Best 30" Monitor?

[Johnny9ball]

I am in the mood to get a 30" whats the best 30" monitor for gaming?

[Yui]

Right now, there's not that many options for 30" monitors other than Dell, Gateway, and Apple. The one from Apple is ridiculously priced though. Gateway is way cheaper but is still very2x good.

[Frag Maniac]

Samsung and HP have also made 30" models. The main things other than price you need be careful of with 30" is whether the games you play support 2560x1600, whether your hardware is robust enough to run that res, if it is HDCP compliant should you want to watch HD movies, and whether it has input lag, which some suffer from.

I once talked to an Apple rep at Fry's Apple display shortly after their 30" first debuted. He claimed it was HDCP compliant. When I got home I researched it and found out it in fact isn't. Always double check the info you glean on displays. There is perhaps more false advertising on that type of hardware than any other lately, esp HDTVs.

[Johnny9ball]

My comp can handle a 30"



Here is a 30" S-IPS LG Brand for 1100$ Free shipping from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005115

LG W3000H-Bn Black 30" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 370 cd/m2 3000:1 w/ 4 USB ports - Retail
S-IPS panel

[DaFox]

I seen the LG in store the other day, It was looking pretty damn nice.

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah that looks like a nice display, and not surprising LG would make one now that they are the main shareholder of what was LG Philips. Also, they're all pretty much IPS in that size.

I'm not sure I agree your spec is adequate to drive 2560x1600 though. I've seen benches of one GTX280 struggling with some games at that res, esp if you want use AA and AF.

If I were to go 30", I would want at least a GTX 295.

[Johnny9ball]

Ya I would also upgrade to a I7 920, 6Gig DDR3, GTX 295 and OC everything. My Tax return was nice. :wink:

[Frag Maniac]

Ya I would also upgrade to a I7 920, 6Gig DDR3, GTX 295 and OC everything. My Tax return was nice. :wink:

Cool, and then there's that $300 stimulus payment they sent out, which I've yet to spend.

I'm looking at the i7 too, don't know if I want to jump on the GTX 295 or wait for the GTX 300 DX11 stuff though.

[Jupix]

I'm not sure I agree your spec is adequate to drive 2560x1600 though. I've seen benches of one GTX280 struggling with some games at that res, esp if you want use AA and AF.

Why would you?

My old 7800 GTX 256M was enough to run most games of the period at 2560x1600. A GTX 280 is certainly enough to run most current games at 2560x1600. Unless Crysis is the only game you play and you want constant 60 FPS. In that case, you might want SLI.

Edit: Holy necro, batman! Didn't exactly check dates before posting.. Oh well, my point stands.

[Frag Maniac]

Why run AA, because despite the .25 pixel pitch, some games are horrible when it comes to jaggies. Also, though it's true for the most part that Crysis is the primary mainstream game that requires higher end gear for that res, it's getting common that lots of games are either large in map scale and/or poorly optimized, such as GTA IV, a very good game, but lacking polish in many ways. It's not an example for AA, because it does not support it (at least not yet), but it is a game that doesn't exactly play at good frame rates at that res though.

I digress though, because making such a point to those willing to suffice with whatever games are available in 2560x1600, such as 30" owners do, means my point is obviously going to be seen as moot to those whom have already settled in some ways. Don't get me wrong, 30" was very tempting to me too, I just would rather have a native res that is more widely supported AND more easily driven. It's hard to predict what will be required to drive 2560x1600 in a couple years. Even now there are some games that are barely playable with such gear at that res.

[Jupix]

What games today don't support 2560x1600?

It's a standard 16:10 resolution.

The list must be tiny.

(This question is out of curiosity, not out of spite)

[MrCrowley]

I digress though, because making such a point to those willing to suffice with whatever games are available in 2560x1600

Most games simply take list of supported resolutions from windows registry, and use it accordingly. And even if not (as jupix stated) 2560x1600 is a pretty standard resolution. Many games (crysis, burnout, DoW2, ...) even works out-of-the-box at really non-conventional resolutions with extreme aspect ratios (like 3072x768 or 5040x1050).

For gaming, it depends what kind of game is. For frenetic FPS you probably want a monitor with lowest as possible visual lag (Dell is not good at this), but for RTS, it´s not too important, so a Dell could be a good option.

The 30" HP is getting very good reviews, and it has good price, but it has no hardware scaler (graphic card has to do the work) and only has 3xdvi, so no consoles, but can be a very good mon for pc only use.


Saludos.

[Frag Maniac]

By "whatever games are available", obviously I meant in the scope of all video games out there, not just recently released, currently released, or future releases.

I should have known I would get such responses here though. There's just not many traditionalists into classic titles or even hardware. You so much as mention CRT here and everyone thinks you're a weirdo. :roll:

That being said, were there such a thing as a 16:9 30" with something like a 2560x1440 res, then I might be more interested. If I'm going to pay that much for a display I'd want it to at least show anamorphic WS movies without black bars.

A 2560x1098 res would be even better, it would be only 22% more pixels than 1920x1200, yet still very reasonable in pixel pitch, about the same as a 24" at 1920x1200. A 2560x1600 res is a whopping 78% more pixels to drive than 1900x1200. It's just too big a leap from 1920x1200 to 2560x1600 IMO, there needs to be something in between.

I think it's safe to say though that 21:9 support for games is a ways off, if it EVER comes at all. There IS the input lag thing though too, which I've read can be a common problem with 30" displays, and I never play RTS, mainly FPS, Racers and other action based games.

