Buying new monitor tonight, need help

[mnelson07]

I had a Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP and accidentally cracked the screen, I won't bore you with the details.

Basically, I want a replacement and I'd like to order it ASAP.
This monitor will be used heavily for gaming and watching movies.

My only requirements are:
24" monitor with a 1920x1200 resolution supported
Decent contrast ratio (10,000+ dynamic) and response time
It doesn't have to have a height adjustment, but I do like the option.
Typical VGA & DVI inputs, I don't need HDMI or a USB hub, but if they don't cost too much extra, whatever.

This is what I'm looking at right now:
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 2443BWT Matte Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height& Pivot Adjustments 300 cd/m2 DC 20000:1(1000:1) w/ HDCP Support - LCD Monitors

$399 Seems kind of pricey for just a 24" monitor with only a VGA and DVI input, but I've heard nothing but good stuff about Samsung monitors. I guess this gives you guys a good ballpark, I'd like for this monitor to be less than $400 which I don't think is asking too much, maybe I'm wrong.

Lastly, I'm only buying one for now. I do plan to at the very least buy a 2nd of whatever monitor I decide on to replace my 19" widescreen monitor as a secondary and donate the 19" (which I'm using as my only monitor) to a friend.

Thanks so much guys.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Contrast ratio.

Decent contrast ratio (10,000+ dynamic) and response time

No.

You want a static contrast ratio of 900-1000:1 if you want good contrast, dynamic contrast is NOT a good measure as companies have ways of skewing their dynamic contrast figures without improving quality.

Newegg.com - ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers w/ component connector - LCD Monitors

This one would be just as good as that Samsung if you can take a slightly larger screen.

 

[dirkpitt45]

EDIT: Nvm didn't notice the 1200 part.

Really not much selection for 24" 1920x1200. Hard resolution to find nowadays.

 

[mnelson07]

Contrast ratio.

No.

You want a static contrast ratio of 900-1000:1 if you want good contrast, dynamic contrast is NOT a good measure as companies have ways of skewing their dynamic contrast figures without improving quality.

Newegg.com - ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers w/ component connector - LCD Monitors

This one would be just as good as that Samsung if you can take a slightly larger screen.

Almost all monitors are 1000:1, I thought it was implied.
I assumed it was a marketing scheme of some sort, but I was hoping there was some truth to it.
Thanks for the suggestion, I did notice that monitor.

EDIT: Nvm didn't notice the 1200 part.

Really not much selection for 24" 1920x1200. Hard resolution to find nowadays.

Yeah, I'm not really sure why... I mean this old 24" I bought at least 5 years ago supports 1920x1200, why are most of them 1920x1080 these days?
*EDIT*
Never mind, it makes sense now. The 1920x1080 fulfills the 16:9 ratio perfectly, so if I watched a lot of movies I wouldn't see vertical lines. Personally... I don't care. I'd rather have 120 more vertical lines and see black bars while watching movies. More screen real estate is always better IMO, and most games are engineered for 1920x1200, or so it seems to me.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Almost all monitors are 1000:1, I thought it was implied.
I assumed it was a marketing scheme of some sort, but I was hoping there was some truth to it.
Thanks for the suggestion, I did notice that monitor.


Yeah, I'm not really sure why... I mean this old 24" I bought at least 5 years ago supports 1920x1200, why are most of them 1920x1080 these days?
*EDIT*
Never mind, it makes sense now. The 1920x1080 fulfills the 16:9 ratio perfectly, so if I watched a lot of movies I wouldn't see vertical lines. Personally... I don't care. I'd rather have 120 more vertical lines and see black bars while watching movies. More screen real estate is always better IMO, and most games are engineered for 1920x1200, or so it seems to me.

Everywhere you said vertical lines, you mean horizontal.

Also, even when monitors are advertised for 1000:1 static aspect ratios, they don't truly get those ratios in real world testing.
The best monitors only get 900-950~:1 usually.
Some do get 1000:1, but most fall short of actually fulfilling those specs.


Also, 16:10 aspect ratio is closer to the human field of vision aspect ratio than 16:9

 

[dirkpitt45]

Never mind, it makes sense now. The 1920x1080 fulfills the 16:9 ratio perfectly, so if I watched a lot of movies I wouldn't see vertical lines. Personally... I don't care. I'd rather have 120 more vertical lines and see black bars while watching movies. More screen real estate is always better IMO, and most games are engineered for 1920x1200, or so it seems to me.

Games scale, so aspec ratio shouldn't matter. Though some games occasionally have issues, metro 2033 springs to mind, for 1440x768 and widescreen resolutions less then 1920x1080 it stretches everything. Though it's been addressed and a patch should be out soon AFAIK. Though metro 2033 is an amazing game

My monitor's got a rather odd resolution, a 23'' 2048x1152. I couldn't care less about aspec ratio and "1080p" movies tbh, more pixels = better looking image (since pixels are smaller). I usually watch movies smaller then they usually are, so I can browse and read at the same time. Though I believe the reason 1900x1200 is so hard to find is because everyone (those without much technical knowledge) have "1080p = HD amazingness" drilled into their brains. So a monitor with 1920x1080 must be HD and amazing [/sarcasm]. Though I agree, vertical real estate is nice to have.

Though thats just me, I know some people who are serious about films and think I'm blasphemer of movies doing what I do. :/

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Games scale, so aspec ratio shouldn't matter. Though some games occasionally have issues, metro 2033 springs to mind, for 1440x768 and widescreen resolutions less then 1920x1080 it stretches everything. Though it's been addressed and a patch should be out soon AFAIK. Though metro 2033 is an amazing game

My monitor's got a rather odd resolution, a 23'' 2048x1152. I couldn't care less about aspec ratio and "1080p" movies tbh, more pixels = better looking image (since pixels are smaller). I usually watch movies smaller then they usually are, so I can browse and read at the same time. Though I believe the reason 1900x1200 is so hard to find is because everyone (those without much technical knowledge) have "1080p = HD amazingness" drilled into their brains. So a monitor with 1920x1080 must be HD and amazing [/sarcasm]. Though I agree, vertical real estate is nice to have.

Though thats just me, I know some people who are serious about films and think I'm blasphemer of movies doing what I do. :/

Your monitor with 2048x1152, that's the highest resolution you can do over a D-SUB/VGA connector.

 

[dirkpitt45]

Really? Though it was just sort of a feeler unit to see if people would buy odd resolutions.