What second monitor?

I'm going to invest in a second monitor for my new MBP and seen a few sub-£100 1920x1080p monitors on Pixmania and the like (the MBP supports a highest resolution of 2560x1900p).

Looking for some advice on sharpness, contrast etc from the different brands in that price bracket. I'm obviously not gonna get a Cinema display for that price, but what's the next best thing?
 
noooo don't do sub £100, that will be a tn panel which is bad (poor colour accuracy)...spend more, likely range is £200-250 minimum for a non tn panel

Sharpness is no relevance on an lcd if you run at native pixels.
 
Like Levi said, You'll hate life with a cheapie. If you are planning on going cheap, might as well find a used one somewhere, you'd have better odds of getting something decent.

I've second handed a few monitors now, not bad for something I'm not using as primary.
 
What size are you looking for. I've got an old 20" cinema display that I'm about to put on ebay if interested.
Not sure what it wil sell for though.
I've tried buying a cheap screen in the past for an old g4 but the quality was never as good as the apple
 
Cheers guys, this was the kind of advice I was looking for! I saw a few budget panels on the local Staples, and up close I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. If you really think it is a bad idea then I'll save what I would have spent to invest in a better panel later in the year.

So same questions as before for a >£250 monitor!

Matty said:
What size are you looking for. I've got an old 20" cinema display that I'm about to put on ebay if interested.

20" would be the minimum, but at the moment I couldn't really part with more than ~£100. The there's the logistics of delivering the cinema display...
 
I use my 32" LED tv as a second monitor for my 15" macbook....they are an odd pair together.
 
FunkyFresh said:
I'm also starting to look for a new monitor. Have LED screens entered the computer monitor market yet?

yes.... ages ago unless you mean 27" 2560x1440 Resolution ips or similar (ie good quality screens)
27" ips - apple first commercially available one I know of, samsung now releasing series 9 which looks really nice (and I like samsung displays) and there's been a slightly more budget friendly option from hazro for a while now (got good reviews). Dell will have one soon if not already in all likelihood too
 
FunkyFresh said:
Ah sorry I meant to ask about OLED. Are there any OLED monitors availiable?
you could use the sony tv one (11inch iirc) but they're not really known for accurate colour reproduction.. Besides if you want one of any decent size you'd be looking at £2-3000 if not more for a high res version at 20-24" :rolleyes:
 
@Levi The thought of spending £2-3000 on a monitor is horrific!! haha

My mobile phone has an OLED display, It's a samsung jet. When I got it a couple of years ago I did a bit of research to learn a bit about OLED and there was a lot of hype about how OLED can produce better contrast and much richer colours. And I have found this very true especially when compared to nokias and HTC. I haven't compared it to an iphone but then samsung make the screen for the iphone and from the search I just did it looks like the iphone is probably using OLED as well so they are probably very similar.

Anyway, surely it is more challenging for a screen manufacturer to make a small 960*640px 326ppi display than it is to make a larger computer monitor which will only have a density of between 96 and 120ppi. And if they can afford to put OLED screens in mobile phones then what is stopping them from putting OLED in reasonably priced computer monitors? Especially if the hype about contrast and colour richness is true, which from my experience it is.
 
FunkyFresh said:
My mobile phone has an OLED display, It's a samsung jet. When I got it a couple of years ago I did a bit of research to learn a bit about OLED and there was a lot of hype about how OLED can produce better contrast and much richer colours. And I have found this very true especially when compared to nokias and HTC. I haven't compared it to an iphone but then samsung make the screen for the iphone and from the search I just did it looks like the iphone is probably using OLED as well so they are probably very similar.
seriously you need to do some more research....

iphone = ips led display with higher pixel density - think it's by lg... samsung do their processor/gpu and supply most of the memory/storage chips too - no oled on iphone, just 'relatively' higher pixel count
samsung = (mostly) super oled and super oled+ (basically better contrast)
htc = oled, higher quality led (pretty sure not ips)
nokia = improved oled (got a brand name I can't remember) and led

Contrast and richer colours do not make the colours accurate, they just make them pop off the screen.

Anyway, surely it is more challenging for a screen manufacturer to make a small 960*640px 326ppi display than it is to make a larger computer monitor which will only have a density of between 96 and 120ppi. And if they can afford to put OLED screens in mobile phones then what is stopping them from putting OLED in reasonably priced computer monitors? Especially if the hype about contrast and colour richness is true, which from my experience it is.
Nope, it's the other way round, led displays are basically made using one big sheet, meaning larger sheet has higher chance of faulty pixels, which means dead or rejected display.

And like I said above contrast and richness are no good without accurate colours..

OLED is still relatively expensive to manufacture and has the same issue as led when you scale up, it's also harder to manufacture than led.
 
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