New monitor for SAM440ep

To upgrade my mobility in the house i want to buy a flat screen monitor.

Would this VGA one do ? (79.99 euro)
If not for what specs should i look?

http://www.amazon.fr/LG-W1946S-BF-Ecr ... p_cp_ob_computers_title_1

I also spotted this one (87,90 euro)
http://www.fnac.com/AOC-e943Fws-18-5-LED/a3692854/w-4

Any recommendation ?

Get one which supports DVI, since VGA never worked well with Sam440 (at least with it's external VGA port). DVI is also better than VGA for high resolutions, longer cables, KVM switches, etc.

BTW, I personally avoid widescreen monitors, since most computer software (and esp Amiga software) was not designed with it in mind. You MAY get black bars either side of the screen, or a stretched display, on some games?

Running SAM440ep with OS4.1upd3 at 1920x1080 on 24 LED screen 2ms refresh rate via DVI-VGA.

It's not perfect as I have doubling effects (ghosting) but this is also present when connected to my old 19" CRT, never understood why, maybe wrong adapter?

@Chris

Thanks for the warning
I have been looking for DVI 19" 1280 x1024 monitors, as these are the specs of my vision Master Pro 450 i am using now.

In comparison they are quite expensive some 130 Euro at least (till now)
As i don't use to play anymore on my Amiga, what about the Workbench sta& AmiCygnix: not covering the entire screen?
Are the standard OS apps & programs (eg Yam Mui_OWB WordWorth) stretched ?

I'm running 1920x1080 now,even my monitor is 1920x1200. Not sure why that screen wasn't a choice. But everything works like a charm with my philips 24" widescreen 16:10 screen.

I have both dvi and vga. Using a kvm switch between the amiga and the pc. Works ok.

Quote:

Never seen this. I have an old Sharp monitor and the picture quality is outstanding (compared to other monitors of the same era, but I'd argue it still holds up against new ones*). Definitely no ghosting or other artifacts, and this is going through a KVM too.

Definitely agree with buying a "square" monitor, widescreen is great for watching video but 99% of the time I'll be doing other things where vertical resolution is more important.

I was recently looking at replacing my monitor for a new one, because it's looking a bit small now and a bit of extra resolution would be handy. Settled on a 1280x1024 19" LED backlit one (something which is incredibly rare as far as I can tell) at a bargain price, but unfortunately it arrived damaged. The bit of the screen I could see compared favourably with my Sharp and was good quality. Anybody having problems with VGA on the Sam is likely to have low quality or too long cables, or a shoddy budget monitor. Most are DVI now anyway so I suppose it doesn't really matter!

From what I've seen of widescreen monitors, they either have rubbish vertical resolution (ie. no better than I have now) or are stupid sizes.

* ignoring the annoying light patches where I damaged it

@JosDuchIt Quote:
Normal programs should be fine! It is just games that assume a fixed resolution (or a limited selection of resolutions) that won't adapt well to wide screen.

@Chris
Lots of people had VGA quality problems with Sam440, look at various AW.net threads after the Sam440 first came out. If you are *lucky* then VGA can be fine, but I this very much depends on luck (and not necessarily quality of cables/etc).

Also, VGA is analogue, which means that high frequencies (used by high resolutions) will tend to suffer from degrading effects (fuzzy/blurry) when used over long cables or through KVMs. DVI is (usually!) digital, which means it always works at full quality, no matter the resolution or cable length or KVM (although an incredibly long cable length might simply stop it working at all).

@ChrisH

I never used the internal J25 internal VGA connection on the SAM440ep and used the DVI connection at the rear with a DVI/VGA adapter with at least 2 different CRT monitors without any problem.

More general; i learned a lot browsing the internet, except the exact specifications of the onboard graphic chip ATI M9 64MB,
Reading the thread about the ATI M9200 thread i did notice the "DEVS:Monitors/Radeon M9.info" tooltypes. I assume they reflect the available screen resolutions the chip allows to use.
1280 x 720 and 1024 x 768 are the maximal resolutions.

I suppose that the first resolution should be used with wide screens and the latter with traditional ones.

