What's an ideal res for a 21" monitor?

[syee]

Was looking to purchase a 21" monitor on Fleabay. Saw a 21" Dell Ultrascan P1110 and was checking out the specs on it. Noticed that the optimal resolution was 1280x1024 @ 85hz. Seemed kinda low to me...is this the same for most 21" monitors? I see it can do 1600x1200 @ 85hz which seems about right for what I want to use it for...just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting a cheapo monitor and be disappointed with it...

Any opinions?

Specs for P1110

 

[rbV5]

LOL, the optimal resolution is the wrong aspect ratio. 1600x1200@85 seems ideal to me with my 22" monitor.

 

[gibhunter]

When I had my 22" Mitsu (20.25" viewable) the most comfortbale setting for me was 1280/1024 @ 85HZ. Here at work, most guys runnning CAD use that resolution as well. On a 20" LCD, 1600x1200 is much easier on the eyes than it is on a CRT, on a CRT it's very hard to read text at this resolution for some reason. For example, I now have a 15" LCD on my laptop. The LCD's native resolution is 1450x1024. It took me about a week or two to get used to it, but once I got I love it. Still, imagine running anything even remotely as high as that on a 17" crt monitor! It would be close to impossible. So, in conclusion...
CRT Monitor:
15" - 800/600
17" - 1024/768
19" - 1152/864
21" - 1280/960 or 1280/1024 (One resolution is 4/3 the other 5/4 ratio).

LCD screen:
12" - 1024/768
14" - 1280/1024
15" - 1450/1024
16"+ - 1600/1200

 

[ponyo]

I guess it depends on the person but I use either 1024x768 or 1280x1024 with my 21" Sony CRT. It's easier on my eyes. 1600x1200 @ 85 makes everything too small and hurts my eyes.

I ordered that Dell 2001FP LCD. Hopefully I won't have any problem using 1600x1200 w/ that LCD.

 

[Atlantean]

Originally posted by: rbV5
LOL, the optimal resolution is the wrong aspect ratio. 1600x1200@85 seems ideal to me with my 22" monitor.

Yeah 1600x1200 is perfect. I am running a dell p1110 and the highest resolution it can do is 1800 x 1440

 

[yhelothar]

I'm running the dell P1110 and I have it set to 1800x1440 @ 80Hz(use nv custom refresh to set it at that)

I use large fonts setting, since 1800x1440 is perfectly 120dpi(i took a ruler and measured)
everything is perfectly readable on my screen
this dell p1110 has much sharper text than any monitor i've seen, including my old 21" hitachi

 

[Robor]

I love my 22" Compaq P1220 (22" Diamondtron tube) and I run it at 1152x864. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe anything higher isn't a true 4:3 unless you go all the way up to 1600x1200. And yeah, it's nice having so much desktop space but to me it is *way* too small to work with.

Edit: Just saw gibhunter's post and see that 1280x960 is also 4:3. Maybe I'll give that a try when I get home. Thanks!

 

[JonnyBlaze]

if i had a 21", i would run it at leat 1600x1200

i run my 19" at 1600x1200@85hz and cant stand anything lower.

i work with cad and just got used to this res.

JBLaze

 

[WobbleWobble]

For 21", I like 1600x1200

(CRTs) 19" - 1280x1024 (I usually use this) or 1280x960
17" - 1024x768
15" - 800x600

My 19" monitor's optimal resolution was also 1280x1024 at 100 Hz and it wouldn't do 1280x960 at all.

 

[GreatDaleness]

To maintain everything the same size, you need to run a 20" viewable at 1600 x 1200, an 18" viewable at 1280 x 960, and a 16" viewable at 1024 x 768

 

[Fern]

On my 21" ViewSonic (P815 I think) I use/prefer 1280 x 1024 @ 100mghz. At 1600 X 1200 print is too small and, at least with my older games, does not really look any better than 1280x1024.

 

[Ineptitude]

To answer this question you need to understand the diff between a CRT and an LCD. CRT's are analog - in other words an analog voltage has to change from one level to another as you go from one pixel to the other. The higher the resolution and refresh rate the faster that signal voltage has to change. If you go too fast for the electronics the horizontal pixels will bleed in to each other causing a hazy look. This won't bother most people in games and CAD, but it will make text a headache to read. An expensive monitor with electronics that can keep up with the speeds required won't have this problem. The monitor you're looking at obviously does have this problem as a lower res is suggested. LCD's are digital and don't suffer from this issue. LCD's should be used at thier native resolution and max refresh rate.

I have a cheap 19" Samsung CRT. I run 1600x1200 for games and CAD, and 1280x1024 for text stuff. Even though I am spoiled with a 20" LCD at work I'm pretty happy with my 19" CRT at home.

 

[eno]

Sony 21" CRT - I run 1280x1024 @ 100hz on desktop and 1152 in all my games. 1280 is to much for running AA and Anistropic full on most new games. 1152 looks darn clean and easier on the 9700pro.

Sony 19" CRT - I run 1152/864 @ 100hz and 1152 or 1024 for my games on the Ti4600