LCD monitors - are HD better?

I'm shopping for an LCD monitor my desktop PC.  Some monitors say HD and some don't.  Is HD better?  If so how?  Is it the contrast ratio that is better for HD, or does HD mean only the screen is wider?  I don't see much difference between the HD and non-HD Dell's.  For example, the Dell S1909WX 19" non-HD and Dell S2009W 20" HD both have a contrast ratio of 1,000:1.  But the 20" HD is 1600 x 900 while the 19" is 1440 x 900.

The HD is going to offer a slightly better picture quality because of the increased resolution, that is about it.
Adam
Best Buy Community - Retail, Americas
Forum Guidelines | Terms & Conditions | Community Guidelines | Blogging Guidelines
*Remember to mark your questions solved and click the star under the user's name to show your thanks!

Similar Messages

  • Cleaning Dell LCD Monitor - What are current recommendations?

    What are the current recommendations for cleaning a Dell LCD Monitor?
    I have always used 50% distilled water and 50% isopropyl alcohol and gently cleaned with a microfibre cloth.
    We have many different Dell LCD monitors in my workplace.
    George

    How do I clean my monitor screen?

  • A1081 Cinema Display LCD Monitor compatibility

    I am about to buy a reconditioned A1081 Cinema Display LCD Monitor 20"? But i need to know if it will work with my MacBook Pro 10.5.8 and my ipad 2? As i am buying it to use at an exhibition. iIf so what adaptor will i need to hook both of these up? Thank you in advance.

    Are you sure the monitor is set to receive input over the VGA input? Have you tried the DVI input on the monitor? You may have better luck with DVI.

  • Philips 22inch lcd monitor for mac pro

    hi there,
    I have recently bought a philips 22 inch lcd monitor (220WS8) for my mac pro, but everytime when i start up the system, it keeps booting up with my old display setup (which was my old 15 inch monitor) and having a big black area on the right.
    I have to reset it back to 1680 X 1050 everytime when i startup my system.
    I was reading the manual and it suggest resetting the PRAM while starting up the system. That worked, but if I have to do this everytime when i turn on my computer, this is really annoying.
    I was wondering if anyone has experienced this or know the solution to this?
    * by the way I am currently using the dvi > vga converter at the moment.
    Thanks
    Thomas

    Hello:
    That's interesting. The first time I experienced the problem I was using a vga cable also. I've since switched to dvi.
    I've had some strange issues with the 10.4.9 update though. Aside from the video problems the machine was logging itself off every few hours, some disk images ( .dmg and .iso ) refusing to mount, slowness and some USB devices acting strangely. I took it ( 10.4.9 ) off and everything is working great again. Some people have told me it's the 2007-005 security update causing the havoc.
    Being an old windows machine convert I am used to straightening out software ( and hardware ) problems. I'd like to experiment and find out what is causing the issues, but I don't have enough spare time to tinker right now. My time is much better spent tending my web sites. The main reason I bought the Mac was to save time, knuckles and aggravation and so far it's done a great job of handling the work load demanded of it. I see now why Mac owners consider their Mac their friend.

  • FrameMaker and LCD Monitors

    Hello,
    Just wanted to get your thoughts/opinion(s) as writers in using FrameMaker on LCD monitors. Specifically, I've used word processing and desktop publishing programs on CRT monitors for years. I've never had any problems whatsoever. Recently, my employer provided me with a 20 inch widescreen LCD monitor. I'm now having a difficult time with it because of the higher resolution (e.g., headaches and the like). As you all know, a lower resolution only distorts or stretches desk on LCD monitors (which is why I guess I've avoided these monitors for so long). Please note, I have bad eyesight and wanted to see if others may have ideas to address this issue. I've given the monitor two weeks and things haven't improved. I'm just concerned/frustrated because I know the world is going in the direction of LCD monitors.
    For a solution, I've thought about a square like LCD monitor; maybe at 17 inches to address the problem. But I'm wondering if I'll still be at the mercy of the native resolution. Just to let you know, I've tried all the display scenarios to address the problem (i.e., appearance, settings, dpi) without success. Just miss the 800/600 resolution I had in the past due to my bad eyesight.
    Any ideas or thoughts are most appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.
    Paul

