Looking for a monitor

Jokke

Hey all.

I want to see what sort of options I have for a monitor for my laptop. The laptop model is a Multicom Kunshan X7200 (based on a Clevo X7200), with a GTX580M graphics card and a i7 980X processor. 12GB RAM. I have DVI out and HDMI out ports. I'm wondering what options I have for an external monitor. I'm picturing a scenario where I will be using only an external monitor, and the built in LCD is off. The built in LCD runs at 1920x1080, but I'm wondering if I can run a higher resolution on an external monitor?

I'm also wondering what sort of specs I should be looking for in a new monitor? The monitor will be used for gaming and movies.
Terms like response time, pixel pitch, brightness, contrast ratio and refresh rate are all greek to me, so please keep it in layman terms.

Regards

Jokke

Thrax

Cost is the only metric that matters here, because it will completely dictate what quality you'll get.

Tushon

With DVI and HDMI outs and only the request to run one monitor, you have pretty limitless choices. There are some go to recommendations for IPS panels, but Thrax and fatcat can recommend that. They are the "best" for color correctness and such, and I believe they have perfectly fine use for gaming but don't own and haven't researched it myself.

boasist

There can be.....only one.

Check out the new LG 29", pretty slick.

Thrax

2560x1080? Mega cringe. Worse than 1440p.

fatcat

21:9 is great for watching movies, not playing games

JBoogaloo

For games and digital work (movies aren't bad at all either) I went with @Thrax's and @Fatcat's recommendations in earlier threads. I picked up 2 of these a short while ago and am completely satisfied (like in a sexaully satisfied type way).

newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176221

Annes

My hotness. But really, the budget question is the most pertinent.

Ryder

I just got 2 of those ^^

Jokke

Thanks for the input so far. How about resolution? I want to buy a monitor that can carry over in an upgrade, and while my current setup may not be able to game at 2560x1440, a future setup might. If I get a x1440 will it run x1080/x1200 and still look good? I imagine the image will be slightly stretched, or will this not be an issue? Also, for future reference, i understand that 2560x1440 might require some sort of adapter or multi-port setup?

Edit: looking at the Dell U2711 or Dell U2713H. Thoughts?

fatcat

Annes said:

My hotness. But really, the budget question is the most pertinent.

although I'll probably go 24" 30" 24" here soon with a PLP setup

2560x1440 is a bastard resolution Jokke, but tempting since 2560x1600 is usually $300-$400 more

Jokke

Budget really isn't an issue, unless it's crazy expensive and covered in diamonds and shit.

Thrax

Never ever run a monitor at any resolution but the one its designed to run. It will look like crap, and by that I mean super blurry.

Please just give us a price range so we can find the best combination of price/performance for you.

Jokke

Also, that HP ZR monitor looks pretty sexy.

CB

Mozayo M46-PRO Pro Series Smart Touch Table

MAGIC

I'd say Dell Ultra Sharp, go as big as your budget will allow.

shwaip

I have the zr2740w. I love it. I don't even notice that it's 16x9. I'd take it over a 24" 1920x1200 monitor any day.

Soda

Although most people don't agree, I actually prefer the Dell UltraSharp U2212HM since it is a tad more crisp than it's 24" rivals, with the smaller screen leading to a slightly higher pixel density. Also I can't sit very far away from my monitor, so I prefer to be able to easily see the whole screen. That one or the one @Annes mentioned are very good. Dell's UltraSharp and Professional lines carry a perfect pixel guarantee, meaning that any defective pixels at all during the warranty and you get a free replacement. Most monitors allow for 3 or so defective pixels. The ultrasharp 27" is also very good, but pretty obscenely expensive.

Jokke

Okay, just to sum up. According to the manufacturer the card does support up to 2560x1600. However, I'm not sure that means I can actually run the later games at that resolution without lag, especially with higher settings (which is what I primarily and ideally want). What I mean to say is I want 1080 or higher, but not at a reduction in settings.

As for the monitor itself, IPS and LED both sound pretty nifty. I'm pretty flexible in how far away from the monitor I can be, so I'd say bigger is better.

Thrax

I can only think of 2-3 laptops that would play at 2560x1600. Your GPU simply supports it, but you would not be able to game at that resolution.

With the GPU in your system, I would not look to play games at high settings with any resolution higher than 1080p. That's all your GPU is capable of. My recommendation is the HP ZR2440w or the new Dell U2413.

EMT

I hate input lag. I looked up a test of the Dell U2413 and it has good (<10ms) input lag, but only if you put it in Game Mode, just a heads-up.


@Thrax Is GPU scaling (render lower res, output higher res) equally blurry, compared with monitor scaling? And, if so, couldn't you still render in 720p without blurriness to a 1440p monitor, if your GPU can't keep up at native resolution? Just wondering if one of those options might make a 2560px-wide monitor viable.

/still uses a CRT to not deal with these things...

shwaip

I've heard both ways about gaming at 720p on a 1440p monitor in terms of sharpness. I'll give it a look and see how noticeable it is this evening.

Thrax

Scalers are, by nature, blurry. It doesn't matter if it's on the GPU or with dedicated hardware with something like DCDi.

Jokke

Thrax said:

I can only think of 2-3 laptops that would play at 2560x1600. Your GPU simply supports it, but you would not be able to game at that resolution.

With the GPU in your system, I would not look to play games at high settings with any resolution higher than 1080p. That's all your GPU is capable of. My recommendation is the HP ZR2440w or the new Dell U2413.

That's what I thought. Thanks for the input.

shwaip

shwaip said:

I've heard both ways about gaming at 720p on a 1440p monitor in terms of sharpness. I'll give it a look and see how noticeable it is this evening.

looks like ass.

Soda

shwaip said:

shwaip said:

I've heard both ways about gaming at 720p on a 1440p monitor in terms of sharpness. I'll give it a look and see how noticeable it is this evening.

looks like ass.

No, shwaip, please, tell us how you really feel.

TiberiusLazarus

Soda said:

shwaip said:

shwaip said:

I've heard both ways about gaming at 720p on a 1440p monitor in terms of sharpness. I'll give it a look and see how noticeable it is this evening.

looks like ass.

No, shwaip, please, tell us how you really feel.

Also, are we talking about 'DAT ass'? Or 'oh god spandex can stretch to that shape...' ass?

shwaip

Well honestly, I had hopes because 720p->1440p could look not-terrible because either the monitor or gpu scaling could be smart enough to realize that pixel-doubling is an option (not a great one, but one that would look decent at a reasonable distance). But no, it definitely attempted to do some sort of more sophisticated upsampling that just looked terrible.

Jokke

Just a little update. I got the Dell Ultrasharp 27". Love it, but today i noticed this:



The bottom frame part is coming loose from the rest of the screen. Anyone else experienced this? Doesn't seem to affect the image in any way, but I'm wondering if it could in the future?