Lou, I saw in your post signature , you have Samsung 40" monitor.
I am trying to purchase a big monitor, but I really cannot identify which  model is the best for FSX/P3D . Will you please advise which Samsung model I should select it.
Thanks :)
Ahmet

Hi Ahmet,

This is an old 40" Samsung LCD 720 60Hz T.V.

It does a fine job with FSX. I also have a 55" Samsung 1080 P LED and it looks just about the same, only bigger.  ::)

I got them at a local Cosco on sale. I use the HDMI connection and it really looks good.

A while back I looked at one of those really high res 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution monitors, but the price is still way too high for what you get. The Samsung SyncMaster S27B970 lists for around $1,200. I think that's a lot for a 27" screen when these 40" T.V.'s are going for well under $500. I believe CS built the plane resolution for the high end monitors. Just wait a bit and the price will come down.

I tried multi-screens of two and three but prefer the large single.

Lou

Thanks for your info. I will wait. If you find an ideal monitor, will you please inform me.
:)

I think it helps to point out the technical differences between big TV screens and computer monitors. This also explains why the price is different.  ;) Screen size alone isn't what makes up a good screen.

We forgot to mention one vital value called dots per inch, dpi. It defines how many pixels (dots) per inch make up the actual picture. Ever looked at the Apple 'retina' displays or the latest mobile phones with dpi in the 400+ ranges? Looks pretty sharp, huh? Well, it is  :D and that's what makes it more expensive (among other things). For instance, the latest 4.7 or 5 inch mobile screens incorporate a resolution of 'full HD', which is the same as a 40 inch TV screen may give you, on a much smaller area. Same goes for computer monitors in another quotient though.

So the difference is the area at which those pixels generate the picture, leading to a sharp impression, or not. Does that mean that a modern TV screen isn't sharp? No, but it's way less sharp than a 24-27 inch computer monitor or the mentioned mobile screens with the same display resolution.

This doesn't harm the impression when watching TV, fast images, movement, scenery, but you will see a lot of difference when working with text or gauges. Again, the TV isn't unsharp but it's worlds apart from working on a proper computer monitor. To get rid of this downside, you would have to step away (literally) from the 'low-res' TV screen, which then causes the big picture to become smaller in comparison. You don't sit directly in front of a 40 inch screen, do you?

Therefore, a big screen is just one part of the puzzle when it comes to displaying information. Reading text, gauges and documents of all kind are better off with a computer screen, while the big sport events, films or videos of course come in nicely on large screen setups. For those things, even high-res beamers may be great and worth a shot. Getting really big!  :D

The bigger the screen gets (while the resolution stays the same) the lower the dpi will get as less pixels per inch will cover the actual screen area. Take an average 24 inch monitor supporting full HD, 1920*1200 resolutions. It will give you 'sharp' ~95dpi while a TV screen with 40 inch and the same resolution only offers 57dpi. That's a 40% loss in sharpness.  :o By the way, this may explain why the TV and home cinema folks now head for the so called 4K standard, offering higher resolutions on big screens, therefore getting rid of the low dpi problem.


To conclude, the sharpest and biggest you may currently get are the 27 inch (sometimes 30) computer monitors offering resolutions up to 2560x1440. A 30 inch screen then comes in at ~98dpi, so it's as sharp as a smaller 24 inch monitor with 1920x1200 resolution. And, that much is true, those screens aren't really cheap.  :-/

This is the one I want!! 2560x1600!!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417347,00.asp

Bruce,

How are you making out with the fires?
Hope all is OK!

Lou

Hi Lou!!

Fires are no direct threat to us, thanks for asking! We did have a couple days of very smokey air and the entire city was advised to stay indoors. That Black Forest fire is the closest one to Denver and is now about 75% contained. Over 500 homes lost and that number is growing.

Hope your cruise lecture sessions went well this past winter!!

Bruce

The wife and I had a great time...

Did 50 days at sea, in four cruises. Good way to get away from winter.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5539/zvdi.jpg

Lou

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

btscott wrote on Jun 18^th, 2013 at 2:11pm:

This is the one I want!! 2560x1600!! http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417347,00.asp

Count me in.  :D

50 days at sea!!! You must have gained 25lbs!! Did they pick up your Manhattan tab too??  ;D

We just finished a 10 night Princess Alaska cruise. Had 2 days of very rough seas ex SFO and missed JNU as a result. I did get a ride on a Beaver in Ketchican which was the highlight of the trip!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwwKRhxyk0


CoolP

I think you should get that monitor and let us know what you think!!  :)

Did not gain any weight, but it was very hard. A lot of walking around the top deck!  :o

Yes indeed, the drinks tab .... ouch!

Cool video, is that ORBX and REX scenery?  ;D

btscott wrote on Jun 18^th, 2013 at 7:30pm:

50 days at sea!!! You must have gained 25lbs!! Did they pick up your Manhattan tab too??  ;D We just finished a 10 night Princess Alaska cruise. Had 2 days of very rough seas ex SFO and missed JNU as a result. I did get a ride on a Beaver in Ketchican which was the highlight of the trip!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEwwKRhxyk0 CoolP I think you should get that monitor and let us know what you think!!  :)

+1 :D

btscott wrote on Jun 18^th, 2013 at 7:30pm:

I think you should get that monitor and let us know what you think!!  :)

A friend of mine runs the predecessor of it and I must say it's impressive, especially the actual desktop size being available. You are gaining approx 80% over 'full HD'.  :D But, honestly, I think my current office layout won't allow for such a huge screen as I can't adjust the distance between keyboard/mouse and the screen.

So it's more of a dream constellation for me, adding to the fact that serious gaming with such resolutions would require some beefy graphic cards in other games than FSX. Going 2560x1600 with antialiasing and full details asks for cards like a GTX780 (or more), depending on the title.

I just read a few very recent buyer reviews on the Amazon site and they weren't very positive -- some failures. Don't think I'll be getting this monitor anytime soon! One reviewer said it needed a good GPU, but nobody else mentioned it. Not sure if my GTX580 would run it or not.

Good point on the GPU. Perhaps not so much when only playing FSX since high resolutions mainly eat up VRAM and should work fine with the GPU powers. But if you would like to play modern shooters with 60fps or so, the GTX580 might struggle with the native resolution of the screen. So, for those cases, a GPU upgrade may indeed be a good idea for a Battlefield3 player or the latest Crysis and things. As said, FSX itself might be ok with the GPU of yours, although one would have to check if the 1.5gb VRAM or your card are sufficient at 2560x1600. Later cards come with 2, 4 or even 6gb, so that's a bit of a buffer.

I'm using a 28" HD 1080p Hanns G monitor right now and it really works well with the 580, so I'm in no hurry to make a change. I would like the Dell 3014 at some point, though, if they get it right.

28? That's a pretty uncommon size, Bruce. Sure it's not a 27 inch model? Either way, that already is a big monitor, no? How about getting two more of those by the way?  :D