Topic: Monitors TFT LCD whatever

[Tony]

Hi Guys and Girls,

right I've been looking at the above, indeed I tried a Dabs value one last year. What I found was that unless you where looking at it 'square on' the screen was not clear[grayish] Now As I run a three monitor set up, i need to be able to view all screens clearly, with out to much head or body repositioning if you see what I mean.

Now would I be right in thinking this has something to do with the monitors horizontal and vertical stated viewing angles, the bigger the better so to speak. Like a monitor with say viewing angles

 > horizontal viewing angle : typ. (min.)  150°  
vertical viewing angle : typ. (min.)  110° <
 
will be easier to view than say a NovaTech TFT 15" cheapie at £199 with Viewing Angle -70 + 70º (H) x -55 + 60º (V)

I have noticed the bigger those angles the bigger the price, I'm I right in my thinking ?

I see the Dabs Value 15" TFT offering at £211 is now £70 ish cheaper than it was last December. Maybe better to wait a year or two for popularity/ volume increase and prices come down.


Is there a monitor afficinardo in the building then ?

catch22

[Simon]

Well, let's hope so, Catch!  I'm afraid it's not me, but nice to see you here anyway!!  

No to veer off topic, but what you were saying reminds me of those huge rear projection TVs.  You can't see them properly from an angle either.

Anyway, I'm sure someone will be along with some proper advice soon.  

[Adept]

I have noticed the bigger those angles the bigger the price, I'm I right in my thinking ?

Hi Catch how are you? Long time no talk  

Yes you are right. It's all to do with the technology used in the LCD panel. There are 3 main types; the oldest type, called TN+film has quite poor viewing angles and also tends to be quite slow to update. TN+F is not much good for games playing.

Next best is IPS (In Plane Switching) with viewing angles of up to 160 degrees.

Next is MVA or multidomain vertical alignment. These panels tand to be more evenly lit than the preceeding ones and have faster response times.

Best of breed at the moment is Super-IPS, a technology improvement of the original IPS panel. These boast viewing angles of up to 170 degrees and have the best response times making them perfect for DVD playback and fast moving games.

IMHO, the best TFT monitors are made by the likes of Iiyama and NEC although Philips and Hansol are quite good quality for the price.

Good luck with your search  

[Tony]

Thanks Simon,

veering of topic even more,a little story for you. My old Epson Stylus 600 photo quality printer and Plustech scanner do not have drivers for W2K, so I thought best look out for model upgrades. So I popped into our local Comet [just to look,so as to get a feel for physical size of an all in one machine, I buy on line} Anyway I see a lady asking about a HP priner £160 worth 'can I plug my digital camara into it' she asks the assistant, so off he goes to find out, big mistake  
 
Have you got a PC I asks, No she replied, ha well what you really need is a PC so you can store and doctor your photos, plus a scanner to repair and cataloge your photos taken on ordinary film. You see she was into photo 's in a big way hobby wise. It cost her £9 the other week to have red eye removed from a couple of photos.

Look I'm going to put a PC/scanner /printer combo up for sale on Ebay later on today, would you be interested in it, have a demo maybe ?

Well she took it with one of my 15" monitors for the asking price of £275. She did OK I reckon as it cost £874 two years ago for the PC and warranty, on site parts and labour till mid Sept 2005. I also upgraded the memory from 64 to 256MB so it handles scanning OK. Like I said to her, OK  the Printer is 5 years old and the Scanner 3, but they work fine.

catch22

PS Hi Adept my old mucker, thanks for the reply. Got out of sink, started replying to Simon,  popped off to do other things, and you slip one in you old rascal you  

[Simon]

Wow, that was a productive trip to Comet!!

Anyway, back to your TFT monitor, let us know how you get on , as I would like one (to save space), but a) they are still a bit pricy, and b), what you were saying about picture quality is also a concern.

Cheers!  Good to have you back!  

[Tony]

Hi Simon,

I signed up here about day three, DONT SAY  YOU DIDN'T NOTICE ME   at least old eagle eye'd Sandra spotted me   only kidding re the 'Old' Sandra you little ole siren you.

Back to monitors, well bearing in mind what Adept said, and considering that I really require the expensive ones, I have deceided to stick with analoge monitors for now. Especially as a guy selling on Ebay, the likes of Dell [returns/ over stocks or the like, I suspect] with 3 year warranties cheap, lives quarter of an hour away. No P&P, and soon nip it back if it's a bummer  

You might like to know that I worked out the savings on leci visa ve a 15 " TFT and a 17" analoge used for 68 hours a week 48 weeks a year @ 5.21p per Kwh = ball park £9 saving per year  

catch22

[Sandra]

Another thing to bear in mind guys when thinking about TFT is that they dont last for ever.I understand that they deteriate faster than cathode ray tubes and they tend to fail in sections which could be rather annoying,to say the least.
My old monitor is still acting up( red goes), due to a dry joint I have been told,but if I bash it its ok for a variable lenght of time.Somehow I dont think you could do that with TFT  

[Tony]

also I've heard 'boggies' are a bugger to get off if left over night  

catch22

[Adept]

One final thought Catch,

I would take a quality 17" CRT over a 15" LCD anytime and since I really need a 19" monitor for the desktop resolution I use TFTs are way out of my price range anyway  

[Tony]

Cheers  Adept,

I'm looking at business class 17" CRT's

Thanks once again for the advice.

catch

[Tony]

Adept an update,

I bought a second user 17" Dell Triniton [made by Sony] for £99 with a full three year on site parts and labour warranty. It's a cracking picture, that's me hooked on Trinitons, I'm even thinking of going back for another next Saturday.

catch

[Adept]

Aren't they nice?  8)

My boy used to have a 15" Dell Trinitron. The picture was absolutely superb on it. Unfortunately an accident with the video cable means it's at the menders at the moment  >

[Tony]

Oh dear the Video cable, I bent and broke off a pin in a connector on my old ADI 15" monitor. Took the back off, took one look and thought, well I can forget that. So I bought a Video extension cable, opened up the corrosponding connectors [like trying to get into a  sardine can when the key's broken off] Fifteen cables and screen wires to join, wrapped the joint in kitchen foil and PVC tape, and Bods your Uncle.  

catch

[Rodders]

This must be the best monitor deal going, right now.   8)

17" Pure Flat 0.25 pitch

[TR]

Greetings folks, 8)

This week I purchased a LG studioworks 17" monitor for £80 inc vat at my local PC store...... bargain or what   he has about 6 left now.

Hook