PC monitor help - what to look for

longwalks1

Im after a monitor for my PC, i use a 23" monitor at work which i like, and wondering if a larger one (up to 26 or 27") would be better still. Will be used mainly for share dealing (watching charts) and also the usual ebay, hotmail etc. What should I look for, Ive seen people moan about 1080p?
Also, are curved monitors much better than standard ones?

Any advice or pointers greatly appreciated

Cycrow

With monitors, its more about the Resolution the monitor can display rather than the size of the physical monitor.


If you have a 23" monitor and a 27" with the same resolution. You will end up having the same amount of desktop on the screen, and be able to see the same amount of data. But the larger monitor will have larger pixels.

If you think of it in terms of a web page/forum. The larger the monitor size, the larger the text will look, but the larger the resolution, the more of the page you will be able to see at once.

Personally for me, multiple monitors are the way to go, but i mainly do development work

longwalks1

Thanks Cycrow (again), i was considering 2 x 22 or 23" monitors, flat side by side, was looking at the 'zeroframe' ones but not sure what resolution to go for? I wouldnt be watching blu-ray or films on them, just a couple of basic share programmes, so would I really need a higher resolution?

ThemeOne

Just don't get one which is VGA only (the old style connectors) - there are still some around, and they're usually the cheaper ones.

And to risk stating the obvious, get one with an appropriate connector for your PC - choices are generally DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort.

grumbler

britishboy wrote: »

Thanks Cycrow (again), i was considering 2 x 22 or 23" monitors, flat side by side, was looking at the 'zeroframe' ones but not sure what resolution to go for? I wouldnt be watching blu-ray or films on them, just a couple of basic share programmes, so would I really need a higher resolution?

Consider one with very high resolution instead:
ViewSonic VX2475SMHL-4K 23.6" 3840x2610 2ms HDMI LED 4K Monitor @dabs.com £244.00

1080p is 1920x1080, so the above is better than two 1080p monitors in terms of the resolution.

The size of the screens affects only the distance to the monitor, not the amount of information it can display.

longwalks1

grumbler wrote: »

Consider one with very high resolution instead:
ViewSonic VX2475SMHL-4K 23.6" 3840x2610 2ms HDMI LED 4K Monitor @dabs.com £244.00

1080p is 1920x1080, so the above is better than two 1080p monitors in terms of the resolution.

The size of the screens affects only the distance to the monitor, not the amount of information it can display.

Thanks grumbler, so with a higher res screen every web page will look better? Even forums and ebay etc? (excuse my limited knowledge).. i just assumed higher resolution was for gamers and HD videos etc?

ThemeOne

I have honestly found that for me what makes the biggest difference to how good or not things look on screen is the font rendering, and that's controlled by the operating system.

grumbler

britishboy wrote: »

...so with a higher res screen every web page will look better? Even forums and ebay etc? (excuse my limited knowledge).. i just assumed higher resolution was for gamers and HD videos etc?

Look this way:
You can notice higher resolution only from smaller distance.
A small 1080p screen at smaller distance is the same as a bigger 1080p at bigger distance.
Two bigger 1080p screens at bigger distance are the same as two smaller 1080p screens at a smaller distance.

Three big vertical 1080p screens are the same as one 3240x1920 screen with the size of three.

3840x2610 monitor is better than the above imaginable 3240x1920 monitor of the same size.

You don't want two/three big monitors close to your eyes. Unless the distance is big, IMO a smaller monitor with with the equivalent or higher resolution is better.

Cycrow

which is better depends on what you are mainly doing. a 4K monitor is 4 times the resolution of a 1080p screen. The main problem with such high resolutions is that the fonts can start to get very small and harder too see.

i personally think 2 monitors would be better, as you can have 2 windows open at the same time without having such tiny fonts.

Dont get 4k unless you going for at least 27" or more.

i think 2 1440p monitors would be the better choice. Like this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-U2515H-25-Inch-Monitor-2560/dp/B00P6O3YYO/ref=sr_1_1/276-6276438-5539810?ie=UTF8&qid=1448965405&sr=8-1&keywords=u2515h.

4K would be better for photo work, less so for text

Oblivion

It might not be the newest kid on the block (I've had mine nearly 3 years now) but this Dell monitor is superb.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005LNDPPS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

1920 x 1200 pixels gives you that extra bit of vertical 'real estate' that makes a big difference in practice. I watch HD TV on mine and it's very sharp and colourful.

I also have the Dell sound bar attached to the bottom of the screen http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-AX510-Soundbar-Ultrasharp-Connector/dp/B0043M5RA4/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1448966882&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+sound+bar which compliments it perfectly and gives very good audio quality. For everyday windows use it's hard to beat at the price.

RumRat

I have a 27" 2560 x 1440 monitor and there is no way I could go back to 1080.....Next one will be a 32" 4K...;)