Which 22" 16:9/10 LCD would you suggest?

[BoostedP4]

I'm looking to upgrade to LCD in the 22" size. I've searched out quiet a few the last few nights and plan on going to the stores to take a look at some tomorrow. From what I've read on newegg and other sites most these models seem really close in specs and pricing. All are good for gaming (which is impt for me) since they have 5ms or less response rates. Aesthetics also play some what a part in the decision. I'm really interested in the viewsonice 22" on newegg but the speakers aren't needed and kind of ugly but it looks to have the best stand of all these below. Anyways, any input on these or experience vs using 4:3 would be apprecited.

$309.99
ViewSonic Graphic Series VG2230wm Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 280 cd/m2 700:1 Built in Speakers ? Retail
VIEWSONIC

$279.99
CHIMEI 221D-NBC Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 330 cd/m2 800:1 ? Retail
CHIMEI

$295 From dell
DELL 22"
DELL 22

$339
Samsung SyncMaster 22" Widescreen Flat-Panel TFT-LCD Monitor
Samsung

 

[MBrown]

This is what I have. LG L226WTX-BF. I have had it for two days now and it is awesome. No dead pixels, bleeding is pretty even. I haven't messed with any 4:3 content yet but I have my 360 hooked up to it also and it looks amazing. 3000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response(at least thats what LG says). I picked it up for $380 at Best Buy. No tax because I'm in NH .

 

[BoostedP4]

Oh nice, I saw the LG listed on Best Buys website. I'll check them out later today. How did you hook your 360 up to it?

 

[PingSpike]

Any of these have fixed aspect ratio scaling option in the monitor controls?

 

[MBrown]

Originally posted by: BoostedP4
Oh nice, I saw the LG listed on Best Buys website. I'll check them out later today. How did you hook your 360 up to it?

I looks real good.

As far as scaling is concerned, I am not sure what is going on though. It looks fine to me and there is a real small black bar on top and an even smaller one on the bottom. I am assuming its trying to do 1:1 mapping but I could be wrong.

 

[jplb70]

I just picked this one up from KDS. And I must say F.E.A.R looks quite nice on it. At 280 USD I think it's tough to beat

 

[Matt2]

I'm not sure how that LG reaches a contrast ratio of 3000:1. SOunds like a load of crap to me. It's also worth mentioning that while the LG MBrown suggested is a high quality TN panel, it's still a TN. You're still going to get color shift at wide angles and contrary to the user reviews on NewEgg, this is NOT a true 8bit panel. It's still 6bit + Hi-FRC.

If you guys plan on playing your Xbox360 via VGA cable on these 22" screens, I suggest you dont. The Xbox is not capable of outputting 1680x1050 to the monitor. You're going to be running 1360x768 stretched to full screen and TN panels cannot do 1:1 pixel mapping. IMHO 22" screens already have an undesirable pixel pitch and playing with a stretched, non-native resolution isnt going to help.

 

[Pugnate]

I would highly recommend the VX2235/VX2240/VG2230

Fantastic value.

 

[BoostedP4]

Yeah, I'm kind of concerned about the strange aspect ratio. But, after reading lots of reviews the 22" size seems like a good resolution for my needs. I'm going to the stores to check some out now. That KDS looks pretty nice but the 1 year warranty pails to viewsonice 3 year. BTW, looks like circuit city has the Viewsonic VX2235wm X series for $350 with a $30 mail in rebate good for March 9/10th. So, I'm off to the stores.

 

[imported_K3N]

They could've based the conrast ratio on DCR instead of regular contrast ratio, kinda like this samsung monitor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001096

 

[BoostedP4]

Well, just got back from going to Best Buy, Circuit City & Comp USA. When looking at the Viewsonics in Comp USA I wasn't very impressed. The Colors didn't look that great to me and text seemed a little blurred. The samsung sitting next to the viewsonic looked better to me. Both were running windows XP. I was pretty impressed with the$400 Gateway 22" that all the stores had. It has additionaly component hook-ups as well as USB. Kind of a nice addition but I need to read up on the gateway. Still debating.

