Do displays need to be identical?

[Fnerb]

Hey all,

So, I'm in the market to pickup a second display. I'm currently running with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059

How important is it that I get an identical display? Am I inviting eye strain / issues if I go for something a bit nicer, maybe 120Hz?

 

[PhilFrisbie]

It depends. I ran similar, but not identical, displays for a few years with no major issues except for an annoying, at times, difference in color rendition that I could not corrected by adjusting the monitors.

 

[Fnerb]

It depends. I ran similar, but not identical, displays for a few years with no major issues except for an annoying, at times, difference in color rendition that I could not corrected by adjusting the monitors.

Thanks Phil.

I am a little concerned about having a big color / clarity difference which makes me lean towards just getting an identical dispaly.

It's just that ... 120Hz is soooo tempting.

 

[jaguarskx]

There's nothing wrong getting two different displays many people do it. Including myself. The best thing to do is get something that is the same size and resolution.

The biggest drawback of getting two different monitors is that it may be difficult to get those two monitors to display colors exactly the same way. That's the case even with two monitors of the same make and model, but it would be easier to make them both display colors the same way or very close.

A colorimeter can help make things easier, but they are more for making the as color accurate as possible than to make two monitors match each other. They cost between $60 for a cheap consumer version with just a few tweaking options to $500 for professional level colorimeter meant for expensive LCD monitors catered to graphic artists where color accuracy is extremely important.

 

[Fnerb]

There's nothing wrong getting two different displays many people do it. Including myself. The best thing to do is get something that is the same size and resolution.

The biggest drawback of getting two different monitors is that it may be difficult to get those two monitors to display colors exactly the same way. That's the case even with two monitors of the same make and model, but it would be easier to make them both display colors the same way or very close.

A colorimeter can help make things easier, but they are more for making the as color accurate as possible than to make two monitors match each other. They cost between $60 for a cheap consumer version with just a few tweaking options to $500 for professional level colorimeter meant for expensive LCD monitors catered to graphic artists where color accuracy is extremely important.

Thanks for the reply.

Same size was always going to be a given. I do have some color discrepancies in my dual-monitor at work (laptop w/ LCD) but it's not too bad. I guess my concern is getting a 120Hz display and it just being disgustingly the same.

Also, resolution will be kept the same as well...

 

[Fnerb]

So, I guess at the end of the day it really comes down to if I can / want to put up with the possible color difference...

I guess as much as I'd like to move toward 120hz, I will be doing more than just gaming with my rig (obviously gaming isn't the reason for going dual-display) so having them match should be a little higher priority than I'm making it.

120Hz does look nice though...

 

[jaguarskx]

There will be a slight difference. A colorimeter can help you minimize that difference, but it costs money. The cheap way to do it is just to do it manually. You can tweak the monitors for a few minutes or unit the sun goes down depending on how much time you want to devote to it.

Visit the following site to help you tweak your monitors.

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/