20" widescreen monitor group test

A 32" HDTV can cost you substantionally more then 2 19" lcd screens will. You should specify if you want your HDTV to be CRT, LCD, or plasma screen. Just remember though that 19" LCD monitors have a resolution of 1024*768 so if you're blind or just like huge icons and such, go ahead and get a 20" monitor.

 

id personally get a 20"

its about the same real estate for the same price

plus you can actually use the whole screen for your game, whereas dual screen doesnt let u, or u have a gap in the middle

 

Well I'd like the 32" hdtv to be lcd. i'm not worried about the price but am i going to get decent resolutions with that? - or is that dependant on the graphics card? thanks for your help guys

 

it depends on the screen, not the GFX card

you need to find out the resolution on the TV

20" widescreen lcd is 1680x1050

24" widescreen lcd is 1920 x 1200

30" widescreen lcd is 2560 x 1600

20" lcd is 1600 x 1200

their all the sizes i could find

so your 32" screen should be > 2560x1600, however as its not a PC screen, i wouldnt accept less then 1680x1050 (assuming its widescreen)

 

i see. I havent seen any 32" widescreen lcds with a resolution higher than 1680x1050. I think ill go for 2 x viewsonic vx2025 which was in the review. that way i can still have a larger screen for multitasking and just use one when im playing a game - or is that not possible?

 

in game is a bit harder IMO

persoanlly i have a dell 2005FPW, thats connected to my gaming rig

then i have a 19" screen, connected to my second (2400+ sempron, 512mb ram, geforce 2 gfx card) PC that runs things like MSN, IRC, a linux server etc

then i have a program that allows my mouse and keyboard to work across the 2

This way i dont overload 1 pc's gfx card

anyway, in response to your question, i think that will work fine

P.S. Sli only supports 1 screen, im not sure if you could move your mouse to the second screen while gaming, 2 screens puts more stress on your GFX card

 

Thanks for your help, im mainly only going to be using 2 screens at once when im sequencing music and chatting etc. if im playing a game then i'll just be using the one. sounds good ta

 

IMO i would use a cheap second PC then

but thats IMO ^^

its nice to be able to use 1 PC for internet / chat without bogging down your gaming machine ^^

the only problem is you need a piece of software called multiplicity (the only option i know of), which will cost you money (well should ) and i have problems with it and teampseak (it locks up the GUI, but teamspeak still works) and oblivion (if you havent locked the screen b4 the game - locking bound to scrl-lck and unchangeable - it wont lock ingame, so that buggers you up a bit)

 

With a widescreen HDTV you're looking at a rather low resolution as most will be in the 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 (likemy 26" Toshiba HDTV) range.

19" LCD's usually have a 1280 x 1024 res, the same as most 17's. I've got a 17" LCD and just bought a Viewsonic 19" LCD because I don't want a larger screen until I can confirm it has HDCP. I change video cards often, but not LCD's and I don't want to have to spend another $400 more in a year or less.

 

Where are the other two USB ports on the NEC, the specs say there is a 4 port hub, but the article only mentions two, and only shows two in the picture?

I would have bought the ViewSonic weeks ago if it had a a USB 2.0 Hub on it, having USB ports by your screen is so convenient.

As it is I have been looking at the Dell 2005FPW which is about £330, like the ViewSonic and the Belinea 102035W which is about £10 less. It doesn’t sound like the NEC is worth the money.

Whats really anoying in what seems to be a great review is not being able to see how these monitors stack up against each other.

What would you guys go for?

 

the other 2 usb are behind the monitor, near the DVI port, so if you connect your keyboard/mouse you don't see the connectors all the time...

 

the dell one does the same thing

two USB's on the right of the screen

and two underneath

their USB2 and powered

 

Just got the Viewsonic VX2025wm and its excellent, no dead pixels, no obvious backlight bleed, even lighting, strong colours and good black differentiation. It took a days use for the screen to settle as it was a little difficult to get the contrast set when I first got it but now I'm v.impressed. Good review Bit!

 

A good article for sure, would have been nice to have more than one monitor with decent positition adjustments looked at =]

The testing methodology is brilliant, simple but still informative - although I think everyone would agree that it isn't as techie as for an example, Tom's monitor tests - and thus very easy to read and comprehend.

Personally I wouldn't buy a TFT monitor that hasn't got atleast proper tilt and height adjustments, but that's maybe because I've gotten used to those options with my Hyundai L90D+. I too prefer on being able to play games on the monitors native res. so I originally first got a good enough GFX card and only after that upgraded to this screen.

I'd be surprised if nobody else noticed that at times Wil Harris gets what could almost be called intimate with the use of "rather":

That's three times / 2 sentences

And four times / 2 sentences (one being a rat*** stretched one)

 

I've got the NEC, I think it's an excellent monitor and overall couldn't be happier with it. One batch has had the dreaded Backlight bleed but NEC are being proactive about sorting that out. The reflective screen's a non-issue imo, I don't play with a light behind me, the only time I've noticed the coating is when it's off. I play Quake 4 Multi and it's brilliant, no ghosting and great colours. It has an Advanced DV mode optiion in the OSD which increases the contrast ratio to 1600:1, this really helps out in detailed dark areas and I can honestly say it's as good as the CRT I used previously. As with all these things, you need to play with the settings to get the best out of it, I've got an Optical Spyder (hardware calibrator) so used that initially, though reverted to some of the presets as it worked better in Games. It has a cable management system similar to the one above btw.

 

Actually four times in three

 

I hope one of the reviewers can comment on this.

The latest copy of Custom PC have reviewed the Viewsonic VX2025, and it got a poor 78%. Claimed it wasn't very bright, had terrible distortion when not viewing straight on, not sharp enough and a few other complaints...

I was all set on buying this screen, yet now I'm not convinced.

How can the same product get such differing views?

 

I don't mind what a stock monitor stand can do: I've got an Ergotron Neo-Flex LCD stand that moves in every direction I need it to. I can't imagine not using a Neo-Flex for a stock stand

 

I was looking at getting the Viewsonic, but after a mediocre score at trustedreviews.com, I'm not so sure.

 

Hey guys,

I saw the reviews in Custom and on TR.com. I would say that the guys that review for TR are image professionals, and there is a degree to which anything less than reference-quality annoys them. As for the Custom one, I'm just not sure I agree with what they say. It's a great screen, good for gaming with funky design.