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20" 4:3 or a 22" 16:10?

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Joeteck

Retired
Joined
Oct 5, 2001
Location
Long Island
Ok, I'm trying to make the switch from a 19" CRT to LCD. This system is ONLY for playing games. Part of me wants to stay but the other part is itchin me to get one. I found a nice 20.1" Samsung 4:3 with a pixel pitch of .255, and 1600 x 1200 native resolution. The other is a wide screen 22" Sceptre x22wg-gamer

I've never played any games in wide screen format, hence there is no need too. Other than playing movies on your PC, what other benefit will you get from a 16:10 LCD monitor? Also, can you see a difference from .255 vs .282 pixel pitch?

The 4:3 monitor is sweet, and I can play games at 1600:1200. Your thoughts...

Joe
 
I think between those two I would go with the samsung

The 22" will actually appear smaller because it's widescreen. since they are both measured diagonally, that distance it greater because of the widescreen aspect. So the 20.1" will be larger. Also 16x12 is a nice resolution. You are actually loosing a few pixels going with 1680x1050

main reason I would recommend a widescreen is the extra desktop space. But since that 4:3 has a high resolution already, that isn't really a factor.

Overall, your best bet is the samsung
 
Thanks for the quick reply... I was leaning to the Samsung as well... 1600 x 1200 is nice....
 
IMO, Unless you were putting it up against a display with a widescreen resolution of 1920x1200 (such as a Dell 2407WFP), I'd go for the Samsung.


The only other thing I would look at is the type of panels that a display uses. Different panels will give different characteristics, and different quality of picture. Both of the displays you are asking about use the same type of panel, a TN. The Samsung has an adjustable stand (Up-Down, Pivot, Tilt), the Sceptre only tilts.
The Sceptre does have HDMI inputs, so if you have an XBox360 or something, you could hook it directly to the display. (It also has built in speakers, but I wouldnt' put too much faith in those)
The Sceptre also shows a higher contrast ratio (1200:1 vs, the Samsung's 800:1) So you might get better blacks out of it :shrug:

I dunno, I guess with a closer look the Sceptre isn't too bad... When I was first thinking of the size, i was thinking of a 4:3 20.1" vs. 16:10 20.1" ....I guess a 22" 16:10 would probably look a bit larger than the 4:3 20.1"

More I think about it the more I'm kinda torn on the recommendation. :D
 
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I just bought a 22in Acer wide screen.
I have it sitting next to a Samsung 204B on my desk.
The Acer definetly looks bigger.
I like the Samsung.
So far I also like the Acer also.
 
dowop said:
I just bought a 22in Acer wide screen.
I have it sitting next to a Samsung 204B on my desk.
The Acer definetly looks bigger.
I like the Samsung.
So far I also like the Acer also.


Arrg...

Do you like playin games on the Samsung 204b or the Acer?

Also, if you play games on the samesung @ 1280 x 1024, how does it look?
 
once you go wide you'll never go back, widescreen is the unfair adavantage when it comes to games, imagine your next opponent might have a ws with a 20% viewing advantage over you while your on 4:3 :D
 
yeah, that is true...in most cases you'll have more viewing area in games.

I dunno....I guess since I started with a 2407FPW about a year ago, and then moved to a notebook with a 17" widescreen (but the same resolution), I'd find it hard to go back to 4:3 aspect.

Aw heck....go for the wide screen :) I'm captain confusing, wandering recommendation man today. :)

Need a drink or something :beer:
 
I got the 22" Sceptre for xmas & I've really been enjoying it. I'm upgrading from a 17" CRT, so the difference for me is huge. I mostly play racing sims but ran through HL2 Lost Coast to see how it looks - both look great in widescreen.

Only downside with mine is backlight bleed on the bottom edge, but it hasn't been a problem for me yet.
 
Yeah backlight bleed is definitely a problem with a lot of LCD's. My laptop LCD bleeds quite a bit from the bottom. I only notice when I'm looking at it from a slightly higher angle...but it's still there. But only noticeable on an all black screen. I think higher quality screens don't always suffer quite as much from this. My Dell 2405FPW didn't have any noticeable bleeding problems. But then that was ~$800 vs. ~$350 (not to knock this or other LCDs because it's quite common. Just a negative of the technology)

Though i thought I heard of LED's being used in place of CCFL's to get rid of backlight bleeding....I wonder when that'll come about?
 
Backlight bleed is not due to the ccfl used to light up the display, it's due to the quality of the polarizer used in it and the construction of the lcd glass itself.

I went from a pair of 17" lcds to a single 21" widescreen. I would go with the widescreen for more peripheral vision during gaming.

Most people I know turn down their resolution to 800x600 to get easier headshots though.
 
The screen height on that samsung will about an inch taller than a 19" CRT. To bad its out of stock. The screen height on that 22" wide screen will be the same as your CRT. But you will have an extra 2 inches on each side. You will be more than happy with either one.
 
I've happily moved from 4:3 to my 16:10 widescreen, and I love it. If the games you plan on playing support widescreen, I highly recommend it. One annoyance, is that BF2142 does not support widescreen from as far as I can find :(

Good luck with your choice, but I recommend the widescreen!
 
David_N said:
I've happily moved from 4:3 to my 16:10 widescreen, and I love it. If the games you plan on playing support widescreen, I highly recommend it. One annoyance, is that BF2142 does not support widescreen from as far as I can find :(

Good luck with your choice, but I recommend the widescreen!


That is pretty easily remedied though. In the command line for BF2/2142 just add +szx 1920 +szy 1200

Replacing 1920 and 1200 with whatever res you want. The only problem is that the FOV can't be changed. So it's actually more of a stretched 4:3. But it works. :)
 
I went to Best buy and had all intentions on buying the Samsung 20.1 (4:3) screen. Only because of the Pixel pitch, nice and small @ .255. But then I spoke out loud when I saw the 22" Westinghouse. "Wow, this has RGB inputs". The best buy dude, said "If you want Component inputs look at the gateway screens..." So I did. Holy Shi-nikes!!! Imagine a 24" widescreen on your desk? 1920 x 1200. It has PIP, 2 component inputs, one DVI, one S-video, one composite, one DB-15. and get this.... does 1080p for only $679.

Digest that one...

Model number FPD2485W

So now I'm saving up a little more cash for this bad boy...
 
Joeteck said:
I went to Best buy and had all intentions on buying the Samsung 20.1 (4:3) screen. Only because of the Pixel pitch, nice and small @ .255. But then I spoke out loud when I saw the 22" Westinghouse. "Wow, this has RGB inputs". The best buy dude, said "If you want Component inputs look at the gateway screens..." So I did. Holy Shi-nikes!!! Imagine a 24" widescreen on your desk? 1920 x 1200. It has PIP, 2 component inputs, one DVI, one S-video, one composite, one DB-15. and get this.... does 1080p for only $679.

Digest that one...

Model number FPD2485W

So now I'm saving up a little more cash for this bad boy...


24" is definitely nice. You should compare with the Dell 2407WFP. You can get it priced similarly. Just do your homework :)
 
jivetrky said:
24" is definitely nice. You should compare with the Dell 2407WFP. You can get it priced similarly. Just do your homework :)

Man... Now we're in the $700 range...went does it stop? The gateway has better features than the 2407, IMO. I'm just trying to justify the spending... The 22" Widescreen is nice too, but is not full HD ready. Would not want to purchase older technology... 720p is ok for an older TV/screen not something you would want in the 2007 era... Part of me just says, "Screw it...you only live once and its only money... But then the other part says... Buy the 8800GTX, your 19" CRT is fine....


What to do....
 
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