How big of a monitor is too big?

[Lazarus52980]

I currently game with a 22" monitor. I have been considering getting a larger monitor, but my setup doesn't really allow me to get farther away from the screen, so I worry if the monitor is too big, I will not be able to see the whole screen easily. This begs the question: How big is too big?

 

[mnewsham]

30 inch is good at 3feet to 4feet away in my opinion, 2feet is good for 25 and 24 inch.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Hmm.. So I could upgrade to a 24" and still be OK then. Any advice on a 24" monitor? I currently game at 1600x1050. A good 24" would put me at 1920x1200, right? Will my GTX 570 still be able to handle that well? I presume it will strain it a lot more...

 

[Soulkeeper]

1920x1200 resolution is nothing, I wouldn't worry about that stressing your card.
For gaming at 24" i'd suggest any good tft panel you can get a deal on.

 

[mnewsham]

Gtx 570 will do OKAY at 2560x1600, and most consumer monitors these days are 1920x1080 a 16:9 ratio (stupid I know) so get a 1080p monitor (i like asus) and your gaming should still be excellent.

 

[XLNC]

I just went from a 22" to a Dell 24" U2410. The size difference doesn't seem that significant to me. I'm happy with the increase in image quality, but I have not been overwhelmed by the size of the monitor. It still sits the same distance from me as the old 22" did.

Keep in mind though, most 24" monitors are 1920x1080, rather than 1920x1200. If you want 1200, you will end up paying a lot more.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Keep in mind though, most 24" monitors are 1920x1080, rather than 1920x1200. If you want 1200, you will end up paying a lot more.

How much more are we talking? What am I likely to pay for a good 24" 1920x1200 monitor? (I will research this over lunch, but I would appreciate a starting point).

Where should I buy one? Newegg?

 

[mnewsham]

Newegg is good, the best 1920x1200 iv seen was 28", hard to find 16:10 aspect ratio these days.

 

[brencat]

Subjective question OP... to my 40+ year old eyes, I prefer things farther away these days (I have my 24" LCD set ~ 3.5 - 4 feet away from my eyes in a corner desk unit). I could probably do a 27" at the same distance, but any larger and I would need to move it back more.

 

[wuliheron]

The only advantage LCD monitors have over others is they are cheap and the technology is fairly well developed. If you want great picture quality you'll just have to spend more on an IPS panel, but for price and decent quality LCDs can't be beat.

Last Black Friday I bought a 27" Samsung 1980x1050 1ms monitor for $250.oo to replace an Asus 22" 1680x1050 2ms one and I'm glad I did. The picture quality is about the same, but the fast response time and low latency of the Samsung is the difference between night and day. It's so fast its like using a CRT again. You can buy a 30" monitor, but it will cripple most graphics cards and cost a fortune. The 27" ones are just the right price/performance ratio currently.

 

[Phynaz]

The only advantage LCD monitors have over others is they are cheap and the technology is fairly well developed. If you want great picture quality you'll just have to spend more on an IPS panel, but for price and decent quality LCDs can't be beat.

Last Black Friday I bought a 27" Samsung 1980x1050 1ms monitor for $250.oo to replace an Asus 22" 1680x1050 2ms one and I'm glad I did. The picture quality is about the same, but the fast response time and low latency of the Samsung is the difference between night and day. It's so fast its like using a CRT again.

Placebo effect. There is no such thing as a 1ms or 2ms response time LCD. Those are all marketing numbers. And if you think the vision center in your brain can perceive the difference between 1/500th and 1/1000th of a second...

 

[wuliheron]

Placebo effect. There is no such thing as a 1ms or 2ms response time LCD. Those are all marketing numbers. And if you think the vision center in your brain can perceive the difference between 1/500th and 1/1000th of a second...

It's not just the response time, but the low latency of the internal circuitry which is something Samsung has developed for many years now. For fast paced games its tough to beat and can be quite noticeable on a different monitor.

 

[Owls]

I went from a 24" to a 30" HP ZR30W. I Love it!

 

[Lazarus52980]

The only advantage LCD monitors have over others is they are cheap and the technology is fairly well developed. If you want great picture quality you'll just have to spend more on an IPS panel, but for price and decent quality LCDs can't be beat.

