1440p: 25 or 27 inch screen?

[RampantAndroid]

Hi all,

I've got an old Dell 2312; I swore I'd *never* touch Dell again after I bought two of these, the first was a A05 rev, the second was an A00 rev made after my A065 rev (and the A00 version had terrible yellow tint issues.) That said, I'm staring at the U2515 and U2715 monitors and thinking of getting one. I'd probably keep the 2312 I have as a second monitor, and then use the new 1440p as the primary monitor for gaming and such.

So, my question is: which size. How bad does Windows look at the higher pixel density on the 15" version? From my experience, Windows scaling has been pretty sub-par, and I'd prefer to avoid scaling nonsense. I have the space for a 27 inch monitor, so it just comes down to figuring out which one. I gather the 25" version has some better performance numbers on color and black levels.

Does anyone have some advice here? No amount of searching online seems to give me useful information on this, beyond random opinions.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Poke?

 

[davewnelson]

Why not the new sexi

 

[RampantAndroid]

Is that even available yet? Also, it's more than the U2715H (not by much, but the 27" was already on the high side for me.)

 

[soccerballtux]

32". 27" is way too small, and at 32" the pixels are nice enough size

 

[RampantAndroid]

I'm afraid that 32" is just too rich for my blood.

I can get the 27" U2715H from Amazon for $564 USD. I can get the U2515H through a company benefit for $386 USD (It's $405 on Amazon) - it's nearly $200 more for a 27" 1440p monitor, whereas the 2515 seems like a bit of a steal. Can anyone say if the 25" feels too small?

 

[biostud]

27" is fine if your eyes are fine, but smaller would require scaling IMO.

Btw if you have monitor related questions you will get far more responses if you post in the video card section.

 

[RampantAndroid]

27" is fine if your eyes are fine, but smaller would require scaling IMO.

Btw if you have monitor related questions you will get far more responses if you post in the video card section.

That's the question I was really asking, and what I figured the answer was, too. Thanks!

Given I've used Windows 8/8.1 in situations where scaling was needed (and found the scaling in Windows to be woefully inadequate) I think 27" is going to be the sweet spot then...but I can install Win10 on my macbook to see if it's gotten any better there...Win8 on a retina screen was full of fail.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I might have picked a 27" replacement for the piece-a-crap Hanns-G that died on me recently. And it was feasible -- for a few more dollars, depending on what you could get. I finally just decided that a 24"/25" unit was a better fit for my (wooden) desktop.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I might have picked a 27" replacement for the piece-a-crap Hanns-G that died on me recently. And it was feasible -- for a few more dollars, depending on what you could get. I finally just decided that a 24"/25" unit was a better fit for my (wooden) desktop.

How is Windows for scaling at that pixel pitch?

 

[jaydee]

Acer has a 25-inch 1440p monitor for $250 on amazon right (3-5 week leadtime), or for $280 on newegg that can ship immediately.

I ordered the one on newegg today, hopefully should have it by the end of the week, will let you know my impressions.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2428796

Obviously the finer resolutions (up to retina) are much more popular now than in the past, so I expect that Microsoft will improve that aspect in some capacity in Windows 10, but we'll wait and see "how good" of a job they do, when final release comes out in July.

Also, what sort of applications do you use?

 

[Railgun]

I've been rocking a U2711 for a few years now. I sit about 34" away and it's fine.

 

[jji7skyline]

27" 1440p is quite comfortable to use in my experience. Have never seen a 25" but I think it would start to get a little difficult to use at that point.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Acer has a 25-inch 1440p monitor for $250 on amazon right (3-5 week leadtime), or for $280 on newegg that can ship immediately.

I ordered the one on newegg today, hopefully should have it by the end of the week, will let you know my impressions.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2428796

Obviously the finer resolutions (up to retina) are much more popular now than in the past, so I expect that Microsoft will improve that aspect in some capacity in Windows 10, but we'll wait and see "how good" of a job they do, when final release comes out in July.

Also, what sort of applications do you use?

So I just realized, I have a Surface Pro 3 right now with the Win10 tech preview already on it. The SP3 has a pixel density of 216 ppi (it's 1440p.) The U2515h has a density of 123 ppi. The SP3's/Win10's scaling has not really bothered me much so far...so maybe 25" is fine for me, as long as I suffer through Win8.1 for a bit.

I use mostly browsers, stuff like Sublime text, Visual Studio, games. Some things I know haven't scaled well in past, but that's up to 3rd party apps.

I've been rocking a U2711 for a few years now. I sit about 34" away and it's fine.

I'll probably be closer - closer to 2 feet. I am mostly OK with my 23" (a little small, my 24" monitors at work are more or less perfect) and 25" would probably nail it as long as the stand goes higher than my current one, or I grab one of my old college textbooks...

