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Teamliquid Monitor Thread

Forum Index > Tech Support 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 All
  Womwomwom   February 02 2012 12:01. Posts 5517Profile Blog # 
+ Show Spoiler [LCD monitor basics: TFT Film and Backl…] +
+ Show Spoiler [Panel types and brief comments about t…] +
+ Show Spoiler [Monitor specs and what they mean] +
+ Show Spoiler [Interface types and cables] +

Monitor Recommendations:
I want a very cheap monitor. What should I look for?
Your best option would be a cheap IPS or 60hz TN monitor. I suggest going into a store and buying what suits your needs and looks best. Performances between cheaper monitors are all very similar.

I am thinking about 120hz/3D gaming monitors. What do I need for 120hz monitors?
The cheapest and safest option would be to use dual-link DVI or DisplayPort.
To get anything about of 120hz monitors, you need a very powerful computer. If you cannot well above 60 fps, then you will not see any real benefit from a 120hz monitor.

I am thinking about getting an IPS monitor. What do I need to look out for?
- Screen coating. Matte IPS monitors have fairly thick anti-glare coatings that can “sparkle” at you. Check instore to see if you are bothered by it.
- Actual motion performance. Refer to reviews.
- Input lag. Most have low input lag but some perform badly in this area for some reason.

Glossy vs matte? What's the difference?
Matte coatings eliminate reflections. The coating, however, decreases colour vibrancy and may decrease image sharpness.
Glossy coatings do not have a negative effect on vibrancy and sharpness. However many people cannot stand the reflections you often get if you cannot control the light in your room.
Your mileage may vary and I strongly recommend that you try and see which one you prefer. The last thing you want is buyer's remorse. Keep in mind big box stores are generally awful for glossy monitors thanks to do the extremely bright lighting.

How do I clean my monitor?
A diluted mix of water and isopropyl alcohol is what most manufacturer recommend. Use a microfiber or paper towel (think coffee filters) to apply the cleaning mixture. For stubborn marks, rub hard.
This is important: Absolutely do not use anything with ammonia or is especially acidic or abrasive, like Windex or polishing agents, on your monitor because you are going to ruin the protective coating. This especially important if you have an antiglare coating since that stuff will literally melt right off when faced with good old Windex.

What are some good monitor review websites?
TFT Central.
Prad.

What is this list?
This list deals with specialty monitors. This means 120hz TN, good IPS models, 2560x1440 monitors, etc.
If you want to state problems with a specific manufacturer, please put some effort into it. Post images of the monitor in question, the problems you have with it, and then the quality of support you have received. Saying "so and so is shit DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM" is not good enough.

What are these Korean monitors people keep talking about?

You can find a series of cheap 2560x1440 IPS monitors on eBay. They're priced at like $300-400. Is there a catch? Yes and no:
- They're real IPS monitors so you're not being cheated.
- The multiple input models are extremely bad compared to upmarket brand-name models. If you adjust the brightness to 120 lux, the contrast dips to around 300:1 or 400:1. This, combined with IPS glow, gives you pathetic blacks. The single input models do not have this problem.
- Expect stuck/dead pixels even with the no dead pixel warranty. Don't expect anywhere near the same warranty service you might get from a brand-name company.
- They may honour warranty but will either refund a small amount of money or ask you to send the monitor back to them.

To boil it down:
- Any model with HDMI or DisplayPort are anywhere near as good as brand-name models.
- Any model with only DVI is as good as a typical IPS monitor.
- Expect panel defects. Don't expect to return the model if you get defects.
- Don't expect good warranty support. The seller is some random guy in Korea after all.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21”-24” 16: 9 monitors
+ Show Spoiler +

24” 16:10 monitors
+ Show Spoiler +

27” 2560x1440 monitors
+ Show Spoiler +
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edit: 2013-04-25 22:57:58
Old Post

 
 GloryOfAiur   United States. February 02 2012 13:08. Posts 120
Profile # 
ASUS V and VH series monitors are fantastic. They are not cheap nor overpriced. I use the VH247 as my main monitor and V236H as my portrait-second monitor. Both have 2ms speed (not a big difference but feels good to know), approved and used by MLG, and have multiple settings and monitor settings (like Scenery, Nightview, Gaming, Standard, etc.) at the click of a simple button.
Old Post

 
 sawedust   United States. February 02 2012 13:13. Posts 506
Profile # 
Very good post, lots of material here for people that are seeking a new monitor.

