21.5 or 23.6 inches

Gordon.C

Member
Hi,

I am interested in this Philips monitor and I just discovered that there is a completely similar 23.6" version while this is 21.5" product.

Price difference is about $25 in my local shop. And there is one odd difference that the 23.6" monitor does not have HDMI port other than that it is identical.

Which one would you choose for yourselves? Does size matter? :D

(I do a lot of programming, creating websites and gaming)
 
I would choose the 21.5" one. You will see the same amount of data on both monitors. The 23.6" one will just show it at a lower quality.
 
Thats a good point. I figured that since its not TV I am gonna be fairly close to it anyway so additional size might harm the quality
 
I would choose the 21.5" one. You will see the same amount of data on both monitors. The 23.6" one will just show it at a lower quality.

Thats a good point. I figured that since its not TV I am gonna be fairly close to it anyway so additional size might harm the quality
I wouldn't say it lowers the quality, it just lowers the DPI. Text will be slightly larger on the 23" LCD as well, so if you have poor eyes it will be easier to read small text.
 
I measure quality in DPI. Larger image means fine details are lost, therefore lower DPI means lower quality.

Picture quality doesn't matter then? It isn't all about the pixel density, that is just one factor. Colour quality, response times, g2g, contrast ratios, all are important and whilst you can't compare on paper (make a note of that one), some are still better than others. As you can't compare on paper, the only way is to use them or go and look at reviews/comparisons.

What you say is the same as judging the speed of a car purely off the engine displacement, there are other factors involved.

Assuming both monitors are the same except for one being slightly bigger, take the larger one every time, it will be beneficial for your programming and web design
 
Assuming both monitors are the same except for one being slightly bigger, take the larger one every time, it will be beneficial for your programming and web design

So you dont think that the image quality is going to be impaired by bigger screen size while keeping 1080p resolution?

To be honest I dont really understand how screen size and resolution really works because I know there are 10" laptops with 1080p while there are still 30" screens with the same resolution (not that I have seen either of those in real life yet).
 
Last edited:
So you dont think that the image quality is going to be impaired by bigger screen size while keeping 1080p resolution?

To be honest I dont really understand how screen size and resolution really works because I know there are 10" laptops with 1080p while there are still 30" screens with the same resolution (not that I have seen either of those in real life yet).
There won't be reduced quality as long as the resolution is the same, the difference is the distance at which it's viewed. If you look at a 42" 1080p TV a few inches away you will see the pixels, however at several feet away you don't.

The same is true for 21" vs 23", either resolution you aren't going to see the pixels unless you are inches from the display.
 
Back
Top