Recommend 22" LCD Monitor

Dyre Straits

With a birthday and Christmas approaching, I may just be able to swing a nifty upgrade for my system here. I've been thinking about LCD monitors for quite some time to replace my very, very old CRTs.

But, I'm not going to be able to go all out and splurge on a top of the line model. I simply want something that will perform well, have crisp clarity and color and not give me headaches when spending hours at the PC.

The size I'm interested in is 22". Anything less would be a waste IMHO. Anything larger would be overkill.

So, what do you guys and gals recommend? Keep in mind I'm in the USA, so, I won't be ordering from 'overseas' from my perspective. In fact, I'll likely find a good deal right here in my own neck of the woods once the list is narrowed down.

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Neshi

Just a thought, would 24" not benefit from a higher resolution.. 1920x1200 instead of 1680x1050 of 22", and is the dot-pitch not better on a 24" than on a 22"?

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Dyre Straits

From what I've seen price-wise so far, the leap from 22" to 24" is too staggering to overcome.

I also don't plan to be sitting more than 2 feet from the screen.

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lepel

I've got this one. Newegg.com - ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors I like it very much.

If you are looking at 1920*1080 resolution, here's another pretty good monitor.
Newegg.com - ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 12000 : 1) Built in Speakers - LCD Monitors

But choosing a monitor is usually rather personal. You should go to some electronics/media store and compare the different monitors and pick the one you think is the best.

Dyre Straits

Anyone know anything about this one?

Micro Center - X24WG-1080p 24" Widescreen LCD

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BlueMak

Is it DVI-D? Be careful if it isn't.

Spectre is a known brand (they provided all the monitors to Earth The Final Conflict if you have ever seen the series), but I don't have any experience with them.

If you are going to sit 2 feet from it, 24" might be too much, especialy if you have good eyesight. Also, don't forget, higher native resolution=need for upgrades faster if you want to play games at the native resolution. More expensive overall.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Liqourice

I recommend this one. It's the bigger brother of the one 20" that I have and it's absolutely wonderful. Perfect picture, great colours, high contrast and with 2ms responce time it doesn't have any problems with fast changing scenes in games or movies.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 2232BW+ Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 8000:1(1000:1) - LCD Monitors

Samsung makes great monitors.

Judas

the benq 24" G2400 monitor is still pretty damn decent..... it's worth the money considering how cheap it is.

it's the one zardon recommended quite awhile ago.

Alternatively, the 24" samsung 2443bw monitor is currently king in the 24" department for it's value and performance/quality.

As for 22" Acer has some pretty nice models.

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swimtech

Hi Dyre,
The 20" MVA panel type screen I bought over a year ago is a Sceptre (X20WC Gamer) and it looks very good - nice color. The 24 incher you're looking at is a standard TN panel, restricted viewing angles and muted colors in comparison. The 24" BenQ I use at work has the same issues actually, muted colors and restricted viewing angles, but at least the colors are well balanced and accurate - and plays video well.

I just bought a 22" myself, and decided on this ASUS MK221 because it was on sale and had a lot of features - but honestly not because its video quality was the very best of the group according to reviews - although it's still good, esp. after I touched it up. I like it fine, and it wound up costing me just $200 even so...

In the group of 22" monitors, I think the best video quality resides with the Dells, LGs, and Samsungs for the most part - they're all TN panels and will look much the same - give or take a little... There are some new ASUS models out with temptingly low prices though...

If you go 24" it's going to be hard to beat a BenQ MVA panel for picture quality and value vs. price. And I've seen the Dell PVA 24 inchers - they do look very good, which means the Samsungs should too.

A good place to compare screens/features - if you haven't gone there already - is Here at Prad.de. You can do side by side comparisons of actual screenshots of many monitors there.

Edit: Sorry - the side by side screenshots are Here at DigitalVersus.

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Dyre Straits

Thanks for the replies and recommendations so far. I've been away at work and not been able to keep up with everyone.

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Dyre Straits

Bump/Update:

Any opinions on this one:

Micro Center - CMV 222H 22" Widescreen MFM LCD

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BlueMak

Looks good and cheap, but I don't know the company or the model.

I would rec the tv I bought in September. Buy Bush L22T11W-A 22in HD Ready Digital LCD TV. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .
It actualy has 2 HDMI and not just one as it says there. It also has built in scaler with several options, not just for tv channels but more importantly for some, for the other inputs like oh, PCs. It has lots of options for colour etc etc. I don't know what its panel is (make) or anything, but it is a great TV/Monitor that I use daily for PC, Console and TV viewing. Even the 3D surround effect with its built in speakers is good, though the sound quality otherwise is not top notch. (which is why I have connected speakers to my PC )

If it is on sale in the USA and you can find it, have a look.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Dyre Straits

It appears that the Bush brand is only available in the UK. I can't find any outlet in USA that carries this brand.

