Hi-def on the PC?

cerebus

cerebus

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Now i'm looking at upgrading to one of those lovely cheap 23" sammys that have come on the market recently - maybe P2350 or 2494HS, something like that. The idea would be to make my PC into our complete media centre - effectively replacing our TV. It's already beginning to happen anyway, we've actually moved the couch into the computer room! And I figure with 1080i output and good quality speakers (compared to my rubbish-y crt tv and no external speakers) it'll be a superior experience all around.

But one thing that gets me confused is the output formats. Is HDMI really that much of a difference to make it worthwhile to pay out the extra couple hundred for the 2494? Also my 4850 only has DVI out which would mean upscaling, at which point I guess it wouldn't be true HDMI anyway right? The P3250 has 2ms response time whereas 2494 is 5ms - I game quite a bit so I'm thinking the 2ms would make a difference.

So opinions? Which monitor would you recommend? How would the lack of true hdmi affect image quality?

Thanks!
 
HDMI and DVI are 100% the same quality, actually you can output higher res with the DVI into really expensive monitors, So you will have absolutely the same quality with a DVI to HDMI converter (comes standard with good graphics cards). I have the 2333SW which is almost the same as the 2494HS (2494HS is better), and the quality from the 2333SW is fantastic with only 5ms response time and 20000:1 contrast ratio.

Go for the 2494, its a really good choice.

Note: Most LCD TV's dont have a 2ms Response time !!! and they only go up to 1920X1080.
 
Last edited:
cerebus said:
Now i'm looking at upgrading to one of those lovely cheap 23" sammys that have come on the market recently - maybe P2350 or 2494HS, something like that. The idea would be to make my PC into our complete media centre - effectively replacing our TV. It's already beginning to happen anyway, we've actually moved the couch into the computer room! And I figure with 1080i output and good quality speakers (compared to my rubbish-y crt tv and no external speakers) it'll be a superior experience all around.

But one thing that gets me confused is the output formats. Is HDMI really that much of a difference to make it worthwhile to pay out the extra couple hundred for the 2494? Also my 4850 only has DVI out which would mean upscaling, at which point I guess it wouldn't be true HDMI anyway right? The P3250 has 2ms response time whereas 2494 is 5ms - I game quite a bit so I'm thinking the 2ms would make a difference.

So opinions? Which monitor would you recommend? How would the lack of true hdmi affect image quality?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You. Are. Incorrect.
That's good news for you, I guess.

Anyway, DVI and HDMI are both digital, HD capable connections. HDMI can just carry sound as well.
Should you really need HDMI, you get DVI/HDMI converters, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

HDMI = Connection type.
HD = Content type.
Big difference ;)
 
Ok so the only difference is audio? Actually I'd rather not have audio out to my monitor because I have external speakers which would be superior to any built-in ones. Thanks for the advice!

mesugga I get the difference between hd and hdmi - but I just thought there might be an image quality difference between dvi and hdmi - like there is between vga and dvi. If you say there isn't, that's good enough :)
 
Will a 23" suffice as a tv replacement? 23" just seems a bit small to me, 30" will be fine if you compare it to a 74cm tv.
 
ponder said:
Will a 23" suffice as a tv replacement? 23" just seems a bit small to me, 30" will be fine if you compare it to a 74cm tv.
Click to expand...

74cm is closer to 28" actually. It would depend on the size of the room. In my room, I require a larger sized tv but in the missus' room, the 20" screens on her computer work perfectly fine.
 
Right now we're using my 19" to watch stuff on. 23" will be a big improvement. We put the couch pretty close to the monitor.
 
My friend recently got a 2333SW - lovely monitor, it's so awesome to videos on it!
 
42" HDTV is awesome! I have Sinotec. They are on special at Makro for R8999.00

5yr warranty.

Get the salesman to plug in the Bluray player and you will see the quality is the same as the Sonys etc... They might not be allowed to do it- when I got the okie to do that, the manager came racing over and yanked the cable out:mad: Shows the Sinos are as good as Sony @ half the price with double the warranty...

Bit of a no-brainer, really.
 
Well I'm really trying to choose between the 2494hs and the p2350 - the difference as far as I can tell is HDMI output and speakers on the 2494 vs 2ms response time with no speakers or hdmi and R200 cheaper on the P2350. What do you reckon will be the best bet?
 
cerebus said:
Well I'm really trying to choose between the 2494hs and the p2350 - the difference as far as I can tell is HDMI output and speakers on the 2494 vs 2ms response time with no speakers or hdmi and R200 cheaper on the P2350. What do you reckon will be the best bet?
Click to expand...

what prices u looking at? If you are going to save on the 2350 then go that way. You got your audio seperate anyway. Whether its HDMI or DVI is a non point.
 
Ok cool.....mind you the 2494 is slightly bigger and it may have better image quality, not sure there. Difference is 2k vs 2,2k.
 
cerebus said:
Ok cool.....mind you the 2494 is slightly bigger and it may have better image quality, not sure there. Difference is 2k vs 2,2k.
Click to expand...

well then you just need to flip a coin :D

and its really only a couple of mm bigger !! ;) and both prices are spot on ... really good.
 
I'd say go for the 2494HS. I have it and it's also extremely gorgeous. Much better looking when compared to the P2350. The HDMI input might seem trivial at the moment but it is future proof and will come in handy one day. Really, buy the 2494HS. And as you said, it's only a R200 difference.
 
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