22 vs 24 inches

[Wheelabrator]

Hi, this is my first question here but I have been reading quite a lot here. I am looking at buying a new monitor since my current one has developed a fault and also has three deep scratches after an incident when I tripped on a the cable and the monitor fell from the desk.

My current screen is a 22-inch with a resolution of 1680x1050. As far as I can say this size suits me well but maybe another size would be even better? 24-inch monitors seems quite popular, these seems to have a resolution of 1920x1200. 1920x1080 also exists but I prefer 16:10 over 16:9.

My eyesight is somewhat borderline, I really should get glasses... but I thought a somewhat bigger screen would make things easier to see. It doesn’t seems to work that way though since resolution differs.

Have I understand it correctly that it instead gives me more space on the screen but with items essentially the same size? The letters and pictures stays the same size but the screen have room for more of them? Like getting a bigger workbench, it will give you more space to work on and the bench will get less crowded but your tools stay the same size, you will not get bigger hammers and pliers.

Sorry for my dim questions and silly parallels, it is a bit confusing for me.

Should I get a 24 inch screen? Or am I better off getting glasses? Or should I sit closer to the screen?

I mostly use my computer for reading pages with mostly text such as forums and articles. A few Youtube-videos now and then. Writing and reading emails. Except for minesweeper and solitaire I don't play any games.

 

[VirtualLarry]

IMHO, 23-24" 1080P screens should be the minimum. Modern LED LCDs have very slim bezels, usually, so not a lot of extra wasted space on your desk.

The sweet spot appears to be 27-28" 2560x1440 screens, 144Hz too for the "Gaming" models.

Edit: I have a pair of 40" 4K UHD screens, I don't know how I lived so long without 4K, it's wonderful for desktop resolution.

 

[mindless1]

Yeah me too, I'm using a 4K TV and if I had to go back to a 24" monitor it just might break my internet addiction.

A larger size and resolution can do either thing mentioned, you can have more usable work space or just scale everything larger (with some exceptions but in general it would be much easier to see), or some combination of the two, both more space and larger.

I don't recall at the moment which version of windows started giving users scaling ability but IIRC it was somewhere between XP and Win7. There is literally a setting where you can set what % size larger or smaller you want everything.

For your reading you would benefit a lot from a larger screen and higher vertical resolution. I agree with VL that 2560x1440 is a sweet spot, in that you can do 60Hz refresh at that resolution with HDMI 1.4. 4K res. will require HDMI2, displayport, or cutting your refresh rate down to 30Hz which you really don't want to do if you can help it.

The primary downsides are higher monitor power consumption (well worth it, IMO) and I find my HDD free space slipping away a lot faster due to more high res video consumption. You can watch SD video on a 24" screen and not mind much but it looks like crap on a larger higher res. display.

 

[amenx]

Every monitor upgrade I've done over the years, the single-most thing that increased my viewing pleasure and immersion is the size step-up. From 15" to 17-19-22-24-27 and now to 40". Can never go back to smaller.

 

[Wheelabrator]

Thank you all for your clarifications. I have always been a bit hesitant when it comes to big screens, I was sceptic when I went from 17" to 19", and from 19" to 22". Now that I feel comfortable with 22" the doubts are here again... but I noticed that the computers at work have 24" monitors and I have not felt they are too big. Not sure if I am ready to go any bigger though...

40 inches, huh? I guess you can fit many open programs and many icons on your desktop, but does it not mean that you have to move your head a lot? My televison set is that size and I sit a few meters away.

There is literally a setting where you can set what % size larger or smaller you want everything.

Thank you for that advice. I knew windows had some sort of size-adjustments but I have not really tried them until now. I remember I tried it in some older version of windows but it did not work that good. Seems to work very well nowadays. I have now set it on 125% which meant I could lean back in my chair and lessen my squinting. Of course this also means that less text will fit on the screen so a slightly bigger screen to compensate could be in order.

 

[Wheelabrator]

Well I have now bought a Lenovo 24-inch monitor and I am very happy with it. I did not have the courage to go any bigger. This screen has a much better image than my old monitor and much better viewing angles. The outer dimensions of the monitor is almost the same as the old one since this new one has slimmer bezels as VirtualLarry pointed out.