I've spent 2 weeks asking all around the internet, and some friends, and clerks at electronic stores, and after being misled and given outrightly-incorrect info several times, I got sick of it and did some of my own research, and I think I understand the basics. However, there is no such thing as too much information, so I wanted to create a thread to get advice on what sort of VDU I should go for. There are many possibilities (obviously), so I am going state what I know, what I think I know, and what I think is important for my build.
1. Although I have no budget limitation, I want the BEST DEAL; not the "latest and greatest" because that is usually really expensive for just a small increase in quality.
2. This VDU is going to be a media center which I will use to hook my high-end PC and gaming consoles and maybe some other things, so it should probably have enough inputs so that I can run HDMI cables wherever possible. Also, having a/v cable interface would be a plus.
3. It can be no bigger than 32" wide and 30" tall, and probably a good 8" less than that would be ideal.
4. I've heard that the difference between 1080p and 720p is negligible on a screen that "small," but having a high-quality display is important to me so if the price difference is low enough I will consider 1080p anyway.
5. A high contrast ratio would be ideal, although I am not sure how high it should be before it stops making a noticeable difference.
6. Being able to display 1920 x 1080+ is important, as is a refresh rate of 120hz instead of 60 (as I will be running games significantly faster than 60fps).
7. I would rather have a high-quality 24" display than a lower-quality 30" display.
8. I don't know if I want LCD, LED, plasma, projection, or some other technology I've not heard of. From my understanding, picture quality beween lcd and led is small and the price difference is high, but the LED's last much longer, which isn't important at all as I would want to update my technology every few years at least. Plasma is supposed to have "burning" and "ghosting" problems with rapidly-moving images, which is a big deal because I will be doing high-end gaming on a powerful PC quite oftenly.
9. It doesn't need to be "omg thin." Just about any depth is manageable.
10. To this day I do not know if there is a fundamental difference between a "computer monitor" and an "lcd television," but I will go with whatever has everything that I want.
11. I don't have a problem with refurbushed merch, so long as it comes with a warranty.
That's all I have for now. I will be keeping in touch and updating. Please give me any opinions and information you have!
1. Although I have no budget limitation, I want the BEST DEAL; not the "latest and greatest" because that is usually really expensive for just a small increase in quality.
2. This VDU is going to be a media center which I will use to hook my high-end PC and gaming consoles and maybe some other things, so it should probably have enough inputs so that I can run HDMI cables wherever possible. Also, having a/v cable interface would be a plus.
3. It can be no bigger than 32" wide and 30" tall, and probably a good 8" less than that would be ideal.
4. I've heard that the difference between 1080p and 720p is negligible on a screen that "small," but having a high-quality display is important to me so if the price difference is low enough I will consider 1080p anyway.
5. A high contrast ratio would be ideal, although I am not sure how high it should be before it stops making a noticeable difference.
6. Being able to display 1920 x 1080+ is important, as is a refresh rate of 120hz instead of 60 (as I will be running games significantly faster than 60fps).
7. I would rather have a high-quality 24" display than a lower-quality 30" display.
8. I don't know if I want LCD, LED, plasma, projection, or some other technology I've not heard of. From my understanding, picture quality beween lcd and led is small and the price difference is high, but the LED's last much longer, which isn't important at all as I would want to update my technology every few years at least. Plasma is supposed to have "burning" and "ghosting" problems with rapidly-moving images, which is a big deal because I will be doing high-end gaming on a powerful PC quite oftenly.
9. It doesn't need to be "omg thin." Just about any depth is manageable.
10. To this day I do not know if there is a fundamental difference between a "computer monitor" and an "lcd television," but I will go with whatever has everything that I want.
11. I don't have a problem with refurbushed merch, so long as it comes with a warranty.
That's all I have for now. I will be keeping in touch and updating. Please give me any opinions and information you have!