Got a Dell 2209WA myself, bought it for graphics/video a few years back. Although the 16:10 resolution limits me from a full view of SC2, I would not hesitate recommending this monitor to someone looking for dual monitors for work-related things.

Would love to pick up a 16: 9 monitor for StarCraft II though; seeing more of the battlefield (as well as not having to personally tweak templates made for 16: 9 resolutions) would be a major plus for me.
Last edit: 2012-02-02 13:14:26
Old Post

 
 MisterFred   United States. February 02 2012 15:17. Posts 1821
Profile # 
There's just one thing I know you might want to add to your post: how to fix monitor whine (for some monitors, I guess).

My monitor had an irritating high-pitched whine until I googled for a bit, then found out many monitors whine when their brightness is turned down for some reason. Turn brightness to 100, monitor whine stops. Apparently, its the monitor setting itself, not the actual photons being produced, that matters. You can turn down brightness with software, although this sometimes causes glitches when alt-tabbing between programs. For me, setting brightness to -25 with Intel's graphics drivers meant StarCraft2 suddenly got darker every time I alt-tabbed out then back in. Presumably this was because Intel and StarCraft's gamma setting were fighting over something or other.

P.S. Thanks for putting together the thread.
Last edit: 2012-02-02 15:23:02
"The victor? Not the highest scoring, nor the best strategist, nor the best tactitian. The victor was he that was closest to the Tao of FFA." -.Praetor
Old Post

 
 PeZuY   February 02 2012 15:41. Posts 911
Profile Blog # 
Awesome post, this surely helps me to decide my next monitor! Thanks ^^
Old Post

 
 Jonoman92   United States. February 02 2012 16:15. Posts 7411
Profile Blog # 
Nice post, just read this despite not being in the market for a monitor right now.
Old Post

 
 Ben...   Canada. February 02 2012 16:30. Posts 1706
Profile # 
I have a Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM (in the OP) if anyone has questions. It's a fantastic monitor. The difference going to LED backlit IPS from a budget Acer TN panel that crapped out after a year was much bigger than I thought it would be. I got my U23 for around $200 on sale from Dell. Don't pay full price, they have lots of sales.

The OP is accurate for the matte coating on the U2312HM, it is insanely thick compared to my non-Dells. I run 3 monitors. my secondary is an archaic Dell 19" 1907FP with has a similarly thick coating, and my tertiary is some super cheap 20" Samsung jobber I bought that doesn't have a height adjustable stand. Grrrrr. I might get rid of the Samsung because I don't use it much and it looks messy compared to my Dells (It's sitting on a GPU box so it is at a good height, then my Dells are level with it) On most matte monitors you can usually see a tiny bit of light reflection, but not on the U2312. Day or night, the picture is basically unaffected by lighting. There's also almost no noticable ghosting on it. My 19" Dell on the other hand, ghosts like crazy and has severe backlight bleed. But it's 6 or so years old and on it's last legs. I used it for 4 years and put hundreds of hours of BF2 on it.
Last edit: 2012-02-02 16:46:09
"Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide" -Tastosis
Old Post

 
 subl1me   Chile. February 02 2012 16:45. Posts 41
Profile # 
I would like to buy the Samsung 2233RZ to play CS:Source (and SC2 ofc, but I dont see the difference playing on a standard 60hz monitor and a 120hz), for what Ive read and seen, Its pretty good and I'm in love with the desing of it, its just so nice. Does anyone have it? How much did you pay for it? Can anyone give some feedback? Would you recommend another 120hz monitor @ same price?

