20 or 22'' widescreen 1680x1050 or 20' square (4:3) 1400X1050 or 1600x1200??? or 5:4?

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Kryogen

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Feb 3, 2002
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I have a 17 inch CRT. I want a new LCD. I can't make a choice. It's not really about how much it costs, it's about the right choice.

First problem is, widescreen or not.
If not widescreen, 5:4 or 4:3? ( I'm not sure it's a safe bet to go 19 inch 1280x1024 since I won't be able to run 1024 or 800x600 in older games and stuff.?)

So um, 19 5:4, 20 inch 1400x1050(any good?) or 1600x1200?

Really can't decide. I feel weird going to widescreen, since I mostly surf web, use ms office, etc on my comp. Not a big gamer/movie watcher. I think it would feel weird having my desktop widescreen, wouldn't it?

Choices (just examples, don't go into brand debate please). Which one and why?

Viewsonic VX2235WM 22IN LCD Monitor BLACK/SILVER Widescreeen 1680X1050 5MS 700:1 VGA DVI W/ Cable
$9.99 GROUND SHIPPING! In Stock $449.99 BUY

Viewsonic VX2025WM 20IN LCD Monitor BLACK/SILVER Widescreen 1680X1050 8MS 800:1 VGA DVI W/ Cable
$9.99 GROUND SHIPPING! In Stock $377.73 BUY

Viewsonic VP2030B 20IN LCD Monitor Black 1600X1200 8MS 1000:1 Pivot Height Adjust VGA DVI W/ Cable (VP2030B)
Special Order, Usually 1-2 weeks. $559.40

Viewsonic VG2021M 20.1 IN BLACK, 1400X1050, OPTISYNIC DIGITAL/ANALOG, 300-NIT, 500:1 CONTRAST, 8 M
Special Order, Usually 1-2 weeks. $326.32
*** This one looks good, cheap, 4:3, 20 inch, why not???

Or a 5:4 19 inch?
 
Viewsonic VX2025WM 20IN LCD Monitor BLACK/SILVER Widescreen 1680X1050 8MS 800:1 VGA DVI W/ Cable
Click to expand...

1680x1050 looks kinda ugly on a 22", it's like somewhat large and not as crisp to me.

20.1 for the win, though.
 
widescreen or not? I can't figure out why I would LIKE widescreen over 4:3.

Can I still run old games on a widescreen monitor?
 
Kryogen said:
widescreen or not? I can't figure out why I would LIKE widescreen over 4:3.

Can I still run old games on a widescreen monitor?
Click to expand...


Hell ya dude. Widescreen gaming rules.. you get to see so much more to the right/left of you.

I really like widescreen, I cannot use a standard screen ever again. It just feels weird.
 
Kryogen said:
widescreen or not? I can't figure out why I would LIKE widescreen over 4:3.

Can I still run old games on a widescreen monitor?
Click to expand...

I've seen some demos of WS monitors of games, but I still don't see how it is actually better than a 4:3 screen.

If I did purchase a wide screen it would have to be 22" or greater becaues i don't want to lose my vertical height for webpages and basic use.
 
saying that you dont like widescreen is like saying you hate your peripheral vision, and you would rather have forward-only blinders on like a horse.
 
I just upgraded to a widescreen 22" Viewsonic VX2235wm from a 19" CRT and I prefer the widescreen for Internet browsing because you can have your Favorites or History tool bar to the left and still have plenty of width for web pages. Just my 2 cents.
 
I find nothing wrong with 1680X1250 on a 22" for everyday use and gaming . Things look just fine for online surfing and great in games that support it (of which most new games do and many older ones are matching it with patches) . Infact I prefer it over my past 4:3 screens .
Pretty happy with the Viewsonic 22" and find it to be a bargin ($300) , specially when technology changes soooo fast ; and a 22" will be the norm in about a year . A year from now 24"-26" will be all the rage and about the same price the 22" are now and a 30" with the same price of the current 24" . Widescreen is here to stay , and will be the dominate format in the future .
 
NCIX.com has great prices on the Viewsonic 20" and 22"
If you search for them, you can find the 22" for $415 Canadian shipped and the 20" for like $370. They're both open box.
 
I'm not sure that I buy the idea that widescreen offers all that much more view to the left/right. I mean, the driver on how much you see on the screen is how mny pixels are displayed, and a 4:3 1600x1200 has nearly the sme number of pixels horizontally as a 16:10 at 1680x1050. Okay, I'm getting 80 more pixels horizontally at the cost of 150 vertically, so it appears like I'm getting more left/right, but in reality it isn't that significant unless you consider 5% significant.
 
