What monitor brands would you guys suggest?

[Ethan_Kaizer]

I went with a Dell.

A week ago I walked in Staples and was drooling over this display computer. The monitor is a Dell 24" 1080 S2409W. The regular price is 350. I walked away from it.

Tonight I was out Christmas shopping and ran in to grab something. I saw the monitor and it was on sale for 279. I snatched that sucker up like whoa.

Dell S2409W 24-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

While we've got some LCD talk here, I did some googling in terms of how long LCDs last, and it's a common concensus that LCDs last for maaaaaaaany years, and that it's the backlight that'll be the typical culprit for them "fading" over time. Question is - how long do backlights normally last before they take on a substantial dim?

I don't think you would notice a substancial difference for many years.

 

[Hussein19891]

I went with a Dell.

A week ago I walked in Staples and was drooling over this display computer. The monitor is a Dell 24" 1080 S2409W. The regular price is 350. I walked away from it.

Tonight I was out Christmas shopping and ran in to grab something. I saw the monitor and it was on sale for 279. I snatched that sucker up like whoa.

Dell S2409W 24-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

While we've got some LCD talk here, I did some googling in terms of how long LCDs last, and it's a common concensus that LCDs last for maaaaaaaany years, and that it's the backlight that'll be the typical culprit for them "fading" over time. Question is - how long do backlights normally last before they take on a substantial dim?

Sweet monitor. 24", full 1080p, 5ms, and all under $280?

Since Dell monitors are like the premium when it comes to monitors. Its nice to know you were able to grab one for under $300.

 

[Jayce]

Sweet monitor. 24", full 1080p, 5ms, and all under $280?

Since Dell monitors are like the premium when it comes to monitors. Its nice to know you were able to grab one for under $300.

Yeah. Granted it wasn't an "UltraSharp" like their higher lineup of monitors... but ****... I'll be damned if I spend 750 on a monitor when a 280 dollar monitor doesn't look any different to me. We have a couple UltraSharps at work floating around and besides the adjustable height, I see nothing glorious about them to justify the higher cost.

 

[95BlackGA]

I like my Acer P244W, and Acer AL1916W (although not 1080p). I haven't had the P244W very long, but it's a great monitor, and I can even use it with my game systems, which is great.

 

[Jayce]

My mom got a 22 inch Acer monitor recently, and that thing is pretty sweet. I almost bought a 24" at Staples until I saw the Dell go on sale.

 

[eyeCpc]

I don't think you would notice a substancial difference for many years.

I just replaced one older monitor since it wouldn't kick out of standby mode when booting in XP but still worked for Vista. Once you could get it out of standby in XP the brightness, contrast was the same as it was 4yrs. back when bought new.

 

[Jayce]

Question. I've got a 19" LCD with 700:1 contrast ratio and a 24" LCD with 1000:1 contrast ratio.

I had some trouble getting the colors/darkness/brightness on each monitor to be similar. But just curious... the 19" was on the darker side... but my goal was to match brightness/quality of whites... which I got. But... why is this? Does the fact the 19" is 700:1 typically give it a nack for being darker? I'm just curious as to why I had to tinker with the settings as much as I did to get the 19" to the level I wanted.

 

[eyeCpc]

Different monitors even two different models by the same make will appear to have mismatching brightness and intensities due to that as well as how each resides on it's own. The larger contrast ratio seen between the two different ones there will see two different defaults as far as brightness levels.

Once you go from the smaller 19" model to the larger 24" screen the resolution is higher to start with requiring the larger contrast ratio. The best viewing with two is when having two identical monitors side by side in order to match the appearance with the same things being displayed like a cloned desktop.

If you take two old crts or tv sets with different screen sizes you would also run into pretty much the same problem there as well. A larger tube there will brighten things up a bit more since the larger emits more intensity.

 

[Jayce]

I don't run two monitors for the sake of doing things in an identical manner. What I like to do is have the ability to watch music videos and live concert DVDs on one monitor while I work on another. The resolution differences really mean nothing to me, and I see no difference and don't understand how some people can tell a difference. There are many different sizes and styles of text on any given web page... why would looking at two monitors be any different?

But like I said, it's not about me trying to match them. I got them pretty decently matched so there's no substantial differences. I'm just simply asking if there would be a definitive reason behind the 19" having a darker overall screen, and I noticed the contrast ratio differed from the 24" so that's why I asked.

 

[eyeCpc]

What was being explained was simply that even with two identical models you may notice one being slightly darker then the other. This is why adjustment controls are seen on any monitor. There's no one specific thing anyone can point at since it could be from a number of reasons. Larger ratio, larger screen, different brand and model, etc.