General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: hazmatt on December 17, 2023, 03:38:28 PM
Title: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 17, 2023, 03:38:28 PM
I have a very old 1080p 60hz monitor that's around 28" and I'd like to upgrade it. (on a budget) I've tried to use an old 1080p tv that I have but it seems blurry. I'm looking to spend less then $300, $200 being better. Can I get anything decent for that? Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: oboe on December 17, 2023, 04:22:12 PM
Absolutely you can.
For example Best Buy has a ton of monitors on sale right now, many below $200. Take a look at these:
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: GasTeddy on December 17, 2023, 04:46:01 PM
I've been using 43' HDTV couple of years already. Basic model w/o any smart tingel tangels. Was in $ about 150 and works just fine. Nowadays one can get same size smart one under $200 here where I live.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 17, 2023, 08:01:09 PM
These look kinda like a sideways upgrade to me. I was hoping to get something better. Maybe I'm missing something?
Most of those are larger and have a higher refresh rate than what you are currently using. Going up in resolution really depends on the capabilities of your system, primarily your gpu, but the cpu can have an effect as well.
:salute Sik
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 17, 2023, 09:21:53 PM
Got it. I currently have a 1080ti and I'm looking at a 4070 or 7800 and a monitor to go with it :)
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: GasTeddy on December 18, 2023, 02:03:39 AM
Got it. I currently have a 1080ti and I'm looking at a 4070 or 7800 and a monitor to go with it :)
1080ti is really capable to run almost what ever monitor. I'm using 1070ti and Benchmark (https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/65899889) is not bad at all for a mill made mostly from parts stolen from a local museum.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 18, 2023, 02:05:23 AM
With a 4070 or 7800 a 1440p would be quite nice and even keep a steady 144 Hz speed in most games. For size I wouldn't go below 31.5" if you've been using 28" before - remember that size doesn't matter when it comes to monitors and the load they put on the PC, it's the pixel count and refresh rate. Another thing to take into account is that the more pixels in the same area the less need there is for AntiAliasing which means a crisper image.
The panel type matters some, but not necessarily too much. IPS has the widest viewing range so if you have company they would enjoy that the most. VA is by nature a bit faster but on a very wide flat screen the edges will look blurry and discoloured unless you choose a curved one in which case your viewing angle doesn't change too much.
No wonder the two cheapest fulfilling the above criteria are sold out! But there's some starting from $249 like https://www.bestbuy.com/site/viewsonic-omni-vx3218c-2k-32-lcd-qhd-freesync-premium-gaming-monitor-hdmi-and-displayport-black/6532802.p?skuId=6532802 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/viewsonic-omni-vx3218c-2k-32-lcd-qhd-freesync-premium-gaming-monitor-hdmi-and-displayport-black/6532802.p?skuId=6532802) and https://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigabyte-g32qc-a-32-led-curved-qhd-freesync-premium-pro-gaming-monitor-with-hdr-hdmi-displayport-usb-black/6462631.p?skuId=6462631 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigabyte-g32qc-a-32-led-curved-qhd-freesync-premium-pro-gaming-monitor-with-hdr-hdmi-displayport-usb-black/6462631.p?skuId=6462631). Unfortunately although both support FreeSync, neither is G-sync compatible at least by the Nvidia listing (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/g-sync-monitors/specs/). Then again, if your video card can keep a steady frame rate that is no issue at all.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Animl-AW on December 18, 2023, 09:43:57 AM
I have a very old 1080p 60hz monitor that's around 28" and I'd like to upgrade it. (on a budget) I've tried to use an old 1080p tv that I have but it seems blurry. I'm looking to spend less then $300, $200 being better. Can I get anything decent for that? Thanks in advance.
I have the same exact issue. Its choke-holding my vid card. Also why I have to do a lot of extra work to make my vids smoother. I can only set my card to what my monitor will do. I’m just not goin to go crazy buying expensive gear for the only game I play.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 18, 2023, 11:41:30 AM
This is the stuff I don't get.
