PC Pals Forum

Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: Simon on January 07, 2006, 16:15

Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2006, 16:15
What do you think...?

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.komplett.co.uk%2Fmlf%2Fprodukt%2Fbilder%2F311530A.jpg&hash=b6dee6650661752dbd2ea2d4f4f2da6dc0854e25)

Details (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=311009&cks=PRL)
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2006, 16:26
Shocked that you didn't already have one!   :laugh:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Sandra on January 07, 2006, 18:31
Flash southern git  :P
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2006, 18:39
Quote from: "Sandra"
Flash southern git  :P


Wish I'd thought of that!  :twisted:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 07, 2006, 18:43
Well, to be honest, and to annoy Sandra, my existing CRT monitor still performs without any problems at all, and I have no reason for buying this, other than as a late Christmas present for myself.  I was wandering round one of those retail parks the other day, as I had an hour to kill before an appointment, ended up in PC World,  :horror:  
and of course, the evils of temptation befell upon me.  :twisted:  I was originally going to go for a Sony, but I like this one better.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Clive on January 07, 2006, 21:04
An added bonus is that you will be able to ditch the fork lift truck you have to use when you want to clean underneath it.   :laugh:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: GillE on January 08, 2006, 00:07
How come it displays a picture of tree branches when it isn't even plugged in?  I hope you get different pictures when it is plugged in.

;)

Gill
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 08, 2006, 00:14
If you click the link, Gill, you'll see it displays orange flowers as well!  :laugh:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 11, 2006, 22:08
Well, I have to say, I'm not over impressed with this new monitor.  The picture on my (at least) 6 year old CRT was at least consistant.  With this one, unless you are looking dead straight onto the centre of the screen, the colours are quite iffy.  I have also found that my favourite 800 x 600 resolution now looks HUGE, although I see no reason why it should, as it is also a 17", the same as my CRT.  I have tried the higher resolutions, but that then looks too small, and adjusting the text and icon sizes doesn't seem to look right either.  I now have a headache, after being on here for about 2 hours, whereas on my old monitor, I have spent virtually whole days in front of it, without any effects.  Now, after looking at the screen for a few seconds, particularly as I type this in the white text box, I have to wait for my eyes to adjust, so I can see the keyboard!  And talking of text, it was clearer on my old monitor, and at least didn't have this white edging round it.   I'm also not happy with the blacks, which are not black, but grey, and no amount of contrast / brightness tweaking seems to remedy this.  Is this how these TFT monitors  are supposed to be?   If so, I wouldn't recommend one to anyone, and in fact, this one may well be going on eBay before long.  :(
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: DJ on January 11, 2006, 23:20
Quote from: "Simon"
If so, I wouldn't recommend one to anyone, and in fact, this one may well be going on eBay before long.  :(


There's a 5p listing day tomorrow  :P  :laugh:

DJ
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Clive on January 11, 2006, 23:33
I think it's just the "shock of the new" Simon.  TFT's are very different to the CRT's and the colours are nowhere near as rich.  But the newer ones are much better than the first generation versions which suffered from slow refresh rates.  This Samsung is now a year old and I'm very pleased with it.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 11, 2006, 23:39
I think I'd want more than 5p for it!  Oh, I see what you mean - lol!  :laugh:  I've just changed it from digital to analogue mode, to see if that makes any difference.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 12, 2006, 00:03
Umm...  :blush2:  I've just discovered the brightness and contrast controls on the Nvidia control panel.  Those have a lot more effect than the controls on the monitor.  Might be OK now.  :whistle:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 12, 2006, 00:20
Sorry Clive, didn't see your post before.  Yes, well it's certainly a shock!  It's much better now that I have adjusted the controls on the graphics card, but I'm still seeing discolouration at ths sides of the screen.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Sandra on January 12, 2006, 00:25
No LCD or Plasma will come near a CRT for performance Simon, yet.

There is a flat panel solution on the horizon from Toshiba called SED.

I think Clive posted something about it earlier this week.

Whether this will filter down into pc monitors or TVs at affordable prices remains to be seen however as Toshiba/Canon who are developing it have patented it and arent allowing anyone else to make or develop it under licence  :(
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Camstop on January 12, 2006, 11:08
As Clive says, the LCD monitor is a whole different thing to look at and set up from a CRT.


You have to do quite a bit of tinkering with the settings and if it ain't spot on it can look faded and cwap, also your eyes take a few days to adjust to looking at a different type of screen.


