Computer Monitors

[tricky]

Hi there there treated myself to a new 23" 16:9 wide screen monitor, however i was walking around my local comet electrical stores yesterday and i noticed they had on display, a 22" 16:10 screen which seemed to me more ideal for runing DAW'S as you could get a lot more vertical information on it. I was not even aware of this 16:10 screen format, so i was just wondering if any of you guys have had any experiance with this type of monitor, or indeed own one, i'd be interested to hear your comments, thanks

[Timo]

Hi Trick, I have a 22" Samsung SyncMaster 226BW with a matte screen with 16:10 aspect ratio and a native res of 1680 x 1050 and I absolutely love it. Bright, great contrast, excellent and balanced colour reproduction right across the screen, zero light leakage, and most importantly (for me) unfatiguing in use.

Bought a 21" LG monitor before it and hated it, was so harsh on the eyes, horrible digital colours and contrast, no matter how much I tried to customise the settings. I'm not normally one for sending stuff back, but I couldn't live with the LG. Swapped it for the Samsung and paid the difference (+£60, taking it up to £180 as opposed to the LG's £120) and it was worth every single penny.

Bought a Sony Vaio laptop last summer and it had a 16:9 aspect and the loss in height compared to 16:10 was constantly niggling me. Incidently I sent that back for other reasons, but next time I grab a laptop I'll definately be looking for one with 16:10 as opposed to 16:9.

Unfortunately 16:10 is being phased out and replaced by 16:9 as a whole, though. Apparently it's cheaper to make the panels this way, and that people use them for watching films/DVDs.

However 16:10 is massively closer to the "Golden Ratio" than 16:9.

What I don't like about 16:9 is that if you take into account the Windows Taskbar/Startbar, and the title/menu bars of any applications at any one time, the lack of height starts to sting you. The taskbar and menubar steal pixel space (real estate) that could be better used to give you greater height like 16:10 does.

In short, I hate 16:9!

As for the Samsung, can't recommend it highly enough. It's a great monitor. Got it a couple of years ago so it'd be a lot cheaper now if they still make it.

[tricky]

Hi Timo thanks for your very detailed reply, you have confirmed my suspicions that 16:10 is the better format for DAW use at least, and i now wish i had bought one of these instead, the trouble is i did'nt even know they existed untill yesterday, should've posted here and asked for advice first, however what i got is a huge improvement on my 15" laptop screen, so i am only slighty disapointed. Always wiser after the event. thanks.

[dl4plm]

Originally Posted by Timo

Hi Trick, I have a 23" Samsung SyncMaster 226BW with a matte screen with 16:10 aspect ratio and a native res of 1680 x 1050 and I absolutely love it. Bright, great contrast, excellent and balanced colour reproduction right across the screen, zero light leakage, and most importantly (for me) unfatiguing in use.

Bought a 21" LG monitor before it and hated it, was so harsh on the eyes, horrible digital colours and contrast, no matter how much I tried to customise the settings. I'm not normally one for sending stuff back, but I couldn't live with the LG. Swapped it for the Samsung and paid the difference (+£60, taking it up to £180 as opposed to the LG's £120) and it was worth every single penny.

Bought a Sony Vaio laptop last summer and it had a 16:9 aspect and the loss in height compared to 16:10 was constantly niggling me. Incidently I sent that back for other reasons, but next time I grab a laptop I'll definately be looking for one with 16:10 as opposed to 16:9.

Unfortunately 16:10 is being phased out and replaced by 16:9 as a whole, though. Apparently it's cheaper to make the panels this way, and that people use them for watching films/DVDs.

However 16:10 is massively closer to the "Golden Ratio" than 16:9.

What I don't like about 16:9 is that if you take into account the Windows Taskbar/Startbar, and the title/menu bars of any applications at any one time, the lack of height starts to sting you. The taskbar and menubar steal pixel space (real estate) that could be better used to give you greater height like 16:10 does.

In short, I hate 16:9!

As for the Samsung, can't recommend it highly enough. It's a great monitor. Got it a couple of years ago so it'd be a lot cheaper now if they still make it.

Timo

I have 2 of these monitors too

Sadly they are no longer in production ... they are fantastic monitors too

I just bought a v wide Acer 23" too and that is awesome ... perfect for a DAW too!

You can still find 226BW's around in old stock and worth buying

good luck!

Simon

[TheHobbit]

Hi Trick, I have a 23" Samsung SyncMaster 226BW with a matte screen with 16:10 aspect ratio and a native res of 1680 x 1050 and I absolutely love it. Bright, great contrast, excellent and balanced colour reproduction right across the screen, zero light leakage, and most importantly (for me) unfatiguing in use.

These are great monitors, quality display, good ratio, 2ms latency and look great - if you can get these I highly recommend them

[Timo]

Obviously 1920x1200 or thereabouts might be a better native monitor resolution if you have a large monitor to give you even more real estate for DAW usage, for display more plugins etc. on screen at any one time. 1680x1050 is ok for me as I keep the monitor further away, it's enough for four or five large effect plugins at a time.