Simviation Forum - Need a lesson on todays monitors

Jan 15^th, 2011 at 2:54am

Skittles Offline
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My budget has increased, so what the heck... What monitor specs should I be looking for. On newegg under Monitors it lists "Large Format Display" and "LCD Monitors"... What's the diff?

So far the only thing I "think" I know is I want a large contrast, low pixel change time and small DPI. That's about it.

Can someone provide a quick lesson as to what to look for? In the old days it was a large resolution, small DPI, fast refresh and minimal difference between "monitor size" and "viewable area".

My real desktop (with a hutch) can hold 23" high x 40" wide. So my trig calcs say it can be about a 46" monitor without the stand.

Any and all advice is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Joe

EDIT:
After my initial search based solely on dimensions, price and resolution I've found this...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116436

Now I'm looking at this...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002487R

« Last Edit: Jan 15^th, 2011 at 8:49pm by Skittles »

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #1 - Jan 19^th, 2011 at 1:43pm

Skittles Offline
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Since no one answered I was forced to teach myself... which I supposes was the point so I say this sincerely, thank you for not responding.

It seems things haven't changed much. There's still the focus on DPI and MAX vs RECOMMENDED resolution. The viewable area isn't much concern anymore... it seems the viewable area matches the LCD diagonal measurement... unlike with CRTs.

The Contrast Ratio measuring has not been standardized so that seems to be a big misleading selling point.

Also the Response time has not been standardized. Some measure from on to off, some measure off to on to off and some measure grey to grey.

I got confused about HDMI, DVI, Dual-link DVI etc. That info is on wikipedia.

I was looking for a monitor that would "fill-up" the space available on my desk, under my hutch but the res was 1920x1080 (standard HD) but to fill the display the dpi was >.46, Since I'd be sitting only 2ft from the display I knew that would drive me nuts.

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #2 - Jan 21^st, 2011 at 4:30pm

Steve M Offline
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I could not have responded to this with any technical advice. I can say I recently moved to dual 22 inch screens and the immersion is awesome compared to a single 22 inch. The only glitch in the works is the screen bezel in the middle you have to deal with, so it seems a 40+ inch wide screen would be a better choice. But 44 inch wide lcd is still over $1200 to $1500 and I was able to set up two 22" for about $400 and have the option to shut one screen down for normal use. And yeah, the different ways of measuring screen quality by the manufacturers seem to be designed to confuse.. All the best, Steve

Flying with twins is a lot of fun..

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Reply #3 - Jan 21^st, 2011 at 5:20pm

Skittles Offline
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I'm limited to the size based on my hutch. I still haven't quite decided. I tried a three monitor idea but They ended up being really small.

EDIT:
If I do go with the 40" with a dpi of .46 I wonder what it would look like from 2 feet away

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #4 - Jan 21^st, 2011 at 5:59pm

Skittles Offline
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OK, using DPI Calculator, I can calculate that a dot pitch of .4612 = 55 ppi.

Now, how to I get an example of 55ppi?

ADDED:
I'm such a geek! I opened up Excel and created a grid of 55 lines. Then I stretched it out to cover a grid of 96. Then I printed it out. I think a dpi of .46 will be just fine.

So now the question is...
a 27" for $360 or a 40" for $1056. Hmm, something to ponder for a while.

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #5 - Jan 21^st, 2011 at 7:28pm

Steve M Offline
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Skittles wrote on Jan 21^st, 2011 at 5:20pm:

I'm limited to the size based on my hutch. I still haven't quite decided. I tried a three monitor idea but They ended up being really small.

EDIT:
If I do go with the 40" with a dpi of .46 I wonder what it would look like from 2 feet away

22" x2 = 39" horizontal space since you shiplap the two bezels. Physically 16 inches in height including the stands. So the hutch is the limiting factor. Cool

Flying with twins is a lot of fun..

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Reply #6 - Jan 23^rd, 2011 at 11:52am

Skittles Offline
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If the height is less than 22", I can go 60" wide. I've been looking into a TH2G.

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #7 - Jan 23^rd, 2011 at 2:32pm

Steve M Offline
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Well I'm a fan of dual and triple head2go simply because I don't need to to do normal web surfing on one huge screen. I can shut down extra screens at will, saving power and wear. You have to get used to the screen bezels and set your views appropriately before flight. Also oval gauges may happen in 2d cockpit but in 3d cockpit not usually if your moniters are set up right. (1024 x 2 or 1024 x3,for example.)
I'm still in the learning stages of it, but really loving the view!

Flying with twins is a lot of fun..

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Reply #8 - Jan 24^th, 2011 at 12:06am

Skittles Offline
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I was looking at a graph showing the possible resolutions for TH2G. If I got three 1920x1080 monitors, TH2G would not be able to support 5790x1080. So that was a turn off for me.

What do computers and air conditioners have in common?
They both will work perfectly, until you open windows.

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Reply #9 - Jan 24^th, 2011 at 2:22am

NNNG Ex Member

Hey Skittles,

I don't know much about screens, so I cannot help much in that area. I will reply to your emails soon, however.

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