LCD / Video Card advice request

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Mon, Apr 26, 2004 at 07:40:17PM -0400, Peter King wrote:
> I'm thinking of getting an LCD monitor. But recently I've gotten burned
> with computer hardware purchases, and thought I'd ask for advice first.
> 
> Most of my work is with text, often in console but sometimes in xdvi or
> xpdf; I don't need 3D acceleration or anything of the sort, but a sharp
> display is a must.
> 
> It seems as though an LCD monitor with a DVI input, paired with a video
> card having a DVI output, produces better-quality results than analogue
> connections. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

I would have thought so, but some people claim it doesn't make much
difference.  I suspect as resolutions go up, it will make a difference.

> Many LCD monitors -- certainly those capable of 1280x1024 or 1600x1200
> resolution, which is good for my purposes -- have DVI inputs.
> 
>   --> Question [1]: Any recommendations for DVI-enabled LCD monitors
>                     at higher resolutions? Good, bad, horror stories?

Check out www.tomshardware.com they have had some LCD comparisons in the
last little while, so you could get some idea there what to look for and
what to not look for in an LCD, including for different purposes.  If
you ever want to do 3D gaming, the response speed is very important (and
too slow on most LCDs).  I suspect for video playback it wouldn't be a
big issue, but it might be.  Also remember that the native resolution of
the screeen will be the resolution you work in 99% of the time on an
LCD, since most look awful at any other resolution, while a few just
look bad.  At native resolution they look amazing (Assuming it is a good
screen with good even colour, contrast and brightness of course).

> I run Debian (testing), with XFree 4.3.0.1. In the past, people have
> said good things about ATI support; there are a variety of Radeon cards
> (all somewhat older it seems) covered by this release of X, and at least
> some of them, such as the Radeon 7000 or 9500, have DVI output.
> 
>   --> Question [2]: Any recommendations among the various ATI cards? Or
>                     should I be looking at some other manufacturer for
> 		    this? Again, the good/bad/horrific stories are all
> 		    useful.

ATI is still off my buy list.  Great hardware.  Terrible software.  That
has been ATI for me for the last 12 years.  I see little sign of that
changing.  I have been buying nVidia hardware for the last 4 years when
I needed a video card, and I haven't regretted it yet.

Lennart Sorensen
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