High Resolution Monitor on my PC?

[orfajackson]

Can I use a HD Home Theatre Monitor with my PC?

What is the highest resolution monitor I can use?
(I have a Vista 64 bit , i7 processor, 6 gig ram, high end video card, high end sound card and Blue ray player / burner)

I would like to watch Blu-ray movies on my PC.

Thank you guys
orfa

[edDV]

Give the make and model number of the monitor.

Also the display card.

How much are you willing to spend on a new monitor?
Monitor resolutions can reach and exceed 2560 × 1600.

[gll99]

The video/graphics card will dictate what resolution monitor it will support. My system with a ati 9600 256mb video card could support a monitor up to 2048x1536 at 60 hertz but many can do much better. However my monitor is 1920x1200 native resolution so I set the video adapter at that setting. Blu-ray is 1920x1080 so you would want that capability as a minimum for your graphics card and your monitor's default resolution.

[orfajackson]

Here is my video card:
EVGA 91G-P3-N981-TR Geoforce 9800 GT EVGA with 1 gig onboard memory, 2.0 PCI express , 256 bit, GDDR3, 2.0x16 HDCP, ready SLi supported, DirectX10

I don't have a monitor. I haven't picked one out, yet. I want to get the very best picture so I can watch videos on my Computer.

Is there a site on INTERNET lihe...........HD Monitors and Flatscreens for the Compleate Idiot? I want to understand this technology.

Thank you guys

orfa jackson

[jagabo]

Using a monitor with higher resolution than your source video will not improve the picture quality. In practice, the highest resolution videos you are going to find are 1920x1080 (Blu-ray, HD camcoders). 1280x720 is more common online (smaller frame = smaller file). DVD is 720x480 or 720x576. And streaming sites like YouTube are even lower (except the newer HD streams).

Getting a 2560 × 1600 monitor is pointless as far as video playback is concerned.

With LCD displays the most important factors are the black level (how black blacks can get) and the response time (how long it takes pixels to change from one color/intensity to another). The former is rarely reported by the manufacturer. And the latter is measured differently (by whatever technique gives the best number) by every manufacturer, even within different models from the same manufacturer.

Note that widescreen computer monitors are usually 16:10 aspect ratio rather than the video standard of 16:9. For example 1920x1200 rather than 1920x1080.

Here are some general LCD guides:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/lcd-monitor-buyers-guide-2008-2009.html
http://compreviews.about.com/od/multimedia/a/LCDSpecs.htm

This article is old but discusses the response time games:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/121906/lcd_specs_not_so_swift.html

[orfajackson]

Oh, thank you for the advice , jagabo. You are very sweet.


Jagabo, do you know of a good software program to play (not record) Blu-ray movies? I bought Cyberlink POWERDVD9 ultra but it did not work - at all - and I returned it. Is WinDVD Bu-ray good? Is their customer service good? Is there another good software program to play (not record) Blu-ray movies?

little orfa

[orfajackson]

The resolution in (from Display settings / Monitor) says 1680 x 1050. Does this resolution come from my monitor? If so, does this mean my video can produce more resolution with a better monitor?

thank you
little orfa

[jagabo]

The resolution in (from Display settings / Monitor) says 1680 x 1050. Does this resolution come from my monitor?

That is a very native common resolution for widescreen monitors in the 20 to 22 inch range. So if your monitor is that size that's probably the native resolution of your monitor. Windows will usually pick the native resolution because that gives the clearest image -- especially important for the desktop.

If so, does this mean my video can produce more resolution with a better monitor?

You can get a slightly sharper picture with 1920x1080 videos if you have a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 monitor. But for most videos and movies the difference will be barely noticeable. Lower resolution sources won't look appreciably different.

As mentioned earlier, other factors will effect the picture quality. A poor black level (how dark the blackest blacks are) will result in a washed out image. Slow response times will show as as blurring when things move. Some monitors don't illuminate the screen very evenly -- getting darker or lighter at the edges or corners. Off axis viewing can be a problem (color shifts, brightness and/or contrast shifts, or no image at all as you move to the side). But most LCDs made in the last few years by the major manufacturers are at least decent in most of these respects. One other thing to keep in mind is that computer monitors usually have different brightness, contrast, gamma, and color settings than televisions. So you may need to adjust the graphics card's video overlay settings to look more TV-like when playing videos.

Regarding Blu-ray: for successful playback of genuine Blu-ray discs (without using software that cracks the copy protection) you system needs to be secure all the way from the Blu-ray drive to the monitor. This means your graphics card and monitor must support HDCP and you must be using a secure player. The two players you mentioned are the main players available for Windows.

[ChrissyBoy]

The resolution in (from Display settings / Monitor) says 1680 x 1050. Does this resolution come from my monitor? If so, does this mean my video can produce more resolution with a better monitor?

thank you
little orfa

Uncheck this:


on Settings->Advanced to see all resolutions your card can output at.

[edDV]

Some other issues.

Computer monitors are designed to work best at native resolution (1680x1050 in your case) and rely on computer display cards to process and scale video.

The alternate is an LCD-TV that accepts and processes video internally. These usually also have digital tuners and a vast selection of inputs. They also have wide dynamic contrast, better black control and other features that result in a better overall HD video picture than is possible from the typical computer display card. Most popular LCD-TV native resolutions are 1366x768 and 1920x1080. These LCD-TV sets usually also accept computer connection via VGA or DVI-D to HDMI.

A problem encountered with LCD-TV sets when used as a computer monitor is overscan. Ideally a computer connection bypasses most video processing to give a direct pixel mapping to the monitor's native display resolution. In effect the processing is assumed to be done in the computer's display card while the LCD-TV acts as a dumb monitor. This is usually the case for the VGA "Computer/Game" port. The HDMI port usually defaults to overscan and includes TV processor control. Some LCD-TV sets have ability to turn off overscan (often called "just scan" or direct pixel) and some of those also allow custom processor settings per input. That is what you want for a digital computer connection.

So, you have two general classes of displays. Computer display cards do best with detailed text and graphics display but are a compromise for video processing. LCD-TV sets optimize for video processing but can also emulate a computer monitor with restrictions.

There is a third display type which is essentially a computer monitor with TV tuner and limited external video processing added. These are usually compromised to be computer displays first often lacking dynamic contrast or optimized video panels. An LCD-TV will look better for watching DVD movies in a darkened room.