Thinking of purchasing a multi-use widescreen monitor.
 

Basically, I'm looking for something upwards of 21", with DVI, S-Video, and component as a minimum. I am also trying to keep it under $550-$600. I would like a larger screensize/resolution becuase I am a resolution whore, and I do a lot of music editing/scoring, so I need the space. Also, I have nothing to plug consoles into, and when I get the Wii, I'll need something decent to display it on. That's why I need component.

So far, I'm looking at the Gateway FPD2185W, and the Westinghouse LCM-22w2.

They both boast a 1680x1050 resolution, DVI, S-video, Comoposite and Component inputs, and will display 1080i. (I've read a few reviews on each, and they seem to be on level ground with each other).

However, the Gateway has a really awesome Picture-in-Picture feature, which could definately come in handy. The landscape-portrait swivel is also kind of neat, and has some great tilt/adjust abilities. This monitor also supports DHCP.

On the other side, the Westinghouse has an extra inch, but I'm not sure if that will make a huge difference. It also has a faster response time (5ms compared to 8 ms), but there are no standards to measure response time so who knows.

Could you good people please give me your thoughts? Any models you would reccomend? Thanks!

(Also, if you play a game in 4:3 on a 16:10 monitor, do you just get vertical letterboxing?)

I have the westinghouse, it was a good deal and works well
here is my review on it:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com...pic.php?t=6325

BTW: most wide screen monitors stretch to the entire screen and will not lock the aspect ration when using 4:3 content

Though if you don't want the image stretched you can set that in the newest nvidia drivers (it will stretch to the largest it can with still keeping aspect ratio), for video most media player apps will allow you to stretch or keep the aspect ratio.

If you can afford to splurge, I cannot speak highly enough about This NEC. Quite possibly the best LCD ever made. Blacks are true black, colors are bright and vivid, everything's razor sharp.....Absolutely amazing.

yeah that NEC is an excellent monitor

It uses a very high grade AS-IPS panel from LG which gives you the best color gamut of any another TFT technology and in theory should give you the best viewing angels because of the technology. also it is a 20 inch panel meaning that it will look sharper than the other two panels in question as the resolution is the same, the dot pitch will be lower.

If you can spend $500 or so, why not just get a coupon deal on the Dell 2407? HDCP support for its DVI input, component ins, and 1920 x 1200 (so it supports the full, pixel-for-pixel TRUE HD resolution of 1080i and 1080p). They come down to the mid $500 range all the time.

The only issue being that the 2407 has is it can only reach 1080i using component. DVI for some odd reason is restricted to 720p, despite having HDCP and 1920x1200. Aside from that though, the 2407 is an excellent monitor *I use a few at work*. Just be sure you have the A03 revision to fix the colour banding issue.

I'm curious about the specs of the LCM-22w2. Since it looks to have the exact same panel as the Acer AL2216WBD and counterparts, but those ones claim to be 16.7m colours, as opposed to the LCM's 16.2m.

i do think the ACER and other 22inchers with those specs use a CMO panel just like the Westinghouse. Though either CMO means the panel is 16.7 million color through differing (which is very likely to keep costs down) or the image processor on the Westinghouse uses a different differing algorithm than the others. I have however noticed that the color characteristics are the same on the Westinghouse as the ACER (so acer could just be quoting specs from CMO).

Yeah, preserving 4:3 content in it's original resolution is an absolute must for me. I can't stand it when things are out of porportion. While it's good to know that that can be addressed with software, it seems as if there nothing I can do about Component input.

Well, it seems to have roughly the same features as the other ones, but it does have quite a pricetag. Now here's the thing: I'm no photo-editor, and colour-gamut-whateverthefuck isn't a huge deal; I mean, I usualy don't notice these kinds of things. To give you an example, I'm using this monitor (on 1280x1024) right now, and it looks just fine to me.

I thought about that aswell, when looking at 22" monitors. It was also the reason why I bought a 17" instead of a 19". However, on closer inspection (of 19" monitors), the display was actually quite sharp, and didn't appear to be any worse than a 17" (I might not have a trained eye though). So, if that is the case with 20" vs 22", I'd go for the 22", seeing as I'll be using it to watch movies from a distance.
What do you think?