Why does this one cost 3 times more then https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-odyssey-oled-g8-34-curved-wqhd-freesync-premium-pro-smart-gaming-monitor-with-hdr400-micro-dp-micro-hdmi-usb-silver/6527046.p?skuId=6527046
this one. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-aopen-34hc5cur-pbiiphx-34-led-uwqhd-curved-freesync-monitor-displayport-hdmi-black/6542688.p?skuId=6542688
They're the same size.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: SIK1 on December 18, 2023, 12:46:21 PM
The first one is OLED, it's also Samsung. The second one is just plain LED.
:cheers:
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 18, 2023, 01:17:43 PM
The first one is OLED, it's also Samsung. The second one is just plain LED.
:cheers:
And utterly simplified this means that instead of one or ten or even thousands of backlight spots, OLED consists of lightbulbs for each pixel - almost five million in the monitor in question. Much more precise when it comes to leaving a single pixel dark.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 18, 2023, 01:26:47 PM
Thanks for explaining.
Think it's worth 3x the price or is it just cause it's the newest thing?
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: SIK1 on December 18, 2023, 01:45:39 PM
OLED has better blacks, better contrast, higher refresh rates, and wider field of view.
If it's worth three times the price really depends on you.
:cheers:
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 18, 2023, 01:47:49 PM
Hah! It doesn't depend on me. I'd have to use my kids shoe money to buy one. I was just curious if it was that much of a difference.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: SIK1 on December 18, 2023, 01:57:34 PM
Hah! It doesn't depend on me. I'd have to use my kids shoe money to buy one. I was just curious if it was that much of a difference.
That would still be dependent on you. What's more important your kids new shoes or a shiny new OLED monitor. :devil
All kidding aside, I bought a new monitor a couple of years ago and just couldn't see spending the extra money for an OLED panel. I would like to have one, but the price needs to come down to a more reasonable level before I would consider buying one.
:cheers:
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 18, 2023, 02:03:52 PM
Thanks. That helps.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 18, 2023, 02:14:16 PM
What SIK1 says.
For gaming you don't need as good image quality as you would for image processing or even for watching movies. For some games people actually reduce image quality by applying more gamma to make dark areas more visible - even in AH I've heard about making the night light as day. Most monitors also have several presets, for games you may want a flashier colour scheme than for office apps and a preset helps to switch between them. That said you definitely don't want a monitor that will have ghost images following every moving pixel so there's a limit for how low quality is acceptable.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Meatwad on December 18, 2023, 05:50:11 PM
I am using a samsung 41 inch tv as a monitor. I have absolutely no problems with any blurring or artifacts while playing any games on the computer
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Dadtallica on December 18, 2023, 05:57:04 PM
For gaming you don't need as good image quality as you would for image processing or even for watching movies. For some games people actually reduce image quality by applying more gamma to make dark areas more visible - even in AH I've heard about making the night light as day. Most monitors also have several presets, for games you may want a flashier colour scheme than for office apps and a preset helps to switch between them. That said you definitely don't want a monitor that will have ghost images following every moving pixel so there's a limit for how low quality is acceptable.
Only takes a couple tenths of gamma points inside the AH settings to make the night turn to day. I used to use ok a few maps but I started to adjust to the nights and like it better without.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Prayer on December 18, 2023, 07:29:49 PM
I have the MSI Mag321qr. 31.5 inch 165 refresh 2k. It was 400 in Feb, looks like it can be had for about 228 now. It is a good monitor. I don’t care for the “anti glare” glaze during day time use. Keep a eye out for that when shopping online.
That being said I wish I would have went 4k. You can always lower resolution to 2k on 4k monitors but not the other way around.
My brother just upgraded to the newer 48 inch Oled LG C2. My gosh is that thing beautiful. Crisp and colors with more depth than I have ever seen. The difference is like looking at a regular tv back in the day then looking at a plasma screen. I wish I had not seen it as I will more than likely be getting one when the price drops below 600.
