19" Widescreen LCD

[mrmann14]

Which of these monitors is better?
Samsung
Viewsonic

Or are there some that are better for around that price?

 

[EdfromCocoa]

I bought an Acer in December 2005 and it is super. No problems. and very sharp. From Microcenter.

 

[mrmann14]

The Acer are the cheapest, but I thought I read here that they're a ****** brand.

 

[essasin]

I would not recommend buying a 19lcd since it is the same panel as a 17in lcd. I would either get a 17in or a 20in.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: essasin
I would not recommend buying a 19lcd since it is the same panel as a 17in lcd. I would either get a 17in or a 20in.

same panel? do you mean resolution?

Anyway, for LCDs I would generally recommend Samsung, but I guess Viewsonic is a pretty good brand too.... doh, no help here

 

[Peter]

Widescreen 19" panels are 1440x900. You show me a 17" with that resolution please.

I've been looking at wide 19" panels for a while. What kept me from buying one is that NONE of the available models come with a Class-I panel (zero defects) - they're all Class-II at least, which means you'll have to put up with up to seven dead subpixels.

 

[Peter]

And now the useful part: The Samsung has HDCP ("digital content protection" aka encrypted HD video transmission) which will let you continue to view High Definition media content over DVI when the MPAA and RIAA have pushed copy protectionism to the next level.

 

[mrmann14]

Which, I'm assuming, is a good thing?

Is Samsung the way to go then?

 

[essasin]

Originally posted by: Peter
Widescreen 19" panels are 1440x900. You show me a 17" with that resolution please.

I've been looking at wide 19" panels for a while. What kept me from buying one is that NONE of the available models come with a Class-I panel (zero defects) - they're all Class-II at least, which means you'll have to put up with up to seven dead subpixels.

I just took the first hit on google 17" with 1440 x 900 resolution

Again I would suggest to upgrade to a 20 for more real estate.

 

[Peter]

Yay! Now I'll need to find a source for that thing in Europe. (edit: Duh, that thing is more expensive than most 19W monitors. I'll pass, thanks.)

Regarding the upgrade from 19W to 20W size: This more than doubles the cost, for not /that/ much extra real estate - one inch bigger, 1680x1050 instead of 1440x900. I'd rather buy two 19W monitors than one 20W ...

 

[Ichigo]

How the heck is HDCP usefull on 1440x900?

 

[Peter]

Well, 1440x900 is higher than 1280x720 HDTV format, so I don't actually see how it should NOT be useful.
(Apart from HDCP itself being corporate greed driven consumer annoyance that you cannot possibly WANT to have, that is.)

 

[essasin]

Originally posted by: Peter
Yay! Now I'll need to find a source for that thing in Europe. (edit: Duh, that thing is more expensive than most 19W monitors. I'll pass, thanks.)

Regarding the upgrade from 19W to 20W size: This more than doubles the cost, for not /that/ much extra real estate - one inch bigger, 1680x1050 instead of 1440x900. I'd rather buy two 19W monitors than one 20W ...

Dell 2007fpw can be had for 350 shipped so its nowhere near doubling the cost. The point is why buy a 19in widescreen when its just a blown up 17in? The better option would be buying two 17 in panels if you need two panels. It is a substantial jump from 19-20 in real estate if you take in consideration that the 19in is basically a 17in panel and only around 100 bucks more I wouldn't see why anyone wouldnt want to upgrade to the 20in.

As far as getting two monitors. Even if you do get more real estate..there are many people who do not like the gap between the two. People who watch dvds or game rather have one large monitor that two smaller ones.

 

[shortylickens]

essasin is right.

I dont know how much geometry you guys have had but a perfect square always has the most surface area. Since we cant get perfect squares we have to go with the 4:3 ratio monitors.

I used to get into the whole "widescreen vs. full screen" debate and we would end up making each other mad.
I wont do that this time, I'll be polite.

If you want to get a decent viewing area I recommend purchasing something like this:
http://anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2467

I have it and its sweet. I can actually see what the hell I'm doing without squinting.

 

[Ichigo]

I was under the impression that HDCP only downscaled 1080p videos to 540p. I've never heard anything about 720p video restrictions. I thought that all the new HDCP encrypted content was going to be in 1080p, which would render HDCP useless on 19" widecreen LCD's.

 

[Peter]

HDCP does not downscale anything. It is just an encrypted datapath. (Besides, the source media aren't HDCP encrypted. HDCP is a separate encryption just for the path through the DVI cable.)

In the absence of HDCP (!), DRM-infected player software may sabotage the media replay to a lower quality - whatever lower quality the MPAA thinks you deserve.

 

[Eureka]

I'd recommend the VP930B, but that's a little bit pricier.

Norm

 

[soloz2]

for the price the Viewsonic can't be beat. I've got one and it is an excellent monitor! I actually have 2 for this week. (babysitting one) so I'm running dual 19" widescreens


and HDCP is only useful for HD content from a Blueray or HD DVD drive. So it is unnecessary unless you plan to buy one of those drives. Personally I would wait until they become the standard. Then get a monitor that you know will be good. As of yet, there are so few HDCP complient monitors that the pickings are slim and are expensive!

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: soloz2
for the price the Viewsonic can't be beat. I've got one and it is an excellent monitor! I actually have 2 for this week. (babysitting one) so I'm running dual 19" widescreens
and HDCP is only useful for HD content from a Blueray or HD DVD drive. So it is unnecessary unless you plan to buy one of those drives. Personally I would wait until they become the standard. Then get a monitor that you know will be good. As of yet, there are so few HDCP complient monitors that the pickings are slim and are expensive!

I'd like everyone to know just how ignorant I am.
What about the HD from newer cable and sattelite providers?

 

[Peter]

If it goes by the MPAA, "content protection" is going to be on everything.