Thanks beforehand and WOW this is a great post mate
Last edit: 2012-02-02 16:51:06
Old Post

  Josh_rakoons   United Kingdom. February 02 2012 16:57. Posts 1157Profile # 
Great post, glad someone finally did it.
Old Post

 
 ArcticVanguard   United States. February 02 2012 23:27. Posts 413
Profile Blog # 
Great post, OP. Right now I'm actually in need of a budget 16x9 (stupid emoticons) monitor that can go into portrait mode. I've already got a Samsung SyncMaster 2333hd that I'm using for my main monitor or my gaming stuff. I just need a portrait one for web browsing and such, so it doesn't have to look great.
Last edit: 2012-02-03 01:41:48
"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." ~C.S. Lewis
Old Post

 
 TheToast   United States. February 03 2012 00:18. Posts 4804
Profile Blog # 
Yay! We can add yet another thread to the growing list of condensed topics in Tech Support, great job Womwomwom! I'll get my report button ready for any clown who decides to make a "which monitor should I get" thread. Tons of info is right here.
I like the way the walls go out. Gives you an open feeling. Firefly's a good design. People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.
Old Post

 
 Frostydanger_Frost   Ukraine. February 03 2012 00:56. Posts 90
Profile # 
Hey guys,i just wanted to ask,is a 27'' monitor to big to play sc2 on?Im in the market to get myself a new monitor,i was thinking of getting a Asus VK278Q LCD Monitor 27-inch Widescreen.
Old Post

 
 Wabbit   United States. February 03 2012 02:18. Posts 1006
Profile # 
Great post Wom, thanks a lot!!!

Question: are there no good budget IPS glossy monitors??? (U2312HM and PA238Q are both matte, though I know the ASUS uses less AG... still.... I guess I need to go see them in a store but like you said, those places are ridiculously overlit and I like my dark room... aaaaah)

EDIT: I also have another question, which I'm sure is going to be very stupid and I'll get laughed at but I cannot find the answer myself... why are the standard refresh rates 60 and 120? Some specific hardware thing, or having to do with common media, or ??? A theoretical 80Hz or 100Hz monitor sounds nice to me, especially if it were achievable with IPS (is that possible? I know i'd pay $400 for a nice 23" 1920x1080 80Hz IPS)
Last edit: 2012-02-03 02:59:40
[QUOTE][B]On July 29 2011 13:35 R1CH wrote:[/B] 575W PSU for $25? ಠ_ಠ[/QUOTE]
Old Post

 
 Jojo131   Philippines. February 03 2012 03:49. Posts 1312
Profile # 
I was wondering if anyone had any information/tips about buying an external monitor for your laptop? I'm currently planning on doing this for when I get to college since my laptop is already pretty decent for SC2. At home I'm currently using the stock monitor that I got with my old desktop, but the resolutions don't exactly match with my laptop.

I was told before that the GPU determines what resolutions/scales my laptop can work with, if this is true then I'm wondering if anyone knows what my options are in terms of size/resolution if I have a GT 540m.

Sorry if it was mentioned already in the OP, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of tech-lingo
Old Post

  Womwomwom   February 03 2012 10:27. Posts 5517Profile Blog # 

On February 03 2012 02:18 Wabbit wrote:
Great post Wom, thanks a lot!!!

Question: are there no good budget IPS glossy monitors??? (U2312HM and PA238Q are both matte, though I know the ASUS uses less AG... still.... I guess I need to go see them in a store but like you said, those places are ridiculously overlit and I like my dark room... aaaaah)

EDIT: I also have another question, which I'm sure is going to be very stupid and I'll get laughed at but I cannot find the answer myself... why are the standard refresh rates 60 and 120? Some specific hardware thing, or having to do with common media, or ??? A theoretical 80Hz or 100Hz monitor sounds nice to me, especially if it were achievable with IPS (is that possible? I know i'd pay $400 for a nice 23" 1920x1080 80Hz IPS)


Some monitors can get 75hz and so forth with DisplayPort, I think the old Dell U2311 could. No idea which ones do and which ones don't. Some VA monitors can achieve the same. The problem with running outside the recommended specs is that the image quality can end up with significant artifacts.

