My 22″ widescreen LCD monitor arrived via UPS today. It is the first LCD monitor I’ve ever bought and the first widescreen anything I’ve ever owned. After years advocating the wide aspect ratio, I finally took the plunge. Part of the reason why it took so long was that my old monitor so damn reliable. I bought a 17″ CRT monitor from ADI in 1999. In close to eight years of heavy use, I never had one single problem with it. Pictures look good on it today as they did the day I took it home.
I’m quite happy with my LCD so far but I can see the limitations of the LCD technology and accept it. Text and deep blacks are still better on regular CRTs. I have what is considered a “budget” panel but even more expensive LCDs still can’t match the CRTs.
Having said all that, it’s quite the sight to see your desktop at 1680 x 1050. There is a lot of real estate to run programs on. Pictures look great on this monitor and it’s quite nice to not have to scroll to see the extents of an image. Don’t ask me what porn looks like on it since I don’t have any porn on my computer. Everyone believes that right?
Last but not least, this monitor kicks ass when used with my Xbox 360. Gaming in full widescreen mode is unbelievable. The 360 outputs content in high def and though I’m using a VGA cable, everything I see is about equivalent to 720p.
Well, back to gaming!