I switched over to v/r so it does not matter for ah for me. Switch to vr you will not regret it once you adjust
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 18, 2023, 10:40:26 PM
I do have vr but some things are easier for me on the monitor. For example when I used to play AH3 I'd use the monitor in GVs otherwise I couldn't see anything and couldn't aim with the gunsite. Same for manned guns.
If I want to play a game that doesn't support vr I'd like to have something decent too. The monitor I use is like like 15 years old.
Would it be better for me to buy a tv instead of a monitor? Seems I could get a 50 inch tv for the same price as like a 34 inch monitor. Why would I want to or not want to?
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 19, 2023, 01:34:51 AM
Would it be better for me to buy a tv instead of a monitor? Seems I could get a 50 inch tv for the same price as like a 34 inch monitor. Why would I want to or not want to?
A TV is basically a monitor with a transceiver. Basically.
There's a couple of differences, the first one being the actual panel. A TV doesn't have to be as accurate as a monitor, the colour reproducing can be more off without doing any harm in regular TV use. Also, when viewed at the normal working distance which is about an arm's length or 2½ feet a large TV can look like Minecraft.
The more important thing to take into account is that many TV's have built-in enhancing technology. Sounds nice, works well with watching TV or movies. But those also create a significant input lag in the signal path! TV's that work well with PC's have a dedicated Gaming/PC setting that bypasses the image enhancers. Unfortunately that setting may be hidden in sub-sub-submenus.
There's reviews about the subject, search for "best pc gaming tv as monitor" or something similar. This seems to have quite a lot of good information: https://www.avforums.com/articles/the-best-tvs-for-pc-gaming-hdmi-2-1-4k-144hz-vrr-allm-dolby-vision.21020/ (https://www.avforums.com/articles/the-best-tvs-for-pc-gaming-hdmi-2-1-4k-144hz-vrr-allm-dolby-vision.21020/)
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 19, 2023, 02:27:04 AM
Thanks for the info.
What about something like this? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1HYK1NG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 19, 2023, 09:37:45 AM
The Auto Game Mode sounds good at least on paper. The problem is they don't tell how long the "lowest possible input lag and latency" actually is and how it compares to other brands.
The other issue is size. 50 inches is huge to watch from close. Among the good things is that it's 4k as it can be lowered to 1080p for maximum performance by combining four pixels to one. But that would look really blocky from normal PC viewing distance. Oh, and it's 60Hz which means there won't be any improvement in fluency. Plus the "stand" is ridiculous. You'd need to get a wall/table mounting system to get the height and angle right.
Shortly put, I wouldn't consider that one as an upgrade by any means other than size.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Shuffler on December 19, 2023, 10:02:18 AM
Get your kids shoes. :aok
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: hazmatt on December 19, 2023, 12:52:14 PM
I can afford shoes and a $300 monitor, just not a $900 one :)
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 19, 2023, 01:55:06 PM
I've been thinking about replacing my current 30" 2560x1600 60Hz IPS Hewlett-Packard LP3065 with some decent 32" curved 144Hz one. The variety seems to be quite poor here at the moment, but there's a tempting Samsung for some €350. My only concern with that is that I may have to upgrade my video card as well to unleash all the power of such a monitor. A GTX 1660Ti might be the next bottleneck. But the friend mentioned earlier says that his reaction speed significantly improved first when he got the 1440p 144Hz monitor, the second time with a newer processor, i7-4790 to i7-10700 or 11700 with mobo and RAM of course, and then finally upgrading the GTX1080 to a Rx 6750 xt. So I guess I should give a new monitor a chance - actually the previous owner of this system was happy with such a monitor so maybe benchmarks don't tell the whole truth...
