1200p or 1440p monitor help quick

alidan

Splendid
Aug 5, 2009
5,303
0
25,780
ok, doing a bit of last minute christmas, and i want a monitor as my syncmaster t240hd is ageing and i would like to have a monitor that isn't at the end of its life.

i refuse to use 1080... i am use to the 1200 vertical and i want to keep that, that said, 1600p is either non existent or ridiculously expensive, that said 1440p, while the same ratio has more vertical than 1200, and if i got a 27 inch one, i believe it has the same ppi as my 1200 and that would be amazing.

also, while i would enjoy 120hz or 144hz, those push the monitor a bit passed the price range i want to hit, unless i get something grey market from korea and i do not want to trust that.

on a final note, i would like the monitor to be an upgrade, not a concession as in i dont want to have to give anything up getting a new monitor, or just have to deal with it being missing. i can deal with no tv tuner, as everything went digital, the built in one no longer works, i can also deal with less ports,

if possible i would like it to have an optical out (not required but would like it to have this), and 1 hdmi port on top of whatever connects to the computer (again not required but would really like it), i have an msi 280X (i never intend to game above 1080 or 1200 and in a window) and believe it can either be dvi or displayport. if possible i would also like ips or an equivalent because leaning back in my chair makes games where the area is dark unplayable currently because the color shift is just that extreme.

i looked at the latest toms hardware showing for monitors, everything was either ultra wide which i have no use for, 1080p or 4k, and i do not want a 4k at under 40 inches... but that puts 4k out of my budget too...

sorry if this is rambly, i have been awake for a while and need help fast as i kind of put this off for way to damn long.
 
1220p? I'm sorry but if you're using this for gaming many of them don't even support that unless there's a work around through cfg files. The next common tier from 1080p is 1440p and your 280x would have a hard time running anything in high quality with 1440p.

If you hate 1080p that much, and 1440p is too much for your gpu, you can try 1220p but I doubt you will be able to run games without it having bars or stretched for some awful eye experience.

Good luck!
 
I too have always loved the 16:10 aspect ration instead of the normal 16:9. My last two were Samsungs and a 22" 1680x1050 and a 25.5" 1920x1200. I finally made the jump to 1440p two years ago and got a Dell 27" (U2713HM). It's a beautiful panel and I feel good having a 5-year warranty from Dell with it. Don't get one of those cheap Korean knock off 1440p. Been there, done that. But the jump to that 16:9 27" offset the smaller but taller ratio 16:10. It was an easy adjustment just because the monitor was bigger.

Look at Dell, ASUS, ACER, and BENQ. I would not recommended getting a Free-Sync anyway since it takes a LOT of GPU horsepower to even get FPS at 120FPS to match 120Hz speed at 1440p at high quality settings. Also FYI the 16:10 panels like 2560x1600 have an increased in price because they are specialty panels and not sold in volumes like the 16:9s. Here's a breakdown of some good choices to choose from depending on your budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100160979%2050001315%2050001146%20600012694%204814%20600030620%2050010772

I don't know of any PC monitors that have optical out...that's more for TVs. With that said, you will need to get a more powerful GPU to run 1440p than that 280x without having to crank back quality settings to keep FPS up. Here's a good example of it in a GTAV test:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_380_gaming_2g_review,10.html
 


i intend to window 1080 or 1200, i never fullscreen
 
Okay well no worries then. Just keep in mind if a monitor is not run at its native resolution, textures (lettering specifically) may not look as good as you think it might. For example, I've plugged my PS4 into my 1440 and that monitor downscales to 1080p since that's the highest resolution output the PS4 signal can send. Games actually look better on my native 32" 1080p TV.
 


is that an issue when you window the game too?
 
It doesn't matter if you use the 1440p monitor in full screen or windowed mode. What matters is if you are running it at a lower resolution (downscaled) than 1440p. I'm not saying it will look bad, but it won't look as good as you think it will compared to running a native 1200p monitor and 1200p.

Keep in mind this is different than choosing a resolution *in* the game to play at where the monitor is still running at 1440p but you crank the in-game resolution to 1920x1080 (in game resolution options will not have a 16:10, 1920x1200 option if you are running a 16:9 monitor...it will only show 16:9 resolution options).
 


well im use to 1080p anyway because if i went 1200 the bottom part of the game is obstructed by the start menu...

my issue is with things like this right now
http://www.pureoverclock.com/Review-detail/samsung-syncmaster-t240

where they say things like ghosting, apparently my monitor should have no issue with it at all... but i can see a noticeable blur in games when i move (i remove all aa and motion blur in games) on this screen, but something like the 400$ dell... that would be slightly worse, the dell is probably the best thing that i can get but whenever i think of any form of a down grade i remember what a laptop lcd looked like in the very early 2000's and that's all i can think of.
 
Huh. I have the bigger version of that Samsung you have, the 25.5" (T260). Gotta love their "Touch Of Color" hype. Never had any problems with ghosting at all with it. Nor have I with my Dell U2713HM. Never mind, I see that my larger Samsung panel is TN and your smaller one is PVA. Sounds like that's a Samsung problem with their PVA panels. And keep in mind that monitor is many years old now...panel technology has greatly improved in 7 years, even on the low end TN spectrum.
 


im aware of that, but i have no place near by to look at monitors, the most i can do is read reviews, and look at images of how better monitors display images on my t240 which kind of seems like it defeats the purpose of showing off an image. i really hate looking into displays, im cheap, i only went from crt to lcd because the crt was giving me constant headaches, i still miss how good pictures could look, and no ghosting at all, but overall i think it was the right move to lcd just for no more headaches.

i really wish i could see my monitor next to the Dell U2715H, would make the call to get it so much easier.
 
Well it's very subjective really. You might like different monitor settings than someone else (brightness, contrast, color, etc.). About all I can say is read reviews of the best monitor in your price range and how they think it fares out of the box in default settings and then after calibration. I love my Dell and if I were buying another 1440p, I'd be all over that U2715H, especially since it is only $400(US) and I paid $600 for my two year old 2713HM. No other panel manufacturer matches Dell's 3-year warranty.