Display size shrinking

[Xee]

I've got an old 19" Mitsubishi 930sb which seems to be losing display real estate. If I try to stretch the image to fill the whole screen it start getting squeezed at the bottom before it even reaches the edge. Currently, the only way I can get everything to stay in proportion is to leave half an inch off the bottom:

Is there some setting I'm missing or is my monitor on its way out?

 

[flylow]

I think you could probably get it repaired if you want to stick with a CRT but replacing it may be more cost effective considering its age. It was released in 2003 according to www.firingsquad.com Saw similar, perhaps the same, issue on another CRT. It still had the same issue when he replaced it 6 months later. I did see a Hitachi CRT monitor that shrunk in about a quarter of an inch on each side that was cured by cleaning the dust out of the Radeon 850 XT PE video card.

 

[Xee]

I think you could probably get it repaired if you want to stick with a CRT but replacing it may be more cost effective considering its age. It was released in 2003 according to www.firingsquad.com/hw/1914/Mitsubishi_Diamond_Pro_930SB Saw similar, perhaps the same, issue on another CRT. It still had the same issue when he replaced it 6 months later. I did see a Hitachi CRT monitor that shrunk in about a quarter of an inch on each side that was cured by cleaning the dust out of the Radeon 850 XT PE video card.

Yeah, I bought it in '04 and the warranty expired September of '07. I already had it serviced in '06 for a separate issue which has since somewhat returned. Though considering the cost of buying an LCD that comes close to the performance of this, it still might be cheaper to call up NEC and see how much it would cost to get it repaired.

 

[flylow]

I finally replaced my dual 21" Dell P1130 CRT monitors with LCDs and could not be happier with the Asus LCD displays I bought. I honestly would not want to go back to a CRT. NEC would probably want quite a bit for repair, are there any local electronic repair shops? You might poke around on craigslist and see what turns up CRT wise, would probably be cheaper than repairing the old one. I still need to give away locally (Olympia, WA) either a Dell P1130 or a Hitachi 19". Both are great monitors but take up too much storage room and are just collecting dust.

 

[Xee]

I finally replaced my dual 21" Dell P1130 CRT monitors with LCDs and could not be happier with the Asus LCD displays I bought. I honestly would not want to go back to a CRT.

Just curious, which models did you end up going with?

 

[flylow]

Just curious, which models did you end up going with?

Short answer: two Asus VW266H.

Long version of how I ended up with Asus displays:

First I bought an Asus VW246H 24" 16:9, then a VW266H 25.5" 16:10. The lower pixel size of the VW246H makes some text look better than the 25.5" VH266H. Color shift is more noticeable on the 25.5" too. But I ended up buying another 25.5" VH266H because my needs/wants of the larger screen. 1920x1200 versus 1920x1080 did not make that much difference to me personally.

I couldn't see going with anything larger than a 25.5" unless it has a resolution of 2560 x 1600.

The Dell P1130 were my first dual monitor setup, bought both off of craigslist just a year ago. One for $30 and the other for $50. Side by side the P1130s had a noticeable difference, one was a bit bluish and one was a bit reddish.

Same thing with between the VW246H and the VW266H. So I bought a cheap Huey Pro off of newegg when it was onsale for around $70 and after resetting the Asus LCD displays to default and running the Hueypro quite a few times I got it figured out how to get the best results. When I got the second VW266H it did not quite match the first one. The Hueypro took care of the problem, again I had to run it several times to get it close enough. Even when I recalibrate I still have to run the hueypro several times. Would like to get a Eye 2 One but they are a bit pricey for my wallet. I sold the VW246H for what I paid. Two matching displays looks better cosmetically than different sizes.

I looked at both of the local Costcos, bestbuy, officemax and etc around town and no one had anything larger than 23" in stock. Dell seems to make decent monitors but Dell is not one of my favorite companies so the large Dell medallions on the front of my P1130 influenced my decision not to buy Dell. I did not like what I read about input lag on the Samsung monitors I researched plus they do not have VESA mounts. I feel that the 27.5" Hanns dot pitch was too large, no 1:1, limited input connections, think there would be too much color shift on a TN 27.5" for my personal taste plus I came across a couple of reviews on youtube that made me cross it off my list. Visiontek does not seem to have as good of reputation with LCD as they did with CRT. NEC are too pricey for my budget. My first name is Ben so I just did not want a monitor named Benq. I could not come up with much negative about the Asus monitors so I took a chance. They are working out great for my needs/wants. Not the top of the line like NEC nor bottom of the line either. At the prices Asus displays have been selling for lately, IMHO, they offer great bang for the buck. Very minimal backlight bleed on the bottom of the screen, 3 in a row with no dead pixels.

