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Monitor Questions
#1
I've been looking for a cheap LCD in the 200.00 range. I decided on a 19", because my space is somewhat limited, and the cheapest 22" look REALLY bad, to me (acers, etc.). I've looked at everything in all the stores in town, and I'm glad I did, because much of what I considered buying on line looks pretty bad in person, although with the poor signal many of the monitors are fed, it's hard to tell.

Yesterday, I was in bestbuy, and liked the HP w1907. It's glossy, but my desk faces a window that hardly ever even has direct sunlight, so I think it's ok. Unfortunately, the only other monitor they had on hand that I liked was the LG L196WT. I thought wtheck, and bought that. I have a couple questions:

I've noticed that it looks like some monitors have obvious "pixels". What causes this? I didn't notice it in the store (of course), but at home, it is obvious and I don't like it. I'm pretty sure the HP didn't.

Second, how do you set contrast and brightness? This monitor is too bright. I set the brightness and contrast down to 40, did the "pro" calibration, and it's still too bright. I initially set the contrast all the way up, as I've always done, and holy cow, no way.

Third, I've read the HP has fairly uniform brightness (backlighting?), and it seemed to when I looked at a dark background. The LG seems a lot better than my wife's dell (E198 something?), but not as good as the HP. Could my eyes be correct in seeing the HP as a bit better than most of the cheap monitors I've looked at? I've just never considered it a decent brand. Am I going to notice other bothersome things about it after having it for a while (if I take back the LG)? Thanks a lot, kj.
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#2
you really should go to a 20 or 22

you are talking the difference of 1280 X 1024 on a 19" and 1600 X 1050 on a 20" or 22" -- more than just a larger picture, but you see 400 more pixels in width

looking at the displays in store isnt always the best...
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#3
I actually think most of the 19" ers are 1440x900, unless I'm missing something.

>>looking at the displays in store isnt always the best...

Man, no kidding. I would think it beats just ordering one online, but I'm not actually sure. I tried to look more closely at the ones that were connected to a computer, but one samsung I would have considered wasn't. kj.
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#4
Wide screen 19" monitors are usually 1440x900, standard 4:3 19" monitors are usually 1280x1024. Some might be higher-res than that, I don't know for sure.

Jeff
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#5
Jeff is correct.

I like the 19" 4:3 because the images are larger at 1280x1024.

Your eyes play tricks on you in the store. It's not until you get it home and live with it for awhile that you see the weaknesses, if any.

Some monitors have an On Screen Display for the menu, and you cycle through with some of the monitors buttons to get to both brightness and contrast.

If it doesn't have onscreen adjustment, you're usually limited to brightness only, unless you make you're own color profile.

For non-critical work, you can use "shades" (versiontracker or macupdate), a freeware app that lest you cut brightness way down.

What do you mean by "obvious" pixels? Stuck pixels? Or it's easy to see the pixels rather than the picture? Sometimes monitors in stores aren't displayed at native resolution and give a softer picture.
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#6
>>Jeff is correct.
I like the 19" 4:3 because the images are larger at 1280x1024.

True, I had seen a couple, but you mostly see widescreens now days. I sort of feel the same way, as I think going 1680? with just one more inch would make things too small. The 1440 seems fine though. The widescreen is nice for music apps and iMovie, although I have no idea what to do with the extra space while browsing, or whatever else.

>>Some monitors have an On Screen Display for the menu, and you cycle through with some of the monitors buttons to get to both brightness and contrast.

Sure, that's what I set at 40 and 40. The first part of the color profile asks you to adjust the screen's brightness and contrast. I can turn both all the way down, and it still is too bright for the test (the oval is showing, a lot). I don't know what values I should use for the native brightness and contrast.

>>>What do you mean by "obvious" pixels? Stuck pixels? Or it's easy to see the pixels rather than the picture? Sometimes monitors in stores aren't displayed at native resolution and give a softer picture.

Not any defect per se, but I've noticed, even with crts that sometimes the pixels seem to stand out more. They almost look like they have relief. Trinitrons don't seem to have it, and neither do mac lcds (like my old powerbook). This LCD seems to have it. I think I have read something that blames 6bit vs 8bit monitors (dithering), but I'm not sure I remember correctly. I'd like to know what it is I'm seeing. It could be the TN vs ips thing too, I guess, although I think that has more to do with color.

At any rate, someone told me Best Buy has a 15% restocking fee, so I'll probably just end up sticking with this monitor. Next time though, I'm going to spend more money, dangit, cuz I think that might be the only way to make sure to get a good monitor. kj.
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