It doesn't come down to just supported resolutions either. Even proper FOVs for that given resolution are key, as we've all seen from many threads here. I'd feel more comfortable if the monitor I chose had a res that is one of the most commonly used, esp if it's one commonly used for consoles.

Like it or not, many PC games are console ports, and console games are now played primarily at 1280x720 and 1920x1080. That's just one of the reasons I'm shooting for a 1920x1200 or better yet a 1920x1080 res, esp if the display scales to play the classics as well. I want a monitor that can not only display resolutions supported by pretty much all games, by are also tested thoroughly by developers.

[scavvenjahh]

What games today don't support 2560x1600?

It's a standard 16:10 resolution.

The list must be tiny.

(This question is out of curiosity, not out of spite)

RC Helicopter Indoor Adventure and Riddick EFBB :cry: (yes, I can play them today)

You're right, 2560x1600 is not out of bounds for most game engines nowadays. However bear in mind that Crysis, although it supports 2560x1600, crawls at that res compared to 1920x1200 - not just because there's more pixels, it simply sucks at that res, even on the most beefy hardware today (i7, 3-way SLI). [crap, can't find my source article]

What's the best 30" monitor ? The one that suits your needs. My Samsung has a responsive panel, a single DVI port and minimal ergonomics, and I like it a *lot* :)

[MrCrowley]

By "whatever games are available", obviously I meant in the scope of all video games out there, not just recently released, currently released, or future releases

What I tried to explain is that there is no need to explicity support widescreen/surround resolutions. As far as game scales FOV with resolution there is no problem. Certain that is not always true, as some (older) games may need some tricks to get it work (primarily for surround resolutions, usaually there´s no need for 25x16), but in the end, few games cannot get into desired resolution (except for older games with no directx8+), in terms of surround resolutions.

Even is possible to play some emulated games (obviously not tested at many pc resolutions) in surround, like zelda64.

It doesn't come down to just supported resolutions either. Even proper FOVs for that given resolution are key, as we've all seen from many threads here. I'd feel more comfortable if the monitor I chose had a res that is one of the most commonly used, esp if it's one commonly used for consoles.

If it looks ok in 19x12 it will do fine in 25x16 (same aspect ratio, wich is really what matters). All 30" afaik has the same resolution, and is an old resolution in pc (support comes for long ago). And even being a console port, a game simply cannot ignore 24" monitors.

It's just too big a leap from 1920x1200 to 2560x1600 IMO, there needs to be something in between.

Maybe. Most console ports works flawless with a powerful pc (no high end) in a 30" native (if you don´t go crazy with filters), but that is another discussion concerning performance.

[Johnny9ball]

Uhoh $30 off till 3/12/09 Hummm..... I might have to bite.
LG W3000H S-IPS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005115

Oopse I accidently hit the order button or mabye not so accidently. Dam I had to many beers tonight ooh well.


Thank you for shopping at Newegg.com

Order Summary:
Sales Order Number: xxxxxxxxx
Sales Order Date: 2/27/2009 1:06:34 AM

Payment Term: Paypal
Extended Warranty: $0.00
Subtotal: $1069.99
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Total Amount: $1069.99


1 x ($1099.99) MNTR LG|LCD 30" 5MS W3000H-Bn RT - Retail $1099.99


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 x ($-30.00) DISCOUNT FOR PROMOTION CODE$-30.00

[scavvenjahh]

Beer and a 3% discount on expensive hardware : possible cure for the financial crisis ? :roll: :lol:

[Frag Maniac]

Anything sounding like a good deal on current IPS panels may mean nothing soon. There is talk of LG making e-IPS panel displays for both Apple and Dell in what they're touting as TN price ranges at IPS level performance. The Apple is a 23" 16:9, the Dell a 22", not sure what aspect ratio.

IMO this news is too exciting to not want to wait a while and see if it pans out to be true, and if more sizes and brands will be made. No doubt if they sell a lot of these, more sizes and brands will come. I made a thread about this a little while ago but to my surprise, no one commented at all.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15572

[Johnny9ball]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005115

30" LG W3000H-Bn 5ms S-IPS

OK I just this today a couple hours ago. I am freaking impressed.

The first thing I checked was for dead and stuck pixels as this is always a concern with LCD's. No dead pixels at all no stuck pixels at all. That's 4,096,000 perfect pixels. I check with a pixel checker over black, white and many different colors and its perfect.

I adjusted the brightness to max and though it doesn't have any color, gamma, or contrast, I adjusted those setting via my GTX 280. It is actually very bright and the darks are very dark.

On a pure black screen there is a little back light bleeding coming from the corners but it isn't sharp or bright and as soon as you have anything on the screen it is not noticeable at all.

I just watch an in game replay 3v3 rematch on Dawn of War 2 at 2560x1600 and it do believe I had an Eyegasim. Lots of units on the screen at once and not even a slight hiccup. The colors were very crisp and my system played the game perfectly fine maxed out everything with AA. In fact it wasn't any slower than my 24" at 1920x1200. I did set the resolution in the Config.lua because I didn't know if it would have an in game support for it and when I logged in the game and checked the game settings the resolution was indeed 2560x1600. No ghosting no color trailing at all and I checked with a good program that can show color trailing and ghosting on an LCD also watched ingame and dident see anything.

The desktop space is simply incredible. This will make it much better for me when designing web pages and 3D rendering. I clearly underestimated the sheer size of the monitor and the resolution as I am more impressed now looking at it than I thought I would be. It totally dwarfs my 24" and the added resolution is huge.

Time to update my sig!

There is a promo code right now for 30$ off and its free shipping I would say thats a good deal.