Upgrade monitor

Fenner Machine · Post by **Fenner Machine** » Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:47 pm

Thinking of upgrading my monitor, Acer K222HQL 21.5” TN.

Looking at MSI Optix G241 23.8” IPS or similar.

I looked at some monitors in a store, but they were not configured properly.

Some displaying pictures, others video. Not a fair comparison.

Some looked better, but a still image. Video looked like the wrong resolution, so interpolating.

Need it for productivity (office applications, graphics/colour).

Games will be OK at 60FPS (SimCity 2000/Settlers 2).

What to do?

Fenner Machine · Post by **Fenner Machine** » Sun May 01, 2022 8:51 pm

Well, I bought an MSI Optix G241.

I’ve had it for nearly 2 weeks.

Not sure if it was the right one.

I need to view documents/spreadsheets side-by-side.

Also want to use it for programming and graphics/art.

24” 1080P seemed on paper to be the correct combination for text size and screen real estate sitting 2.5 to 3 feet away.

My other system has a 40” 4K TV using 250% scale sitting 5 to 6 feet away.

I wanted something with similar size text but fitting more on the screen.

However, something is not quite right. I get eye strain that I’ve never had before.

Tried many settings (brightness is at 2!) and calibrating with a colorimeter.

ClearType looks bad with colour bleed (red around some text).

I can give it more time, I have about 2 weeks to return it.

Would an UltraWide be better?

Larger and/or higher resolution?

Another TV?

Any suggestions?

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Thu May 05, 2022 11:53 pm

Have you used the ClearType configuration tool? I get color bleed on my Asus Proart monitor, too - at least until I calibrate ClearType for that display.

Fenner Machine · Post by **Fenner Machine** » Fri May 06, 2022 6:40 am

Thanks for the suggestion TomXP411.

I’ve decided to send it back.

Already tried configuring ClearType – it improved colour bleed but at the expense of legibility.

Using my Acer monitor is easier on the eyes, doesn’t give me eye strain/fatigue.

What’s your Asus ProArt monitor like?

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Fri May 06, 2022 9:23 am

On 5/5/2022 at 11:40 PM, Fenner Machine said:

Thanks for the suggestion TomXP411.

I’ve decided to send it back.

Already tried configuring ClearType – it improved colour bleed but at the expense of legibility.

Using my Acer monitor is easier on the eyes, doesn’t give me eye strain/fatigue.

What’s your Asus ProArt monitor like?

I have 3 of them, and I love them all. They are all fantastic: the thing I noticed right off is the color; LCDs - especially older ones - tend to not do a great job with subtle differences in color. These monitors all have great color reproduction.

The only disappointment is that the monitors in that series don't do high refresh rate, so they're not the best for gaming - so I have an LG monitor I use as my primary monitor, but for video editing and digital art, I throw stuff over to the Asus 4K monitor on a pretty regular basis.

Fenner Machine · Post by **Fenner Machine** » Fri May 06, 2022 9:33 pm

Now I’m trying to decide between two 27” Asus ProArt monitors.

PA279CV 4K and PA278QV 1440P.

1440P has a slightly higher refresh rate (75 vs 60 Hz). (60 should be fine).

I might be able to run 1440P at native resolution, 4K with scaling. (Likely some scaling on either).

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Sat May 07, 2022 8:19 am

On 5/6/2022 at 2:33 PM, Fenner Machine said:

Now I’m trying to decide between two 27” Asus ProArt monitors.

PA279CV 4K and PA278QV 1440P.

1440P has a slightly higher refresh rate (75 vs 60 Hz). (60 should be fine).

I might be able to run 1440P at native resolution, 4K with scaling. (Likely some scaling on either).

27" is really too small for 4K to be useful. You end up cranking up the scaling settings, which kind of defeats the point.

1440p is pretty much the ideal resolution for a 27" screen.

Cyber · Post by **Cyber** » Sat May 07, 2022 8:44 am

On 5/7/2022 at 11:19 AM, TomXP411 said:

27" is really too small for 4K to be useful. You end up cranking up the scaling settings, which kind of defeats the point.

1440p is pretty much the ideal resolution for a 27" screen.

I agree with this evaluation, but it works for average person only.

For example, I have bad eyesight. But not as bad to use glasses yet. And because of this I bought 1080p 32" monitor. Avarage person would say this monitor has ridiculously huge pixels, but it's actually totally fine for me. Especially because I use some old software which has fixed size pixel font, which I can't read on a smaller monitor or with higher resolution.

So what I am saying is if your eyesight is good enough, you may use common recomendations. But if it's not, you might want to make corrections specifically for your own case.

Fenner Machine · Post by **Fenner Machine** » Sat May 07, 2022 10:06 pm

Thanks for your help TomXP411 & Cyber.

After some experimenting with my screens, scaling options and lots of additional research I think 27” 1440P would be best.

21.5” 1080P screen, at native resolution and about 3 feet away, I can see slight rough edges or jaggies around text. It looks better with 125% scaling.

27” 4K would be overkill as I would probably need 175% scaling. That would look great if scaling worked perfectly, but I would also need to upgrade my graphics card (NVIDIA NVS 310 1GB).

27” 1440P with 125% scaling would give me more real estate and good definition.

4K would have more potential custom scaling options but at a much higher total cost (about double).

BruceMcF · Post by **BruceMcF** » Mon May 23, 2022 11:29 pm

On 5/7/2022 at 4:44 AM, Cyber said:

. Average person would say this monitor has ridiculously huge pixels, but it's actually totally fine for me. Especially because I use some old software which has fixed size pixel font, which I can't read on a smaller monitor or with higher resolution. ...

"I love the retina display on this phone!"

"But, but ... that's NOT a retina display at all!"

"OK, to be fair, it's a retina display given MY retinas. YMMV."