You can buy a 30" monitor, but it will cripple most graphics cards and cost a fortune. The 27" ones are just the right price/performance ratio currently.

I am not familiar with an "IPS panel". What is that, and how do I know I am purchasing one when looking at the specs on a monitor?

 

[mnewsham]

I am not familiar with an "IPS panel". What is that, and how do I know I am purchasing one when looking at the specs on a monitor?

You will know when you are paying $1000+ for a 27 inch. It is better colour and viewing angles then regular TN panels.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I am not familiar with an "IPS panel". What is that, and how do I know I am purchasing one when looking at the specs on a monitor?

Generally, IPS and MVA / PVA panels will list viewing angles of 178° / 178°, while TN panels will be 170° / 160° or 160° / 160°. IPS and other non-TN panels tend to have slightly slower response times as well (12-20 ms range).

If you get to actually look at the monitor (turned on) before buying, try walking to the sides or looking at it from an unusually high or low angle. If the colors get really washed out or weird looking, it's TN. If they still look relatively normal even when staring at it from the side, it's probably not TN.

When in doubt, go here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/panelsearch.htm.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Generally, IPS and MVA / PVA panels will list viewing angles of 178° / 178°, while TN panels will be 170° / 160° or 160° / 160°. IPS and other non-TN panels tend to have slightly slower response times as well (12-20 ms range).

If you get to actually look at the monitor (turned on) before buying, try walking to the sides or looking at it from an unusually high or low angle. If the colors get really washed out or weird looking, it's TN. If they still look relatively normal even when staring at it from the side, it's probably not TN.

When in doubt, go here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/panelsearch.htm.

From what you are saying here, it looks like all that they really do is give you a greater viewing angle... If thats true, why would they ever be needed? Its not like more than one person is normally looking at my monitor...

 

[brencat]

From what you are saying here, it looks like all that they really do is give you a greater viewing angle... If thats true, why would they ever be needed? Its not like more than one person is normally looking at my monitor...

The shape of the crystals in a TN limits the viewing angle so there is only so much a panel manufacturer can do to improve this.

To answer your other questions, photographers and other users that demand precise color fidelity would be better suited on an IPS or PVA panel instead of TN panels. TNs are great for FPS gaming because they are faster, but not so much in terms of color accuracy as they are not true 8 bit displays.

Some people like to watch movies on their PC LCDs. For them, PVA panels display the best blacks. They are also the slowest type of panel with the most input lag. IPS panels are all around the best in terms of a balance between color fidelity and speed.

Have a look at the LCD sticky at the top of this forum for more info.

 

[yh125d]

I sit 3' from a 52" DLP. There is no such thing as too big

 

[Grooveriding]

Bigger the better from my opinion. 30" computer monitors are very nice to use and particularly to game on, they also have fantastic picture quality as almost all of them use IPS panels.

I have a 24" LG PVA monitor as well and I prefer its picture to the picture on my Dell 30". The blacks are much better and I find the overall picture quality is very nice, but for gaming the input lag is noticeable, whereas the 30" Dell is smooth and lacks the lag.

As far as TN, I wouldn't be able to use a TN monitor again, but it's subjective. If you can find an example of all three on display somewhere try them for yourself.

 

[nOOky]

I found the jump from 22" to 24" monitor was negligible. I'd probably recommend just skipping to a 1920 x 1200 25.6" from Asus or similar.

 

[brencat]

I sit 3' from a 52" DLP. There is no such thing as too big

Exactly my thoughts 10 years ago. Then I turned 40 and suddenly can't focus anymore on objects too close to my face.

 

[edplayer]

I have been considering getting a larger monitor, but my setup doesn't really allow me to get farther away from the screen, so I worry if the monitor is too big, I will not be able to see the whole screen easily.

You don't tell us how far back you are from your monitor (screen to eyes is a good measure) so I'm going to guess without that:


72" monitor should be OK

 

[Lazarus52980]

You don't tell us how far back you are from your monitor (screen to eyes is a good measure)

I am not completly sure. I will measure when I get home, but I think between 2 and 4 feet is about right.

 

[nyker96]

I think anything greater than 25" I'd have to watch at a distance instead of close to me. But when I'm doing programming, I don't mind extra screen real estate.