That's true. 1680 VS 1600 is practically nothing. Widescreen monitors are clearly wider than 4:3 monitors, however, which means you are just getting a bigger pixel pitch with a widescreen monitor.
 
Your eyes, as a predator, see better in the horizontal plane than they do vertically.....it's not about the viewing area so much as it is the natural ability of your eyes and brain to be more sensitive in peripheral vision to the left and right.
 
Scyles said:
That's true. 1680 VS 1600 is practically nothing. Widescreen monitors are clearly wider than 4:3 monitors, however, which means you are just getting a bigger pixel pitch with a widescreen monitor.
Click to expand...

Bigger pixel pitch? How? It's not like the pixels are being stretched.
 
So what about the viewsonic VX2025WM???? Pretty good bargain isn't it? 350$ CAN at best buy.
 
Just to say Widescreen is awesome!

Recieved my Viewsonic VX2025wm the other day, had a few hours on it and had to put it away because it's a "Birthday present" :(

I'm back to my 19" CRT. Everything feels so cramped on a 4:3!

When using a widescreen games feel so much more imersive, I found that when playing HL2, although you're mainly looking at the center of the screen, you're aware of more of whats going on in the game due to the extra width which adds to the imersion. Even using windows, the extra desktop real estate is a blessing. I was cautious about going widescreen but after having to go back to 4:3 it really made me appreciate what a benefit widescreen is. :)
 
Yeah, I just have to join in and say widescreen is awsome. It just feels more natural to me.
 
Hmm, depends on your preferences I suppose, I personally like a small dot pitch on a TFT, I'm really picky, I think 19" TFT's look aweful with their larger dot pitch, but thats just me.. :D

The 5ms response time sounds tastey but whether it will get anything near that in operation will be a completley different issue...(same with most/all TFT's though I guess...)

Personally I'd get the VX2025wm over the VX2235 for the smaller dot pitch and hey, if your worried about size, do what I'm doing and get two VX2025wm's :p

For me, that kind of set up is awesome... have VB in one monitor, and Photoshop in the other :D
 
TheRapture said:
Your eyes, as a predator, see better in the horizontal plane than they do vertically.....it's not about the viewing area so much as it is the natural ability of your eyes and brain to be more sensitive in peripheral vision to the left and right.
Click to expand...

That's true, but the way widescreen monitors give you that extra space to the sides is by increasing the pixel size, not by increasing the amount of data displayed (okay, it's 5% bigger horizontally than a 1600x1200, but you know what I mean). It might look better because your eyes are used to seeing a horizontally wider image, but it's not really giving you all that much more visual data, and it is doing so at the cost of vertical data. It really comes down to your preference - go to a store and look at a 4:3 and a 16:10 side by side and see what you prefer. The 4:3 gives more actual desktop space, and for me seems more natural for desktop use, which is where my computer spends most of its time.
 
Forceman said:
I'm not sure that I buy the idea that widescreen offers all that much more view to the left/right. I mean, the driver on how much you see on the screen is how mny pixels are displayed, and a 4:3 1600x1200 has nearly the sme number of pixels horizontally as a 16:10 at 1680x1050. Okay, I'm getting 80 more pixels horizontally at the cost of 150 vertically, so it appears like I'm getting more left/right, but in reality it isn't that significant unless you consider 5% significant.
Click to expand...


I agree with this. I have 20" 1600x1200 and I would like more height many times. More width not so much.

20" Widescreen is really like a wide 17" it is the same height as a 17".
http://tvcalculator.com/index.html?e59bc4c34296ac6620e7d315d0d281b7

A 20" widescreen is 1.76 Million pixels, a 4:3 20" has 1.92 Million pixels.

I prefer bigger. So regular 20" 16:12 over 16:10.

If I go widescreen it will be 23" plus so it will still be at least 1200 high.
 
The numbers are deceptive in this regard. Try googling for some pictures of WideScreen vs. Regular HL2 or EQ2. I was convinced of this as well until I actually saw how much more picture you actually see. Its not just 80 more pixels. I think this has to do with the aspect ratio of 16:10 or 16:9 vs. 4:3, just as in movies. It is very distinctly noticable when you see it side by side. I will never go back to 4:3 screens if at all possible.
 
the 22's are as good as the backlight bleed. you should really compare them in the store to make sure. i chose to spend the extra 100 for the extra inches, but i wouldnt have been disappointed with the 20 incher either.
 
Both look good to me, but it just feels weird that the 20 inch WS's screen isn't really taller than my 17 inch CRT, while a 19 inch LCD looks huge.

Last time I checked though, the 20 inch screen looked really sharp, but smallish. The 22 inch was a bit less sharp, but really looked big.
 
