...need help in selecting a replacement monitor
kyoto kid
Posts: 40,560
...returned home yesterday evening to find that the monitor on my workstation went south. When I turned on the system there was a large white rectangle in the bottom right portion of the display with an assortment of random lines/shapes that took up about 20% of the screen.
So now at a total standstill until I can get a new display. As I am on a very tight budget I really cannot afford more than around 125$ (which will still be a stretch both economically and options wise).
Would also like to minimise the downtime as much as possible. Did some fast & furious "window shopping" on line last night and this morning as I don't drive and many of the "big box" retail stores that would have the best prices are spread out among the outskirts of the city where I live.
I looked at several online stores including those suggested to me and it came down to the following two units I found at Newegg
Both are 21.5" (a tad bigger than the one I have) 1900 x 1080 resolution, and are IPS displays which, as I understand, are superior for CG work due to better colour quality. Both get pretty good reviews as well as a few small knocks, but overall the response seems favourable. I have compared IPS to the normal Back-lit LCD displays when I was looking at new ones and the image and colours tend to be much cleaner and more accurate on an IPS display.
Not much of a Dell person but thus one got pretty decent comments regarding the image quality dor the price. It does not come with HDMI cables (6 - 7$ extra) nor DVI-D support. Not all that certain what the advantages of the different formats (DVI-D, D-sub and HDMI) really offer when if comes to the type of work we do
The other choice is this one:
While a bit more expensive, This one has all three video formats and includes the optional cables though apparently according so some comments it needed to be recalibrated out of the box. Also there was a lot of concern that the stand is rather wobbly. There is however a special promo code for ASUS IPS displays that knocks another 10% off the price so it comes in pretty close price wise to the Dell unit.
Most of others I looked at that which were below the price (usually by only 10 - 15$) of these two were 1600 x 900 (the resolution my old one had). I figure If I have to spring 100$ or more, may as well go for as much an upgrade as I can.
Both of these are on sale, the Dell one only through today.
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Comments
I have this one https://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VS228H/ (ateast from what information I was able to glean from my computer) it works really well for me, I would guess that the VS229H is better than the one I have, so personally I would recomend the Asus.
Have had this one for around 2 year now (or something like that) and it has never caused me any problem *smiles*
Not sure if my two cents is of any help of course, but figured I should share my opinion atleast *offers cake*
I agree with the Asus, but I'm a fangirl. =P I have dual monitors, both the Asus VS247, also going on 2 years in October. It's not an IPS monitor though since I didn't need that for gaming, which is what my system is built for. I should look into upgrading myself since I get tired of the color changes based on viewing angle.
Minor comment KK - the extra cables (and port options - HDMI / DVI-D / DP etc) will be of no use unless your current display card happens to have those ports available (and you're not currently using them). Otherwise, the lack of cabling should not be a deciding factor (because you generally can just reuse your current cables - assuming they're not soldered/bolted into the current monitor).
I've had decent luck with Dell monitors, they tend to have a decent lifespan. Color gamut is decent and color accuracy uncalibrated is decent. Viewing angle on some models can be problematic, but if you don't want to watch TV from across the room you're in good shape. The last Dell I had didn't have any dead pixels, a good thing. QA is fair (I used to work for Dell, so.. fair is accurate).
The Asus is a decent monitor but I've had occasional build quality issues - this was 3 years ago though. A very good monitor for a good price, decent contrast, good color gamut and reproduction. The stand CAN be wobbly but if you're not playing hockey on tour computer desk, you're not likely to notice it that much.
It's a real tough call. You can't go far wrong with either, really. I'm not sure of the grey-to-grey switching speed on the Dell, I could play shooters on my Asus without issue.. given both monitors are modern it shouldn't be an issue.
Given all things, I'd have to recommend the Dell, though. I had a Dell monitor for 4 years, moved it all over, and not a problem popped up.
I use Asus monitors. Have no complaints what so ever with them
The Dell looks to be the updated version of the one I've been using for the last few years and I've never had any issues with it. I've never had an Asus monitor but have used any number of their motherboards and found them to be fairly reliable. Basically it looks like a coin toss to me.
The Asus does seem to have more inputs which gives you more options down the road.
To get the most out of either of these you'll want to use a digital connection, either DVI or HDMI. Personally, I can't see a difference between the two so if you're already using DVI you can just continue using the same cable. HDMI has the advantage of being able to carry audio and video over the same cable but you'd need a video card/monitor that supports the audio section. HDMI cables tend to be smaller as well and since that's how most new TV/DVD/BluRay players are connected these days the cables are fairly cheap and easy to come by.
The Asus does have the advantage that it appears to come with the DVI cable while the Dell only comes with the VGA sub-d so unless you already have a cable you'd need to purchase one which could offset the price difference.
...yes the GPU included a mini HDMI cable and also supports DVI-I as well as nVidia 3DVision.
The monitor being older didn't support HDMI so I had to run it in VGA.
So to get a clean 1080p image, HDMI is the way to go correct?
As to ASUS products I am currently running a P-6T MB (LGA1366) which I am very pleased with. As I mentioned, The VS229 has a special instant code offer of and additional 10% being that it is an IPS display which would bring it a couple $$ less than the 228 which only has a 10$ mail in rebate card.
