Help: Need a new monitor 1

[dcloud]

I have an old Dell monitor at the moment. I got it free from a friend, but its starting to get dark and strange waves are appearing in the lower right corner.

I've been looking at many monitors on the Web, like the KDS 17" Flat CRT XF7X and the ViewSonic A75F 17" Monitor.

I don't want to spend a fortune, but maybe a CRT with a flat screen? I'm not aware of how much better that would be than a regular one, but I have read that they are. I do graphic design work and I would like a monitor that has reasonable good color, clarity, refresh, and low dot pitch.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

- dc

 

[franklin97355]

Check out some of the review sites like toms hardware for the latest information. Also check the graphics design sites to see what the other guts are using.

The answer has always been 42

 

[felixc]

One thing that I can say, if you're going to spend many hours per day in front of this monitor, it is a good thing to get monitors that are in a "professional".

 

[dcloud]

Thanks for the replies. I work third shift as a night auditor at a local hotel and we had our monitors upgraded to IBM ThinkVision L150s. These are very nice monitors. Clear, crisp colors and amazing clarity. I checked around for these monitors and they have been discontinued at a lot of places. I did locate one being sold by a private seller for $189.

I wasn't planning on getting an LCD, but since I use this monitor almost every night I'm more than satisfied with its performance. I will have to keep this LCD in mind when the 'ol income tax check arrives.

- dc

 

[electronicsfreak]

I personally reccomend viewsonic monitors, there a little more expensive then most brands but there very good monitors.

Good sites to buy from

http://www.newegg.com

http://www.pricewatch.com

 

[carpetbelly]

I hate saying this, but I will always stick with Dell for monitors (someone kill me now!!!).

I used to have a duel CRT flatscreen Dell setup for gfx work. Now, from what I understand the flatscreen CRT monitors Dell pumped out at that point were basically rebadged Sony Trinitron but cheaper with all the quality. So, not one complaint from me

Now, I have a 20" Widescreen TFT Dell... And wow, awesome is an understatement. Can spend hours in front of it and just carry on being mesmerised. A lot of money for that one, but worth every penny for the quality of work I've pumped out (and how good it makes world of warcraft look).

 

[ceh4702]

I have found the Samsung Monitors to be of good quality. I have a 19" one I purchased for $200 and it is still running great a year later. I have also had 2 MAG monitors. One I have had some problems with and one is running great now which I purchased later. The one that I had problems with was mail ordered. The other two were purchased in the store at Best Buy. All were tube monitors the last two were flat screens.

The last shipment of Tube monitors we got from IBM seemed to have lost something in quality. They seem more dark and not able to do bright colors correctly. It might be their Lonovo Supplier. I work at a community college and we have used all IBM monitors since I have been here and the quality is hit and miss. The monitor I have now says E74M on the front, and it came with a ThinkCentre Computer. The LCD screens may be higher quality.

If you purchase an LCD Model purchase the latest model and not some model that has been in a box for 1 Year or more that they are trying to get rid of. The quality keeps getting better, so you want the latest and greatest which is usually even cheaper. Also look at available resolutions. Not all screens work at all resolutions, especially in the LCD Screens.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[dcloud]

It's a tough call, but I guess it boils down to just picking one, buying it, and then seeing what I think. Thanks for all your input. I appreciate it.

- dc

 

[kmcferrin]

I wouldn't want to "test it" after I bought it. If you have a Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUSA/other similar store near your home, drop in and see what they have on the shelves. At the very least you will get an idea of the image quality of the various models.

 

[transtec]

I like Viewsonic too.. infact they seem to give the highest refresh rating per resolutions (at comparable prices) which is my prime concern.

I bought my second Viewsonic monitor for my new PC 2 months back... it's a 17 inch E70f+SB model which is "supposed to be" perfect flat. Although they say it's flat, once I unpacked the monitor I noticed that it is actually NOT "perfect flat". They have actually put a flat glass in front of the "slighlty curvy" screen on which the picture is being projected onto... well this fools most of the users to believe that it is actually a "perfect flat" screen. If it was perfect flat, it wouldn't hav actually had a glass screen in front like that, for no odd reason.
Also when you increase the brightness to very high levels, you could see some grayish kind of matte on the two sides of the "curvy screen", when the screen is completely black.