If you can buy a monitor from Costco to try it is easy to return for full refund in case of dead pixels or even if you decide to go back to CRT. I do not know how easy it is to return monitors to Sam's Club. Better to buy someplace local with easy returns just in case. Costco simply did not stock anything I wanted. I have not tried a IPS/VA panel but I think most will be happy with a decent TN either 16:9 or 16:10. Lots of TN haters and pro 16x10 people that seem to like to play the "mine is bigger/better than yours" game. I wish I had not listened to them. As always YMMV.

If you are close to Olympia, WA I have a great 21" Dell P1130 or a 19" Hitachi CM751U you can have for free...

 

[Jospeh]

CLEAN YOUR GOD DAMN MONITOR! Jesus. Do you know how angry I get seeing smudged up monitors?

 

[flylow]

CLEAN YOUR GOD DAMN MONITOR! Jesus. Do you know how angry I get seeing smudged up monitors?

It's broke, why should he bother cleaning it, probably better to replace it.

 

[Xee]

If you are close to Olympia, WA I have a great 21" Dell P1130 or a 19" Hitachi CM751U you can have for free...

Unfortunately I live in the midwest. Thanks for the offer though.

And thanks for all the pointers. Once this thing finally becomes unusable my budget is only around $300 so I'll definitely have to get a TN panel unless I strike gold on Craigslist. Sure am going to miss the colors.

CLEAN YOUR GOD DAMN MONITOR! Jesus. Do you know how angry I get seeing smudged up monitors?

Of course. Why do you think I haven't cleaned it yet?

 

[flylow]

Unfortunately I live in the midwest. Thanks for the offer though.

And thanks for all the pointers. Once this thing finally becomes unusable my budget is only around $300 so I'll definitely have to get a TN panel unless I strike gold on Craigslist. Sure am going to miss the colors.

I had one of my P1130s for a couple months before I snagged the second one by putting an ad in the wanted section at craigslist. A lady 30 miles north of mr responded saying she had a black monitor, thought it was 21" but did not know the model number. I told her where to look for the model number then drove up to look. Paid her $50 but it looked so nice I would have paid more.

Even though TN displays have fewer colors I did not notice any loss of colors while running TN versus CRT side by side. I imagine some would, I wonder if they would notice if they did not know beforehand. I paid $205 for the VW246H about 2 months ago $255 after rebate for my second VH266H 25.5" just last week. Anymore everything must be on sale or I will not buy. I was overly concerned about the LCD versus CRT thing. My concern, for me at least, was unfounded. At first I spent too much time looking for issues that do not bother me now. Main thing, IMHO, would be if printed pics did not match monitor color close enough. But unless you have a calibrated monitor and a calibrated printer profile you are no doubt going to be off anyway. As far as games and surfing the web I would not be concerned.

Your monitor probably will keep working as is for months, gives you time to find a great deal on craigslist or save up for an IPS/VA panel if you really think you need one over a TN and to research the LCD displays locally.

I am so much happier with my "crappy, inferior" TN panels over CRT I am still amazed after reading all the negative in various forums. Current LCD displays are a lot better than they were a few years ago. If money was not an issue I would research those $2000 NEC 30" displays. I am more than satisfied with dual 25.5" TN panels over one high end IPS/PV despite what the TN haters say. Don't take my word, do your own research as best you can locally.

Noticed by your sig we have the same motherboard and CPU cooler. I am happy with the Rampage Formula and my TRUE black. I think I can get by until the next generation. Now days I am happy upgrading every 2 or 3 years rather than every year.

 

[daveswantek]

CLEAN YOUR GOD DAMN MONITOR! Jesus. Do you know how angry I get seeing smudged up monitors?

+1; I'm with you! There is no excuse for any screen to look like this under any circumstances. Even the armed forces have cleaner screens than that.

Dave

 

[Dymlos]

I think he may have my dad's syndrome: when my father points at things HE TOUCHES THE SCREEN! But to double the bad, if he sees a spec of dust/dirt on the screen, HE LICKS HIS FINGER, AND WIPES IT OFF! Creating huge saliva-smudges.

One of my pet peeves is people touching the screens of monitors for no reason.

What's the point in pretending to care so much about the quality of your monitor when you have it looking that disgusting.

 

[Ludovic]

>> One of my pet peeves is people touching the screens of monitors for no reason.
Seconded!

