LCD for sharp text

B

behr

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My CRT monitors are dying. I am thinking getting a LCD. However, I am not so sure of the quality of text. I only used cheap quality LCD at the office. I went to a few stores, but text quality is really bad. I do not know if they are set wrong. One thing worries me is that screen resolution. I read that if the LCD's are used at lower resolutions than their specification, text does not look good.

My ideal screen size would be 4:3 ratio 20". 19"s that I found are 5:4 ratio which I can live with. For widescreen, good size would be 22". Although, I work long hours in front of computer so larger screens
generate more heat and radiation. I don't need widescreen.

I work in a very quiet environment. Buzz sound generated with the coils bother me a lot so I would like to avoid these monitors.

I see people are suggesting glossy screens. That might be good for games/movies, but I am guessing they will not be good for eye strain.

If the monitor has good quality speakers, that would be plus. But, I think most of the LCDs have bad speakers, so it is better if it does not.

I would prefer LCD with height adjustment. Again, it is not a deal breaker. If there is, it would be better.

I do not play games or watch movies. So, I think response time won't be an issue. Although, I have not used LCDs seriously.

I think for me the contrast and brightness would be important. I use my monitor very dim. So, dynamic range should be excellent. What's a good minimum contrast ratio and brightness?

Sorry for the long post. In summary, this is what I am looking for:
Musts
1. 20" 4:3 5:4, 19" 4:3 5:4, 22" 16:10 LCD
2. No buzz sound
3. Sharp text with excellent dynamic range
4. Stays cool, does not get hot. Does not need fan.

Maybes
1. Vertical adjustment
2. Good speakers

Not sure
1. Glossy screen (although I do not have experience with glossy screen, I am guessing matte screen will be better for eyes).

What would you suggest?

Thanks.

P.S. I searched forums for LCD discussions. I only found this one. I also appreciate if you can point me to other forums.
 
20 inch ws have really sharp text compared to the 22s. If it gets too small and your running Vista you can scale the DPI really nicely to. I have the Samsung 206bw and love it.
 
j0j081 said:
20 inch ws have really sharp text compared to the 22s. If it gets too small and your running Vista you can scale the DPI really nicely to. I have the Samsung 206bw and love it.
Click to expand...


I noticed this too on my 22" but only on certain websites -- but reducing sharpness one notch from 5 to 4 in the OSD fixed the text issue.
 
Musts
2. Buzzing is indeed a widespread problem with not enough people reporting it. If you do get a monitor that buzzes, turn brightness up to 100%, then turn down the RGB to dim it. You also get less flicker with max brightness

3. The sharpest texts are achieved with DVI + native res (+ cleartype). If you want even sharper text you can toy with your graphics card's sharpness setting.

By good dynamic range I assume you want good contrast between text and background? LCDs won't have contrast ratios as good as CRTs', but I don't think you'll have problems reading texts. If you're looking to be able to distinguish all 256 shades of gray it's just not possible without high brightness.

4. LCDs generally run pretty cool, especially compared to CRTs. If you're looking for a LCD that runs cool relative to other LCDs then I don't know. I've never heard of a LCD that's fan cooled.

Not sure:
1. Glossy screen gives you sharper text and higher contrast ratio. I don't know a reason why it would be bad for your eyes, just make sure you don't have any lights that'll reflect off the screen (glare).


Without knowing exactly how picky you are, I'm guessing any LCD on the market now should be good enough for you. One model does jump out in my mind: the HP W2207 is glossy with height adjustment and includes speakers
 
Thank you for your suggestions.

I have 19" CRT, it is small for me. I also have 21" CRT, height is fine, sometimes I wish it was wider. 19" 5:4 LCD is slightly smaller than 21" CRT. I do not want to go any lower. 20" 16:10 LCD would be too narrow. 22" 16:10 LCDs are newer and they are almost the same price as the smaller sizes. So, pricewise I am leaning towards 22" LCDs. Unless, text quality is worse.

I am currently using Windows XP. In the stores, all the computers had Vista installed. I tried to change the resolution, but I made it even worse.

People work in loud environments, that's why they are not hearing the buzzing. Also, buzzing gets worse after long hours of work. I tried the listen the LCDs in the store. I couldn't hear but it is loud there.

I checked the temperature of the LCDs. Some of them were very cool and some of them were very hot. I thought they might have used fans in the hotter ones.

People are saying they do not see the difference between VGA and DVI connections. Thanks for your suggestion. I will keep it in mind.

I looked at the Samsung glossy and then NEC matte screens. I felt more comfortable with NEC. But, I saw one HP laptop with glossy screen, it had the best text quality.

On pcworld.com, NEC 90GX2 received 84 text score. HP W2207 received 78. People seemed to like the HP. Samsung 226BW is also getting good reviews. But, pcworld does not have a review of it.

This is my first time searching LCDs. There are so many models. I am overwhelmed with the information.

19" and 20" square LCDs seem to be older models. There are discounts on newer 22" wide LCDs. So, I think it is better to buy 22" wide LCD. Is the text quality worse at 22" than 20" lets say for two top models?
 
I think you're going to find a lot of people simply don't know what in the hell they are doing when they complain about text quality.

I have a 22inch Samsung 225bw, and my text is great. Native 1680x1050 resolution, with a dvi cable, cleartype enabled.

You'll find most units in retail stores are set improperly. It's not a good way to determine what looks good and what doesn't unless you go in and set them yourself.

*always enable cleartype and hit the MS cleartype site to set it to your liking.
 
LCDs, when properly adjusted to its VGB signal, will display text with very acceptable sharpness. The only reason I can tell you DVI is sharper is because I have both of them side by side. The difference is small but it's not insignificant. It's definitely one of those if you don't know better you won't be bothered by it or know what to look for to spot the difference. I would never have replaced the VGA cable if I wasn't already buying something else and a DVI cable only costs a few dollars.

Texts on a 20" monitor only looks sharper than on 22" because they're smaller (unless you increase the font size on a 20" monitor, then yes, text will be sharper). I think bigger text trumps the perceived sharpness here when it comes to overall readability.
 
Thanks for your warning about the DVI cable. I do not have DVI cable, some monitors are sold with DVI cable and people say there is not much difference between VGA and DVI, so I would not try it.

I see Samsung 226BW is very popular. Is this the best LCD I can get below $300? Thanks.
 
I bought a 226BW for my sister. I think the performance for the price is excellent. Two notes: we did hook it up DVI. And it did come with a Samsung panel. I imagine the difference between DVI and VGA would also with this panel be there, but subtle. The panel thing is a little controversy with this model. Some people who bought the monitor later have gotten units with LCD panels made by other manufacturers and were not as pleased. At this point, the differences between the Samsung panel equipped 226BWs and the others is unclear to me. You might want to look at some of the discussions and reviews for the latest word on that.

I think for me the contrast and brightness would be important. I use my monitor very dim. So, dynamic range should be excellent. What's a good minimum contrast ratio and brightness?

If by dynamic range, you mean, for example, the difference between the darkest all black screen vs. the brightest all white screen, that is a weak point of all LCDs. You really would need a CRT for big numbers there.

However, an LCD should have a higher black/white checkerboard contrast result, which should make it superior for text display.

If you mean how dark can the monitor acceptably get generally, you might want to make sure the store has a good return policy, so you can bring it back if that turns out to be an issue.

In my sister's room the 226BW seemed fine that way. However, the room does have a lot of ambient light so I didn't try to adjust it for a darker room...
 
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