 

[MBrown]

LG I tell you LG!!!

 

[nOOky]

Have you considered the tried and true regular 4:3 aspect monitor? I love my Samsung 204b, and at 1600 x 1200 it's a standard resolution. I just can't play on a widescreen so I stuck with 4:3.
Also, with 24 inchers being so cheap and you get that much more real estate over a 22" and resolution...

 

[nOOky]

Also some games don't support the widescreen resolutions and you have to go in and edit the cfg usually to make it work. Not a biggie though. I was suprised at how long my old widescreen was compared to my current monitor, but this Samsung even seems kind of stretched out. People have asked if it's a widescreen.

 

[BoostedP4]

Well, I went ahead and bought the Gateway 22". I got home and started to hook it up and realized it didn't come with a DVI cable. So, I made a quick trip back to BB and bought a DVI cable. It setup quite easy and looks great so far. However, I do have one dead pixel so I'm bummed about that. I think I'm going to goto Microcenter tomorrow and pick up the CHIMEI 221D-NBC Black 22" since they have it for only $260. I can already see some light slight light bleed on the top and bottom of this gateway but man does the text and everything look good so far! I'm quite impressed with it off the get go aside from the dead pixel and no DVI cable. All said it cost me $450 with the cable so that's pretty high. I'll keep this thread updated on the Chimei. Whichever one I like best stays.

Oh yeah, both best buy employees were really suggesting the LG so I might still consider that as well. But, I do want Widescreen.

 

[aka1nas]

My 22-inch Dell just came in today and games are excellent so far. Very minimal backlight bleed around the edges, better than my previous panel though. No signs of ghosting and oblivion looks awesome.

 

[imported_K3N]

Originally posted by: nOOky
Also some games don't support the widescreen resolutions and you have to go in and edit the cfg usually to make it work. Not a biggie though. I was suprised at how long my old widescreen was compared to my current monitor, but this Samsung even seems kind of stretched out. People have asked if it's a widescreen.

Nowadays Widescreen format is the way to go, especially when it comes to playing games and watching HD movies on your pc. In the future many game are likely support widescreen resolutions.

 

[imported_K3N]

Originally posted by: K3N

Originally posted by: nOOky
Also some games don't support the widescreen resolutions and you have to go in and edit the cfg usually to make it work. Not a biggie though. I was suprised at how long my old widescreen was compared to my current monitor, but this Samsung even seems kind of stretched out. People have asked if it's a widescreen.

Nowadays Widescreen format is the way to go, especially when it comes to playing games and watching HD movies on your pc. In the future many game are likely support widescreen resolutions.

Originally posted by: BoostedP4
Well, I went ahead and bought the Gateway 22". I got home and started to hook it up and realized it didn't come with a DVI cable. So, I made a quick trip back to BB and bought a DVI cable. It setup quite easy and looks great so far. However, I do have one dead pixel so I'm bummed about that. I think I'm going to goto Microcenter tomorrow and pick up the CHIMEI 221D-NBC Black 22" since they have it for only $260. I can already see some light slight light bleed on the top and bottom of this gateway but man does the text and everything look good so far! I'm quite impressed with it off the get go aside from the dead pixel and no DVI cable. All said it cost me $450 with the cable so that's pretty high. I'll keep this thread updated on the Chimei. Whichever one I like best stays.

Oh yeah, both best buy employees were really suggesting the LG so I might still consider that as well. But, I do want Widescreen.

Alright good luck, be sure to tell us how the Chimei is when you hook it up..