What resolutions are those at? Are those images comparing a 1600x1200 screen to a 1680x1050, or is it a 1280x1024 vs a 1680x1050? I was looking at the AOE3 one in particular. Looking at how the vertical increases in the widescreen picture, I'd say it's the latter. Anybody lurking here have a 20" wide and a 20" regular they could hook up and take a side by side picture for us?

Megglers said:
Look at he images at this website. There is a large difference. I have 16 x 12 vp201b. I'm waiting patiently for the 24" ws to come down in price!!

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Master_Games_List_-_A
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I also currently have a 17"Crt, and I am in the market for a new LCD.

My usage is: Photo editing (50%), Office (25%) and Internet(25%)

I also compared widescreen 16:10 to normal 4:3 screens and I came to the following conclusions:
- For Photographic editing widescreen seems ideal because digital images have the 15:10 aspect ratio, but this is only true when viewing landscape sized images. Editing landscape images there is still space for photoshop tools on the left or right side of the screen.
- Widesreen monitors smaller then 21" are usless, they offer no more height then a 17" 4:3 monitor. A 21" widescreen has the same height as a 19" normal 4:3 screen, which is a nice height for office use. a 24" wide screen has the same height as a 21" 4:3.
- For normal office use and for portraid photo editing you need height and not width.
- If you are not a gamer, a movie viewer or someone who likes photo edting -like me-, you better save the money and buy a 19-21" 4:3 LCD.

I tend to buy a 24" widescreen or the new 26" NEC widescreen, but I still don't rule out a 21" inch 4:3 screen. But the monitors that are on my radar are not entry models :rolleyes:
 
I just recently went from a 19" (1600x1200) CRT to a 22" (1680X1050) Viewsonic LCD. I spend a lot of time on my computer for work, and the CRT was bothering my eyes. Besides the fact that it's an LCD, I find the larger pixel pitch on a larger screen nice, because I can sit back further now. As someone else mentioned WS is great for photoshop and web surfing. Resolution wise, there isn't much of a difference, but size does matter. Picture quality and colors are better on the CRT though. Over all I'm very happy with the new display.
 
I think you guys are sorta missing the point on widescreen. It isn't the there are "more" pixes or "larger/smaller" pixels. WS wins simply because most games (and indeed most situations in real life) have more activity in the horizontal than in the vertical plane. If you are running across a battle field and are about to get shot, its probably from your left or your right, more than above/below you.

Pixel for pixel, widescreen trades less utilized real-estate for more highly utilized.

Edit: oh and thats gaming, for programming, you simply can NOT beat having more horizontal width for longish lines of code and big dev environments.
 
Silmatharien said:
I've read the 22 isn't very good. I got the 20" today and it's freaking unbelievable. I love it.
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Have the 22" and I love it. I'm sure your's is very very good but I love the "I heard" which usually means that you read somewhere from someone that they did not like it LOL.

I just wonder if the very same people who claim that the 22" sucks cause the pixels are bigger all have 17" monitors instead of 19" ones. After all both 17 and 19" monitors share the same 1280x1024 so the larger pixels on the 19" ones must really make a horid picture :)

-JB
 
Kryogen said:
more opinions?

the 20 or 22'' screen?
Click to expand...

IMHO it all depends on how far you sit from the monitor.

If you sit with your eyes glued 6" from the screen *smiles* then the larger pixels of the 22" may bother you.

With my aging eyes I vote for the 22" screen cause it actually allows me to sit at a normal distance from the screen and still see it LOL.

-JB
 
jrb531 said:
I just wonder if the very same people who claim that the 22" sucks cause the pixels are bigger all have 17" monitors instead of 19" ones. After all both 17 and 19" monitors share the same 1280x1024 so the larger pixels on the 19" ones must really make a horid picture :)
-JB
Click to expand...

I had a 24", 20" and 17". I still only have the 17". I wouldn't really want pixels bigger than the the 17"/24" and prefer the size on the 20". I would not buy 19" or 22" because of large pixels. I can see the pixels in normal use distance on my 17" so a 19" would just be uglier IMO. Same difference between a 20" and a 21".

The only time I would go for bigger pixels is when the primary use is a TV when I am sitting across the room.

Other than that I want .25 mm pixels and more of them.
 
I bought a 1600x1200 20.1"" LCD and I am now regretting not buying a WS LCD :(
 
Isaacav2 said:
I bought a 1600x1200 20.1"" LCD and I am now regretting not buying a WS LCD :(
Click to expand...

Why? A "widescreen" is only 80 pixels wider. I would much rather have a 16x12 than 16x10.

If you want widescreen, I suggest you go all the way and get a 1920x1200 23"+.
 
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