Need a new monitor

[Jiddo]

Hello!

My old 22" 1680x1050 2ms Samsung SyncMaster 226BW has started to break down. It currently takes 5-10 minutes to start up, during which time much of it is flickering and weird noises. I'm guessing it *might* be the backlight that is giving up on me. Still, it is just getting worse and worse every time I turn it on, and from what I gather I do not have any remaining warranty on it.

So now I'm up for buying a new monitor, and I thought I'd step up the size a bit to 24" (or more). I am going to be using it mainly for gaming and for programming, but also for watching movies and some standard boring work. I can justify spending up to maybe €300.

For programming every extra pixel on the screen counts, so it would be a plus if it was 1920x1200 or such, but if there are more costefficient monitors with other resolutions (1080p), then that would be ok as well.

I have especially been looking into the following monitors:

* HP L2445W: ATM its discounted to €245, which is rather cheap compared to the old price. It's 1920x1200, 5ms. It has a big foot/stand, but that is not a problem for me.

* SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 2443BW: €290. 1920x1200, 5ms. However, I have heard that it makes an annoying buzzing sound when lowering the brightness to below 90%. This could be a showstopper for me.

* SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER P2450H: €235. 1920x1080, 2ms. Haven't found anything especially good or bad with this one except for the 2ms response time and the 1920x1080 resolution, respecively.


So, could someone give me some suggestions? Are any of the monitors I looked up any good? Which one would you recommend for my uses? Please feel free to suggest other monitors as well!


Also, just so you know, I actually did consider getting one of those 120Hz monitors with nVidia 3D vision support, but then I tried running a few games in anaglyph 3D (with red/cyan glasses), and I wasn't really that impressed. Sure, the experience would be much better without the damned red/cyan tint on everything. Still, if someone here has tried nVidia's 3D vision, please tell about your experiences. I'd love to hear what it's like.

Thanks in advance!

Yours, Jiddo.

[Rozonus]

I tried the Nvidia 3D Vision at PAX09 last year and it is amazing! The lenses in the glasses you get aren't coloured like standard 3D glasses, so the crazy colour tint problem won't happen. They have a slight yellow tint to them if I remember correctly, but it's not noticable.

The feeling of full depth perception in games is really sweet and makes the gameplay more impressive. I played a few FPSs and RPGs which all looked amazing. The HUD (ammo, health, etc) seems to float above the screen, as though you're viewing it on a visor on your helmet. They had a big 120Hz TV showing some demo gameplay from Resident Evil 5 that you could watch with the glasses, and it looked so awesome. You got a real sense that each wall around the maps were actually at different distances away from you.

I believe that most 3D Vision monitors are 22" 1680x1050, but I think that Acer has made a 24" version. I would get one myself, but I want to keep using a 30" monitor and they don't make them that big yet :(

[Jiddo]

Cool. I do know that nVidia's shutter glasses does not have a colored tint like the old anaglyph glasses, which is a big plus. But I would expect the actual 3D effect to be about the same, and from my experience when testing it with anaglyph glasses on my own computer, the effect isn't at all what you described. This makes me wonder if I simply did not manage to configure it correctly, or if it simply works better for some people then others.

When you tried it at PAX09, was it on those small 22" monitors, or did they have something bigger? How well do you think it would work on 22"?

Yours, Jiddo.

[Rozonus]

When I was testing games, it was on those Samsung 22" monitors. The RE5 gameplay recording was on a new 120Hz flat screen TV which was about 40"-50".

So far the biggest 3D Vision compatible computer monitor that I know of is about 24", but most are 22". I think it will be a long time before they make bigger monitors... I want them to make a 30" 3D Vision monitor!

[Jiddo]

Personally I'm not used to big monitors, so I don't know what I'm missing and I don't think I could afford a big 27" or 30" monitor anyways. However, there are cheap 22" 120Hz monitors that are within an acceptable price range. So basically, I could either get a ViewSonic VX2268WM 3D monitor, or one of the 24" non-3D ones mentioned above. In my situation, would you recommend me to aim for 3D, or the extra 2 inches?

Yours, Jiddo.

[Rozonus]

As long as a 22" monitor is big enough for your needs, I would recommend a 3D Vision compatible one. I only hope that I haven't overhyped it! But the guys I went to PAX with all agreed it was awesome. If you really think that a 24" with a higher resolution would be more useful to you, perhaps getting the extra pixels would be better over all.

If I was going to buy a monitor around that size though, I would definitely get a 3D Vision one. Here is a list of games they've tested with 3D Vision: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3D_Vision_3D_Games.html

[Jiddo]

Well, a 22" would probably be enough, even tho it would of course be better if it was bigger. And yeah, I already know that the support in games is rather extensive. If it wasn't I wouldn't be considering it.

So, you've tested them at one occasion (PAX09), but what do you think that prolonged use would be like? Do you think that the "wow" effect is only present the first few times you use it, or will you enjoy it just as much even if you use it on an everyday basis? Also, how do you think that it affects games and gameplay? Do you think it makes it easier or harder to play the games well? For example, while trying the anaglyph red/cyan glasses in BF2142 I did notice that it was sometimes rather difficult to aim correctly.

Yours, Jiddo.

[Rozonus]

I don't think the wow factor would go away. It's like playing games with a virtual reality helmet on, rather than just looking at a normal screen which tries to make 2D look like 3D. It enhances gameplay by making you feel like you're in the game.

It's a shame that Nvidia haven't sent out demo kits to computer game shops so people can try it, I really can't describe how it feels to play with it. Nvidia would make a lot more sales if they did that.

[Jiddo]

Yeah, I can't agree with you more on that one. I looked around a bit on the nVidia website, and they seem to have some test centers where you can try them on, but only in the US. :(

How do you think that it will affect gameplay? Do you think that it is harder to aim and hit targets in FPS games with it? (Assuming you tried something like that at PAX09.)

Yours, Jiddo.

[Rozonus]

I found the difficulty to be pretty much the same as playing on a normal screen. The 3D Vision just increased the immersion of the gameplay for me rather than making it harder to aim, etc. If you play MW2 with depth of field enabled it's slightly similar to that, in the way that when you look down the iron sights it blurs your surroundings to make it feel like you're actually aiming down real sights. It will enhance the gameplay but it shouldn't make it more difficult.

[Jiddo]

Alright. Well, I guess my main problem was at first, before I activated the extra sight in the nVidia software, because then the regular sight did not match with where I thought I was aiming, and was always like a bit off. Tho, that might just have had something to do with the depth of convergence settings I used.

Yours, Jiddo.