    Paul...
    Here are some ramblingthoughts on your issue. They expand on the good advice you've already received, and thus do not dispute what others have said.
    Make certain your drivers for the graphics card are the latest and greatest. This is the first step you should take. You probably have already done that. If not, go do it. But check the next paragraph first.
    If your graphics card has a DVI output, by all means use it. If it doesn't, opt for a different graphics card, preferably one with two DVI outputs, known as a dual-head graphics card. I address this again below.
    Life is too short to drink cheap wine. It's also too short to spend a professional career working with inadequate computing resources, especially when you consider the cost of the capital outlay versus the salaries and the wasted time fooling around trying to make things right. If your employer has artificial limits on spending, go make a business case for better gear.
    You already seem to understand the concept of the monitor's native resolution. High resolution monitors are best for image processing, when programs like Photoshop are used to edit photographic images. For text-based work, they're the wrong way to go, as you've discovered. Part of the problem is that many web pages and all operating systems seem to be stuck with a one-size-fits-all set of icons, menus, page sizes and the like. With Windows, you get two choices of text size, but those choices don't apply to all text instances and only in the operating system, not in the applications that run on top of the application. So driving a high resolution monitor at its native resolution results in tiny text, icons and the like. I get some email messages that I cannot read because the very popular marketing company that creates them uses what must be 4 point typefaces.
    I have dual 20.5" Samgung monitors with 1600x1200 native resolution on two of my workstations. They're beautiful monitors, but I would trade even-up for the same monitor with 1280x960 native resolution. One thing that's nice about LCDs, by the way, is this. If you get ones that pivot clock- or counter-clockwise, and many do, you can easily run them in portrait mode by rotating them and changing the settings for the driver. My FrameMaker workstation has one monitor set to landscape orientation and the other to portrait mode. Try setting a 17" CRT on its sidegood luck!
    LCD monitors will ONLY look their best when the image is displayed at their native resolution, or perhaps in some cases, at a submultiple of the native resolution. For example, a 1600x1200 monitor might look OK when the graphics card is set to 800x600. In my case, that makes the icons and windows appear too large, though. Something in-between is best for me. I doubt, however, that you have a 840x525 choice, but if you do, try it.
    Sheila asks about your video cable. An LCD monitor *should* be driven by a graphics card with a DVI (digital) output. Otherwise, the signal must be converted to analog (VGA) and back to digital for display purposes. Since the image is inherently digital to begin with, converting to analog video and then back to digital has its obvious drawbacks. I'm not sure if a modern graphics card can properly identify the connected monitor though a VGA cableit's been so long since I used a CRT and a VGA card that I've forgotten.
    A CRT monitor also has a "native resolution" based on the pitch of the phosphor triads and the shadow mask in the tube. Because that was an analog interfaced world, and CRTs are relatively "soft" compared to LCDs, the effects of non-native scan rates and resolution settings were not as troublesome or as obvious as they are for LCD screens. Once you get the settings right on your LCD display, though, you will NEVER consider going back to a CRT display.
    It's probably too late to lobby for this, but if I were you, I would strive to get a "dual-head" graphics card, one with two DVI outputs, and put two identical monitors side-by-side. Once you've experienced a dual-monitor setup, you will never be happy with just one screen.
    Setting the graphics card resolution for a 16:10 aspect ratio in any other than the native resolution of the monitor will result in "aliasing" artifacts, which may be what you mean by "distortion." The simplistic way to describe the aliasing effect is that some elements of a character inevitably fall in the "cracks" between pixels. When the image resolution setting matches the native resolution, the video data from the card "lines up" perfectly with the pixels, giving the most accurate representation. The other type of distortion that you may be referring to is due to a mismatch of the aspect ration associated with an image resolution setting versus the aspect ratio of the screen. In such situations, a "truly" round circle would appear elliptical on the screen. This is what Winifred is describing. You cannot expect acceptable results with any graphics card setting whose resolution aspect ratio is , relative to the display, mismatched. You must use a setting that corresponds to the 16:10 ratio.
    Another way to understand the artifacts associated with aliasing is to imagine viewing a checkerboard through a piece of wire fencing with a square pattern laid on top of it. When the size of the squares in the fencing material are the same as the checkboard squares, you can make things line up and see all of the checkerboard. If the screen wire is a different size, then there's no way to place the wire over the checkerboard without covering some of the squares with wirethat is, unless the pattern in the fence is twice the size of the square, ot four times, and so on.