The list for the VS229 is 199$, the list for the Dell is 239$, however the Dell only has a 1,000:1 contrast ratio whereas the ASUS 229 is 50,000,000:1. Not sure how that relates to 3D work. Also the refresh speed on the Del is a bit slower at 7ms vs 5ms for the VS229. Again not a gamer so the speed may not be all that critical unless it affects animation.
@Wooly, considering that you worked for Dell and as you mention, they have a good durability rating, does make this choice difficult. Basically it the ASUS with the discount code is 6$ more than the Dell, however as I already have the Mini HDMI cable, that is not an additional cost issue anymore.
So another question, what is grey-to-grey switching and how would that affect the 3D work I do?
Just Checked both and for our type work the ASUS is the better pick, the Refresh rate and True Tone tech will give you a better WYSIWYG of your final renders as long as it is kept calibrated properly. They also tend to hold settings without drift for longer. That's my two cents.
...thank you. That makes the "coin toss" a little easier.
Grey to grey switching is another way of measuring response time. A lot of monitor companies use it as it usually returns a better response time than black to white. If I'm remembering correctly a grey to grey of 2ms would normally translate to about 5ms black to white but it's not hard and fast. Basically it looks like response time is a wash.
As you're not a gamer, and especially not a shooter or driving game player, it really won't impact you. If you're watching HD action movies you might notice some artifacts or tearing. I never notice any of these things though since my eyes are to old.
...I guess my only concern about how stable the stand is comes from a slight degree of clumsiness brought about by my arthritis. I often times have to brace myself on the edge of the desk to sit down or get up and on more then enough occasions, end up banging a knee against the inner wall of the desk. Just don't want to send it out of calibration though any vibration.
...thank you all very much for the assistance and the explanations.
Agreed that both units have their merits and are so close it's like that "Bang Bang" play at first base as to whether the runner was thrown out or not.
Going to go ahead with the ASUS VS229 (especially after looking up "WYSIWYG" and how it relates to graphic displays).
Selected 3 Business day processing/shipping which will get it here by Wednesday (only 99¢ extra). Do love the fact they are pretty much "down the road" from where I live.
I know that i seemed rather desperate and I won't deny that. Even several days without being able to work on my projects feels like an eternity. I'm sure if I did a lot more shopping around I might have found something suitable at a lower price, but the "withdrawal" factor would have become intolerable.
This pretty much makes it final, "no more used equipment". I said that when I needed to replace the last second hand notebook that died on me, and though that set me back a pretty penny then, it was the right decision. Again I felt if I had to put out a significant amount on my incredibly meager budget, I wanted to make sure as much as I could, that it was a move forward not backwards.
After switching to HDMI, remember to go to your nVidia panel, and go to Adjust Desktop Color Settings and change the Digital Color Format at the bottom to YCbCr444 (your number may or may not be different- point is, take it off RGB). If you have a multiple monitor setup, this only applies to the HDMI monitor. You may not even have the option with a DVI connection.
...thank you for the information.
I doubt that's possible as this is an electronic setting.
After switching to HDMI, remember to go to your nVidia panel, and go to Adjust Desktop Color Settings and change the Digital Color Format at the bottom to YCbCr444 (your number may or may not be different- point is, take it off RGB). If you have a multiple monitor setup, this only applies to the HDMI monitor. You may not even have the option with a DVI connection.
I'd do some tests before switching to YCbCr444. It's more of an option for movies/blu-ray and not necessarily the best for 3d work or image manipulation.
Thing is, it's easy enough to try out. Just have an image open, switch between YCbCr444 and RGB in the Nvidia control panel, and you'll see the results instantly. Personally, I stuck with RGB as it's much closer to my old CRT monitor for texture work.
mac
I'd do some tests before switching to YCbCr444. It's more of an option for movies/blu-ray and not necessarily the best for 3d work or image manipulation.
Thing is, it's easy enough to try out. Just have an image open, switch between YCbCr444 and RGB in the Nvidia control panel, and you'll see the results instantly. Personally, I stuck with RGB as it's much closer to my old CRT monitor for texture work.
mac
True. I had to switch. My monitor's tones were very muted and dull looking (as if it had a gray, foggy overlay over everything) once I changed it to HDMI, and after research, changing the color space of the monitor was what fixed it.
I'd do some tests before switching to YCbCr444. It's more of an option for movies/blu-ray and not necessarily the best for 3d work or image manipulation.
Thing is, it's easy enough to try out. Just have an image open, switch between YCbCr444 and RGB in the Nvidia control panel, and you'll see the results instantly. Personally, I stuck with RGB as it's much closer to my old CRT monitor for texture work.
mac
True. I had to switch. My monitor's tones were very muted and dull looking (as if it had a gray, foggy overlay over everything) once I changed it to HDMI, and after research, changing the color space of the monitor was what fixed it.
Ah, right. I had the opposite problem. After I'd calibrated my monitor, I tried switching and everything was too contrasty and bright.
Obviously a lot depends on the monitor, your settings and usage, so testing is the best way. But I agree, YCbCr444 is definitely an option to keep in mind.
mac
...had a flat panel display on my desk at work on which the screen would turn pink if I accidentally bumped the desk. Had to fiddle with the settings each time to correct it each time.
Haha wth. That may have also been a connection issue.. similar to how plugging a 3.5mm stereo jack in half way will only produce sound from one speaker and not both.