Large Monitor for Audio Editing

BillHicksRIP

BillHicksRIP

BillHicksRIP

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28 Jun 2005
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Hi. I'm on the lookout for a new PC monitor that I'll be using solely for audio editing, movies and surfing - no gaming. Currently using a 21.5 inch Acer IPS panel sitting 35 inches away at 1920x1080. It's not giving me enough visual real estate and I find it hard to read onscreen text for any length of time.

I've been thinking about getting a 29" or above monitor and will be sitting roughly 45 inches from the screen once it's in place. The GFX card I'm using is a Radeon 5850 which can do up tp 2560x1600. I haven't had to buy a monitor for a while and worried I'll get something that doesn't fix the above issues for me.

Anyone else using a larger screen for non-gaming that can give me some advice, particularly the resolution to shoot for bearing in mind the viewing distance? Thank you.
 
Ahem, not the post popular question I've posted. :-) Can I ask if shooting for a higher resolution screen i.e. 1440p would be a good idea considering I'll be sitting ~45 inches from it? Just concerned I'll buy something that makes my situation worse considering I'll only be using it for audio editing and surfing.
 
So given your GPU limiting resolution, anything above 2560*1440 or 2560*1080 will be pointless, unless you trade in your 5850 for something more modern but cheap and with a higher max resolution.

If you're not going to be using the screen for gaming then response times, refresh rates and g-sync/ freesync won't be required. Therefore you can concentrate on size and resolution, and if you wanted to panel type. As you've already got an IPS panel and are happy with the screen type it would probably be worth sticking with that, though modern TN panels are supposedly better than they were in terms of colour accuracy and viewing angles.

If you find text difficult to read with your current setup (which comes out at 102.46 PPI) then you might be better off using a screen with a low PPI. That could mean sticking to 1080p and going for a 24" or 27" monitor (PPI would be 91.79 and 81.59 respectively). One of these 24" IPS or VA screens may suit you:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/benq...flicker-free-led-monitor-black-mo-103-bq.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...n-led-multimedia-monitor-black-mo-036-ao.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/dell...im-bezel-monitor-midnight-grey-mo-072-de.html

In terms of 1080p 27" IPS/ VA screens:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/benq...frame-multimedia-monitor-black-mo-117-bq.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...s-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-025-ao.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/iiya...a-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-113-iy.html

If you go with a 1440p panel making sure it's at least 27" (108.79 PPI, slightly higher than your current setup). So there are a few really decent looking 25" IPS panels on the market (AOC and DELL spring to mind) but the PPI will be even higher for those screens and the jump to 25" from 21.5" may not seem that great. So for 27" 1440p panels you can either spend a little less and go VA:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...n-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-031-ao.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...lim-bezel-flicker-free-monitor-mo-070-ac.html

or spend a little more and go IPS:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/benq...ing-flicker-free-monitor-black-mo-110-bq.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...s-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-018-ao.html

Finally, as you've mentioned there's the 21:9 superwide option, which at 2560*1080 and 29" would mean a slightly lower 95.81 PPI than you've got at the moment, but with much more horizontal real estate. To give you an idea of what the difference would be:

http://www.displaywars.com/21,5-inch-16x9-vs-29-inch-21x9

OcUK's stock of these types of monitors seems quite limited at the moment, and looks like the standard LG version isn't being offered anymore. As such here a couple of options:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...e-led-multimedia-monitor-black-mo-064-as.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...r-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-074-ac.html

For audio editing where you'll appreciate a lot of horizontal space, I really think a 21:9 29"+ panel would be what you're looking for, and would suit movies and browsing hopefully without making you squint at text. If you go down this route, it would be worth waiting in case some newer models (possibly from LG) are released.
 
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