Do we /still/ need bigger monitors?

[LB]

My monitor is somewhere between 720p and 1080p (it's 1600x900), but it seems that people are moving on from 1080p to even bigger screens, as previously on YouTube when the video quality was available in higher definition than 1080p the quality setting was just called 'Original', but now look at the list:

http://i.imgur.com/qPrkVPn.png

I haven't found a video with even higher definition to see if there is more to the list or not. Are we actually still moving to bigger monitors? My computer can;t even display above 1080p without lagging, and how can you even see on a screen that big anyway?

I can understand TVs where you sit far away from them, but people sit right in front of their computer screens. Seriously, why do they need to be bigger?

[o1vk4iN6]

Mobile devices with like 5 inch screens have 2560x1440 resolution. So yah probably going to get even higher.

[Catfish666]

As xerzi pointed out, higher image quality needn't necessarily come with a bigger screen.

[chrisname]

Screen size (area) is inversely proportionate to image quality. Pixel count (resolution) is proportionate but what really determines the quality, at least where physical measurements are concerned, is pixel density (dots per inch), which is the pixel count over the screen area. Then there are things like the refresh rate (for moving pictures, though there's not much to be gained past 60 Hz) and the colour depth (bits per pixel, although I don't think you could even find a display that can't handle truecolour (24 bpp) these days). There are also different technologies, like active vs. passive matrix, and TN, IPS, MVA, PVA, etc. -- most TFT displays are TN which have poor colour quality and bad viewing angles. I recommend E-IPS monitors because they're not overly expensive (mine was around £150, although it's plastic while I would have preferred glass) and get great quality.

[S G H]

We're headed towards 4k monitors.
By the way I also do have a 1600x900 monitor.
Puuure 16:9.

[rapidcoder]

-- most TFT displays are TN which have poor colour quality and bad viewing angles. I recommend E-IPS monitors because they're not overly expensive (mine was around £150, although it's plastic while I would have preferred glass) and get great quality

Most *cheap* TN screens have poor viewing angles and colour quality. This does not apply to expensive TN screens that are in the same price range as cheap IPS panels. Actually expensive TN panels have often IMHO better parameters than consumer-grade IPS panels ($1500 is cheap for a 30'' IPS panel), yet still being a little cheaper. E.g. compare a TN of an expensive $2000 laptop with a TN of a $500 laptop. There can be a huge difference.

IPS has usually slightly better viewing angles, but worse contrast, longer response times, poorer black levels, and worse energy efficiency than TN. And most anti-glare IPS screens come with an ugly, grainy anti-glare coating, while anti-glare coating on TNs is perfectly smooth. As of colour reproduction - you're right, IPS have less color shifting, but that doesn't mean this problem was solved completely. Still my $1500 IPS panel has some color shifting if viewed from upper-right / lower-left angles, however not when seen from straight angles (bottom, up, left, right).

To conslude: IMHO current good TNs are good enough and if you're not a professional graphic designer, you don't really need IPS.

[Thumper]

Personally I don't think I will ever use anything larger than a 24 inch monitor for my personal computing. I may use 2-3 of those monitors at once, but any larger than 24 inches seems overkill to me, honestly. My buddy uses a 39" television as his monitor and I just don't see how he could do that, that kills my eyes. Too much area to look at at once. 24" seems optimal, as in, I can more or less see the whole screen at once with peripheral vision.

I suppose you could have a 60" monitor and sit feet back from it, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

[S6k9GNh0]

I used to use a 37" LCD Vizio monitor via HDMI. It sat about 3 feet away from me (killed my eyes). I moved down to a 27" and it might still be a little bit too big.

I didn't want something too big but definitely didn't want too small. I should have gone with a 1440p capable monitor though given my hardware.

[Duthomhas]

I'm happy with my Samsung SA550 23" 1920x1080 monitor... :O)

But I've always wanted to just hook up a projector and sit in front of a nice, white wall...

Unfortunately, projectors don't have the DPI... :o<

[chrisname]

Duoas wrote:

But I've always wanted to just hook up a projector and sit in front of a nice, white wall...

I have a friend who has a projector and he hooks it up to his XBox and sits on the roof playing games projected onto the neighbour's house (there aren't any windows on that wall, so the neighbour doesn't mind).