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Shuffler on December 19, 2023, 02:17:50 PM
The only thing Samsung I will touch is their phones. They missed me off with their low quality TVs some years back. Since they have had huge issues with washing machines and fridges. I steer clear of them.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Animl-AW on December 19, 2023, 06:06:42 PM
All my screens are Samsung. I got in this habit a long time ago because I think they held the patent, regardless offered more options then I saw in other screens. Never had any problem with Samsung screens, but that's all I buy from them. I only had one 5 yr old TV go out,.. the rest I just updated.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 20, 2023, 01:45:04 AM
The only thing Samsung I will touch is their phones. They missed me off with their low quality TVs some years back. Since they have had huge issues with washing machines and fridges. I steer clear of them.
Samsung makes screens for others like Apple and no one says they're of poor quality. Then again Samsung has bought screens for their less expensive TV sets from other manufacturers as their screen "department" wasn't able to keep up with the demand. Nothing inherently wrong with the Chinese panels as this article says: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/report-less-than-half-of-samsung-tvs-use-their-own-displays (https://www.tomsguide.com/news/report-less-than-half-of-samsung-tvs-use-their-own-displays). However, the quality control may not be up to the task in all factories.
Computer displays are in general of better quality than TV's based on the fact that they're watched more closely and used for jobs that require pixel level accuracy. You wouldn't like to have extra dots in your Excel spreadsheet, would you?
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: GasTeddy on December 20, 2023, 02:27:37 AM
I guess I should give a new monitor a chance - actually the previous owner of this system was happy with such a monitor so maybe benchmarks don't tell the whole truth...
Is there a benchmark test for monitors somewhere available? When I jumped from 22' Samsung monitor to 43'HDTV, it was like opening a hatch in a tank. Almost real size cockpit is big advantage, especially in hardcore realistic sims w/o any hud.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Shuffler on December 20, 2023, 07:34:15 AM
I actually had one of their techs tell me their TVs are designed to last 5 years. Even though mine had the chip failure they were having issues with, they would not replace the chip. At the time, most of my electronics were samsung.... not any more.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Eagler on December 20, 2023, 09:35:29 AM
Saw where some tv's require settings change to actually use higher resolution..even limited to some specific inputs on the television...
My Sony 55" was one of those
Eagler
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Bizman on December 20, 2023, 10:09:35 AM
Is there a benchmark test for monitors somewhere available? When I jumped from 22' Samsung monitor to 43'HDTV, it was like opening a hatch in a tank. Almost real size cockpit is big advantage, especially in hardcore realistic sims w/o any hud.
I meant that video card benchmarks don't tell how well a card can handle a faster monitor with my setup and the games I play. Benchmarks based on data gathered from regular users can include anything from crapware filled underpowered systems to highly streamlined ones.
There's quite a lot of information available about monitors as well, I could find some sites that listed tens or even hundreds of them but no actual listing telling what's best came up at the first try.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Dadtallica on December 20, 2023, 10:32:13 AM
Is there a benchmark test for monitors somewhere available? When I jumped from 22' Samsung monitor to 43'HDTV, it was like opening a hatch in a tank. Almost real size cockpit is big advantage, especially in hardcore realistic sims w/o any hud.
This was also my experience switching to my 55” 4K. It almost feels too big sometimes lol. I may sit too close to it but I sort of like it. I’m maybe 18” from it or so. I also have my stick and throttle on the desktop in between. I have thought about maybe getting the desk mounts but I am not sure I will like it. The testing I have done makes my arms feel weird lol.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Brooke on December 20, 2023, 11:31:55 AM
I've owned several Samsung monitors. They are good.
For the low-priced systems I build from time to time, I've used $90 Spectre and InnoView 24" 1080p monitors. They have decent picture quality and have been fine so far. I'm happy with them. I don't have longevity data on those yet, though.
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: Brooke on December 20, 2023, 05:33:38 PM
I've owned several Samsung monitors. They are good.
For the low-priced systems I build from time to time, I've used $90 Spectre and InnoView 24" 1080p monitors. They have decent picture quality and have been fine so far. I'm happy with them. I don't have longevity data on those yet, though.
Oops. That should be "Sceptre" not "Spectre".
Title: Re: New monitor
Post by: GasTeddy on December 21, 2023, 01:49:40 AM