My guess is that i won't gain much with LCD screens native resolutions that are much higher ??

I did learn that LCD with higher native resolutions do "interpolate" the values affected to pixels when the resolution the graphic cards gives them is lower than their native resolutions. How intelligent is this done? How does it affect my statement/question of not gaining much?


A number of interesting pages:


http://compreviews.about.com/od/monit ... -Monitor-Buyers-Guide.htm
http://www.karbosguide.com/hardware/module7b1.htm
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/graphics-card3.htm
http://www.behardware.com/articles/60 ... nd-monitor-nightmare.html
http://www.behardware.com/articles/60 ... nd-monitor-nightmare.html

You buy a DVI monitor but there is a solution intermediate a monitor with both inputs, VGA and DVI, I have the Philips Brillance 190s, and it is very useful for some cases for example I have put my Sam 440 to DVI input and my Atom with the VGA because this boards only have these outputs, but for the Sam460 also I used it, because without 3D drivers the quality is equal the DVI than VGA in this case and at moment.

I have this line in devs/monitors/Radeon M9 - icon - tooltypes:
MODE=1920x1080@60 +RB

Works perfectly. (even though I have to be carefull how to spend the video RAM, 16bit with compositing or 24bit without compositing, etc...)

I have SAM440ep & 23" LG via DVI.

@KimmoK
Interesting info
How come mine does not show this?
I guess you did not add this by hand.
Are some MODE tooltypes suppressed when the monitor cannot use them?
And are they visible when you connect a more performing monitor?

Could anybody having more than one monitor check this?

@Kimmok

>>I have this line in devs/monitors/Radeon M9 - icon - tooltypes:
MODE=1920x1080@60 +RB

What does the +RB do?

I have got a 24" LED via DVI to the DVI port on the SAM440ep
I have loads of resolutions but the 1920x1080 doesn't work properly, if I select it the screen displays then it start giving this snow effect.

On the PC side is fine.

So I have dropped to 1280x800 32bit leaving me with 44 MB Video Ram left.

Forgot to ask...do 120Hz modes on 120Hz monitor work?

@JosDuchIt

The OS4 install asks what the highest mode your monitor can handle is, it will not add any more modes above that.

Adding them in manually is fine. You might find it will work with OS4's new query functions - Screenmode prefs, Monitors tab, "detect settings automatically".

Quote:He would have, it won't be there by default.

The RB stands for Reduced Blanking IIRC. And this can be set with either a plus or a minus, although I don't remember what effect they have.

When you select Edit for an existing screenmode (or create a new one) on the second tab of the Screenmode prefs, you can set this as part of the parameters for the screenmode in the edit window which opens.

I remember when I used to have my 42" HD TV as monitor for my Sam440ep, I couldn't make it work with a plain 1920×1080 mode, but it worked when I added the +RB.

Best regards,

Niels

That did it!....for now. Added +RB to 1920x1080 and it looks great, thanks Niels!

@nbache thanks a lot too
searching on what Reduced Bla,king might be i found
http://www.playtool.com/pages/dvicompat/dvi.html
which ecxplains DVI & AVG very well.
Makes me ask about the built-in Radeon M9 : is it "dual-link" (as explained in that web-page)?

Interesting...

So what would be the best configuration for a SAM440ep + OS4.1 and Windows PC connected to the same LED monitor?

The monitor has VGA, DVI and HDMI.

I was thinking PC via HDMI and SAM via DVI but the monitor I believe is a 120Hz one and this can be used only through dual DVI is this correct? If so I lose the SAM as I don't really want to connect it via VGA.

Anyone?


Also what would be the ideal screen resolution for the SAM440ep? Is 1920x1080 too much? I am interested in finding a good ratio (Memory/looks) as I know that high res eat up memory and some look squashed horizontally...thanks.

JosDuchIt:
"Makes me ask about the built-in Radeon M9 : is it "dual-link" (as explained in that web-page)?"

the page:
"As of 2006, the majority of video cards are single link DVI implementations."

I believe SAM's M9 uses only single link. Therefore +RB.

@thedaddy
Strange if the monitor does not accept 60hz input. (IMHO)