Going Widescreen

[Rocky]

With apologies to those who have seen me harping on for AGES about a WS LCD, I am really ready to buy now.

I was looking at the

Samsung SM204BW 20" Widescreen 6ms 'Gaming TFT' 700:1 (1680 x 1050) Black DVI ergonomic four-way adjustable stand: height, tilt and swivel TFT Monitor 3 Years Warranty

and read a lot of good reviews, and also that it can be hooked up to an X360, which would be cool for me as I don't have a HD telly. Gamers say this is a good monitor too.

Any comments?

http://www.tech-gear.org

http://www.ebuyer.com

[Cpl Ledanek]

I smell a review coming soon.

[dporter]

Samsung is a very good brand of LCD monitors. If you want to hook that monitor up to the xbox 360 though you will need to get vga cords specifically made for the xbox. I can't remember but I think they are around $20 or so. Any lcd monitor from what I have seen will work with the xbox 360.

How much are you paying for it? For US residents interested in monitors, my advice would be to wait until black friday (day after thanksgiving) to pick up a monitor. That is when the best deals are. I picked up a 22" Westinghouse LCD monitor for $199. It was 1680 x 1050 had 5ms and it had component hook ups on the side along with the standard analog and DVI ports. The component hook ups are really nice so I can hook the satellite tv to it and the xbox 360 component cables that come with it out of the box. It sucks standing in line but the deals are worth it. This year I'm sure the deals will be even better, but you just have to wait forever.

I don't think you can go wrong with that monitor. The specs are good and people seem to think highly of it.

[CR6]

Yo Rocky

You probably won't go wrong with Samsung. However, the main question is what is your budget?

Few things:

1. I would highly suggest you buy a 22" widescreen instead of 20" For us geezers it's easier on the eyes as you get a bigger image for the same resolution. I personally have helped purchase a Dell and ViewSonic 22" and they both are great.

2. If you are trying to save desktop space, don't rely on built-in monitor speakers. The ViewSonic came with built in speakers and they were wimpy and tinny sounding. Dell sells a pretty nifty add-on speaker for their monitors which is actually quite powerful.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdet...mp;sku=313-4030

Of course nothing replaces a standalone 2/2.1-5.1 system.

3. The last thing to note is that if you have a bigger budget, get a higher quality widescreen where you have options to adjust aspect ratio (say if you are playing an older 4:3 game like StarCraft) positioning, color, and even monitor height etc.

For example, I paid $550 for a Dell 20" UltraSharp which was full loaded (2 USB ports, adjustable height, ++ adjustable options) and $300 for a cheaper 22" Dell entry widescreen which only has basic options. The 22" Dell actually looks nicer, but just not as flexible in terms of tweaking.

4. Finally, make sure you understand the dead-pixel warranty/return policy of where you purchase the monitor from. Some of the larger monitors allow for 7-8 dead pixels and that would drive me crazy. I prefer to buy a monitor from a store like BestBuy where I can return it with no questions asked. I was fortunate the Dells I purchased had no dead pixels.

5. Finally, this sounds like a no brainer but make sure you hook up your LCD with the DVI port. It's surprising how many people still use the VGA port and there definitely is degraded quality of signal. Also, you may want to get a monitor with an HDMI port, but I personally don't think it's too critical unless you are an early adopter of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

[Rocky]

Thanks for the tips guys.

1. I would highly suggest you buy a 22" widescreen instead of 20"

2. If you are trying to save desktop space, don't rely on built-in monitor speakers.

4. Finally, make sure you understand the dead-pixel warranty/return policy of where you purchase the monitor from.

5. Finally, this sounds like a no brainer but make sure you hook up your LCD with the DVI port.

1. I'll check out what's available in my budget (£200 max on a monitor), but I don't want to compromise quality for size so I'll probably end up sticking with the 20".

2. It's not so much for the space, the upgrade is purely for the enhanced gaming experience and windows desktop space .

4. This is what surprised me, on that ebuyer link I posted, there are many customer comments, and I saw quite a few people say thay had ONE dead pixel on delivery, and ebuyer replaced it immediately - I was surprised about that because I know Sony for example do not - they class dead pixels as "normal"

5. I am sure the monitor comes with the DVI cable, so that's a given

If you want to hook that monitor up to the xbox 360 though you will need to get vga cords specifically made for the xbox.

