Bought a new monitor....questions regarding HDMI vs DVI and ext.P/S

[iknowjohnny]

Just bought a monitor and pulled it out of the box to find 2 unexpected things. I'm not a geek so lets not get into my ineptness in not checking for this. But my card has HDMI and DVI inputs, no VGA. My cable is DVI and the new one came with only a VGA cable and only VGA and HDMI outputs. I read that with HDMI you cannot choose the resolution you want, it detects and uses what it wants. Is this true? Also, what would the disadvantages be besides that be if i went out and bought a HDMI cable instead of returning the monitor?

Also, i never had a monitor that uses a external power supply. What are the disadvantages of that is any? Is this something they do because of the LED vs LCD or what?

 

[mrjimphelps]

The EASIEST thing for you to do is to go out and buy an HDMI cable, and hook up the monitor with it. For high-quality displays, it doesn't get any easier than HDMI.

I'm pretty sure you can adjust the resolution, but I can't test that because I use Linux, not Windows.

I wouldn't worry about your monitor having an external power supply. The only disadvantage is that if you ever need to buy another one, they are more expensive than a simple power cord. But that hardly ever happens.

 

[dg1261]

Don't worry about the power supply. That's the trend nowadays, and there are a number of good reasons for that. It's easier to replace if the power supply goes out, it's probably more economical from a manufacturing standpoint to use off-the-shelf universal power supplies (than reinvent the wheel, so to speak, for every SKU), and they don't have to make different monitors for different markets. Most, if not all, of those power supplies work anywhere in the world--120V to 240V, 50 to 60Hz.

I'm not a geek so lets not get into my ineptness in not checking for this. But my card has HDMI and DVI inputs, no VGA. My cable is DVI and the new one came with only a VGA cable and only VGA and HDMI outputs.

Okay, so not a geek, so you probably meant your computer has HDMI and DVI outputs and your monitor has VGA and HDMI inputs.

That being the case, your best course of action is exactly as Jim said: use a HDMI cable. No, it is not true that resolution cannot be adjusted with HDMI. It is just as configurable as VGA or DVI.

VGA is an analog signal, so is inferior to DVI or HDMI. It can be the source of ghosting and fuzziness. DVI and HDMI are both digital standards. From a user standpoint, the main difference between the latter two is HDMI also carries an audio channel. If your monitor has built-in speakers, a DVI connection would require an additional audio cable to use the monitor's speakers, whereas a single HDMI cable would take care of both video and audio. A lesser difference is HDMI supports higher resolutions than DVI, which could be an issue if you're using an ultra high-resolution (like 4K) monitor.

Bottom line is HDMI is the current defacto standard, and lucky for you is the one both your computer and your monitor support.

 

[iknowjohnny]

Thanks for that, very informative. And yes i know i had the in/out's reversed and realized that later but too lazy to change it and ya'll would get what i'm asking. But i have a couple more Q's. One, my old monitor is 2ms while this new one is a bit slower at 5ms. Is that difference enough to warrant consideration for gaming? And two, any opinions on the one i bought, because i can return it easy enough? It;s this... Samsung 21.5 Widescreen LED Monitor S22F350FHN by Office Depot OfficeMax

If i keep the samsung i'll have to get a cable @ about $10-20 and have a 5ms monitor, where i can get a asus with 1ms and dvi input for $20 less and use my current cable saving me as much as $25. Like i said, easy enough to return so given that is out of the equation, which would you take?

 

[dg1261]

my old monitor is 2ms while this new one is a bit slower at 5ms. Is that difference enough to warrant consideration for gaming?

Well, I'm not the one to ask about that. I'm not a gamer and have absolutely no frame of reference for what the difference in experience is between 2ms and 5ms. Maybe Jim knows, or perhaps someone else will jump in to answer that. If if it's important to you and you don't get an answer here, you might start a new thread with that as your subject.

As for buying a HDMI cable, I don't think it should cost more than about $10. It's probably more expensive at Office Depot or Best Buy because they're catering to impulse buyers, but if you're in the US you should be able to mail-order from Newegg and get something like this in only a couple days.

(One word of caution: there's such a thing as mini-HDMI, so double-check before buying a cable. The monitor is full-size HDMI, but I don't know what your computer is using, so just be aware.)

As for the Samsung monitor vs. Asus ... Asus is my favorite brand, so I'd never dissuade anyone from getting an Asus. Response time notwithstanding, my only other comments would be that the Samsung seems a tad overpriced for a 21.5", and it uses a "meh" TN panel. You should be able to find a monitor with a superior IPS panel for around the same price. I think you'd really notice a difference.

If it were me, I'd definitely swap it for an IPS monitor. But again, if 5ms response time is an issue you may have to stick with TN or go to a higher price range.

 

[iknowjohnny]

Thanks. Yeah, i read something about IPS but wasn't sure if it was just some reviewer's opinion or what. I noticed the ones you linked are all 5ms while the asus ones i was looking at were 1ms. I wonder of the IPS panel has something to do with that. Anyways, i'll look into those, thanks.

 

[dg1261]

Yes, I believe the IPS technology has an impact on response time. But the display quality is so much better. I do some occasional photo and video editing, and it's very difficult to get consistent lighting and color balance with a TN panel.

 

[ron7000]

It;s this... Samsung 21.5 Widescreen LED Monitor S22F350FHN by Office Depot OfficeMax

If i keep the samsung i'll have to get a cable @ about $10-20 and have a 5ms monitor, where i can get a asus with 1ms and dvi input for $20 less and use my current cable saving me as much as $25. Like i said, easy enough to return so given that is out of the equation, which would you take?

if you are listing a 21" monitor for $130... your eyes cannot tell the difference between 2 milliseconds and 5 milliseconds

The only people keeping the response time debate alive are those trying too offload already built TN monitors. very few complaints about IPS panels for anything, and what there is it's not response time related or is caused by something other than response time. I would return that 21.5" and mail order a 27" @ 1920x1080 resolution for roughly the same price, the best pricing right now are the 27" @ 2160x1440 for around $250.

 

[iknowjohnny]

I returned it and got another samsung TN with slightly bigger screen, 24". Reality is, i was totally happy with my old monitor and figured since it lasted probably 15 years i wanted a samsung again. And IPS was out of my budget for a samsung so i just got another slightly bigger one because that first one i bought was a bit smaller than my old one. And the one i just got was on sale @ $130 vs it;s normal $170 tag. So regardless of specs and all that, i'm happy. It looks good, is the right size and theres nothing i don't like about it so WTH.

 

[RoasterMen]

No need to worry about response time if you're not gaming. HDMI monitor is probably your best bet right now. IPS Panels produce better colors compared to LED.

 

[iknowjohnny]

I do game but only casually, and this monitor seems fine for that. Nothing i noticed except a little better look probably due to my last one being on it's way out. This one is 5ms and my old one 2ms. But i don't see any issues due to the slower response. I read somewhere you won't notice anything till the response is much higher then 5, i think they said 12 or 15ms if i recall.

 

[mrjimphelps]

I'm not a gamer and have absolutely no frame of reference for what the difference in experience is between 2ms and 5ms. Maybe Jim knows

About the only game I ever play is Freecell!

 

[Mellon Head]

The response time is only a factor when you are looking at fast motion on a monitor. The lower the response time, the less blur there is. Chances are that the average human cannot detect the difference between 2 ms and 5 ms anyway.