Would i benefit from a new monitor?

rustynuts · 9 Sep 2011 at 15:14

Hey guys

Just bought a 6870 for my gaming machine and was wondering if a new monitor would give me a better experiance. I mainly play Lotro (MMO) and F1. Currently im using a 22" LCD thats a few years old with a max display of 1680 x 1050.

This might sound like a stupid question and flame away if it is but would a HD monitor make a big differance? I ask because i plugged my pc into my 42" 1080i tv and it didnt look any differant to my standard monitor.

Iv seen this and for the price it looks good, but im not clued up on monitors and contrast ratio and hz and all that shizzle lol

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-095-LG&groupid=595&catid=670&subcat=

Total noob when it comes to this stuff so as much info as poss would be great. Also iv got around £200 to spend on one so if you have a monitor you recommend and its in my budget then please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Surveyor · 9 Sep 2011 at 19:27

When you plugged your PC into the TV did you change the resolution from 1680x1050 to 1920x1080?

If you left the resolution at 1680x1050 perhaps that's why you didn't see a difference.

rustynuts · 9 Sep 2011 at 19:28

It auto adjusted to 1920x1080 mate. I thought it was strange it didnt look any different, but then i put it down to been too big a screen.

Surveyor · 9 Sep 2011 at 19:57

Are you sure the resolution on the PC changed to 1920x1080 rather than the TV just scaling up the 1680x1050 resolution?

rustynuts · 9 Sep 2011 at 20:43

90% sure, ill have another play tomorrow after work.. Should i notice a big improvement?

rustynuts · 10 Sep 2011 at 15:35

Given it another go and its defo on 1920 x 1080 and looks the same as my standard none HD monitor. :/

PCM2 · 10 Sep 2011 at 15:56

Sorry to be blunt but what were you expecting? The pixel pitch of a 42" TV with 1080i resolution is huge - you do seem aware of this from some of your replies. Also your TV is 1080i not 1080p by the sound of things. Put simply it can't support a resolution of 1920 x 1080, it simply upscales using interlacing - doesn't matter what your PC is telling you, if it's 1080i or HD ready it's not 'Full HD' (1920 x 1080 or 1080p). This is acceptable for TV broadcasting standards (as our HD channels aren't actually 1080p due to bandwidth restrictions) but it is not the equivilent of a 1920 x 1080 monitor or TV. More on the dreaded Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080i.

To address your original question, and linked to the above, the 'difference' depends on the size of screen you're looking at. This is what will determine the pixel pitch (determines how clearly defined and 'densely detailed' things will potentially look) at a given resolution.

rustynuts · 11 Sep 2011 at 12:43

Thankyou for the reply. Told you i was clueless about this stuff lol

PCM2 · 11 Sep 2011 at 14:30

Again - sorry for being blunt.

There is a lot to learn about when it comes to monitors and the manufacturers never help the consumer with all of their misleading marketing hype. The whole 'HD' thing really gets on my nerves as the definition of the image depends on the screen size and not just resolution - most 'Full HD' TVs are massive or just 'HD Ready' or sometimes (as with yours) both.

*Goes away to curse manufacturers*

rustynuts · 11 Sep 2011 at 17:14

No need to apologise, its all good info.. For gaming only what size would you say id benefit from the most. Currently running 22" one, im not bothered how big or small it is im after the maximum picture quality