That confuses me, for X360 HD gaming, won't I need to use the DVI port?

[dporter]

That confuses me, for X360 HD gaming, won't I need to use the DVI port?

I know. I would have figured DVI cables too but here is what the FAQ says for the 360 dealing with the VGA cables:

Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable:

1. What is the price of the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable?

The Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable costs $39.99 in the U.S., €24.99 in continental Europe and £19.99 in the UK.

2. Can I use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable with a PC monitor?

Yes, you can use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable with your PC monitor, whether this is a CRT (tube) or a LCD type monitor.

3. When using the VGA cable, if I have a LCD monitor, how can I hook it up with white and red audio? I have only two small speakers.

The Xbox 360 VGA cable is not just an only-video cable. In fact, it comes with two audio options; standard red and white connectors for stereo audio and also with an optical audio cable for those with surround sound equipment.

4. My HDTV has in addition to component video connectors a VGA input, can I use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable?

Yes, you can use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable in any display that has a D-SUB 15 VGA input.

From what I have heard from others, the cables work great and you get HD quality from these cables. I personally have not used them.

[Rocky]

Cool, thanks for that DPorter!

[NYR_32]

Cool, thanks for that DPorter!

I use he MS VGA cable to connect my 360 to my monitor, works great. I just wish they would make an update that opened up a 1680x1050 resolution for the 360, oh well, still looks great to me. Also once you try out a race sim with the widescreen, you'll never want to go back.

[Rocky]

Also once you try out a race sim with the widescreen, you'll never want to go back.

Sounds awesome, I'll be checking the widecreengaming forums for the best games

[CR6]

Sounds awesome, I'll be checking the widecreengaming forums for the best games

One of my fave parts of the site is where you can mouse over a widescreen vs. 4:3 image to see the diff. You can send the webmaster your screenshots if you are so inclined/motivated LOL - I sent them pics for widescreen vs. 4:3 for [GR], Rogue Spear and Lockdown ...

[Peace]

Nice to see you're going wiiiiiiiiiiiiiide Rocky

Once you've done it there is no turning back.

I've had my 24" Dell 2405 for nearly 2 years now and a regular 4:3 screen looks just...dull.

The worst part with WS is though too keep your frames per sec up without going down in resolution, you'll need a bad ass gfx card.

[Rocky]

The worst part with WS is though too keep your frames per sec up without going down in resolution, you'll need a bad ass gfx card.

Yeh, I am kind of bracing myself for that and hoping I don't find myself wishing I had FPS rather than WS, if it comes down to it I'll just need to sell the dog and upgrade the card too.

[Rocky]

It's ordered!

Samsung SM204BW 20" Widescreen Gaming TFT Monitor 1680 x 1050 700:1 6ms DVI

Free delivery, so I need to wait a few days for it to arrive.

I also ordered a desktop seagate, 340Gb, for digital photo and movie backups.

[Nutlink]

Welcome to the Dark Side of monitors.....

FYI - Some games allow you to play at lower resolutions while keeping a normal aspect ration (in the case of your monitor, 16:10). I know GRAW allows this, and a few of the Unreal engine games, but at a 16:10 ratio the stretching really isn't that bad in any game I've tried lower resolutions at. Enjoy the new beast!

[Peace]

It's ordered!

Samsung SM204BW 20" Widescreen Gaming TFT Monitor 1680 x 1050 700:1 6ms DVI

Nice Now, there is (almost) no turning back! Enjoy the screen!

[Rocky]

The monitor is here, and running!!!

Looks great, the colours are definately more vibrant. Even though I would not say they were lacking on the old CRT, they do look more vibrant now.

I do need to see about toning down the brightness though. I've played with the brightness and contrast settings in the monitor menu, but it's still just too bright. In Company of Heroes, the performance test is a night scene - now it looks like an early dawn scene, so something needs tweaked there.