  • SUN AI24PO 24" LCD Monitor C-Viedo / S-Video Problem... No Image

    We have few SUN AI24PO 24" LCD Monitors that are hooked up to Blade2000 and Blade2500 systems. These monitors have 1-Digital/DVI, 1-Analog/VGA, 1-S-Video, 1-C-Video inputs. The Digital and Analog inputs work fine but I cannot display anything that I feed to the S or C video inputs.
    When we connect a (inspection/security) camera signal to the C-video or S-video input on these monitors, we cannot get an image. The Screen stays blue. Once or twice the image from the camera flashes and then disappears. For the image to flash again, I need to disconnect the c-video connector and wait for more than 30mins and reconnect.
    I have verified the video signal and all my cabling on some of the newer 24' monitors and they all work fine.
    It seems some of the earlier monitors have a problems with the S-video and C-video inputs.
    Does anybody have see this problem on thier 24" SUN LCDs. Is there a fix.
    Any suggestions welcome.
    Thanks
    Surendra
    [email protected]

    My post has started a more extensive discussion on this problem at an Ars Technica forum:
    <http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=67909965&m=41 90936913&r=796009877731#796009877731>
    It appears that the problem may be inherent in all PVA-based LCD's, which include the Dell 2405FPW. It's not noticeable by everyone but so far everyone I've seen who's taken the time to run an objective test has uncovered the lag. If you can run the test, please do! (See earlier in this thread, or see the Ars Technica thread for a better test involving a stopwatch program run on two monitors).
    The good news is Apple's 23" Cinema Display is based on a SIPS LCD panel (as is a similar HP display, and I think a Sony display), and these don't suffer from the lag.
    Scott

  • Dell LCD monitors?

    Has anyone had any luck with the Dell line of LCD monitors. I need to purchase two for a professional graphic design setup.
    Thanks,
    Kelly

    sfaulk wrote:
    I have been using the new Dell 24" for two weeks so I'm pretty sure it's on sale
    The new Dell 2408wfp is a beautiful monitor with the exception of an over saturation of the red colors. I calibrated it today with a eye-one display2 and it is much better but the reds are still a little more neon bright then I would like. I hope Dell does a firmware revision that will correct it.
    "On sale" as to less than $699.
    Firmware upgrade is not user installable. You'll need to get a new monitor.

  • PS3 + 24" LED - a solution, but are there better ones?

    Hi everyone,
    As you might have seen here is the best solution yet to the PS3 + Apple 24" LED Cinema Display Problem -
    http://www.cinemaview.com/models.html
    However, seeing as this is more an allrounder, are there any cheaper solutions that would be able to convert the PS3's HDMI signal for DisplayPort?
    There is a solution of 4 adaptors (HDMI to HDMI, HDMI female to DP, DP Female to DP Female, DP to MiniDP Female - then to 24"), but would this work without conversion of the signal?
    Are there any solutions that allow input of my PS3's 1080p's video signal into my mac and then out again through displayport? (Any EyeTV like products?)
    (BTW - sound would be handled by 5 speakers (coaxial Z-5500 Digital) so that is not a worry)
    I will be buying the display if any of this works.
    If not I will have to toss up,
    Apple 24" LED + convenience with my Mac + Z-5500 - compatability
    vs.
    HP L2475W + PS3 + Z-5500 + compatibility - convenience
    Difficult!

    I'll be a little more full in my response this time and see if your opinion changes.
    The PS3, at the moment, is being run on a Sony Bravia 46" 1080p LCD which to be honest is pretty magnificent.
    If I had the money and my dad would let me, I would be installing Z-5500s downstairs with the PS3, and upstairs in my room with the mac.
    The apple monitor, in my opinion, is my dream monitor. It is the one I would like, it is the one my dad is getting for his new mac tomorrow (Yes I am jealous), and it is the one I would be buying hands down if it had a DVI, HDMI, Component, or even VGA input.
    The hp monitor has the better versatility but from what I have read, the Apple is still the better display. You talk of speakers - no interest, but isight and mic are (adium messenger).
    The thought of having the use of 5.1 speakers + 1920x1080p + 24" + PS3 in my room is highly appealing.
    The thought of having the use of 5.1 speakers + 1920x1200 + 24" + APPLE LOGO + MacBook + Convenience and Tidyness is just as appealing.
    What would I be missing with the 24" ACD -
    - The PS3 wouldn't have surround 5.1
    What would I be missing with the 24" HP -
    - The Apple Logo
    - The convenience of tri-port power
    - Seamless integration between computer and monitor (just like a desktop)
    I can't say I use the PS3 more than 2-4 times a month. I use my computer every single day for at least 3-4hrs, often more.
    Is the Apple for me?