 

[Atlantean]

I just bought this and I think its great. No dead pixels for me or anything, gaming and videos look great, had to play around with settings to get everything to exactly how I like them but so far the monitor has been great. IF you buy this monitor though you should check which panel they are using. I ended up with an S type (if you look on the back after the Samsung 226BW[R] there will be some spacing and it will either say A or S). The S type is a Samsung panel and is vastly superior quality to the A type which is an AOC panel, from the reviews I have read. The S panel has very little backlight bleed when its a completely black screen, and its only noticable if there are no lights on, if lights are on in the room then backlight bleed cannot be seen. Colors are great as well, if you have a chance to get an S type monitor then go with the samsung 226bw, if not then the LG L226WTX has the next best screen.


EDIT: Didn't realize you had purchased the screen, if you end up returning it and looking at something else as it appears you may do, then consider either the LG or the Samsung, both have 2ms response time (gray to gray, no idea what this means, and I think that the monitors actual response is 5ms as with other panels), and both are the "second generation" of the 22" tn panel monitors.

 

[craftech]

Originally posted by: K3N

Originally posted by: nOOky
Also some games don't support the widescreen resolutions and you have to go in and edit the cfg usually to make it work. Not a biggie though. I was suprised at how long my old widescreen was compared to my current monitor, but this Samsung even seems kind of stretched out. People have asked if it's a widescreen.

Nowadays Widescreen format is the way to go, especially when it comes to playing games and watching HD movies on your pc. In the future many game are likely support widescreen resolutions.

Have you tried playing 1080p or 1080i content through it yet?

Seems like 24" is the minimum for that resolution without getting distortion.

John

 

[jjzelinski]

If you want a 22", get the Viewsonic. It has by far the best stand and bezel out of the bunch, and considering all of the monitors use identical panels that makes it stand out from the rest.

 

[BoostedP4]

Welp, I drove all the way across town today to get the CHIMEI 221D-NBC Black 22". While the monitor seems good and the sharpness looks great it has like 4 or 5 dead pixels!!! Why the hell can't I get one that is dead-pixel free!!! Now, I'm going to pack up the Gateway and go get either the LG or the Samsung. I'll look for the "S" designation if it's on the box itself. Buy the end of this I'll have tried every one of these.. I would have kept the Gateway if it didn't have dead pixel.

 

[imported_K3N]

Originally posted by: craftech

Originally posted by: K3N

Originally posted by: nOOky
Also some games don't support the widescreen resolutions and you have to go in and edit the cfg usually to make it work. Not a biggie though. I was suprised at how long my old widescreen was compared to my current monitor, but this Samsung even seems kind of stretched out. People have asked if it's a widescreen.

Nowadays Widescreen format is the way to go, especially when it comes to playing games and watching HD movies on your pc. In the future many game are likely support widescreen resolutions.

Have you tried playing 1080p or 1080i content through it yet?

Seems like 24" is the minimum for that resolution without getting distortion.

John

umm so what? regular 1080p televisions cost >1000$ anyway. Again widescreen is becoming more and more widespread. It would only make sense to get the square monitor if you do like office work, but then again widescreen is suitable for almost any occupation..

 

[kmmatney]

Wow, that's a lot of dead pixels! I bought a Chi Mei for work and was lucky to not have any dead pixels. It was pretty nice for the price.

I've been trying to find out some info about a new LCD at NewEgg, with is a 20.1" LCD with a standard 4:3 aspect ratio, and I believe it's an IPS panel. The LCD is at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824005091

The LG2000C was an IPS panel, so I believe this one shoud be as well. It's defintaely not a TN panel, since it's a brand new product, and the repsonse time is only 8 ms (TN lanels are faster than that on any new panel). The product page is at:

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l2000ce_1_6.jhtml

Looks like a pretty good deal for a large IPS panel.

 

[BoostedP4]

Great... The thrid time isn't a charm. They didn't have any Samsungs in stock so I got the LG. Well, this LG is crap. Dead pixels everywhere!!! Grrrrr. I'm going back for one more Gateway. This SUCKS!!!