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Computer Monitors

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Bucknut24

Bucknut24

Trolololol
Calling on all computer nerds..

Since I finally have a job that will give me a little bit of income, I decided one of the first things I wanna do is get a new computer monitor. I currently have a 19in Hanns G. Decent monitor, but I want a bigger one and a better looking one. I've been doing some searching and I have narrowed it down to these 3 I think

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6-049^24-236-049-03#,24-009-245^24-009-245-TS

I hope the link works..basically I don't really know what all the numbers mean for refresh rate and ratios. And for what I use it for it doesn't have to have the best.

I see one of them as LED backlight, would I be able to see the difference between the LCD Monitor with LED backlight vs just a regular LCD monitor?

Or if you have any other suggestions, I up to it..I'm thinkin 24' is what I'm looking for, 27 would be nice, but I don't feel like spending the extra $150 for it
 
You'll notice a difference as an LED backlight provides surrounding light to the monitor.

LED Backlight:
LED_computer_montor_backlight_1.JPG
 
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Bucknut24;2157542; said:
Calling on all computer nerds..
Click to expand...

If I may....I've built every computer I've ever owned since the ol' Com64.
Doesn't really make me an expert..or a nerd, I don't think anyway because it really isn't that hard to do.

A few years back I wanted a larger monitor...and I really wanted a flat screen TV. However space/funds were limited at that time so it was one or the other. I really needed/wanted both so.......

After going to every available retailer out there I decided to give the VIZIO co. a try and Walmart ugh..my business. And to be perfectly honest..I wasn't disappointed at all with my decision. I love gaming and the 36 inch 1080p 60hz gave me plenty of fun. That same kind of Vizio/any other brand is around 300/400 bucks today.

I will say that after 3 years of non-stop being on that it still works and looks great today..although it's now connected to my sons comp as I went to the 47inch slim line 120hz with internet model. I just haven't found the multiple display monitor that suits me yet.
 
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First of all, it doesn't really matter if you know what the specs mean or not since they all lie. The refresh rates are gray to gray which is useless, and contrasts are not static contrast numbers (I won't get into it).

Anyway, the best thing to do is find reviews on line that make recommendations.

As for LED backlight, um, sorry menardo but that is wrong (at least in this case). An LED backlight is the light used behind the LCD's. The LCD's switch around to create colors, but require a light behind it. It's an internal lighting thing. Regular LCD's have a typical florescent light inside the monitor in order to provide the backlighting for the LCD's. A LED LCD uses rows of LEDs to provide the light. Some use a ton of them throughout the entire screen and cheaper ones just set up rows on the edge of the monitor. Edge lit LED's cause bleed on the edge of the tv (of course you can also find bleed with any LCD depending on how well it's made). It has nothing to do with a special effect on the back of the monitor.

LED's use less energy and can be superior for picture, but that is not true 100% of the time. Edge lit LED is nothing special, while full LED backlighting can provide superior uniformity along with possibly superior blacks if used in that way (once again, depends on the monitor).

Anyway, to what you should get. First of all, you need to determine IPS (in plane switching) vs. TN (twisted nematic). These are the two major technologies you will see. IPS is more expensive, but will give you a much superior picture quality and viewing angle. The only negative to IPS displays (other than money) is they do have worse response times vs. TN monitors. That is really only a big deal in gaming, and honestly, some of the good IPS monitors are now reaching good response times. TN monitors on the other hand are the cheaper ones you will find. The color gamut is often small, color saturation can be poor, and the viewing angle can be rather poor (I have one and even small changes in viewing angle are really noticeable...it really has to be facing right at you). Yet they are cheap, and at one time were pretty much the only kind you could use if you planned on gaming. Of course, once again, this all varies on the brand. Some TN monitors mitigate it's issues, and some IPS monitors suck ass.

Once you determine that, you really just need to go with high quality brands. Be it regular LCD or LED LCD, if it's a good brand you will get a good picture (assuming you are not big on the few pennies LED might save you). Believe it or not, Dell makes some of the best monitors in the world. The next level is Samsung and LG. Good bang for the buck are Asus and Acer (what you linked). NEC is awesome but crazy expensive and not really worth it unless you are a graphics designer where you need the best of the best. Then there are tons of others where it's all hit and miss. There are some Ben-Q's, HannsG's, and Viewsonics that are not bad but others that are beyond horrible.

Anyway, in the end the Asus ones you linked would not be bad (I think the LED one is actually the better monitor, you might want to check some reviews). They are TN monitors, so understand that. If you are a gamer it won't be a bad choice. If you are not a gamer and want to up the visual quality you can look into IPS monitors, but they will cost more.

I know that's a lot, and I hope that helps. If I can answer anything specific let me know.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
scott91575;2157622; said:
First of all, it doesn't really matter if you know what the specs mean or not since they all lie. The refresh rates are gray to gray which is useless, and contrasts are not static contrast numbers (I won't get into it).

Anyway, the best thing to do is find reviews on line that make recommendations.

