Is PPI the only factor for text sharpness?

OperationIvy

OperationIvy

OperationIvy

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I have samsung F2080 syncmaster. It is 20" 1600x900.

I was thinking of getting a new 24" 1920x1080 (max £200).

The problem on my old monitor is that text looks really crap, not sharp. Its fine for FPS gaming but browsing and FM14 looks rubbish.

Given that a 20" 900 and a 24" 1080 have the same ppi, will it actually make any difference upgrading? Or are there other factors which will have a material effect on the sharpness of text? thanks
 
OperationIvy said:
I have samsung F2080 syncmaster. It is 20" 1600x900.

I was thinking of getting a new 24" 1920x1080 (max £200).

The problem on my old monitor is that text looks really crap, not sharp. Its fine for FPS gaming but browsing and FM14 looks rubbish.

Given that a 20" 900 and a 24" 1080 have the same ppi, will it actually make any difference upgrading? Or are there other factors which will have a material effect on the sharpness of text? thanks
Click to expand...

No it isn't the only factor. Screen surface haze value (how heavily it diffuses light, how 'matte' it is) also affects this as can panel type. Your old F2080 uses a PVA panel which are notorious for poor text display due to their subpixel shape and layout. A modern 23.8" IPS monitor, for example, should provide far better text clarity.
 
Also, operating systems have different algorithms for how text is aliased. Personally, I find Mac OS X handles it a bit better than Windows and you end up with smoother looking text.
 
OperationIvy said:
I have samsung F2080 syncmaster. It is 20" 1600x900.

I was thinking of getting a new 24" 1920x1080 (max £200).

The problem on my old monitor is that text looks really crap, not sharp. Its fine for FPS gaming but browsing and FM14 looks rubbish.

Given that a 20" 900 and a 24" 1080 have the same ppi, will it actually make any difference upgrading? Or are there other factors which will have a material effect on the sharpness of text? thanks
Click to expand...

Have you run the monitor calibration routine in Windows? It concludes with ClearType tuner which aims to make text appear clearer and I can report it does make a difference on monitors with poor factory calibration. You can start only the Clear Type if you do not care about colour/contrast calibration.
 
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Stuen4y said:
Have you run the monitor calibration routine in Windows? It concludes with ClearType tuner which aims to make text appear clearer and I can report it does make a difference on monitors with poor factory calibration. You can start only the Clear Type if you do not care about colour/contrast calibration.
Click to expand...

actually I am certain that once I got Win7 about 4 years ago the text wasnt quite right, despite trying my best to calibrate ClearType. Recently I installed Win8.1 and I think its slightly worse, again, I have tried to calibrate ClearType but the default setting really seems the best. I just dont think this monitor can display ClearType properly or something.

thanks for the help guys. I think I might as well take the plunge and get a new monitor. After upgrading everything else, it seems a bit silly not to. I was looking at this one, too bad its out of stock atm

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-072-DE&groupid=17&catid=510
 
OperationIvy said:
actually I am certain that once I got Win7 about 4 years ago the text wasnt quite right, despite trying my best to calibrate ClearType. Recently I installed Win8.1 and I think its slightly worse, again, I have tried to calibrate ClearType but the default setting really seems the best. I just dont think this monitor can display ClearType properly or something.

thanks for the help guys. I think I might as well take the plunge and get a new monitor. After upgrading everything else, it seems a bit silly not to. I was looking at this one, too bad its out of stock atm

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-072-DE&groupid=17&catid=510
Click to expand...
My parents bought it for the system my little brother uses about two or three months ago. The almost non existent bezel is just stunning, it's just unreal. I guess it's a very nice choice in this price range as there is a USB 3.0 hub, nice IPS panel, and a nice stand with rotate options and pretty good height adjustment. The only disadvantage I see is the lack of DVI-D connectivity. It does have HDMI and Display port 1.2 but still I would prefer to have the option to use the good ol' digital interface. My dad is having problems with the Display port and a relatively new graphics card - HD 6850 upon sleeping and waking up.
 
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Stuen4y said:
My parents bought it for the system my little brother uses about two or three months ago. The almost non existent bezel is just stunning, it's just unreal. I guess it's a very nice choice in this price range as there is a USB 3.0 hub, nice IPS panel, and a nice stand with rotate options and pretty good height adjustment. The only disadvantage I see is the lack of DVI-D connectivity. It does have HDMI and Display port 1.2 but still I would prefer to have the option to use the good ol' digital interface. My dad is having problems with the Display port and a relatively new graphics card - HD 6850 upon sleeping and waking up.
Click to expand...

Can you just use the DVI port on your graphics card and use a DVI to HDMI cable?

I read about that problem too (monitor not waking up) and I was hoping that that might be a way round it. Thats what I was planning on doing because I want my HDMI free to plug into my TV and use the DVI for my Monitor (my R9 270x only has one HDMI port).
 
I generally do not like the HDMI standard being used for monitors even though my monitor is currently connected via HDMI. You probably can but sometimes these adapters are not 100% hassle free. Used an adapter about a month or so in the exact way you are planning to use it and it worked fine on my LG IPS226V.
 
I have had the U2414H for a couple of weeks now, it's a fantastic monitor and looks great. Mine is connected by displayport and so far no issues on waking from sleep although it is connected to the intel IGP rather than discrete gpu.
 
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