A new monitor..............is what i want, HELP!

[hobo]eclipse

i've been wanting a new monitor for some time now as a 17 inch CRT is all ive ever had. Wantining to go to a nice widescreen LCD and the 24 inc selections ive looked into(DELL,BENQ and GATEWAY) look really tasty especcially the BENQ with HDMI for full 1080p HD, but the 22 inch screens are half the price! WTF thats a hella premium for 2 inches of widescreen space!

Here are the 24 inch screens in question:

BenQ FP241W Black 24" 16ms (6ms GTG) DVI Widescreen HDMI LCD Monitor

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP Wide-Screen Black Flat Panel Monitor

Gateway FPD2485W 24" Widescreen High-Definition LCD Flat-Panel Display

of these im leaning toward either the big daddy the BENQ with the full features or the Gateway which seems about the same as e the dell minus the card reader and a cpla $'s, of the 3 the Gateway is the only one i seen in person at bestbuy and it was nice. Any reputable places to buy the dell from for cheaper, i know there out there! Do the dell and the Gateway use the same panel does anyone know, im tempted to make trip to bestbuy and just take the plunge!

Noticing the selections of 22 inch monitors on newegg though intrigued me cause like i said are half the price,

Heres the selection of 22 inch panels from newegg

And the one BENQ 22 inch one im specifically interested in, once again BENQ the only i see in that catagory offereing the HDMI. O darn, but just noticed no Component input then! DARN! cant have it all!, Any one with a 22 inch plz chime in.

Now for the real questions concerning LCD, Whats the difference between WSXGA+ and Active Matrix, TFT LCD ? Is one a better performer than the other? Also the contrast ratio, what kinda difference will i see with 700-1 vs. 1000-1 vs, lets say 2000-1? Which of the brands are known to use the best panels? Thanks alot for any input as id like a screen to look at but wont be making a hasty decision.

Zelig

All consumer LCD monitors are TFT active matrix, it's a useless term other than to describe the technology used.

WSXGA+ is just a display resolution, 1680x1050 to be precise. 640x480 was VGA, 800x600 SVGA, 1600x1200 is UXGA. Widescreen variants get a "W" on the front. The nomenclature goes up to WHUXGA (7680x4800).

It isn't consistent, your best bet is really to research individual panels. If you're going for a certain brand it should be based on their dead-pixel policy, customer support, etc.

BlueMak

MAke sure it has the inputs you want it to have. Including if you can HDMI.

Necrosis

I have the Dell panel which I'm quite happy with. It's comparable to the Gateway, but have yet to see the Benq in person. However, here is two points for you ponder.

1. 1080P is nice but really a waste on a 24" panel. You'll find it hard to really notice the difference between 1080P/1080i/720P.
2. You could have (2) 22" panels!

DudeBoyz

I'd get the Dell - I have seen the gateway close up and I don't think it's worth the money.

[hobo]eclipse

no dell for me for now as the thing is back up to 750 dollars on the site and thats the only means of me getting one except from ebay(from which i have never bought a thing). Im liking the 22 inch more and more.

What do you guys think of this Sceptre, never reall heard of them myself?

SCEPTRE x22wg-Gamer Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen HDMI LCD Monitor

and 2 side by side sounds awsome but real over kill for myself really, but plz suggestions on great performing widescreen LCD's appreciatted, also what exactly is the contrast ratio?

swimtech

...Contrast ratio is a measure of the difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites the monitor can display - the higher the better. You probably won't notice a difference if the ratio numbers are within 200 or so points of one another much at all - instruments can tell though. Of course, if the numbers are in the range below 500:1 then the difference is more important than if you're comparing two numbers that range around 800:1 or 1000:1.

The number by itself can mislead though. The monitor can display very bright whites yet only get 'down' to light gray (a dark black foundation is very pleasing to most human eyes and allows for more apparently rich colors - it's a perception thing...) and still have a high contrast ratio - in comparison to another monitor that displays bright "enough" whites (doesn't make you wince - ever looked into an LED flashlight? Ow!) yet displays a deep black, which helps colors appear richer, and may not have as high a contrast ratio, but actually looks better overall.

As for the 24" displays in your list - I like the Gateway's specs best overall - all the inputs, HDCP, colorful PVA panel, Faroudja processing for video and scaling, etc. The Dell is top-rated by every site that has reviewed it - including DH (and has all the same input goodies), and first hand eyeballing from very trustworthy folks here makes it outstanding as well. The Benq lists the same outstanding specs, but not HDCP compliance - but it might be - looks like manufacturer contact is in order to clarify that.

True, you can do two 22" for the price of a 24", but the quality of the panel is not quite up to the level of the Gateway and Dell units - it's gonna come down to your budget, intended use (do you really want all the input flexibility?), and desire for 44" (!!!) of display area - or not. I'd take the BenQ over the Sceptre - looks to be the same panel (educated guess by specs alone though...) but much better quality control - the warranty on the BenQ is three years versus just one on the Sceptre - I'd say easily worth the $10 dollar difference.

I can let you know soon about the 20" Sceptre monitor's display quality - I ordered one and it should be here Wednesday - though it doesn't use the same panel inside, so the impression won't be directly comparable.

DudeBoyz

For absolute crispness and clarity in DIGITAL mode (DVI-D), Viewsonic has the Gateway and Samsung beat. It uses a much lighter, finer grain glare filter and that seems to do the trick. It may not have the same level of "richness" in terms of color, but I think some folks might find it superior.

It is a subjective thing, I guess, but I've seen all but the DELL brand under the same lighting situations, and the Viewsonic glare screen can really make the difference if you don't mind colors that are lacking a bit of the "warmth" that the others may have. Side by side, the Viewsonic seems to have text nailed down with more refined and accurate drop shadows, since the glare screen does not seem to "blotch" it up.

I understand money can be tight, but a monitor is something you are going to be looking at day after day after day, and I think you should see these things up close if you can before you fork out the cash. I would not have believed that any LCD could look better than the Samsung 204b, but in terms of absolute clarity, the Viewsonic does, at least for me.

If there is one single component where the extra cash is going to be worth it, I would think the monitor would be it.

Zelig

The BenQ is HDCP compliant, I researched it a bit. Almost bought it, but decided to spend the money on a snowboarding trip instead.

[hobo]eclipse

thanks for thinput guys and the detail explanation Swimtech, i'd deffinatly want one that didnt blow my eyes out with whites and produced better colors over all. That gateway was nice when i seen it at best buy, but then again it is the only i've seen so no comparison.

DudeBoyz

The key is to try to see these things in BOTH Analog and Digital.

The Samsung 204b looks great in either one, but the Viewsonic 2030b seems to have crappy Analog circuitry but rock solid DVI-D, for example. The Gateway sucks in either Analog or Digital, if you ask me.

BTW, almost every single Sony LCD I see looks fantastic. How wacky.

[hobo]eclipse

i did see 2 models of the gateway, not side by side mind you, 1 runnin DVI and the VGA, both were runnin Vista in Best Buy. What caught my attention was the 2nd i was looking at had noticable text bleeding down and on a hunch i looked and it was runnin the VGA.

DudeBoyz

You figure that if you were going to want to show a product, you would do it in its best light, right? I'd be all about connecting 'em to DVI-D.

60hz never looked so good!