Monitor size - what's too big?

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Discussion

Calza

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

115 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
quotequote all
I'm looking to buy a new monitor in the next few weeks and am torn at what to buy.

Primarily it will be used for gaming, so 1ms response and 144hz are a must. I'm also sorely tempted by a slightly higher quality, 1440p being most likely (for when I'm playing offline and can up the eye candy at the expense of FPS).

This only seems to be available in 27" flavour though, which seems bloody huge to me?

My desk isn't that big, and I've got some twin monitor arm jobby to hold both of mine up (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B77XC8C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00)

My current 22" monitor seems okay, I can only imagine a 24" being quite large .. but 27?!

How far away to I need to be sitting to fully appreciate it, or will I sharp adjust and wonder how I ever went without?

130R

6,810 posts

206 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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You definitely adjust and then wonder how you ever did with such a small monitor before. 27" is fine.

p1stonhead

25,541 posts

167 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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I have 2 24's at the moment but really want to get one of these!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lg-34uc97-curved-mon...

Way too much money at the moment though.

24 is not big at all. 27 is pretty spot on I think.

Calza

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

115 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
quotequote all
Well that's pretty reassuring (and potentially wallet damaging), £600 for a bloody monitor though!

It is nice mind ...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/rog-swift-pg278q-g-s...

alock

4,227 posts

211 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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I recently upgraded from twin 24" 1920x1200 to twin 27" 2560x1440 monitors. This is a good usable desktop space for programming and makes a massive difference.

A single 27" will soon look small smile

sjg

7,452 posts

265 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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Dell do a very good 25" 1440p monitor although it doesn't do any specific gamer stuff - http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2515h.ht...

But otherwise, 27" 1440p is a very comfortable resolution and not too big unless you're pressing your nose up to it.

Mr Happy

5,695 posts

220 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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I've recently bought a 28" 4K display and it's quite simply stupid.

At full res, everything is too small to see in Win7 (8.1 and 10 scale automatically) so I've had to set the scaling up to 150% just to get a comfortable view. Some applications override the display scaling therefore have microscopic text as well. I personally should have stuck with a 1080p or 1440p display, but I've got it now so I really need to make the most of it!

Gaming in 4K is something else though, Assetto Corsa and Dirt Rally are cloud9smile

SMB

1,513 posts

266 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
quotequote all
Mr Happy said:
I've recently bought a 28" 4K display and it's quite simply stupid.

At full res, everything is too small to see in Win7 (8.1 and 10 scale automatically) so I've had to set the scaling up to 150% just to get a comfortable view. Some applications override the display scaling therefore have microscopic text as well. I personally should have stuck with a 1080p or 1440p display, but I've got it now so I really need to make the most of it!

Gaming in 4K is something else though, Assetto Corsa and Dirt Rally are cloud9smile
I tried a couple of screens before settling for the benq 32 inch 1440 monitor, for text work I think it's the best fit, text size is similar to a 1080 24 inch and you get good real estate.



Oakey

27,565 posts

216 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
quotequote all
p1stonhead said:
I have 2 24's at the moment but really want to get one of these!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lg-34uc97-curved-mon...

Way too much money at the moment though.

24 is not big at all. 27 is pretty spot on I think.
£740 doesn't seem that expensive considering I paid around £650 for a Dell 2405fpw back in 2006!

Mr Happy

5,695 posts

220 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
My PC certainly isn't ninja spec, far from it.

It's a homebuilt i5 2500k @4.5ghz, 16gb ram, with an ati 7970 ghz edition 3gb video card.

AC in as near as makes no odds top graphics (only the reflections turned down a bit) sits around 40fps with a single car, dropping to 25-30ish fps with a grid of 10 cars around Mugello. Dirt Rally in 'high' gives a low of 31fps and a high of 40-odd in the benchmark, and save for a few stutters when stuff gets really complex, it's fine!