I'd persist with the DVI input and when you get that spot on then i'm sure you'll never think of going back to CRT  :wink:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 12, 2006, 14:37
There also seems to be fewer resolution options with the DVI input.  I want something in between 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768.  You're right, John, this is a totally different animal to a CRT, and I wasn't prepared for the shock!
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: TR on January 12, 2006, 19:58
Si as an added bonus you could try This (http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/Step1.aspx) little link to help with your "Type" so to speak  8)

Or anybody else that has a type problem on flat screens  :wink:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 12, 2006, 20:58
Thanks Terry, I'll give that a go.  :)

The other thing I'm finding, is that when I use the 1024 x 768 screen resolution, a lot of the websites I visit only fill up two thirds of the page.  Given that I am often ridiculed for still using 800 x 600, I had assumed that the larger resolution was more standard these days, so what's that all about?  Even PC Pals only seems to 'fit' properly using 800 x 600.  :dunno:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 12, 2006, 23:40
Terry, that worked a treat, thanks!  Now all I have to do is sort out these damned font sizes, and get my display looking half readable in 1024 x 768.  :roll:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Camstop on January 13, 2006, 00:02
View/ Text Size  :wink:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 13, 2006, 00:17
Yeah, but it doesn't stay at the size you set it, Cammy.   :?
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Clive on January 13, 2006, 00:20
http://www.jiisoft.com/iemaximizer/download.asp
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 13, 2006, 09:55
Thanks Clive, but I think that would do something different.  All I want is to increase the default text size, which I'm sure I did without any problem at all before.  :?
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Camstop on January 13, 2006, 14:43
You must be able to do it ok as mine is 1280 by 1024 and pals fills the full width.


Would clearing your cookies not help  :dunno:


I know the problem you mean but cant remember how to put it right  :baaa:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: TR on January 13, 2006, 17:41
Si have you tried screen res of 1280 x 1024 and see what happens  8)  I have this set on my 17 incher and it looks fine here  :wink:


Terry
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Camstop on January 13, 2006, 18:53
Even though i have a couple of inches more than TR it sits well on mine too  :thumb:


 :mrgreen:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 13, 2006, 20:46
This is what the 1280 x 1024 res looks like on mine.  As can be seen, there's plenty of space on the right hand side of the page, and if I get a magnifying glass, I can even read the text!    :shock:

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avfu59.dsl.pipex.com%2Fhighres.png&hash=f7b918fee5f968ef92a84ea3aa5e357fd44a6b2b)
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Camstop on January 13, 2006, 22:41
It's just a case of getting used to it Si  :nerd:


I dont see anything wrong with that page as it looks in this thread .
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Sandra on January 14, 2006, 00:31
Should have gone to spec savers Simon maybe  :wink:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: TR on January 14, 2006, 06:48
Si

If you have a mouse with a scolling wheel, try using the key on the keyboard with the arrow facing up and scrolling with the wheel up and down.

Oh well as its early might as well go to work  8)


Quote from: "Simon"
This is what the 1280 x 1024 res looks like on mine.  As can be seen, there's plenty of space on the right hand side of the page, and if I get a magnifying glass, I can even read the text!    :shock:

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avfu59.dsl.pipex.com%2Fhighres.png&hash=f7b918fee5f968ef92a84ea3aa5e357fd44a6b2b)
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 14, 2006, 11:40
Well, I've had a fiddle with some more settings, and managed to get the text size almost OK for most sites.  It does seem that the template we are using for PC Pals is optimised for an 800 x 600 display, so it's never going to be perfect with larger resolutions.  Bloody typical - the site I visit most is the one which doesn't display nicely!  :roll:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: sam on January 14, 2006, 12:08
i personally dont see the prob though si, I use a resolution which is even higher than yours... ok there is wasted space but its always been like that, so I'm used to it. You will get used to it in time. As for font sizes etc... well they do get "smaller" when you get "bigger" if that makes any sense  :laugh:
though you right, it is optimised for the most typical (and second from awful) resolution used.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: TR on January 15, 2006, 16:54
Quote from: "TR"


If you have a mouse with a scolling wheel, try using the key on the keyboard with the arrow facing up and scrolling with the wheel up and down.

Oh well as its early might as well go to work  8)


Quote from: "Simon"


Gawd it was really chaps after all..what I meant was? the Ctr key below the arrow up key  :blush:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on January 15, 2006, 20:23
Well, neither of those methods worked with mine, Terry, but Ctrl with + or - does.  ;)  It's rather unfortunate that the skin we are using on the forum is optimised for 800 x 600, and is perfect for that resolution only.  If I increase the text size, using 1024 x 768, it also distorts some of the other graphics, so it's a no win situation.  I'll just have to either get used to smaller text, or revert to the smaller resolution.
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Tony on February 09, 2006, 13:49
I remember buying two LCD years ago, they were crap compared to my Sony CRT Trinitions which I bought second hand [and they are still going strong cammy:wink: ]

Colours Crap
Text Crap
Viewing Angles Crap
Gave Me Eye Strain

Apart from the above I couldn't fault them really  :laugh:
Title: Just bought a new monitor...
Post by: Simon on February 09, 2006, 18:33
Thanks bruv!  ;)  Better late than never!  :grin: