Suggestions for monitors

Laquer Head

Laquer Head

Well-Known Member
So I've been out of the loop for a bit, and not gaming much,, but as the bug has bit me again and I'm looking to upgrade I need some input on a slick monitor for gaming, photoshop/processing, and of course HD movies and shows~

What are the good brands? Specs I ought to be looking for? What inputs/connectivity? What stuff to avoid? Personal recommendations?

-Budget is $500 (Canadian $$) (flexible on that for the right monitor though)
-Any size is good, we have the space (24" or larger is probably preferred though)

Thanks!
 
Have you considered a 4K monitor, I know a lot of people who video or photo edit like them for extra real estate it gives them to work in. I have a 28 inch 4K monitor which looks great, but text is a little on the small side, you can still read everything, but it would be more comfortable if it were larger.
 
I haven't considered it, but wouldn't discount it either. I just don't know much about 4K.. 28" sounds nice though!!!

When you say text is small, can you not enlarge it through your OS, or is it due to the ultra high res?? My eyes aren't bad, but they aren't top notch either..lol
 
Laquer Head said:
I haven't considered it, but wouldn't discount it either. I just don't know much about 4K.. 28" sounds nice though!!!

When you say text is small, can you not enlarge it through your OS, or is it due to the ultra high res?? My eyes aren't bad, but they aren't top notch either..lol
Click to expand...

You can use windows magnifier tool, but then you lose a lot of that extra space you got and I also get some mouse glitches where the mouse seems to be offset in some programs (mostly games) when using magnifier tool at 4k and I know others have had similar problems and the only fix I've found is turning off the magnifier tool. You can change many text sizes in windows of course, but not all of them, for example text in many programs won't be effected by windows text sizes and you will need to change them in the options of that individual program if you can, it could be a lot of work going around changing all the text sizes if you can, something I'm not going to bother to try and do.
 
Hmm, I cant help but wonder if a normal 1080 monitor like we've been using is fine enough then, I don't really want to struggle, but a physically larger display in 1080 would be appealing.

Nothing worse than squinting to see a display that I'm sitting right beside.
 
Laquer Head said:
Hmm, I cant help but wonder if a normal 1080 monitor like we've been using is fine enough then, I don't really want to struggle, but a physically larger display in 1080 would be appealing.

Nothing worse than squinting to see a display that I'm sitting right beside.
Click to expand...

I guess its up to the individual, it may bother some but not others. The next time your out shopping see if you can find some 4k monitors on display, it might give you an idea what to expect. Also buying a larger screen with larger pixels should make text larger and easier to read, but 28 inches is already pretty damn big for a monitor in my opinion.
Acer has always done right by me when it comes to monitors, but even the best companies can make terrible products sometimes, before buying its always a good idea to look at product reviews and see if people are having common issues, which may suggest some underlying floor in the products design.
 
 
I have a 1440p monitor and when I got it I did think that the text was small compared to 1080p. With Windows 10, I have yet to have any issues reading text as most everything is adjustable. 4K might be a different story, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd say you're doing yourself a disservice to get a 1080p display with that budget. I pretty much impulse purchased my 1440p monitor and regretted how much I spent on it... Until it showed up at my door and I plugged it in. It's probably one of the best computer purchases I've made. Looks amazing. 4K would be an even bigger jump.

This is what I have. I'm not familiar with your prices and availability, but I got it for 250USD and it was WAY cheaper than any other 1440p option for me. I still have no clue how it's so cheap.
http://www.amazon.ca/Acer-G257hu-Le...&qid=1446913776&sr=8-7&keywords=1440p+monitor

Ideally you want to be looking for a low response time, IPS display, higher resolution, and accurate color reproduction since you do photo work. The Acer above has all of that. The response time is 4ms, which is higher than some, but I'm really sensitive to framerate and latency and I didn't notice it being any different than my 2ms display. The IPS in itself is a huge plus as it's incredibly bright and the colors just... pop. I had a 1080p monitor that I absolutely loved and thought looked amazing. Now it looks downright dim next to my Acer. Only things worth noting with the Acer is that the stand is pretty barebones (but functional) and the speakers built in are about on par with my smartphone speaker. It is also 25", which is smaller than a lot of 1440p displays, but it also results in a higher pixel density. It's still plenty big though and the fact that it's almost bezel-less makes it even bigger looking.

One final thing, I'm not an Acer fanboy or anything but I was very impressed by the increase in visual quality with a resolution bump. I have pretty much zero exposure to other monitors that are over 1080p and more am just making the point that the jump from 1080p to 1440p or higher is worth it. I'd definitely suggest looking around to see if you can find any other 1440p options within budget.
 
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