[trains are bad]

I'm planning on buying an LCD monitor. I was wondering if you can buy monitors that have component/composite/s-video inputs so that I could plug my PS2 in, and also use it as a TV and play console games on it. This would save a lot of space in a tiny apartment.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Absolutely.

The most common ones are LCD monitors that double up as a TV. They're a little more, but still worth it.

And if you get a monitor that doesn't have it, look for one of the external boxes (ViewSonic and others make them) that turn your LCD into a TV. They have a TV tuner inside, and usually all the hookups you could want.

I'd suggest finding a LCD that you really like and hooking an external box to it.

By the way, 20" monitors (1600x1200) have taken a price drop lately. Take a look at those. They're terrific- I love watching DVDs on mine (ViewSonic VP201b).

 

[Gabe Logan]

I love my Dell 24" for just that reason.I get Component,Composite,S-Video,DVI-D,VGA.All those slots except the vga is hooked up to something.

 

[Graz]

I think newegg.com is your friend on this one...

Peace,

Graz

 

[portaprokid]

Dell has deals constantly on their LCD screens, I would definitely keep an eye out for those on the bargain sites like Fatwallet and eDealinfo.

 

[trains are bad]

Wow I didn't know about the external tuner thing...the actual tuner doesn't interest me but it's good to know while shopping.

I just don't know if it's a good idea to buy a monitor online, with dead pixel issues, and not getting to see it. But it appears you can get some sweet deals online.

I'm also not sure if I want to go widescreen, considering that most actual computer work would seem to benefit from the greater scrolling space of 4:3, and widescreeners are more expensive. I already have a pretty nice Sony CRT TV but I will be away from it all summer, and I would hate to have to watch all my movies and play Shadow of the Colossus letterboxed

 

[Kram Sacul]

How do you get greater scroller space with 4x3 compared to 16x9/16x10? The screen is wider not shorter.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kram Sacul How do you get greater scroller space with 4x3 compared to 16x9/16x10? The screen is wider not shorter.

Actually provided you do not absolutely need a widescreen, 4:3 is going to provide more screen area at the same diagonal, 5:4 even more so. Pricing is another matter and may very well not scale exactly with the screen area. That was the point.

A = w * h = (h/w) * w^2 = (h/w) * d^2 / (1+ (h/w)^2)

A = screen area
w = screen width
h = screen height
d = screen diagonal

BTW, most >=20" widescreens are still using decent panels (S-IPS or S-PVA and such), but a few ones with TN are already available; better avoid those.

As for the dead pixels, the problem gets less significant as you move up to higher resolutions. Apparently on a 20" or 21" 1600x1200 screen you'd be hard pressed to notice them even if they were there.

 

[CookieFactory]

I wouldn't buy an LCD monitor right now.

 

[Duggeh]

Composite video inputs have been on LCD monitors at least as far back as the Prophetview 920, the original gamers LCD.

 

[trains are bad]

Quote:

I wouldn't buy an LCD monitor right now.

Why, because the prices are coming down? What would you suggest, then? I just memorize all keystrokes?

Quote:

BTW, most >=20" widescreens are still using decent panels (S-IPS or S-PVA and such), but a few ones with TN are already available; better avoid those.

Whoa, acronym overload. What does that mean?

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad Quote: BTW, most >=20" widescreens are still using decent panels (S-IPS or S-PVA and such), but a few ones with TN are already available; better avoid those. Whoa, acronym overload. What does that mean?

This glossary might help.
From a "what comes out" perspective, TN panels tend to be somewhat faster but suffer from low color stability with changing viewing angle, generally not as high ultimate viewing angles even when contrast at 0° is fine (please be sure to compare all viewing angle specs for equal contrast ratios, like 10:1, as TN panels may be advertised with 5:1 angles as well), problems displaying very bright and dark tones correctly and the occasional dithering artifacts because they're only good for 6 bit per channel (262144 colors). Overly saturated colors can also be a problem. MVA and PVA panels tend to have high contrast ratios (their S- variants even more so) and achievable viewing angles, they are likely to fare quite a bit better in greyscale reproduction, and colors tend to be far more stable and correct; they are, however, typically not very fast when changing grey tones. (This is why "overdrive" technologies exist, which have sped *VA up enough to make the respective monitors fairly good allrounders, games included. Not as common in widescreens yet.) IPS used to be somewhere in between VA and TN in terms of viewing angles and speed, S-IPS is about on VA level but faster (about the best allround technology you could get before overdrive came along, and still used in numerous top-end models, like Eizo's L797). A kind of "glitter effect" is typical for (S-)IPS panels.

BTW, right now is always the wrong time to buy hardware.

Don't ask what I paid for my trusty Samsung 191T (PVA panel) three years ago... on the other hand I've gotten quite some mileage out of it, and after having been repaired under warranty last year, I hope it'll last me a couple of years longer. Still a nice monitor for a non-gamer like me.

 

[CookieFactory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad Why, because the prices are coming down? What would you suggest, then? I just memorize all keystrokes?

I'll be the one laughing in a couple of years. You're like most consumers who don't poorly research the market before they buy. There are very few LCD monitors out today that will support next-generation (read: 1-2 years) hi-def.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieFactory There are very few LCD monitors out today that will support next-generation (read: 1-2 years) hi-def.

What do you mean by that? HDCP support? Here at least I think it'll only be used starting in 4 years or so (no idea 'bou the States), so I personally wouldn't worry much about this right now. Full HDTV resolution is another issue, but something (properly) downsized from 1080i for a 1366x768 panel will still look pretty nice. One thing's for sure, don't expect a large jump in programming quality - junk in LDTV is no better in HDTV. (And no, I'm not a big fan of television, not only because I have better things to do than shovel around air.

I don't even have a TV. Wouldn't do my nerves much good anyway, some AV overload issues...)

Quote:

You're like most consumers who don't poorly research the market before they buy.

not poorly = well?

 

[CookieFactory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass What do you mean by that? HDCP support? Here at least I think it'll only be used starting in 4 years or so (no idea 'bou the States), so I personally wouldn't worry much about this right now. Full HDTV resolution is another issue, but something (properly) downsized from 1080i for a 1366x768 panel will still look pretty nice. One thing's for sure, don't expect a large jump in programming quality - junk in LDTV is no better in HDTV. (And no, I'm not a big fan of television, not only because I have better things to do than shovel around air. I don't even have a TV. Wouldn't do my nerves much good anyway, some AV overload issues...) not poorly = well?

HDCP will be upon us sooner than you might think although initial releases won't be flagged in order to "ease" the customer base into accepting the new hi-def formats. Spending a lot of money on a top-of-the-line monitor now is foolish since it won't be compliant in a couple of years.
As for downsized to 480p, sure it still looks nice, but 160 VBR sounds nice too, and we know how taboo that is in these parts.
TV signals are all going digital here in the US in the not so distant future, so HDTV is going to be a big deal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass not poorly = well?

That was an editing typo, but logically speaking no since level of quality is not binary.