  • LCD Monitor Recommendations

    As prices fall, I'd like to buy an LCD monitor and reclaim some desk space occupied by my Sony Trintron 19" CRT monitor these many years.
    What are some of the better brands/models for editing (FCE)? I think a 20" or more would give me greater screen real estate, and what about brands? Some online research indicate the Dells are considered pretty good, and so are the Samsungs.
    What are some brand and model preferences from this forum, and why?
    Thanks,
    and Happy New Year to all
    Keith

    Been using a pair of Dell 2408's for the last 6 months.
    Stable color. I'm using a Spyder2Pro for calibration and they both show exactly the same colors.
    Lots of connection possibilities. Work in portrait mode if you'd like.
    Work with the MXO as a calibrated HD monitor.
    Major complaint is I can't drive the monitors with DVI and have a HDMI picture within a picture. It has to be component. Otherwise - no complaints.
    x

  • LCD monitor profiling: getting started

    I have a cheap LCD monitor (Gem brand) I bought a year or so ago. It works okay for me but i've never calibrated and profiled it. I'd like to finally invest in a calibrator. I'm a click away from ordering the X-Rite EODIS2 Eye-One Display 2 as my quick research (thanks to this forum) says that's a fine choice.
    Once I receive it I will take a serious look at my ambient light conditions and try to become comfortable living with less natural light in my workspace. I will also consider constructing a monitor hood.
    Meanwhile I'll keep reading Real World Color Management.
    Does it sound like i'm on the right track? Any advice / caveats at this stage welcome. Otherwise I'm sure you'll be hearing from me. :) Many thanks.

    The saga continues...
    I've been watching Chris Murphy's lynda.com 'Color Management Essential Training' videos, which are very good but i'm still not sure I'm doing this properly. Here's the story:
    He outlines a test to determine whether your LCD display's backlight is controlled via the Brightness or Contrast on-screen control: fill a new Photoshop file with black, and adjust each control independently to determine which shows a visible change in the solid black. After resetting my monitor to defaults, and trying this, it was obvious that the Contrast control was linked to the backlight.
    Murphy then demonstrates profiling, using the same Eye-One Match software. He skips the 'Set the Contrast' portion in the software, as that relies on adjusting the Contrast control to adjust backlight. I did do it, because my monitor backlight does appear to be controlled by Contrast.
    Next is the 'Set the White Point' portion, which involves adjusting RGB values separately. Chris says it's not a good idea for non-high-end LCDs -- that it's better for white point adjustment to occur in the video card LUT. So he skips that portion, and -- although my monitor does allow such independent adjustment -- i skip it as well.
    Then it's 'Set the Luminance', where we use the Brightness control. In Chris' case he's adjusting the backlight. In my case, uh, I dunno what I'm adjusting exactly. Anyway, I can't get the current marker all the way down to the target value. With Brightness at 0, it's slightly above my target 90. (I wonder if this means my monitor is burning out, or it's an indicator I should have done the RBG adjustment stage?) But Chris encourages staying slightly above the target so there's a little room to come down later. I settle at 92.6.
    Then calibration, correction curve, RGB->XYZ, and a display profile is born!
    I learned from Chris that Eye-One Match includes a Monitor Validator feature. I do it and find my DE2000 is 2.56! Seems quite high. (Chris' was 0.78.) Does it mean my monitor just sucks, or is it an acceptable value, or is there something I need to adjust?
    In other news, blinds are more closed (except for one window -- this room has lots of 'em), room is darker, I shall start wearing black. :)
    Thanks for any perspective on any of this.

  • Can I place a 19" LCD monitor over my Time Capsule (G4)?

    Can I place a 19" LCD monitor over my Time Capsule (G4)?

    No, absolutely not..
    Although it has better life than the old ones you are tempting fate by cutting any ventilation at all.. stick the TC vertical on a wall (mounts are sold on ebay) anywhere but under something.

  • LCD Monitor Calibration

    There is an vast amount of information on this topic, that topic being LCD monitor calibration.  Some LCD have presets, theatre, games, etc.  I want to calibrate my LCD so that if someone else is viewing my work on their monitor and they complain it is too light or to dark, I can say it is your monitor.  One of my LCD has two presets that are of interest 'standard' & 'sRGB' my other LCD doesn't have any presets.  What is the best or near best calibration I can manually set both monitors too, if this is even possible on LCD, I hope it is, atleast I hope they have matured from the past.