Not sure what your adjusting but their should be a seperate vertical stretch and position buttons on the front of your monitor, try moving the image down and then stretch...

 

[Xee]

I am so much happier with my "crappy, inferior" TN panels over CRT I am still amazed after reading all the negative in various forums. Current LCD displays are a lot better than they were a few years ago. If money was not an issue I would research those $2000 NEC 30" displays. I am more than satisfied with dual 25.5" TN panels over one high end IPS/PV despite what the TN haters say. Don't take my word, do your own research as best you can locally.

Thanks for the tip. You're right, in researching monitors I've come across many posts lambasting anyone who even broaches the subject of buying a TN panel. They don't seem to realize that not all of us have the disposable income to spend $600+ on a monitor.

In regards to buying locally, I have been perusing CL for any deals. Only come across a couple so far:

Sceptre X22HG 22" - $200 OBO

Samsung 2253BW 22" - $200

They've both gotten really good reviews on Newegg. I'm going to wait a few more days though and see if anything else shows up.

Noticed by your sig we have the same motherboard and CPU cooler. I am happy with the Rampage Formula and my TRUE black. I think I can get by until the next generation. Now days I am happy upgrading every 2 or 3 years rather than every year.

Yup. That's my mindset. When I build a computer I try to go beyond my requirements a bit just to try and future-proof it. This monitor lasted my old computer and I've gotten a bit of life out of this one as well. Don't know if it would have been right to expect it to last any longer.

What's the point in pretending to care so much about the quality of your monitor when you have it looking that disgusting.

+1; I'm with you! There is no excuse for any screen to look like this under any circumstances. Even the armed forces have cleaner screens than that.

Wow. Talk about anal. Images of couches wrapped in double layers of plastic are coming to my head.

Truth is, a daycare is run out of this house and hence my room gets a lot of foot traffic from six snot-nosed kids coming and going throughout the day, pointing their fingers on the screen and asking "What's that?". It's been about a week since I cleaned the monitor which is why it's in the state it's in. I shall endeavor to give it a thorough scrubbing to ensure you two can sleep well at night. Oh, and I appreciate your efforts to derail this thread. Feel free to add any other random gripes you might have completely unrelated to the topic.

 

[Ludovic]

>> One of my pet peeves is people touching the screens of monitors for no reason.
Seconded!

Not sure what your adjusting but their should be a seperate vertical stretch and position buttons on the front of your monitor, try moving the image down and then stretch...

also check your video card settings there might be some adjustment there for position

 

[Xee]

also check your video card settings there might be some adjustment there for position

Yeah, I've fiddled around with everything I can think of. If I try to stretch it the other way I white band appears at the top of the screen. I've got an older CRT that I'm pretty sure still works that I'm going to try and hookup just to rule out video card problems.

 

[vjcsmoke]

If you're going for a 22" gaming LCD, I can recommend the Dell SX2210. It's very responsive, has an excellent pixel pitch (.248), vga/dvi/hdmi, and built in webcam/speaker. It's main weakness/strength is the glossy screen. Some people will like it, some won't. I got used to it. Also the stand lacks adjustability, but it appears to be the case of nearly all monitors in that price range. From what I understand it's basically a Dell rebadged Alienware OptX without the adjustable stand for $100 less.

On sale at Dell now for $199 with free shipping.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=320-7976

Compare to Alienware Optx:
http://www.alienware.com/accessories/gear-shop-Detail.aspx?ItemId=17567&CatId=1441

Dell also provides the SX2210 with a premium panel 3 year 'advanced exchange' warranty. So you won't have to worry as much about dead pixels, just exchange it!
Luckily, my monitor came with 0 dead pixels but your mileage may vary.

 

[chklin]

In regards to buying locally, I have been perusing CL for any deals. Only come across a couple so far:

Sceptre X22HG 22" - $200 OBO

Samsung 2253BW 22" - $200

FYI, 22" monitors now commonly retail for < $150 brand new with warranty. Watch slickdeals.net for at least few days before you buy to get a sense of what is a good price.

If you are patient, it is possible to get a good deal on CL. I got my 2005FPW in mint condition a few months ago for $120.

Even though TN displays have fewer colors I did not notice any loss of colors while running TN versus CRT side by side.

When it comes to the ability to produce colors, I think the statement "LCDs have worse colors than CRTs" is no longer true. It was true in the past (the LCD on my 6-year-old laptop cannot show saturated colors), but nowadays all LCD monitors cover the entire sRGB color space.

Heck, now people even complain that wide-gamut LCDs can produce too many colors.