I obviously can't do 60fps locked with everything maxed on anything, and carmageddon reincarnation drops to about 20fps when cranked up (but it does look good, even as a slideshow!) however that's just how it goes - I do think the card is the sticking point at the moment though, so I'll either buy another one (as they're silly cheap now being a few years old) and I should see a decent hike that way, or just wait until things really get clunky and just buy a decent mid to top spec card in a couple of years or so.

MissChief

7,106 posts

168 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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I have a 29" 29UM65 LG Ultrawide monitor (2560x1080) and I love it to bits. Sure it's the same height as a 1080p monitor but the extra width really makes a difference in games and most support it natively although cut scenes are often cropped as they've 'made' in 1080. Even Batman Arkham Asylum, a 2009 game, supports it as does Battlefield 4 (and Hardline) and GTA V.

Calza

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

115 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
Well now I'm definitely sold on 27"!

It doesn't seem a good time to buy though, it's so new to the market there is no choice currently for what I want driving prices up - more must be due soon.

Same with graphics cards actually, the 980ti and 390x are due soon, driving other prices down.

ZesPak

24,427 posts

196 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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I've got a 27" display and wouldn't want smaller, although 30" would be a limit as others have said for avoiding having to look left and right too much.
As for gaming, I would avoid anything too high res, however 4k can display HD very crisp.

1440p can be very taxing for a graphics card. It's about 75% more pixels to render than just Full HD. Iirc, most "pro" gaming monitors are 1080p...

Calza

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

115 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
I've got a 27" display and wouldn't want smaller, although 30" would be a limit as others have said for avoiding having to look left and right too much.
As for gaming, I would avoid anything too high res, however 4k can display HD very crisp.

1440p can be very taxing for a graphics card. It's about 75% more pixels to render than just Full HD. Iirc, most "pro" gaming monitors are 1080p...
If I'm gaming online I'll drop the settings (and probably the res to 1080p) to achieve 144hz. But for offline gaming I'd like to have the option of really upping the eye candy.

The way I see it in a year or two it will become the norm, so I'd rather not have to change in a few years again.

0000

13,812 posts

191 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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Mine's a 39" 4k (not up to "gaming" standards no doubt).

No such thing as too big.

ZesPak

24,427 posts

196 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
Calza said:
If I'm gaming online I'll drop the settings (and probably the res to 1080p) to achieve 144hz. But for offline gaming I'd like to have the option of really upping the eye candy.

The way I see it in a year or two it will become the norm, so I'd rather not have to change in a few years again.
My point was that on a 4k, 1080p will look good, on a 1440p, 720 will look better than 1080p. Native resolutions.

Calza

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

115 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
Oh really? I wasn't aware of that.

So if I plan on dropping back down to 1080p for online I might be better off at 4k?

But then offline I'd be 'Forced' into either 1080 or 4k (which is even more demanding than the already demanding 1440p).

p1stonhead

25,541 posts

167 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
Oakey said:
p1stonhead said:
I have 2 24's at the moment but really want to get one of these!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lg-34uc97-curved-mon...

Way too much money at the moment though.

24 is not big at all. 27 is pretty spot on I think.
£740 doesn't seem that expensive considering I paid around £650 for a Dell 2405fpw back in 2006!
I did too!
Still going strong!

1920x1200 seemed almost unbelievable to me at the time.

ZesPak

24,427 posts

196 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
Calza said:
Oh really? I wasn't aware of that.

So if I plan on dropping back down to 1080p for online I might be better off at 4k?

But then offline I'd be 'Forced' into either 1080 or 4k (which is even more demanding than the already demanding 1440p).
yes, lcd screens have a fixed grid, also "native resolution".

1280x720 fits perfectly on a 2560x1440 grid (4 pixels per pixel). 1920x1080 doesn't, and therefore will look unsharp.

Oakey

27,565 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
quotequote all
p1stonhead said:
I did too!
Still going strong!

1920x1200 seemed almost unbelievable to me at the time.
Mine's still next to me although I screwed up the DVI port somehow (corrupt EDID) and I'm reduced to using the VGA port.

I have a newer 24" Dell as well next to it, an IPS panel, not very good for gaming though.