Definitley pleased so far, easy to set up, don't see any flaws - gotta go watch some WS movies on it now, and maybe next week hook up the X360 and see how GRAW looks

[CR6]

I do need to see about toning down the brightness though. I've played with the brightness and contrast settings in the monitor menu, but it's still just too bright. In Company of Heroes, the performance test is a night scene - now it looks like an early dawn scene, so something needs tweaked there.

Yup, brightness is def. a problem with LCDs. One of the criticisms of LCD TV's is that they cannot display a "true" black even.

I'd suggest you get a monitor test program (I still use the ancient Nokia monitor test) which can help you set your brightness/contrast, and also check for dead or stuck pixels (alternately lighting the RGB, B/W) on your monitor.

[Rocky]

I do need to see about toning down the brightness though. I've played with the brightness and contrast settings in the monitor menu, but it's still just too bright. In Company of Heroes, the performance test is a night scene - now it looks like an early dawn scene, so something needs tweaked there.

Yup, brightness is def. a problem with LCDs. One of the criticisms of LCD TV's is that they cannot display a "true" black even.

I'd suggest you get a monitor test program (I still use the ancient Nokia monitor test) which can help you set your brightness/contrast, and also check for dead or stuck pixels (alternately lighting the RGB, B/W) on your monitor.

Goot tip, I will look up one of those tools, as I am aware that I am not getting a true black, and it is something I look for funnily enough. The disk came with some setup tools, so I will explore that further.

I have not noticed any dead pixels, so that was a big relief.

[ROCO*AFZ*]

Check in the menus for your monitor. There are settings for RGB, 9300k and others. Some are not as bright.

[Rocky]

4. My HDTV has in addition to component video connectors a VGA input, can I use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable?

Yes, you can use the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable in any display that has a D-SUB 15 VGA input.

From what I have heard from others, the cables work great and you get HD quality from these cables. I personally have not used them.

Hey Dp - I have the cable, and plugged it in to the monitor, and connected to the 360, but when I go into the 360 setup, there is no resolution listed for the monitors native res (1600x1050) - any idea what's up with that?

The other thing I need to sort out is audio - the monitor has no speakers, so I need to figure out where to plug those adio cables in lol.

[CR6]

Hey Dp - I have the cable, and plugged it in to the monitor, and connected to the 360, but when I go into the 360 setup, there is no resolution listed for the monitors native res (1600x1050) - any idea what's up with that?

The Xbox 360 only supports 720 and 1080 lines of horizontal resolution. So the closest you can run it is 720p in widescreen aspect ratio on a 20" LCD.

Do you have settings in your LCD to do 1:1 aspect or expand to full screen?

The other thing I need to sort out is audio - the monitor has no speakers, so I need to figure out where to plug those adio cables in lol.

I used my computer speakers. To use those, you need a RCA jack (the red and white connectors) to computer headphone Y adapter which should be a few bucks (or the British equivalent ) at your local electronics store.

[Rocky]

Here's the Cleartype blog entry, sorry, it's a bit long.

[ROCO*AFZ*]

Cool i didn't see the downloadable version nor realized it looked different for others as it looks clear for me on my viewsonic 19"

[dporter]

Hey Dp - I have the cable, and plugged it in to the monitor, and connected to the 360, but when I go into the 360 setup, there is no resolution listed for the monitors native res (1600x1050) - any idea what's up with that?

The other thing I need to sort out is audio - the monitor has no speakers, so I need to figure out where to plug those adio cables in lol.

Sorry, busy all weekend with memorial day. CR6 pretty much summed it up. I actually never used those cables for my own setup since I had a 22" monitor that has component hook ups I can use the cable that comes packaged with xbox360. I tried to adjust the resolution for my monitor like you did since mine was 1680x1050 but like cr6 said you can only simply choose 720p or 1080i. Your resolution will do either or.

My monitor also had built in speaker so I just used that. It was crappy but oh well. Sometimes I would hook the audio jacks into my cd player on our entertainment center.

[CR6]

Here's the Cleartype blog entry, sorry, it's a bit long.

Finally had time to read it. Excellent read and lots of great info. Basically it boils down to you have better vision than the rest of us?