27" Monitor recommendtion

[Johnpilot]

There are so many out there with different refresh rates, resolutions, etc. The prices have quite a range too. I have never paid that much attention to a monitor before, but since I am going to buy one, I don't want to mess it up.

 

what are the recommendations anyone has? Thanks.

 

john

[Picksplitter]

Hey... can't speak to 27" but I have a Panasonic 32" led tv, it was truly plug and play. My resolution for the tv is 1980p, 1920 x 1080. I only use it as a monitor and all I can say is if you have the space and an extra $100.00... go big!

 

For DCS a10c I use this as my main and a 21" LG for mfcd's and gauges...

 

Works a treat.

[Gadroc]

First what is your primary use for the monitor? Is it solely for flight sim, or do you primarily code on it. Is it for FPS or other twitch action gaming? Is color accuracy important (aka photo editing?) Those have a big impact on the recommendation.

[HiJack]

I have used the Samsung SyncMaster P2770, 2ms refresh rate for years and I'm very satisfied with this screen. I guess it is out in new version. But get a screen with at fast refresh rate as possible!

[Johnpilot]

It will be primarily for the sim. I don't do any FPS. Other gaming is stuff like the old SimCity, Civ V, and the like. Thanks.

 

John

[Tone71]

Worth bearing in mind that some people don't like the pixel pitch of a 27" monitor at 1080p. In other words, if you increase the screen size but keep the same resolution you will eventually start to see the individual pixels, and images will appear blocky, especially if you're sat close to the screen. Personally I've never noticed this on my 27" LG screen.

[Sabre-TLA]

I play with a 47 inch LG HDTV using HDMI at 1920x1080.

 

I sit about 2 feet away and the picture looks great. Cockpit is almost life-size.

 

Once you go big you never go back.

[metalnwood]

Also happy with my 27" LG screen. I use it for racing and FPS.

[Gadroc]

It will be primarily for the sim. I don't do any FPS. Other gaming is stuff like the old SimCity, Civ V, and the like. Thanks.

 

John

 

There are four primary things I worry about in choosing a display:

 

Image Size

Sounds obvious, but bigger can be worse when doing some things. At 27" and bigger you can only comfortably read half the screen at a time for text. If your going to be doing real work on it, you have to have a high enough pixel density to make half the screen look good at a time.

 

Pixel Density

Basically how small the pixels are on the screen. If screen size increases but resolution does not you don't get more usable real-estate just bigger pixels. This is usually bad for reading text.

 

Response Time

How fast the pixels on the screen can change between colors. Slow response time looks like blurry or bad colors during fast motion.

 

Color Quality & Viewing Angle

How many colors can the display actually display and how consistent is it. In addition how far off direct center can you view it with out drastic shift in color and contrast.

 

For primary display of a flight sim a large 1920x1080 display (cheap large monitor or any 1080p TV) works well (although there are those who don't like the low pixel density). The larger displays create better immersion for a simulation and often don't suffer terribly in that use case for their low pixel density. For simulations the response time and color quality are not that big of an issue either. In addition you usually have a fixed head position so viewing angle is not important.

 

For a primary display on a multi-use computer I would never go above 24" unless it had a resolution greater than 1920x1080. There are also two primary LCD panel types used in monitors TN and IPS. TN generally has better response times, but worse colors and viewing angles. Unless you are doing twitch type games (FPS, Real Time Strategy) I feel IPS is FAR superior and you'll be much happier with them.

 

Also for general gaming 27" and above actually can be annoying for certain types of games, because you start to have to turn your head to read the edges of the screen where many critical elements are like health bars etc.

 

My personal recommendations:

Dedicated Simulation Display (Racing/Flight Sim Pit) - 46-55" 1080p TV

Primary General Computer Monitor - 27-30" IPS Panel display at least 2560x1440 resolution

 

The other thing to keep in mind is performance. Larger monitors don't take bigger graphics cards, but larger resolutions do. So if you are getting a good 27" or larger monitor that has a resolution greater than 2560x1440 it may challenge your graphics card.

[blkspade]

I recently purchase the HP ZR2740w. Its a 27 inch IPS with a 2560x1440 resolution. Its probably the best performing and cheapest IPS you can get at that size and res. It has a great pixel response, but a little ghosting. The first thing I did when I got it was load-up UT3, which is on the top end of twitch based shooters and it felt great. I don't do a lot of FPS play, but when I do its usually games that are a lot slower paced (AA3, Arma 2 & 3). I've only recently noticed the ghosting in DCS at the merge in a dogfight, or any other time when another aircraft it flying past you really close, at really high speed. All is good otherwise.