As for LED backlight, um, sorry menardo but that is wrong (at least in this case). An LED backlight is the light used behind the LCD's. The LCD's switch around to create colors, but require a light behind it. It's an internal lighting thing. Regular LCD's have a typical florescent light inside the monitor in order to provide the backlighting for the LCD's. A LED LCD uses rows of LEDs to provide the light. Some use a ton of them throughout the entire screen and cheaper ones just set up rows on the edge of the monitor. Edge lit LED's cause bleed on the edge of the tv (of course you can also find bleed with any LCD depending on how well it's made). It has nothing to do with a special effect on the back of the monitor.

LED's use less energy and can be superior for picture, but that is not true 100% of the time. Edge lit LED is nothing special, while full LED backlighting can provide superior uniformity along with possibly superior blacks if used in that way (once again, depends on the monitor).

Anyway, to what you should get. First of all, you need to determine IPS (in plane switching) vs. TN (twisted nematic). These are the two major technologies you will see. IPS is more expensive, but will give you a much superior picture quality and viewing angle. The only negative to IPS displays (other than money) is they do have a lower response time vs. TN monitors. That is really only a big deal in gaming, and honestly, some of the good IPS monitors are now reaching good response times. TN monitors on the other hand are the cheaper ones you will find. The color gamut is often small, color saturation can be poor, and the viewing angle can be rather poor (I have one and even small changes in viewing angle are really noticeable...it really has to be facing right at you). Yet they are cheap, and at one time were pretty much the only kind you could use if you planned on gaming. Of course, once again, this all varies on the brand. Some TN monitors mitigate it's issues, and some IPS monitors suck ass.

Once you determine that, you really just need to go with high quality brands. Be it regular LCD or LED LCD, if it's a good brand you will get a good picture (assuming you are not big on the few pennies LED might save you). Believe it or not, Dell makes some of the best monitors in the world. The next level is Samsung and LG. Good bang for the buck are Asus and Acer (what you linked). NEC is awesome but crazy expensive and not really worth it unless you are a graphics designer where you need the best of the best. Then there are tons of others where it's all hit and miss. There are some Ben-Q's, HannsG's, and Viewsonics that are not bad but others that are beyond horrible.

Anyway, in the end the Asus ones you linked would not be bad (I think the LED one is actually the better monitor, you might want to check some reviews). They are TN monitors, so understand that. If you are a gamer it won't be a bad choice. If you are not a gamer and want to up the visual quality you can look into IPS monitors, but they will cost more.

I know that's a lot, and I hope that helps. If I can answer anything specific let me know.
Click to expand...

Hey, I gave it a try... Jerk. :biggrin:
 
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Bucknut24;2157713; said:
ok, lemme ask this, would I be able to see the difference between the one monitor that has the LED Backlight vs one that doesn't....I'm not talking about a few pixels or anything cause I won't notice that crap
Click to expand...

To answer it shortly, if they are both made well you shouldn't see any major differences.

To go into a longer discussion, it really depends. It's all about lighting uniformity and how well they designed it.

That LED monitor is edge lit (I had to look it up to be sure). Edge lit kind of sucks, and can often be beaten by regular CCFL backlit screens (regular LCDs). Full array LED backlighting (essentially behind the screen are LEDs that span the whole area) is the superior one since that is the easiest to keep uniform lighting. I have also found edge lit LCD's to suffer from bleed (you see white light bleed out the edges) since the LED's are all around the edge of the screen.

Yet I can't say anything with any certainly. Poorly made CCFL ones hill have bleed and horrible uniformity, while well made ones will be nearly flawless. Same with edge lit LED (although I don't know of any edge lit that outperforms full array).

The main thing is to read some reviews with that stuff in mind. From looking at user reviews and a handful of tech reviews it seems like a really nice monitor with no major flaws. Not best in class, but really good for the money. The LED one is the newer monitor, so I would probably go with that one based on the fact it's probably an improvement in other areas, not just a backlighting difference.
 
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Bucknut24;2157722; said:
yea, that's what I was thinkin...the only bad reviews seem to be from the high tech people who complain about like one little white pixel or something like that
Click to expand...

Be careful about that and buying from Newegg. Their policy is no return unless there are 6 or more stuck pixels (many other online retailers are the same). While it may not seem like a big deal, I have a laptop with a stuck pixel. I don't notice it all the time, but there are times I notice it and it ticks me off some.

On the other hand, stuck pixels are rare. Yet if you want to be sure, buying from a brick and mortar store is safer because you can return anything within 30 days without any excuses. Of course you will probably pay more and they may not have what you want in stock. So it's up to you if you are willing to take the risk (which I would say is probably a 1% chance of getting a stuck pixel)

edit: Oh, and that little white pixel is what is called a stuck pixel. The pixel on the LCD no longer responds and therefore white light from the backlight comes through (although sometimes they do get stuck on a particular color too).
 
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Bucknut24;2159441; said:
ok, I finally decided on one, with the memorial day sales coming up, i'm getting the one that's giving me $30 off and free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

over 1,000 reviews and 90% of them have been 5 or 4 stars, so good enough for me..It's not LED backlit, but for a $40 difference, not sure I'd notice a big enough to warrant spending more
Click to expand...
Sure hope you got that 1-year extended warranty:lol: You should be able to follow the tennis ball with that sweet deal.
 
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