Any LCD monitors with really good 480/720p to 1080p scalers? Sell my Dell 2405?

[sofakng]

I'm currently using a Dell 2405 with my PC as well as my X-Box 360 (using VGA) and Playstation 3 (using component).

Everything is good except that the Playstation 3 only supports 720p for certain games and the scaler in the Dell 2405 is really, really bad so I have two options:

1) Buy an expensive video processor that will upscale the 720p to 1080p. (these seem to run $300 to $1000 for the "cheap" ones)

2) Try to find another 24" monitor with a good scaler for 480p and 720p content.

Like most people, I can't afford too much right now but I'm wondering if anything exists out there to help me.

Since this is the displays forum, can anybody tell me if a good 24" LCD monitor exists with a really good scaler?

 

[masteryoda34]

I not sure that your problem is that your display is a "really bad scaler." LCD's only look good at their native resolution. I think your quality issues with 720p from the PS3 are probably normal behavior. On a TV you wouldn't notice it as much because you sit farther away.

Maybe I'm wrong and the monitor does have a bad scaler.

 

[Winterpool]

Some displays, generally HDTVs, have much better upsamplers built in, for scaling 720 and even 480 to 1080; this can be a key criterion for selecting a TV if you're going to be watching content other than Blu-ray. I'm not sure how well computer monitors handle this. In fact, I think in most cases involving a 'PC', the work is done by the video card -- a good card is almost always superior to a TV or monitor in this function. Of course, a computer's video card does you no good if you're taking a signal from another source (eg the PS3).

I don't own a PS3, so I'm ignorant of its capabilities, but it seems odd that Sony would wholly rely on the display (the TV) to do the upsampling with content < 1080. Even many dvd players these days have decent upsampler capabilties; nothing similar exists in the PS3? And what happens with Xbox content; isn't most of that sub-1080 natively?

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Winterpool
I don't own a PS3, so I'm ignorant of its capabilities, but it seems odd that Sony would wholly rely on the display (the TV) to do the upsampling with content < 1080. Even many dvd players these days have decent upsampler capabilties; nothing similar exists in the PS3? And what happens with Xbox content; isn't most of that sub-1080 natively?

Xbox has a built in scaler and PS3 depends on the TV's built in scaler or having the game support the resolution so if the game doesn't support your native rez or your TV doesn't upscale it then it goes down to 480p but that was with older games and every game now has software support for all the rez's.

 

[yacoub]

doesn't your monitor offer the option to display it at a 1:1 ratio? if so, that's what you should be using, as it would keep the displayed image crisp and correct, not smeared across the entire display.

 

[sofakng]

My monitor does offer the 1:1 ratio but it displays the original image inside a tiny box in the center of the monitor. (eg. it doesn't stretch it at all)

The image looks really, really nice but it's just too small. (the same for 480p but that's VERY tiny)

 

[yacoub]

That's what 1:1 is - no stretching.
You could let it stretch but then it will be smeared / not as sharp because you are asking several pixels to try to replicate what one pixel displayed at the native resolution.

 

[SickBeast]

I don't think you'll have an easy time finding a monitor with a good scaler. If anything you'll be looking at an HDTV. AFAIK Sony and Samsung have the best scalers. My Sharp seems fine to me but I'm not fussy in that regard.

 

[QueBert]

will they ever improve LCD technology to where it's not resolution dependent? I run my 22" CRT at 3-4 different resolutions a day sometimes when I'm doing web page design. I can't imagine having the choice between 1 resolution or a different resolution with a crappy image.

 

[thilanliyan]

The PS3 has a pretty good built in scaler but only some games are upscaled...but yeah the ones that aren't scaled don't look so great on my monitor either. Upscaling DVDs and other video is pretty good on the PS3 (I have one hooked up to my computer monitor).

 

[yacoub]

Originally posted by: QueBert
will they ever improve LCD technology to where it's not resolution dependent? I run my 22" CRT at 3-4 different resolutions a day sometimes when I'm doing web page design. I can't imagine having the choice between 1 resolution or a different resolution with a crappy image.

It's a factor of the LCD technology. Unless they stop using LCDs, they won't be able to completely get away from a native resolution.