 

[soccerballtux]

I'm afraid that 32" is just too rich for my blood.

I can get the 27" U2715H from Amazon for $564 USD. I can get the U2515H through a company benefit for $386 USD (It's $405 on Amazon) - it's nearly $200 more for a 27" 1440p monitor, whereas the 2515 seems like a bit of a steal. Can anyone say if the 25" feels too small?

this was the one I was going to go for-- http://www.amazon.com/QNIX-QX320QHD-Super-2560x1440-Monitor/dp/B00KVZMUYI

overclocks to 85hz, 32", non-TN panel...

 

[dosinu]

27" 100%, that size is designed for 1440p, yo uget smaller and things get out of ratio.

 

[soccerballtux]

27" 100%, that size is designed for 1440p, yo uget smaller and things get out of ratio.

no way. at 27" the pixels are way too small. definitely needs 30 or 32" to be same pixel size as my 1200p 24" monitor

 

[RampantAndroid]

no way. at 27" the pixels are way too small. definitely needs 30 or 32" to be same pixel size as my 1200p 24" monitor

This all just comes down to scaling. There's a reason Retina screens took off. The screen on my 2014 rMBP is above 200ppi. A 25" 1440p screen would be 117ppi. My Surface Pro 3's screen is close to my retina screen in density and if it can look good on Windows 10, then the U2515h absolutely can...as long as Windows either automatically scales it or you scale it.

Obviously, some apps won't listen to the Windows scaling and will look awful, but I don't think I use any apps that would have issues.

 

[soccerballtux]

This all just comes down to scaling. There's a reason Retina screens took off. The screen on my 2014 rMBP is above 200ppi. A 25" 1440p screen would be 117ppi. My Surface Pro 3's screen is close to my retina screen in density and if it can look good on Windows 10, then the U2515h absolutely can...as long as Windows either automatically scales it or you scale it.

Obviously, some apps won't listen to the Windows scaling and will look awful, but I don't think I use any apps that would have issues.

for a desktop monitor though, I love having the larger pixels. That way I can feel good about myself when I turn off AA as I realize 'wow. it still looks great'

 

[dosinu]

sure go larger, i agree, what I meant to say is you don't want to go lower than 27"

 

[soccerballtux]

yeah. I think you shouldn't go smaller than even 32"!

at 27" the pixels are small and I wanted more 'screen real estate'

even though it's the same pixel size, 32" made it feel like I could actually use it

 

[Trombe]

The biggest factor will probably be how far away you typically sit from your monitor. At arm's length away (about 30") I don't have any issues with 1440p on 27" with no scaling and it's highly unlikely I'd have any issues with 1440p on 25" either but of course YMMV.

 

[javier_machuk]

i have a 27" 1440p monitor, and i think that 25" would be too small for that resolution without scaling, 27" is small but very manageable.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Can anyone say if the 25" feels too small?

I find my HP 25xi (new model is 25xw) is just the right size. I don't want smaller or larger.

 

[coolpurplefan]

I know this may sound a bit extreme as a test but here's what I did.

As stated above, I already have a 25 inch HP 25xi and recently bought an HP 22xw 21.5 inch monitor. Before buying the HP 22xw, I cut out and measured the approximate screen size for the HP 22xw and HP 23xw. To do that, I estimated the size of the silver border underneath the screen and the black border surrounding the rest of it (and subtracted from the overall size without stand). Since the size of the cardboard version of the 21.5 inch screen was extremely close to the real thing, I used the size of the cardboard version of the 23 inch screen to do the following. I looked at the PBS Frontline video on Youtube called: "Is The Movie "Zero Dark Thirty" CIA Propaganda?" and also used VLC player to install the video on my computer. I then checked on "hide taskbar" and adjusted Windows Media Player to display the video to the size of the 23 inch screen. I watched the video on my 25 inch HP 25xi full screen, my HP 22xw full screen and used the 23 inch size on my HP 25xi. This is my own personal opinion but I thought the image on a 25 inch screen is a tad too big, the image on a 21.5 inch screen a tad too small and the image on a 23 inch screen just right.

I still like my HP 25xi and find the HP 22xw is 10 times better than the 17 inch CRT monitor I was using. That 3:4 CRT monitor was unbearable when watching 16:9 videos. The black bars above and below the image made it look puny. The only advantage to the small size is it made some videos look clearer. The dot pitch may be smaller for the 21.5 inch screen but the "right size" of the 23 inch would still make me want to buy one. (I bought the HP 22xw for my secondary/backup computer mainly because the HP 23xw was out of stock.) For movie-sized videos (like 21:9), you may want 25 inches as the minimum although I can still watch them on my 21.5 inch screen.

I'm sitting about 20 inches away from my monitor so I can't understand people who claim 27 or 32 inches is the ideal size.