The cheapest glossy IPS monitor is the Dell ST2220T. Its actually really good. The other options are Hazro and Apple.


On February 03 2012 00:56 Frostydanger_Frost wrote:
Hey guys,i just wanted to ask,is a 27'' monitor to big to play sc2 on?Im in the market to get myself a new monitor,i was thinking of getting a Asus VK278Q LCD Monitor 27-inch Widescreen.


I've detailed in my post that the max size of a TN panel should be around 24". Even if you sit perfectly, the overall size of the monitor means you will see gamma shifting. The easiest way to tell if you want one or not is to actually look at one.


On February 03 2012 03:49 Jojo131 wrote:
I was wondering if anyone had any information/tips about buying an external monitor for your laptop? I'm currently planning on doing this for when I get to college since my laptop is already pretty decent for SC2. At home I'm currently using the stock monitor that I got with my old desktop, but the resolutions don't exactly match with my laptop.

I was told before that the GPU determines what resolutions/scales my laptop can work with, if this is true then I'm wondering if anyone knows what my options are in terms of size/resolution if I have a GT 540m.

Sorry if it was mentioned already in the OP, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of tech-lingo


Resolution determines the amount of pixels your GPU needs to push. The more pixels, the more power your GPU needs. If you want to use your external monitor's native resolution (like 1920x1080) and your laptop's resolution is 1366x768, then you will find your frame rate collapse because your GPU needs to push significantly more pixels than it normally would.
Old Post

 
 jacosajh   February 03 2012 10:36. Posts 2522
Profile Blog # 
Very nice! Thanks. I learned alot.
Last edit: 2012-02-03 10:36:31
Old Post

 
 CaptainBoner   Vatican City State. February 03 2012 12:18. Posts 80
Profile # 
Hey, my old monitor stopped working so I'm forced to use a tv until I get a new one. I'd like it to be under $200 and i've narrowed my choices down to about 3 monitors, could you guys help me decide which to get?

ASUS VS Series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-236-174&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-236-175&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

Thanks for any help. I don't know much about monitors so if you think that there are better choices please let me know.
Old Post

  Womwomwom   February 03 2012 12:56. Posts 5517Profile Blog # 
Doesn't really matter. If you read my OP, you'd learn that the specsheet is useless and all 60hz TN monitors are more or less the same. Go into a store and pick the one you like best.
Old Post

 
 Ercster   United States. February 03 2012 13:25. Posts 491
Profile # 

On February 03 2012 12:18 CaptainBoner wrote:
Hey, my old monitor stopped working so I'm forced to use a tv until I get a new one. I'd like it to be under $200 and i've narrowed my choices down to about 3 monitors, could you guys help me decide which to get?

ASUS VS Series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-236-174&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-236-175&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

Thanks for any help. I don't know much about monitors so if you think that there are better choices please let me know.

I just bought the 23" ASUS VH238H and love it. The only issue I have with it (and I don't even know if it's really an issue) is that it is really "bright" contrast wise. I upgraded from a 23"Hannspree HF237 (which I love). If you don't mind the high contrast, then I do recommend it. I got it at amazon for about $175 USD. http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VH238H-23-Inch-LED-Monitor/dp/B004J6BIJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328243111&sr=8-1
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
Old Post

 
 DirgeForNovember   Romania. February 04 2012 01:38. Posts 3
Profile # 
@OP: Great guide! You might want to add the Fujitsu Siemens P27T-6 to the list of 27" 2560x1440 monitors. It's a great monitor, slightly more expensive than the U2711, but cheaper than the Apple Cinema display. I own it, and I'm really, really pleased with it. ^^
"silly"
Old Post

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