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I need a new gaming monitor.
Drez
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I don't really need this one for my PC. I think I might just want a second one dedicated solely to my consoles. Researching this is a complete nightmare. I've done a lot but I'm getting frustrated at so many contradicting opinions and anecdotes that people post as reviews.
This is what it needs:
- HDMI or DVI (at least one input, preferably two)
- Component
- VGA (which they should all have anyway)
- Up to 1080p
- Good contrast
- PROPER GAMMA/BRIGHTNESS
- PROPER ASPECT SCALING
It's the last two I am primarily concerned with. My other thread never got any responses but essentially this 21" Gateway has gamma issues but no aspect scaling issues via Component and aspect scaling but no gamma issues via DVI. So it's a half-win/half-lose situation no matter which connection I use.
I see they now have 16x9 monitors for $500ish. 16x10 monitors are okay if they scale properly. I also want the monitor to be able to display a 4:3 image centered properly (for, say, PS2 games on the PS3).
Any thoughts on what I should look toward? The 22"-24" range is good and I'm looking at around $500 in price.
This is what it needs:
- HDMI or DVI (at least one input, preferably two)
- Component
- VGA (which they should all have anyway)
- Up to 1080p
- Good contrast
- PROPER GAMMA/BRIGHTNESS
- PROPER ASPECT SCALING
It's the last two I am primarily concerned with. My other thread never got any responses but essentially this 21" Gateway has gamma issues but no aspect scaling issues via Component and aspect scaling but no gamma issues via DVI. So it's a half-win/half-lose situation no matter which connection I use.
I see they now have 16x9 monitors for $500ish. 16x10 monitors are okay if they scale properly. I also want the monitor to be able to display a 4:3 image centered properly (for, say, PS2 games on the PS3).
Any thoughts on what I should look toward? The 22"-24" range is good and I'm looking at around $500 in price.
Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
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you might try looking at the user guides for various monitors and checking out if they also do or not
Unfortunately, at this point, I will trust nothing other than anecdotal evidence from consumers. If you want to see why, check out my other thread (which has 0 replies) about my Gateway monitor. This monitor does, among other things, 1:1 pixel mapping, right? And this works flawlessly over component, but the display is too dark over component. So I bought an HDMI-to-DVI cable. Now, in the Xbox 360 aspect scaling works if I select 1360x768 or whatever even if that's not a pure 16x10 resolution. Anyway, that scales just fine if I select "Wide." However, the PS3 offers only 480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p and aspect scaling does NOT work via HDMI-to-DVI. I've had zero luck finding information about this specific problem and the manual suggests nothing.
So frankly I just want to get a new monitor that someone can say "hey I got this and it works just the way you want."
I doubt such a thing will happen, though.
Right now I'm looking at the Dell 2408WFP. If anyone has any insight into this monitor, that would be awesome. I'm mostly looking for info on aspect scaling and color/gamma/brightness.
they'll display them at a 3:2 aspect instead of 4:3 or 16:9. there are no 4:3 or 16:9 scaling modes in the OSD.
MAYBE the newest 2408 and 3008 and co. now display those signals at 4:3 at default, like the Gateway 30" does, so they could do the 4:3 aspect images sent over those signals, but they definitely do not have a 16:9 scaling mode to handle 16:9 aspect content sent over those signals
BenQ FP241VW
Here is a review of the panel: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/11/07/Benq_FP241W/1
I have one and it is the best monitor I've ever had. The component/HDMI inputs work flawlessly. It has aspect/stretch/native scaling options. The colour reproduction is excellent (I use it for photos) and the gaming performance is wonderful. I've used a PS2/360/Wii in addition to my PC with it and have no issues. The S-Video/composite scaling is really nice. It has PIP too!
I got it for $550 Canadian about half a year ago.
since the only canadian store that sells them for 519$ no longer offers to sell dead pixel policies with them..which i want.
do not display NTSC/480i/p content properly
Anyway, I've heard a lot of good things about this HP monitor. It's fifty dollars more than you'd like to pay admittedly, but from what I've heard the image quality is incredible, it has the 90-degree adjustable factor thing, etc. It's pretty awesome.
It is great, really really good, and looks stylish
http://store.benq.us/benq-us/product.aspx?sku=3269055&culture=en-US
http://store.benq.us/benq-us/product.aspx?sku=3779617&culture=en-US
Does anyone have any experience with the (slightly more expensive) BenQ
Deusfaux, thanks for that info. Truth be told I'm not sure I care about anything under 720p for what I am trying to do. I play all my PS2 games via my PS3 and upscaled (currently to 1080i). I will be using Blu-ray, HD-DVD, Xbox 360 gaming, and PS3 gaming at 1080p most likely. So...I should be okay with the BenQ then, right? I mean as far as aspect scaling goes? The problems only lie in the lower resolutions and generic NTSC? For the upscaled PS2 stuff I should be able to get a 4:3 square with scaling, right?
I won't be using my Wii on this monitor so I guess the 480i/p/NTSC issue doesn't matter too much? For me this is pretty much solely for high-def consoles.
So you really like it then?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176090&Tpk=hp%2b24
It doesn't have component inputs but It works great for me. I use it for PC, PS3 and 360 and have found it to be excellent. I haven't bought a VGA cable for my Wii yet so I can't comment on how it looks but other than that its fantastic.
It automatically scales to 16:9 when i switch to the 360 and PS3 and puts the little bars on the top and bottom of the screen, and looks gorgeous displaying games in 1080p.
