A question about LED monitors...

[ThinkingManNeil]

Hi again Guys;

As some of you know, my 10-year old CRT monitor began to go wonky last week when it lost all red colour in the picture and caused an distinct and unpleasant colour shift. Following this I decided it was time to retire the CRT and get a flatscreen, which I did. I picked up a 22" LG LED from Canada Computers. I've set it up, and with the exception of having to hunt down new wallpaper backgrounds I've been quite happy. I do have one...well, I hesitate to use the word "concern"...but it is something I'd like to improve if possible.

I've noticed that compared to what you see set up in the showroom, where the screens look quite vivid and bright. that as it is now the screen has something of a "washed out" quality to it. A few wallpapers that I've chosen look good, but some lighter coloured websites - like this one - aren't as crisp or as vivid when it comes to text or colours. I've adjusted the monitor's brightness, contrast, sharpness, gamma, and colour balance and it's improved things somewhat, but not exactly what I've hoped for, which is comparable in my mind to a TV set. I've read on some various forums that LED monitors are not true LED's but instead are back-lit LCD screens.

Just wondering if anyone's got some input...

N.

[SH427]

My question is what connection you are using from your PC to the monitor. The standard VGA and DVI inputs, IIRC, provide standard (not the greatest) picture quality. If your monitor has one, there should be an HDMI plugin that you can run and that will run the best picture quality. The only catch is that your video card or pc should have an HDMI slot as well. Adapters are available, but your best quality will come from HDMI> HDMI

[hairyspin]

A DVI->DVI connection should give better picture quality than VGA if you have that option.

[DaveWG]

DVI & HDMI are exactly the same digital video signal, but HDMI can carry audio as well, so there should be no difference in picture quality between them. VGA is an older analogue signal.
You may be able to tweak the image colour & vibrancy in the video card drivers.

[kdfw]

indeed, led refers to the backlight. more efficient than florescent tube.

make sure windows display setting matches the native resolution of your monitor, otherwise it will not look as sharp.

hdmi or dvi, same visual quality. don't use vga anymore.

[TARPSBird]

This will sound like a computer dummy question but I know my limitations, LOL. I just bought a new LCD monitor last night to replace my old CRT unit which has been flickering and shifting colors so I think it's about to cash in. The previous posts explained VGA (D-Sub) vs. HDMI connectors for me (my first question). For my second question I was hoping somebody could explain how the max (native?) resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels on this new monitor will impact my flight sims (FSX, FS9, CFS2). That is, what settings will I need to adjust? The new monitor screen is much more rectangular than the CRT and I certainly don't want to see stretched planes or oval gauges in the cockpits. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can provide.

[Daube]

You won't need to adjust any settings, excepted the choice of resolution in the game (which is surely still set to your previous monitor's resolution).
For the virtual cockpits, nothing is required at all, the game will adjust the display by itself. You might want to experiment with the tweak "WideViewAspect" in the FSX.cfg eventually, in case the minimum zoom is not wide enough for you.
For 2D panels, no luck. You'll have to download alternative 16:9 (or 16:10) 2D panels, if they are not already part of the airplane.

[TARPSBird]

Thank you Daube, I guess that's about all I need to know. I'll get the new monitor installed and see how things look for real. I was surprised that a HDMI cable was not included with the monitor, only a VGA D-Sub cable. From the other posts I concluded that the HDMI connection is preferable, am I correct?

[Jafo]

The VGA connector is essentially on the bottom in the pecking order of video connectors.
HDMI cables are almost never included as they're an added cost to the base pricing of the monitor...

[wombat666]

And the usual base model HDMI cable is not that flash either.
Buy the best (within reason) that you can afford.

[TARPSBird]

Jafo and wombat666, thanks for the replies.

[Ferry_vO]

Have a question myself: Earlier this year I bought a 27" LG LED screen that has the option to use the old VGA plug or HDMI, but with HDMI I loose the sound as my monitor has no speakers..

Does anyone know how I can get my image through the HDMI cable, yet retain the sound from my speakers through my on-board audio? Running Win7 btw.

[TARPSBird]

Ferry, I have a pair of Cyber Acoustics speakers that I bought with my original desktop rig and they have worked great since 2001. They're plugged into the back of my computer. Here is a typical set, I'm sure you can find something similar locally.
http://www.cyberacoustics.com/store/...eakers/CA-2022

[Ferry_vO]

I have a pair of speakers (A very old but still great sounding Creative 2.1 set) but once I plug my HDMI cable in, the sound is send to my monitor (Which has no speakers) instead of my soundcard and speakers. So now I'm forced to use the ancient VGA connection on my brand new LED screen..

[Dumonceau]

I have a pair of speakers (A very old but still great sounding Creative 2.1 set) but once I plug my HDMI cable in, the sound is send to my monitor (Which has no speakers) instead of my soundcard and speakers. So now I'm forced to use the ancient VGA connection on my brand new LED screen..

Ferry, in the windows sound config, you just need to alter the preferred sound device. (speaker icon next to the hour in the system tray)

[SkippyBing]

I have a pair of speakers (A very old but still great sounding Creative 2.1 set) but once I plug my HDMI cable in, the sound is send to my monitor (Which has no speakers) instead of my soundcard and speakers. So now I'm forced to use the ancient VGA connection on my brand new LED screen..

It's possible to disable this in the sound settings for Windows and have the output go from the jackplug as per usual. I had to do a similar thing on my home theatre PC when I upgraded that to HDMI as it started sending stereo sound to the TV rather than 5.1 to the amplifier.
You should be able to find what you need by googling disable HDMI audio windows, or similar.

[Ferry_vO]

Found it, thanks guys!

Another alternative I didn't notice until just now is the headphones plug in the back of my monitor; guess I could have plugged the speakers in there too..

[Jafo]

Found it, thanks guys!

Another alternative I didn't notice until just now is the headphones plug in the back of my monitor; guess I could have plugged the speakers in there too..

Power gain may not suit...