Apart from that, Im kinda satisfied with the colours and the brightness of the monitor. The resolution runs at a steady 1152 x 864 pixels on a 72 Hz refresh rate which is more than comfy for the eyes. I wud hav bin more happier if Viewsonic had actually given me the "promised" perfect flat screen that I was lukin forward to until I unpacked.

 

[kmcferrin]

A couple points:

First, regarding my earlier post, I was in the market for a new LCD monitor recently and went into Best Buy to see what they had available (as per my previous suggestion). Back in the days of CRT monitors, this would have been advisable, but with LCDs I was dissappointed. It seems that though they have 12-15 monitors (mostly LCD, with a couple CRTs) on the shelf, they are driving them all from the same video source. That means that if the source is 1024x768 then all of the monitors are at that resolution. This wasn't an issue with CRTs, but since LCDs have a native resolution that looks much better than other resolutions, it made some of the higher-end LCDs look like junk. I was very disappointed.

Secondly, I have nver seen a "perfect flat" CRT that actually had a flat tube. While most are "vertically flat" they all had that flat glass in front of a slightly horizontally curved screen. I had a 19" Hitachi CRT that was made that way, and the biggest problem that I had with it was with distortion near the sides of the screen. If you put an icon in the center of your desktop and measured it's dimensions, then moved it to one edge of your screen, it's width will have increased slightly. I assume that is because of the method used to produce an image from a curved tube onto a flat face.

 

[Treeking]

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.a...06251&Type=PE&Category=Comp&Gad=0&dcaid=15891

 

[kmcferrin]

I'm not sure what you are trying to show with that link. Obviously they are selling some monitors that they call "pure flat", but since it is described as having "minimal distortion", I suspect that it is a design that is very similar to what we have discussed.

 

[Treeking]

It's pretty simple when you look at the page:

19IN PURE FLAT 1600X1200 OSD DIGITAL SILVER/BLACK - FT920

List Price: $157.41
You Save: $10.42

Your Price: $146.99


Extended Warranty Available:
12-month Replacement Plan +$15.99
24-month Replacement Plan +$25.99

In Stock: Usually Ships in 1 to 2 business days.

Manufacturer: AOC
Mfg Part#: FT920
Buy.com Sku: 10406251



PRODUCT DETAILS


Item#: C3XRVR
Buy.com Sales Rank: 29733

DESCRIPTION

The FT920 flat face CRT offers minimal-distortion in an all new silver & black cabinet design. It has 1600 x 1200 maximum resolution and fine 0.21(h) dot pitch. Easy to use on-screen settings make adjustments quick and easy.


FEATURES

Manufacturer Aoc International Ltd
Actual Screen Size 19"
Color Silver
Black
Resolution 1600 x 1200 @ 75Hz Maximum Resolution
Input Voltage 100 V AC to 240 V AC Universal
Viewable Screen Size 18"
Interfaces 1 x 15-pin D-Sub
Manufacturer Part Number FT920
Standard Warranty 3 Year(s)
Manufacturer Website Address

http://www.aocmonitor.com

Product Name FT920 Monitor
Scanning Frequencies 30 kHz to 98 kHz Horizontal
50 Hz to 160 Hz Vertical
Display Modes VGA
SVGA
XGA
SXGA
Dot Pitch 0.25mm Diagonal
0.21mm Horizontal
Input Signal RGB (Analog)
Product Type Flat CRT



EXTENDED SPECS

Standard Warranty 3 Year(s)
Color Silver
Black
Manufacturer Aoc International Ltd
Front Panel Controls OSD Shuttle Knob Standby Power Key
Actual Screen Size 19"
Resolution 1600 x 1200 @ 75Hz Maximum Resolution
Input Voltage 100 V AC to 240 V AC Universal
Manufacturer Part Number FT920
Viewable Screen Size 18"
OSD Controls Contrast Brightness H-size H-center V-size V-center Zoom Pinchusion Trapezoid Pin-balance Parallelogram Rotation 6500K 9300K Users Color Degauss H/V Moire Reduce Recall Language Exit OSD Languages: English German French Spanish Italian Portuguese
Interfaces 1 x 15-pin D-Sub
Maximum Resolution 1600 x 1200
Dimensions 17.17" Height x 17.56" Width x 17.91" Depth
Frequency 50 Hz or 60 Hz
Additional Information Plug & Play: VESA DDC1/2B Recommended For: Corporate Environments, Finance, Manufacturing
Manufacturer Website Address