Really? How do you get a coupon deal? This monitor looks really nice, and the large display + 1920x1200 makes me orgasm.

oh sorry ^^ forgot to mention the Westinghouse does have aspect ratio controls in hardware for component, componsite, and svideo (just not dvi or vga)

The 2407FPW has had all sorts of banding issues and it's generally a good idea to run far, far away.

For in-depth technical analyses and reccomendations check out the forums at http://www.widescreengamingforum.com (it's not just about gaming, trust me)

As Garret mentioned, shouldn't the A03 revisions be fixed? I've done a bit of research, and it seems that people have found that the banding issues have been resolved.

I like the look of the 2407 and it has some pretty respectable specs. I remember hearing about the banding issues and they were resolved with the new A03 revision.

I just wish there were more white computer hardware, and less beige shit. Both my case AND monitor happen to be silver and white like the iPod gear. Pretty snazzy if I do say so myself.

http://www.kof.com.tw/lib/kof-tw/mkys4004-2.jpg
http://img.clubic.com/photo/00150225.jpg

That's what I've been hearing aswell, and it's looking like this is the monitor I'll want to purchase. However, if Arainach knows something I (we) don't, I'd like to hear it.

Also, killmoms, what is this "Dell Coupon" thing, and how do I get it?

Thanks.

Dell will occasionally run coupon deals. Just sign up for one of those deal sites. I'm most familiar with dealmac.com of course, being a Mac fan, but they keep their eyes on a lot of other manufacturers besides Apple. Just "subscribe" to their listing for the Dell 2407 and you'll get an alert the next time there's a coupon deal. They also list the lowest price ever seen for the item in question and how long it's been since that price, which lets you know whether the latest deal is good and how likely the best one is to occur again. All in all, very convenient.

Arainach: I hadn't heard that 1080 was only possible through the component input. That's very odd. Software problem, or...? Also, I was under the impression that the banding issues were pretty much a thing of the past, since A03, and that's been several months now since I heard a peep out of anyone regarding that issue. I'd say with a pretty reasonable level of confidence that it's not a concern anymore.

I have spoken to Level 3 Dell Technicians about the 1080 support with the 2407's, and all of them told me that only 1080i is supported, and only through the component input *this was apparently to the disappointment of many who wanted to play the upcoming ps3's through their 2407*. That was with the A02's at the time, although I doubt much has changed with the A03's.

That being said, to my knowledge the A03's do resolve the banding issue. I had replaced some of our A02's at work with the A03's, and noticed a difference. As well I've read similar response's through forums and colleagues whom had Dell replace their A02's with A03's *which is a feature i love btw*.

Like I said before:
I know the difference between 1080p and 1080i is progressive scan/interlaced, but to someone like me, would I really notice a difference between the two? (Can a computer output 1080p through the DVI port, and if so, how much better is it to the average user?)

I'm really new to the HD/1080 stuff (all my life I've been using commodore 64 monitors), so any help would be appreciated.

Honestly, probably not. Unless you had a 1080i and a 1080p sitting side by side, then zoomed in to sit there for 5 min and compare the two at 400% magnification, you will probably not notice the difference like 99% of the population. while going from 480p to 1080i is a big step that is easily seen, going from 1080i to 1080p is almost impossible to tell.

Oh, ok. Thanks.

But can computers output either 1080i or 1080p through DVI, or is that only through component?

most cards can do a resolution that would fall into 1080p and most newer video cards can encode 1080i via component or DVI (dont know how many card can do 1080p through component). Though only a few cards do this with HDCP

Thanks for that info. I signed up at Dealnews, but it says that the lowest ever price for the 2407 was $679. Didn't you say that you saw the 2407 in the $500 range? Also, I heard somewhere that you can somehow score a 25% off coupon from Dell. Do you know how to go about getting this?

Hmm, I've been doing a bit more research and it turns out that the Dell 2407 may not be the best choice. Appearently, it will stretch a 4:3 to widescreen unless you have a Nvidia card; seeing as I am going to be using an ATI card, this is a huge problem.

I also heard that the quality through the component input is low. Can anyone confirm this? I'll be using the component alot, so it needs to look nice. In addition, is it true that the 2407 will not accept 1080i or 1080p through component?

One last thing: the response time (16ms (black to white), 6ms (gray to gray)) seems rather low. Again, I don't have much experience with high-end displays. Will this be low enough for high-end gaming?