But, the more I look at the Chimei, the more enticing it looks. I found out that Samsung even uses many of Chimei panels in their models. I'm just not sure which models those would be offhand, though.

Probably the biggest question would be whether the absence of a DVI connector is as big an issue as some try to make it be. I've read several user comments that don't seem to settle the argument one way or the other. Mostly, it boils down to the quality of the unit itself.

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Cow_160483

this is the screen i use and trust me Dyre its the best thing since sliced bread or the wheel !! its been grate to have and would recommend you get it coz its good .

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Decode!
Muhahahahah!

BlueMak

Well, at least the specific Bush model supports NTSC so at least if you find it you would be able to use it.

About DVI, my monitor/tv doesn't have a DVI either, only 2 HDMIs instead. Using a dvi-hdmi thingy, it works just fine...
But, if you want to plug in other things too through HDMI, say a HD console...then you have a problem with only 1 HDMI.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

swimtech

Looks like value for the money - and all those inputs for video devices too. It looks to be a slightly below average TN (esp. compared to the Samsungs, Dells, LGs, and Viewsonics) - you might notice some slight banding of colors - probably in the dark end of the spectrum as they advertise only 16.2 milliion colors, not the 16.7 milliion that screens with more aggresive dithering use to blend one color to another.

And you're right, Chimei is a panel manufacturer, for themselves and others. I've noticed a bunch used here at work. They don't stand out for video quality but don't suck out loud either, and the price is the lowest of any I've seen. I'd have to guess their internal electronics is lacking some compared to others with higher prices using their same panel - but that's just a guess.

If display quality is not your first concern (and you should be able to tweak it up a bit from factory settings...), you might want to take a chance on it. 3 year warranty too.

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It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dyre Straits

Well, for the money and the fact that I got a very nice surprise birthday party thrown for me on Sunday afternoon, this was a deal I simply could not pass up!

I was at Micro Center at 9 a.m. and realized they don't open until 10. So, up to Waffle House I went, got a bite of breakfast and read the paper.

I arrived back at M/C right at 10 a.m. and there was already one other person ahead of me to get this same monitor.

I'm using it right now. And, I'm also using just the VGA cable and, if the quality only gets better with DVI, I'm in heaven!

There were only a few little obstacles getting this setup and one HUGE obstacle. I had to get my 21 inch CRT down out of the way first. But, the minor obstacles were just getting the correct signal input designated and then getting the VGA cable connected to the correct output on the video card.

One other small obstacle was that the native 1680x1050 resolution wasn't recognized by default by the CCC. That was a simple matter of just unchecking the "Use EDID....." option and then selecting the correct res and refresh rate.

The base on this one swivels easily right and left to be able to use the Card Reader, the selection options buttons are located along the right edge, and, the unit swivels upward easily to make any other connections desired.

Now.....to see how games look......


A Little Update:

I just ran a few tests....not actual gaming yet, though. I setup The Witcher with the correct resolution and settings and then watched the Introductory movie again. During some of the very, very fast movement sequences, I did see some tearing like I would normally see on my CRT. I'm assuming that this is somewhat 'normal'. So far, though, I haven't noticed any of the 'ghosting' that I've read about. Image clarity is really sharp and the colors are quite brilliant...at least to my eyes. I've got the monitor set to "Picture" mode.

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swimtech

You're seeing what I mean about razor sharp focus relative to just about any CRT - really makes a difference regardless of panel quality huh? Glad you liking it!

The TR:L Japan level (the city backdrop from the building top at night) should look really good to you...

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It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Asmoday

I use a Samsung 226BW and are quite happy with it.

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procupine14

though is the tearing the monitor's fault or your GFX card just doing its thing? I have the same proble in fast-paced stuff and I just assumed its my card . just a thought

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Dyre Straits

I actually would expect to see this more on a LCD monitor than on my CRT anyway. It's as much to do with the Refresh Rate of the screen as anything else. With the LCD being restricted to slower R/R it means the screen can't refresh as quickly as what I was able get on my CRT. I always set R/R to the highest setting for the selected Resolution.

One thing that possibly can eliminate this...is to turn on V-Sync. That's what V-Sync is for, anyway.


EDIT: BTW, swimtech: The 16.2 posted on the Micro Center site is an error. The manual and everything else that comes with this monitor shows 16.7 million colors. So far, I'm really impressed with this. Just went through the Bolivia mission again with Lara Croft. But, that's a topic for another forum.

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