looking for a new monitor need some advice/help

Sjdeany

Sjdeany

Sjdeany

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Derby
Hello I currently have about £330 xmas money to spend on a new monitor I currently have a HP 22inch (w2207h) and an old 19inch for a 2nd screen (for teamspeak ect)

Before xmas I finished my new build pc and because my monitor only support 1680x1050 I feel im not making use of my new shiny bits.

I have been considering a 27 inch and am very intrested in getting one the only thing that im struggling with is which one to go for.

I was intrested in the 120hz screens as i've heard there good for twitchy fps games but there pretty damn expensive and 3d is something I might not even use.

With the native resolution of most 27's being 1080p I was wondering if the screen looks stretched?

I play games on my pc, Mount and blade mostly but ocassionaly play fps games aswell.

I5 2500k 4ghz
8gb
2 6950 2gb

Any help would be great, cheers!:)

Sjdeany
 
Hi there, I personally use a 27in 1920x1200 monitor and I find the resolution to be OK for this size of monitor.

The images don't look stretched - as the pixels are still square and games don't stretch the image to fit a more widescreen monitor - just show more of it. That said, some games (mount and blade being one) will zoom in more on a more widescreen monitor (see here).

That said, I have used monitors with a higher pixel density than my current one - and they do look very nice. Everything looks so very crisp - though at default size text can look a bit small.

If you absolutely want a 27in monitor then the one suggested by Spenty is a decent option, though I would worry a bit about narrow viewing angles on such a large TN monitor (as you would get colour shifts at the edges even when looking straight-on).

Another option is to spend a but more and go for a 2560x1440 res 27in IPS panel Hazro monitor like this one. This seems to be the cheapest non-TN panel 27in monitor you can currently buy, also as shown in this review it performs rather well, including for response time and input lag - both parameters prized for gaming.

You may also want to consider going for a high quality IPS panel 24in 1920x1200 monitor like this Dell U2412M, which is within the original budget. This monitor offers the benefits of an E-IPS panel, the nice 1920x1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio (which your current monitor features) and excellent Dell build quality/stand/warranty. Here is a review.

Given the choice between a TN panel 27in monitor and a IPS panel 24in, I would personally go with the 24in IPS.
 
Ah wicked very good info thanks a lot but I would like to know more about IPS, what is it and why should I get a monitor with it.

Thanks!
 
IPS (or In Plane Switching) is a TFT LCD panel technology - this contrasts with TN Film technology which is what most cheaper monitors use.

IPS panels generally cost more than similar sized TN film panels and also have the downside of having a pixel responsiveness which isn't as good as TN film.

However, the benfits of IPS are that they display more accurate colours than TN and crucially offer much wider viewing angles than TN. You may think that if you are looking straight-on at a monitor then viewing angles don't really matter - but in fact they are still very important. This is because on TN panels (especially larger ones) colours appear to shift when you move your head slightly, also you can see colour banding even when keeping your head still (as the colours appear to change the further from the centre you look). It is for this reason why people are usually recommended against going for 27in TN panel monitors and why all TVs 32in and above use panel technologies like IPS, VA or plasma.

Many people don't mind the issues presented by TN panels, but if you find image quality important then you will appreciate the added image quality offered by IPS panels.

As for IPS response times and gaming, this used to be a real problem - but these days for all but the very fastest paced gaming, IPS panel monitors are perfectly fine. Many people use the Dell E-IPS and Hazro 27in monitors every day for gaming and don't have any issues (plenty of them post here).

Here is a good article on LCD panel technologies, including IPS.
 
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