Shrinking monitor size? Going from IPS/VA to TN?

[FL630]

Has anyone done this? How did you find it?

I've got a 32" panel from my graphic design days which I'd like to change for a 144hz panel to game on. 32" is a little too big, so I'm not looking to go there. However, 27" 144hz panels with the spec I'd like are a bit out of my price range. My idea spec is 27" (or equiv 21:9), 144hz, IPS, 1440p, G-Sync.

So, two things...

24" monitors, how do they feel when you've "gone smaller", too small? Cramped? Do you regret the lack of real estate to do things beyond internetting and gaming?

Secondly, is TN that bad? I've got a VA panel now, colours are good but not calibrated as we speak. I've never really used a TN panel (apart from in the days before I know what good colours and TN/VA/IPS meant) so cannot comment on what it's like.

Monitor prices are insane these days, so I've got to make that compromise somewhere...

 

[hornetstinger]

I have a 24" 16:10. IMO 24" 16:9 is too short vertically

TN isn't bad, but colours aren't that superb. I use a TN now, if I had to buy another TN (which do have their positives, like even backlight, low ghosting) then I'd buy a curved monitor so that gets around TN's weakness which is poor horizontal viewing angles.

TN is cheap of course, so if you're not too fussy, mostly gamer or dekstop use, TN is good choice, if you're mostly fps gamer. Even my old Samsung 245B fairs well in input lag and ms LCD display compared to new monitors.

Would I buy TN again? Yes. Would I buy TN for next monitor? No because I fancy a change to better colours.

 

[FL630]

Thanks @hornetstinger, the colours on my current Samsung 32D850 are really nice, I'm so used to it I'm sure I'd be disappointed in TN.

Another "downgrade" to my ideal spec... Lack of G-sync? Is it the be all and end all? Something that really makes a difference such as 60hz Vs 144hz?

Perhaps I should buy a freesync panel and go team red

 

[Rroff]

Going down monitor size once you get used to something bigger often feels less than ideal in my experience though within reason you do adjust.

TN if you aren't too bothered by gamma shift of viewing angles (and in most cases when gaming and sitting dead on to the monitor they aren't too much of an issue) the colours are acceptable on the latest and greatest ones, sometimes after a bit of fiddling with the settings but on lesser models often less ideal.

For gaming I would personally go for 27" 1440p TN every time ideally with G-Sync.

 

[andybird123]

2nd what rroff is saying, the gsync 1440 TN's are not really like the older TN's, i went from 1440p 60hz IPS and side by side I cant see any difference in gaming in terms of IQ (but obviously a massive improvment in smoothness on the TN)

If you deliberately set up a test to see the weakness of TN like a completely blue screen you can see the colour shift top to bottom, but if I do the same on an IPS with say red then i can see it go pinkish towards the corners and black consistency is also better on the TN in a darker room

 

[w1ze1]

I had the £600 Rog TN (1st G-Sync),it was HORRIBLE, now I am on VA but then again I prefer CRT/Plasma as I like black not greys.

 

[Rroff]

The initial release of the panel used in those monitors wasn't great - the later revision from A02 or something onwards were much better after they tweaked the coating - but you still need to adjust gamma in software to get good results.

The original Asus ROG Swift was horrid anyhow - the Dell version is a much better monitor. I'd be less critical of the Asus if they hadn't marketed it so aggressively under the ROG branding, etc. when its anything but a premium product + service in reality and the first few revisions prone to dying.

 

[w1ze1]

I also had the later IPS models and all were made by same panel maker and QA was a joke so basically all Asus, Acer and a few others high end 144-165HZ G-Sync TN/IPS made by AUO you play "The Panel Lottery".

 

[FL630]

I've read a lot recently about IPS QC problems, it's interesting that you can go blow £1000 on a screen for it to be terrible, yet it's somehow allowable by them?

I've been looking into the latest Samsung Quantum Dot 144Hz panels, they look perfect if it was only for the fact they had G-Sync, which naturally they do not.

Basically unless an incredible deal appears with a 144hz 1440p 27" G-Sync with great colours, I'm going to be making compromises. Unless I jsut get a cheaper 24" 144Hz and save a few quid and have most of the bits I want, just smaller with less accurate colours.

What makes it harder is that it's not like you can try any of these before you buy to see how you like them, it's quite an expensive gamble!!

 

[w1ze1]

Sammy do have a G-Sync model on the card its listed in that thread, not sure if it will appear and if so when.

 

[FL630]

Just out of interest, is there a piece of software out there that can replicate a screen size on a larger monitor?

I know I could run programs in a window (and get the measuring tape out), but I wonder if there is a more elegant solution?

 

[aatu]

Are you talking about actually running a program in a window of specific size, or comparing the size?
If latter, then try www.displaywars.com

Set your current size (and optionally aspect ratio) to one field, and the target resolution/aspect ratio combo to another.

Select Compare. Then right-click on the image, select View Image (/Open Image, or whatever it's called in your browser). Press F11 to go full-screen, then zoom (Ctrl + Mouse Wheel, or Ctrl + "+"/"-") so that the the outer border is right at the edges. Press F11 again to exit full screen.

Optionally, you can save the image, open it in a image viewer, go full screen, and zoom.

 

[FL630]

The former, @aatu

It's just trying to find out how a smaller monitor would look in the programmes that I run daily. Unless I go out and buy a monitor it's almost impossible to tell and I assumed that this sort of program might exist, even if my googling turned up no suggestions.

 

[aatu]

Even if you managed to find a program that re-sizes the window to the right size, you would still be looking at a "wrong resolution". Looking at a 1920x1080 image/video scaled to a 1500x800 window would make the image a blurry mess. You would be able to see the relative proportions of how the toolbars would fit, etc., but you can tell that just by looking at your current monitor with full screen image of the layout of the desired software.

Unless, of course, you have a higher resolution and bigger size monitor/TV (for example 48" 4k/3840x2160), at the moment, and the target monitor would be a direct multiplier for them (24" 1920x1080). In which case you could have it scaled to the right size.