http://www.aocmonitor.com

Weight 44.1 lb
Power Consumption 130W Maximum
Shipping Weight 51.9 lb
Dot Pitch 0.25mm Diagonal
0.21mm Horizontal
Product Name FT920 Monitor
Scanning Frequencies 30 kHz to 98 kHz Horizontal
50 Hz to 160 Hz Vertical
Certifications & Standards UL FCC FDA CSA TUV/GS
Pixel Clock Speed 200MHz
Input Signal RGB (Analog)
Product Type Flat CRT
Display Memory Settings 8 Preset
20 User Programmable
Platform Support PC
Mac

 

[dcloud]

Yeah but there isn't even a picture, and I am not to confident of the site itself.

I had to pass on the monitor to get a new printer and to pay to have my folks' car fixed. The printer is awesome, a Samsung ML-2010. I got a laser this time because my old Epson inkjet dried up and I didn't want the same thing happening again. This printer makes the word fast jealous. Printed 4 whole sheets of text off a web site in under 2 seconds. No lie. I'm quite satisified.

So the monitor will have to wait, but I did see a HP VS17 that was really sweet at Best Buy for $329.

 

[Treeking]

Oh no...........not car problems too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I work on my own vehicles and save alot myself.

We've used AOC monitors for years with systems (both CRT and LCD). Always had good luck with Viewsonic and Cybervision also (high resolution/refresh rates with both ATI(preferred) and Nvidia cards). Are you leaning towards an LCD monitor now instead?

 

[dcloud]

I saw the HP monitor in Best Buy and fell in love with the screen. The clarity, I couldn't believe it. I work with ThinkVision L150 LCD monitors at work, so I know the clarity of LCDs. But when I saw the HP I was hooked. I will buy a LCD when the time comes, but only if I can see it first. I don't want to buy an LCD online unless I've checked it out first with my own eyes. I do graphic design work and I know now the LCD monitor would be the best for that. I really don't think any flat screen CRT is going to beat the clarity of the LCD.

 

[kmcferrin]

If you are doing graphic design you may want to shop around more. The VS17 only has analog (VGA) input. You can get a much sharper image from a monitor that has a DVI input, assuming that your video card/computer has DVI out capabilities (most do now days).

Also, I tried to look up the supported color depth of the monitor, but all HP's site said was "16 millions colors". Some monitors are advertised as "16.2 million colors", others as "16.7 million colors."

The monitors that are advertised as 16.7 million colors are capable of displaying true 24-bit color (8 bits each for red, green, and blue, so these are sometimes called 8-bit monitors). The ones advertised as 16.2 million colors actually can only display 262,144 colors (using only 6 bits each for red, green, and blue, and are sometimes called 6-bit monitors), but they have special hardware engines that do dithering and other optimizations to provide the effect of 16.2 million colors.

However, if your application requires true 24-bit color (like DTP or image processing) then you will have color matching problems between your screen and print output. In that case you will definitely want to shop around and verify that you are definitely getting true 24-bit color.

Of course, if your work requires true 32-bit color then you are a bit out of luck with LCDs, and you probably should spring for a high-end CRT.

 

[dcloud]

kmcferrin, thanks for the info. I've been hearing a lot about this DVI business. I don't think my current graphics card supports DVI. I have looked into Everest to check the specs, but I don't see anywhere that it says DVI. What is it exactly, and how would I know if my card has it?

Actually if I'm going to get a new montior then I should get a new video card as well. Could you recommend some cards that have DVI for me? I can only use AGP cards with my current mobo (ASUS P4P800).

Thank you.

 

[kmcferrin]

DVI is a digital video output on the back of the video card. It is physically different from the standard D-sub video connector. However, since the standard D-sub connector is an analog interface, it is susceptible to signal degradation. The DVI connector sends a digital signal, and so it is not susceptible to the issues of degradation or interference and can produce a sharper image.

If you look at the video card at the link below you will see three connectors. On the left is a round black connector which is used for S-video (TV out). On the right is the standard blue D-sub connector used by monitors for many years. In the middle is a white DVI connector.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI... 6200 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail