24" monitors - peoples opinions?

[Andeh13]

Im thinking of buying a 24" but just wondered what people think of them? i do light gaming but watch a lot of films & series on it. Iv got several HDrip films which i watch but the majority are normal DVD rips. i set myself a budget of £200 for a 20" but asking around a few people suggested biting the bullet and getting the bigger 24".

One draw back im worried about is watching some of my simpsons/family guy episodes rips etc which arnt wide screen. Would they be stretched even more then they are when i watch them on a friends 20"? Not only this, would my DVDrips get stretched across the screen distorting the quality?

Id be sitting at a desk a few feet away, would a 24" be just too big to look at that close? Anyone here use a 24" who can comment?

i use a 6600Gt atm, would that be able to handle a 24" monitor or would i need to upgrade my graphics card in order to cope?


Anyone have any recommendations for a 24" around the £250 mark (ex VAT), iv been looking at this samsung:

Samsung SM-245B 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black

many thanks guys

[staffsMike]

Besides being a TN panel that monitor does get some good review. I believe pc pro have it on their A list.

There is also this monitor on ocuk which a lot of people have being buying due to being a PVA panel, digital and analogue inputs and all for just £250inc VAT(occasionally lowers to around £240)

OcUK Value L2442W 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black

Your 6600GT is fine for normal use and video etc.. but not games at that resolution. You would need to lower the resolution or pay around £200 for a new graphics card to play at native resolution.

Video's normally play in the right aspect ration by themselves on my widescreen. Using VLC gives you the choice to change the ratios anyway but you shouldn't need to.

[Aez]

i have the monitor stated in StaffsMike's post and it really is excellent, 180 degrees viewing angles, no ghosting and no backlight bleed i did find one dead pixel but luckily it was in the far bottom corner and you can only notice it against black and when looking specifically for it
i find the size fine, i sit about 2 feet away.

[directhex]

that samsung seems to be a full 8-bit panel as far as i can determine. so even though it's TN, it could be much worse

[Shmee150]

Just in terms of use; I've had a pair of 24" monitors on my desk now for maybe 3 years (?), well my eyes are probably about 60-70cms away and I find them brilliant to watch anything on (although admitedly just bought a 40" to sit about 2m away).

Depending on what player you are using for these files you want to watch, they should not stretch, merely just fill the screen maintaining the correct proportions, i.e. inserting "black bars" where appropriate.

[logie84]

Hi, I'm also planning a 24 incher. I fancy the 24" HyundaiIT W240D found it on Scan, it has a good contrast ratio with a reasonable brightness. I currentlly use a Samsung 26" TV but this is limited to a low res of 1360x768. Has anyone seen the Hyundai in action.

[finlay666]

I have the hyundai...im happy with it

[Andeh13]

Iv heard a lot of good things about that OCUK value 24" but im sceptical about the OCUK value bit, surely this means its a cheap knock-off screen and wouldnt stand a chance in terms of quality compared to the samsung i posted above?

Also - where are the on/off buttons etc, whats the general feel of it like? Does it feel robust & well made or a bit cheap & plasticy?

What have OCUK cut corners on to make it a 'value' product and under cut the competition?

[Jay]

what about the Dell 2407 WFP -HC

[2Cold Scorpio]

I personally find 24" monitors a little overwhelming for day-to-day work; I'm rather confortable with my 22" Samsung 226BW (and its still a tad odd surfing the net in widescreen... ). But for gaming and movies...24" would rock (Oblivion/Doom 3 (with .ini WS edits)/CoD4 on 22"+ monitors = Sheer Goodness)

[lanceuppercut]

i use a 6600Gt atm, would that be able to handle a 24" monitor or would i need to upgrade my graphics card in order to cope?

i had a dell 20" non-WS (1600x1200) which was fine with a 6600gt, when i upgraded to a 2407wfp and i felt the need to upgrade to a 8800gts 640mb as i wanted to run games at native res, even sometimes that struggles.

point is if you want to run at native, depending on the game, you might struggle depending on what detail you run at.

having said that, i'd love to get a 2707wfp as it still runs at 1920x1200 but is 27" and has decent connections unlike the dell 3007wfp

[staffsMike]

I havn't tried it yet but I want to try and do a bit of gaming on my parents 26" LCD to see what it looks like.

For movies and games it seems like a very cheap way to get a lot of physical size without the demanding resolution for which most peoples PC's will struggle to run games at.

Has anybody tried this got any opinions?

[masscrazy]

Check out the w240d Hyundai in action YouTube - Hyundai W240D 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor. Best thing is probably the HDMI connection.

Im considering this but £350 is a bit much. I might go for the Samsung pebble 22" or the 22" LG Monitor/TV both for about £220 each.

[Andeh13]

i have the monitor stated in StaffsMike's post and it really is excellent, 180 degrees viewing angles, no ghosting and no backlight bleed i did find one dead pixel but luckily it was in the far bottom corner and you can only notice it against black and when looking specifically for it
i find the size fine, i sit about 2 feet away.

What do you think of it in terms of build quality? Like i said above, does it feel robust or a bit cheap & plasticy?

How reliable can i expect it to be? Been a samsung fan 4 a long time and have always been impressed with their quality & support if something does go wrong.

[jonathan_phang]

I have the Samsung that you mention in the OP. Yes, its a TN panel, yes, the colours could be a tad better, yes the viewing angles could be better if you would like to make your desk a 3 seater cinema or decide to be kooky and watch at 45 degrees.. But...

It looks beautiful, the real estate is fantastic for browsing (and especially if you do programming). The text isnt too small at native (I was worried about this, but think of a 19" 4:3 monitor and the taskbar is that size - just loooonger), and at about 2.5 feet away, I'm used to it. Height adjustment is good and actually more useful than it thought (If i play leaning back a bit, then i raise the monitor so that i dont have to bend the neck so much etc), I haven't noticed ghosting - but as I keep saying, you'll find it if you want to - but its not as if its blurring everywhere.

I would have to say that I'm not the expert on colour reproduction, but when I have watched some media on there to test, well, skin tones can be made to look right with a bit of tweaking. It looks fine to me but it depends on how fussy you are.

The main reason I bought it was for games. Gaming at native res (and that physical size) is great. Yes, you are going to need a better card for new games at native res, you sound like you want it more for the media purposes.

Obviously, I cant comment on the rest of the recommendations, but after having that usual 2 days of "Oh, i knew I shouldnt have bought it", I sat down, played some games, surfed the web and never looked back. You could compare forever tbh, but for that price, I believe its worth it. IMO. IMO

Its late/early. I'm delerious now. Sorry if this doesnt make sense!

[Snaga]

The Samsung is an excellent monitor!! Well built, no ghosting and great value at just a pinch over £300.