I'm not a huge expert on monitors but It looks fantastic to me.
anything earlier will be lacking the overscan option in the firmware, and you wont be able to view things over hdmi, for example, properly scaled.
beyond that, yes, the only real issues iwth scaling are for SD content - anything over composite and s-video, and 480i/p over component/hdmi
try here too
http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78
Doesn't the "W" version only have VGA? The "VW" version seems to be the one with the inputs I need, no?
W is base model
WZ is a slightly better panel, and came with an HDMI cable
VW is same panel as WZ, but in a different type of stand - (some would say more limited in movement)
otherwise all the same
Dunno about the PS3 issue though. I don't know why there would be colour issues when my 360 looks fine over HDMI and component. Probably some sony voodoo happening.
there's a black border around the whole thing, isn't there?
but what you describe doesn't sound right.
It should look proper at 1:1 with overscan off.
if you set it to full - that'd be a 16:9 image spread across a 16:10 screen, would it not?
When I did comprehensive testing of the monitor, the PS3 etc over HDMI set to 1:1 was windowboxed (black border around entire image).
I dunno, I havent tested or seen a VW of that date - but if you say it works, perhaps it does
do you have a webcam we could do a quick videochat over msn with and you could show me? I'm kinda interested in seeing it
I got into more detail about it in my other thread. Short version:
- The Gateway FPD2185W is a 21" monitor capable of up to 1680x1050 and can do 1080i.
- It has multiple inputs including Component and DVI-D (and VGA, Composite, etc., but no HDMI).
- It has multiple scaling options, including 1:1, Wide, Panoramic, and Zoom.
- I noticed that anything connected via Component was very dark, even with the monitor set to 100% brightness. This was true of the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and anything else I had connected). I googled this and people indicated that this was a problem specific to the monitor's Component input and that this was NOT a problem via DVI.
- I bought an HDMI-to-DVI cable. They were right about the brightness. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 look normal, colorwise. It is hardly an exaggeration to call the difference "night and day" - Condemned 2 on the Xbox 360, for instance, was impossible to see unless I turned the in-game game up to at least 75%, with the monitor brightness already set to 100%. Via DVI, the game looked normal at 50% in-game gamma (the game's default) and 80% monitor brightness (the monitor's default).
- The Xbox 360 also scales properly via DVI. Sort of. It works if I set the Xbox 360 display options to the monitor to the "Wide" scaling option and the resolution to 1360x768 or whatever it is. It's not EXACTLY 16:9, but it's close enough.
- Scaling does not seem to function at all via DVI on the PS3. It stretches and seems to override anything I do on the monitor itself. So I have the option of vertical stretching but good color (via DVI) or perfect 1:1 aspect scaling but excessive darkness (via Component), neither of which are acceptable to me, really.
I haven't been able to find out ANY information on why this would be so whatever. I'm tired of googling about it and not finding anything. I found some anecdotalinformation about the monitor not scaling via DVI-D, but that post suggested that that problem was limited to PC video card output. It obviously DOES scale with the Xbox 360, but when I select any scaling options while the PS3 is plugged into the DVI port, the scaling options do nothing. Keep in mind that the PS3 only has the following options: NTSC, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p while the Xbox 360 offers specific resolutions while the DVI cable is plugged in. I'm guessing that's where the difference lies, but I am not competent enough about this to either understand why or to search for a fix if one exists.
So I guess my only option is to buy a new monitor. I literally cannot watch Blu-ray films because they are either properly bright but stretched (no thanks) or the correct aspect ratio but too dark to make stuff out (no thanks).
But if it fills the entire screen...that's what you DON'T want. Or am I not understanding you...?
What you want in a 16:10 monitor (as most monitors are) is a half-inch border (give or take a few millimeters depending on the size of the monitor) at the top and bottom. That is the correct aspect ratio for widescreen gaming. Like this:
If someone can quote me, the image will pop up.
Anyway, is that what you see, taliosfalcon/bombardier?
Oh, I should note that that's what my Xbox 360 does via DVI (through the HDMI-to-DVI cable). I have to set it to "Wide" to get a full image with borders only at the top and bottom.
But yeah that doesn't sound right to me at all.
Are you talking about the newest model of the 2408wfp? I was looking at buying one. Where are these awful reviews of it you're reading?
What do you think of this one?
Yes, that's the primary reason I want at least 24".
I should note that 720p looks meh on this monitor though while 1080i looks good. At least via Component on the Xbox 360.
lots of people getting them and hating them for various reasons. There's quite a bit of complaining about them on the dell community forums too
Cool. If you could take pics, that would be great, but I'm mostly just curious if there are black borders at the top and bottom when you do what you said you did (overscan, full scaling). You said that it "fills the entire screen" - is that true, or are there black borders at the top and bottom and it just fills the screen until it hits the left and right boundary of the LCD screen?
Whew. Is that with overscan on or off? Oh and there are no borders on the left or right, right? I mean it more or less looks like the MS Paint picture I offered on the last page where the game/movie image fills the grey portion and the border is the black portion?
It looks like this might be the monitor I get!
Er, wait.
So what happens when you stretch a 720p? Like if you use Wide or something, it won't fill the entire monitor,right? It'll basically look the same as the 1080p in 1:1 (with the black bars on top and bottom)?
What I'm basically asking is if 16:9 is preserved through letterboxing no matter what you are playing/watching in high definition, whether it is 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. I don't care if I have to do stuff in the monitor's menu to GET to the correct 16:9 image as long as it is actually possible.
Sorry for all the questions but improper scaling drives me absolutely bonkers so I want to make sure it does exactly what I want before buying it. Stretching to anything that isn't 16:9 is just...well it hurts me. Deep. In my soul.
Okay, excellent, thank you.
I think you sold me on a monitor.
You should get commission.
memory express up here would tell you - i think ncix MIGHT have too