Looking out for new monitor

[VJ]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a new monitor for my dad... He has finally figured out that a dual head configuration 14" CRT (800x600) + 12" mono VGA (640x480) isn't very comfortable anymore. The PC is my trusty old PentiumII-450 equipped with a Matrox G450 AGP (dualhead).


I'm currently looking at these displays:
Acer AL2223W
Acer AL2051W
ViewSonic VG2030WM
ViewSonic VA2012WB

The Acer 2223 is the only one that mentions HDCP. What is the purpose of this? Is this to allow an HDMI->DVI connector to be used with for instance a DVD player? If so, than this display would still have my preference.

It would be nice for the monitor to have included speakers (the ones he's currently using are quite bad, but upgrading them isn't important to him).

Personally I tend to prefer a smaller display with high resolution (all of the above have 1680x1050), but I think he would be more comfortable when everything is slightly larger (22" has the same resolution => everything is bigger than on a 20" ).

Any experience with this monitor? Or with Acer?
Any other suggesions or comments?
Thanks!


Jörg

[Jammrock]

I really like my Samsung 226BW It's very pretty. I got the "S" panel (S is made in Korea by Samsung, A is made in China by someone else) with no dead pixels and it looks wonderful.

HDCP is so you can play protected HD content in Windows Vista. You need an HDCP card and monitor to play stuff like Blu-ray and HD-DVD (unless you've hacked it of course).

[VJ]

HDCP is so you can play protected HD content in Windows Vista. You need an HDCP card and monitor to play stuff like Blu-ray and HD-DVD (unless you've hacked it of course).

Aha... I didn't know the monitor needed to support this. I suspect this is only the case when using DVI?


Jörg

[az]

The Samsung 226bw (not the 225) is the best 22" there is, and it's a beauty to boot. I forgot if it can do HDCP. I think only the version with the S panel is sold in Europe. The A panel is from AUO, IIRC the world's largest panel manufacturer.

[Jammrock]

Aha... I didn't know the monitor needed to support this. I suspect this is only the case when using DVI?


Jörg

HDCP only works over DVI and HDMI. No HDMI, so DVI only on the 226BW.

[VJ]

Thanks...
Well, my dad doesn't want to spend too much on a monitor. Dunno why; it is one of the pieces of hardware that lasts the longest (the 14" he uses now is over 13 years old, the 12" is over 15 years ). Haven't found a decent price on the 226BW over here, so the Acer 2223 is still high on the list.

I read that the HDCP compliance of a monitor is implied by "Certified for Vista Premium"-label; but very few list this.


Jörg

[az]

The 226bw costs almost 400 EUR.

[ND66]

I read that the HDCP compliance of a monitor is implied by "Certified for Vista Premium"-label; but very few list this.


Jörg

I remember something about it from 6~12 months ago…….. .
Technically speaking, High Def. protection is worthless at this point. Or it was a year ago.
I’ll look around and post this article when I’ll dig it out.

Bottom line was, it’s not only the monitor but also the graphic card that needed a physical chip (not a firmware) on the card it self In order to play the content. But there was no standard on it yet, so the card couldn’t have the chip installed. But it never stopped the maker to put the sticker “HD Ready” which was true for unprotected content, except for playing back the protected DVD’s…….




.

[VJ]

Bottom line was, it’s not only the monitor but also the graphic card that needed a physical chip (not a firmware) on the card it self In order to play the content. But there was no standard on it yet, so the card couldn’t have the chip installed. But it never stopped the maker to put the sticker “HD Ready” which was true for unprotected content, except for playing back the protected DVD’s…….

Yes, I remember that. However, I think we are now past that point, and there are cards that can play back protected content.


Jörg

[ND66]

Yes, I remember that. However, I think we are now past that point, and there are cards that can play back protected content.


Jörg

Cool.

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