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I'll be waiting for the card that can do Crysis set to 1920x1200, all the goodies on, and 50-60fps

I recently bought a new 24" monitor (PLE2403WS) from Iiyama. Very nice monitor, but a few problems integrating it with my current video card.

The monitor is 1920x1200 at ~60Hz. The manual for my graphics card (GeForce PCX 5300) claims it can handle 1920x1080 and 1920x1440, but not 1920x1200 :-(

Ok, I kind of expected I would need to get a new graphics card, but I am finding it difficult to find out what screen resolutions the available cards will actually handle. Most of the online shops don't really supply any details, and the manufacturers websites seem to deliberately make it difficult to find out.

The information is almost always buried at the back of the user manual (which you normally don't get until after you have bought the card). You have to go to the manufacturers website, select each type of card, transfer to their 'download site', select the card again, download the PDF manual wrapped as a zip file, unpack the pdf .... only to find it is the 'lite' version of the manual which doesn't actually give you details of the screen resolutions.

Am I missing something ? Does anyone know of a resource on the net where I can find out what screen resolutions graphics cards are capable of handling.

I have always disliked LCD screens, the image quality is just poor. I would never own an LCD TV or monitor. I have several laptops but I hook them up to 22" CRT's. Yeah, I know they are big, heavy, hot and suck juice but they please my eyes. (I use 22" Iiyama's and 21" Trinitron's CRT's only)

Watching video on an LCD is a horrible experience, just as watching mpeg video on digitial satellite or digital cable sucks.

I prefer analog anyday. Compressed video looks like crap and compressed video on LCD is unbearable. It looks like kids on acid drew it with crayons and graph paper.

I will always stick with CRT's.. NO LCD screen can compare to the performance level and image quality of a CRT..

Just to add to this. While the parent is correct, that a LCD is usually going to be better on your eye's, a good quality crt will also allow just as many hours of use with no eye strain.

I find with a cheaper CRT I get headaches after a couple of hours of work. However I purchased an Iiyama visionmaster pro 455 and I can literally spend days working on it with no noticable eye strain. It is also brighter and clearer than pretty much any LCD I've seen. So in the end, if you pay a decent amount for a monitor it should be fine.

All the same, unless you plan on playing games on the machine, I'd suggest going for an LCD.

This superb 21" CRT monitor is "only" 6 years old... But with an average of 10-hours/day of use, the display is still as bright & crisp today as it was back on the first day I got it. These were surely the best 2500 German Marks I have ever spent on computer hardware. I cannot praise Iiyma enough for the monitors they are manufacturing !!@

iiyama Vision Master Pro 514 (HM204DT)

Sorry that was a 4831

Without wanting to show off, I just pushed by 19" CRT to one side to fit one of these as my primary display in a multi-head setup. And in the UK it cost only £1,100, which means that I can't see you yanks paying more than $1,800 or so for the same (YMMV).

Apart from the pain of trying to find a card that will drive the DVI interface at UXGA (most top out at 1280x1024, a Radeon 8500 should do it) then I've got to say that it's a very nice screen (no dead pixels so far), and I have no problems with 1600x1200 - I've always preferred a higher resolution (that's what adjustable font size if for). A CRT may have truer colours, but the rock solid, flat, matt image is fine for me and emacs...

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T

• The Sony GDM-FW900, a 24" (22.5" viewable) screen that'll do 1920 x 1200 @ 85Hz, and 2304 x 1440 max. You won't believe how beautiful it is 'til you see it. Sony says retail is $1,999, but I've seen it for much less. The Viewsonic P225f is also very nice, 22", much cheaper.
  
• My favorite solution, 2 19" screens on a Matrox DualHead card. Right now I'm using 2 Viewsonic P95fs. Perfectly flat, max 1920 x 1440. Overall I think I like Iiyamas better, but these are nice.
  

You should take a look the iiyama Vision Master Pro 510, click on "TrueFlat". Very cool 22" monitor, at an affordable price. Its Diamontron tube (equal to Sony's Trinitron) gives you a very clean text, even at high resolutions. That's Sony's Trinitron quality, for a lower price.

The only problem I have with mine ("just" a 19" 450, but the 510 is just as good) is that its name is almost impossible to spell right ! ;)

Something you should consider too is the quality of the graphics card. Low end board are quite weak in high resolutions. I've searched a bit around the net about the best choice and it seems that Matrox cards give the cleanest, sharpest image. I'm very happy with my G200. Definitely not a gamers card -- I don't like games --, but a great 2D card.

Stéphane