    I get into trouble with everyone when I suggest using a gamma calibration target and using on-monitor and video card controls to get the monitor calibration close to 2.2 gamma, so I probably shouldn't do it.  But hey, it's not absolutely necessary to spend money to get closer to your goal.  It really boils down to how good is good enough for you.  Better color accuracy than what you have now could be a stepping stone.
    One approach - and I'm not saying it's the best one, but it'll get you closer to your goal without spending money - is to set your monitor to the sRGB preset, set your monitor profile to sRGB IEC61966-2.1 in Windows, then adjust the video driver controls so that the gradients in this target, when displayed at 100% zoom, appear like neutral gray gradients.
    This is what you want it to look like:
    I wish I could say it's simple to get it to look like this, but unfortunately it's not.  However, if you have the ability to set gamma, contrast, brightness for each of the three color channels in your video drivers (ATI Catalyst drivers offer this ability), then with a little elbow grease it is possible.
    -Noel

  • External LCD monitors - important specs???

    Hi,
    I'm looking at getting an external 20" - 22" LCD monitor to go with my 15"MBP C2D.
    Looking at the specs of various models, I'm wondering how important the contrast ratio is - it seems to vary from 500:1 to 800:1. I'm using the comp for video editing/design work and am keen on faithful colour reproduction.
    I guess viewing angle is another important spec while response time is important for gamers. What are other specs to look out for? Pixel pitch? Display colour (is 16.2M adequate or should I hold out for 16.7M?)?
    BTW, are there any third party models out there that offer additional USB/FW ports as the cinema displays do?
    Thanks, Sean

    If color is important to you the most important thing to look out for is professional reviews; specs are secondary to that. On paper one monitor might have better specs than another... but when you look at the two side by side the lesser spec monitor can have better overall image quality.
    Basically narrow down all the models/brands you can afford... and then start googling for reviews on them. You'll find lots of reviews on online mags like trustedreviews.com etc... but you dont need to search those sites... just search google. Read all the reviews and then you can make your mind up from there.
    The profesional reviewers usually use software like DisplayMate to measure the performance of the monitors in loads of different areas of image quality... color gradients, bw gradients... shadows, midtones, hilights, grey-grey response time, black-white response time etc. The figures you see in specs usually dont mean much as they have a lot of marketing crap attached to them. E.g. most cheap monitors which boast hi response times usually omit the fact that they can achieve those response times because they use lower-bit depth panels... which mean dark gradients appear very banded etc. YOU wanna make sure your monitor has as little banding as possible. Also the contrast ratio which they boast arent always accurate... they may say 800:1 contrast ratio but for some reason when the contrast ratio is measured it is nowhere near that figure... whereas other brands/model quote more accurate figures....
    So in short, google for reviews.... dont put all your faith in ONE review but read as many as you can and look for COMMON points from all reviews (e.g. one review may prefer model A over model B, and another review may prefer model B over model A... this can be down to personal taste... but lookout for what common things which both reviews say about both models.... that stuff is probably accurate).
    MacBook Pro C2D 17"   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   Week 46 Build

  • DVD project, best LCD monitor, 24 inches, 500$ ?

    Hi Everyone!
    I am a new to video editing and I am trying to make a DVD. That is no action movie (It is a tutorial) but it is still a serious project.
    I would like to buy an LCD monitor that will allow be to do a decent job. I am not looking for these 8,000$ screens that are clearly out of reach for my wallet...
    I would like to be above 24 inches (29 is better).
    AND under 500/600 $.
    According to your valuable knowledge, what is the best compromise/deal out there?
    Thanks a bunch.
    Guillaume.

    Man I wish I could steer you in the right direction, but 500-bucks doesn’t go very far in the ‘decent’ quality display market. This is especially the case in the 24+ inch offerings. I’m running the very first ACD 22-inch model on my 2009 MacPro with decent results but it did cost $5k back when it came out a decade ago. If you could find one like mine, it should go for around 300-bucks. When I do buy a new display later this year, it will be the LaCie 324i and not the 27-inch ACD.
    Message was edited by: Digital Dude

  • LCD monitor with Premiere Elem. 8

    I'm investigating for the best replacement of my Premiere 6.5 / Matrox RT.X100 video editing system and actually testing Premiere Elements 8.
    For previewing, I can only connect my external Samsung 2333 LCD monitor through my Sony DHR-1000NP cassette recorder, which seems crazy to me. Is it possible, and what are the settings, to connect the monitor directly to my PC using the DVI cable (graphics card is Nvidia GTS50)? And is it possible to have preview on both the desktop preview window AND on the external monitor? Or do I need again additional hardware? Thanks for advice.

    Welcome to the discussions!
    You should be able to see it in the full 1920 x 1080 resolution. You can use either mirrored or extended desktop, but not both at the same time. It is an "either/or" proposition.
    Does this new display have a DVI port? I would use that if possible. I understand that HDMI is digital, but you will not get a better picture by using it over standard DVI. HDMI is DVI plus audio.

Maybe you are looking for