Thanks.

Composite != Component

Also, that 4:3 stretching thing is bunk. ATI card are capable of widescreen resolutions just like any other.

I'll be getting mine tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll let you know how it looks once it arrives.

Oops, sorry, that was a typo on my part. I meant Component

Right, but are they capable of preserving 4:3 content on a widescreen monitor, without stretching it?

Thanks alot, I look forward to hearing from you!

I've got a Dell 2407 (thanks killmoms) I've had it for over a month. It's easily the best investment I've made in quite a while. Banding issues are nil so that isn't a problem.

As for the stretching. What are you concerned about the monitor stretching? When it comes to emulation yes it does stretch images, although I think that's more of an issue with the fact that my OS is set to 1920 x 1200 and thus the emulator take on that resolution, and that's only if I enlarge it to "full screen". Images tthat come through imputs are not stretched. I especially like the fact that it tells you what resolution you're getting.

As for the component quality, I don't know if that's a problem with the monitor, or the fact that it's HD. The common analogy is that putting a low def image on a high def screen is like looking at something under a microscope. You're going to see imperfections. Because this is the only HD screen I own, and I have yet to put anything > 480p into it I couldn't really tell you by comparison. I'd suspect any quality issues are due to what I stated though.

Just curious, what revision did you get? Was it a refurbished unit?

Let's say I have a game that does not support a widescreen resolution (Battlefield 2). If I run that game on this 1920x1200 display, while my desktop resolution is set to 1920x1200, will the game stretch the aspect ratio, making things look short and fat, or will there be two black rectangles at each side of the screen? Is there an option to choose (for both VGA and DVI)?


So if hook up a console through component/composite that only supports 4:3, it will not strech the apsect ratio, it will stay in 4:3? It is very important to me that original aspect ratios are preserved, in every situation. Of course, if something supports widescreen, then so be it.


From what you've seen through component, would you say its better or worse than any other display you've seen?

Also, one question I've been hearing so many different answers to is this: Does this monitor support 1080i and 1080p through Component aswell as DVI?

#1 I got mine new. (revision A03 I believe)

#2. I'm not a PC gamer so I can't really answer your question there. When I play emulators it does stretch them, so I'm assuming you'll have the same issue with the games you're speaking of

#3 The funny thing is that the images seem partially stretched. They don't go all the way to the edges, but they seem a bit wider than a standard 4:3. It doesn't affect gameplay at all though as I was playing fighters and sidescrollers. This could also just be just what the PS2 does though. I believe the resolution the monitor read was 674 x 224 or something weird like that.

#4 I already answered and it's not really a fair question. Of course it's worse than a tube TV for standard def images because of what I stated above. If you want the best image possible out of Gamecube/Xbox/PS2 then you shouldn't play on an HD screen. The quality I was speaking of was comparing images from those systems to other HD displays, I don't know how that will compare.

About 1080i/p I couldn't really tell you that either because I don't have any sources for that. I don't have an Xbox 360, Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD player, and my compurter isn't quite beefy enough to play 1080i/p videos that I download off the net (That could just be a problem with the quicktime because the requirements for it seem much higher than other files).

If you can find me a two non .mov files one that's 720 p and one that's 1080 p I'd be more than happy to tell you if there's a difference. (The ones off of Microsots website, not suprisingly and ironically, suck ass).

Well, just when I thought I would purchase this monitor, I noticed that Gateway released a monitor (Gateway FPD2485W) with the same specs/features for the same price, but I'm unable to locate a review. If this monitor doesn't have the same pixel mapping problems that the Dell has, I will get this instead.

When I called Dell to buy the 2407, the guy said that the Dell Canada will not be getting in sales, so the monitor price is 899$ CAD. However, he gave me his extension number, and said that I can get 100$ off if I speak to him.

If someone can let me know about the component input pixel ratios on the Gateway, please let me know.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

EDIT:Oh shit son!
I just noticed the BenQ FP241W.... all the features of the previous two monitors, but it has an HDMI port AND it boasts supporting 1080p on all inputs! The price is just a bit higher than the DELL 1407, so I might grab this one later this year. Like the Dell, the BenQ has trouble with 1:1 pixel mapping, but they've said that the problem will be fixed in December. I figure I can wait another month or so. What do you think?