the ambient noise is low.
The pitch of the noise is also very high - significantly higher than any CRT I have ever heard - which also suggests that anyone older may have trouble hearing it as high frequencies are the first to go with age.
In my case the sound isn't related to what is on screen, only to if the screen is on or off.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 10:32 am

pdf27 wrote:
I don't know about LCD noise varying from unit to unit, but it could vary from user to user.

Some of us have better hearing in the high frequency range, especially younger people as opposed to older adults, and there is also the factor of associated equipment and environment.
Probably relevant in my case - I'm 23 and generally have very good hearing. Even then, I can only hear my TFT when everything else is switched off and the ambient noise is low.
The pitch of the noise is also very high - significantly higher than any CRT I have ever heard - which also suggests that anyone older may have trouble hearing it as high frequencies are the first to go with age.
In my case the sound isn't related to what is on screen, only to if the screen is on or off.

What, what did you say? Wait a minute...let me turn up my hearing aids. Oh, yes, I think you are right. I don't hear any high frequency sounds at all from my LCD.

JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.

pdf27 · Post by **pdf27** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:13 am

JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.
Sorry, wasn't trying to be cheeky - I was just making the point that it's a fair bet that I am younger than many on the forum and so may be able to hear high pitched sounds better. Since I probably wouldn't be able to hear it if it as any higher/fainter it may be relevant

I actually had my TFT for a month before I noticed any sounds from it as well...

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:37 am

My monitor is silent: Viewsonic A90f

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 3:53 pm

Wedge wrote:My monitor is silent: Viewsonic A90f

How old are you?

No-no, just kidding. I don't think all monitors make sounds unless they have built-in speakers.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 3:56 pm

pdf27 wrote:JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.
Sorry, wasn't trying to be cheeky - I was just making the point that it's a fair bet that I am younger than many on the forum and so may be able to hear high pitched sounds better. Since I probably wouldn't be able to hear it if it as any higher/fainter it may be relevant
I actually had my TFT for a month before I noticed any sounds from it as well...

What cheeky? It is true that older folks lose high frequency range. And younger guys can lose it as well from blasting music, especially in the car.

Lots of things are slowly lost as one ages.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 10:03 pm

Hehe, I'm 32. I swear to you, my monitor CANNOT be heard, regardless your age. Only on boot up is there a distinct whine. But normal operation -- no sound whatsoever. Easily the most silent peice of hardware I own. In normal use, it simply cannot be heard. It is by total accident that I became interested in silencing my PC and happened to already own this monitor.

If your patient, and very very focused, one can press their ear to the top of the monitor, toward the rear and distinguish a sound of some sort -- it is so low grade that I truly do not know how to describe it.

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 9:42 am

I cannot hear anything except the pop sound when turning on my AOC 17" crt.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 9:53 am

frosty wrote:I cannot hear anything except the pop sound when turning on my AOC 17" crt.

Pop sound? I get that when turning on my Sony Trinitron TV. As for my computer monitors, I don't hear anything.

JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:19 pm

JVM wrote:JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.

Wow, happy birthday to him

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:34 pm

Wedge wrote:
JVM wrote:JVM, looking forward to his 98th birthday this month.
Wow, happy birthday to him

Thanks! I'll let him know.

Perhonorificus · Post by **Perhonorificus** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 8:33 pm

Wedge wrote:My monitor is silent: Viewsonic A90f

Same here! Not only is it silent, but it looks great and produces top-notch image quality. It's a real beast at 19", but I have the space for it.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 3:03 pm

Perhonorificus wrote:Same here! Not only is it silent, but it looks great and produces top-notch image quality. It's a real beast at 19", but I have the space for it.

Cool

Clearly, you and I are the best, and every one else sucks.

No seriously, I think its a great monitor too -- much better than what I had anticipated when I bought it. Great for gaming, EASY on the eyes. And, by pure luck, absolutely silent.

wsc · Post by **wsc** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:57 am

My NEC FE770 makes only the faintest of buzzing sounds. It's so light it is not an issue at all for me as I have to turn everything off and listen for it to even know it's there.

Cosine · Post by **Cosine** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:52 pm

My Samsung 955 CRT at home also annoys me with noise. I've found two causes, the refresh rate and the screen brightness, the higher each is the louder the buzzing, this is especially noticable when the image is white or lightly coloured, if the screen is showing black there is almost zero noise. (I've found this to be even more true with televisions, especially as they age, the last two tvs I've had were both replaced when their buzz got to be too annoying... course no one else could hear it so they all think I'm nuts) By changing the video input level on the monitor, lowering the brightness a bit and dropping the refresh from 100Hz to 75Hz I was able to eliminate 90% of the sound.

I have a Viewsonic P95f+ at work but can't say if it's noisy as the office is deafening all the time anyway... I think I got into silent computing as a reaction to my work enviroment.

Also I'd like to add that, IMHO CRTs are still light years ahead of LCDs in every stat but power consumption and seeing as I don't pay the power at home or at work I really don't care.

Cos

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:10 pm

Well it's update time for this old thread. It seems that I have ignored everyone's recommendations (thanks anyway) and went ahead and snatched up a Sony SDM-S73/B 17" LCD monitor at Newegg. I even went $75 over budget

but I was so impressed by the reviews at Newegg that I couldn't resist the purchase. But I'm happy to report that the monitor is an excellent replacement for my loud, and now sold, CRT monitor. No dead pixels, no ghosting in games, rich colors and most importantly, it is very quiet. Now there is a very faint "buzz" coming from the back panel but I have to put my ear right next to it to hear it at all. And as most here have stated - once you switch to an LCD monitor, you'll never go back to the old CRT. Same goes for me...

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 7:03 am

Pete wrote:- once you switch to an LCD monitor, you'll never go back to the old CRT. Same goes for me...

Yep, I agree. I switched from a CRT to a 19" LCD and I ain't going back to a CRT. There are some things the CRT does better, but I just love my LCD.

Wraith · Post by **Wraith** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 12:15 pm

This Fall I purchased a Benq FP767 17" LCD (the black version), and I'm quite pleased with it. It has a 16ms response time, 260 brightness, 500:1 contrast. Native resolution 1280x1024, max refresh @ 75 Hz. Priced under $400. (I don't see the exact same model being sold anymore, but I assume they have an equivalent version on the market.)

I'm not a "hardcore" gamer, but I haven't noticed any ghosting or anything in Battlefield 1942. Have used the monitor with an ATI Radeon 9000 PRO 128, and a Sapphire Radeon 9600 PRO 128 "Ultimate" (Passive) Edition. The display has an analog connection instead of DVI (though I'm not sure how much difference the DVI connection really makes).

The OSD is a little counter intuitive, but I rarely need to do anything with it. Switching between WinXP and Linux, I just hit one button to automatically adjust the screen.

After seeing this thread earlier, I tried turning it on, to see if it made any noise. To my ears, I couldn't hear anything.

It's not a perfect display, I'm sure, (especially for those who are experts) but it certainly fits my needs, and is inexpensive compared to most LCDs with the same specs.

Quiet monitor recommendations

My LCD