To my surprise the other day my 5 year old LG 32 inch gaming monitor is now failing.  Kind of shocked it only lasted 5 years but I guess that is the semi norm these days unfortunately and its a common problem with LG monitors apparently.  It still works I have faint horizontal lines about 2mm apart and it screws up the text.  Interestingly in the middle of the screen it tends to breath in and out and for a few seconds everything looks fine but it quickly comes back.  I tried a different cable and checked the connections but I can put up a test pattern without anything hooked up and those lines are still there.  So it must be some sort of internal fault. 

This monitor is or was okay and it worked well for games and flight simming.  I found doing other work on it like word processing and photo editing to be a bit of a handicap but doable.  Its only a 2K panel which at 32 inches was a bit of an eye drain but again in flight simulation it was totally fine and the big size was cool.  A completely new system including monitor is in the budget for the 4th quarter of this year.  I thought for sure my current monitor would hold up but obviously not.  So I can't decide if I want to go something 4K and fancy now or just replace this one with a cheaper 2K gaming monitor for now?  Even worse I have not warmed up to the new style curved screen and I have heard real mixed results.  Apparently they are really good at gaming but suck even worse for other work.  By default I started looking for a regular flat 32 inch gaming monitor but they are pretty hard to find these days and no local store bothers carrying them.  Ironically many if not all 4K gaming monitors are flat still but the prices.  Spending between $700 and $1500 for a 4K monitor seems pretty crazy.  Performance wise they promise a lot though.  I might have to rethink this 4K thing in the future!

Not sure what I am exactly asking the community? 

Should I be at all concerned about a curved monitor?  Looks like I don't have much of a choice unless I opt out of the gaming monitor choice.  Most regular duty monitors are still flat and ironically a 4K regular monitor is cheaper than a 4K gaming monitor.  Of coarse you loose the gaming features but pretty much the only game I play is FS2024 so is a gaming monitor even really necessary?  15 or 20 years ago we just bought a good performing regular monitor and we never complained.  All pretty confusing but one way or another my current monitor has to go.  I plan to try it in FS tomorrow to see if the panel issue impedes my ability to use and enjoy the sim and if not maybe I can live with it for a while but if not it must be replaced.  I am a big enough sim junky that I am not going to let a panel issue keep me from enjoying my computer flying.

Any real difference between a big name brand monitor and a cheaper generic monitor these days?  At a big box warehouse membership store I can get a Samsung 32" 1K gaming monitor with solid specs for $249 USD.  Reviews are a bit mixed but overall pretty good.  On the Big River company website I can get a generic monitor 2K with good specs and good reviews for about $170.  Both curved though!

Curved seems to be where its at these days.  I just remember the short trend with curved TV's and it failed hard.  Prices were high and performance was not good.  Another hobby of mine is home theater so naturally the curved idea is a big who cares kind of thing and nobody makes a curved TV these days.  A bit shocked all of a sudden every gaming monitor has to be curved.  Just old school I guess!    

 

  

    

7 hours ago, longhaul747 said:

Any real difference between a big name brand monitor and a cheaper generic monitor these days?  At a big box warehouse membership store I can get a Samsung 32" 1K gaming monitor with solid specs for $249 USD.  Reviews are a bit mixed but overall pretty good.  On the Big River company website I can get a generic monitor 2K with good specs and good reviews for about $170.  Both curved though!

Curved seems to be where its at these days.    

I have an el cheapo MSI 34" UW panel. Yes, it's curved but I barely notice that any more.
Happy with it after a year plus of use. Great for simming and good enough for any other daily tasks. If I wanted it for photo/video editing that would be a different story but those years are behind me now.

As an interim solution I'd go with the generic brand and save some money until your full build later this year.

Edit: "Gaming" seems to be the key word that unlocks the "I can charge anything for it" (whatever the 'it' may be) for manufacturers. 

Edited February 12Feb 12 by speedyTC

If you go with LG OLED, the panel is covered for 5 years … otherwise just 1 year warranty.  I would pull whatever funds you can and go with an OLED solution.  I recently sold one of my LG 43” OLED (2023 model) to a young couple for $200 … pending your area you might be able to find a good used solution (craigslist, would avoid eBay at all costs).

Some people might think you’re crazy wanting to enjoy the visuals of a flight simulator and not using OLED 🙂 

Booted up the sim and trying to see if this monitor issue is tolerable while playing but unfortunately its the opposite affect.  The text in the gauges and the auto pilot are hard to read at times.  When flying in the clouds those horizontal lines stood out like a sore thumb.  Its so hard on the eyes even if you walk away from the computer you start seeing those annoying lines everywhere you look.  Its more than that the video processing itself seems to have taken a step back.  Its not as bad as those early LCD screens from 15 years ago but I seem to be getting a lot more ghosting.  The problem is also getting worse.  When you first boot up those lines are very noticeable but as the monitor warms up they slowly fade away but still fading in and out all the time.  It's gotta be replaced unfortunately!

My instincts and what I did in the past was just go ahead and buy that future monitor today.  So it makes sense going 4K monitor at this point.  Its just that the cost is just so far off the charts but I do admit I have not spent much time shopping around.  I do basically live in the gamer capital of the world so its very likely some lightly used 4K monitors out there for cheap on the used market.  Some of those guys upgrade almost monthly.  So that might be an option!  

Needs are pretty basic.  Just the highest resolution I can afford and run.  Right now best to stick with 2K but 4K is definitely the goal by next Holiday season.  Hoping to snag a deal on a new build with the fastest video card and VRAM plus regular RAM I can afford.  That time unfortunately is not now.  Systems are on the pricey side and manufactures seem to be skimping on memory.  I hope by next Holiday season I can find some good spec hardware for not that much money.  Budget for a new system is around $2K but waiting for a little better performance options at that price point. 

Even next Holiday season it was not necessarily in the cards to replace my monitor right away.  One of those get the new case get it set up and shortly after go hunting for that new monitor but because of this issue I am forced to shop around now.  Biggest debate is curved or not at the moment but if I go for a cheaper monitor curved is pretty much the only choice.   Just a regular 16:9 monitor is all I am looking for.      

    

Stopped at Best Buy and had a look at what they had.  They had a better selection of monitors but something about the store just does not sit well with me.  I had a look at an LG 32" 4K OLED 16:9 display and it was sure sweet looking.  I get it and I want one unfortunately $1400 for a new monitor at this time is just not going to happen.  This was the only monitor the employee felt like selling me and as soon as I started looking at other options he disappeared.  Found a Samsung 32" G51 currently on sale for $210 for Presidents Day.  Seems to get pretty good reviews but it not perfect but its available locally and not insanely over priced.  Picture Quality was okay but it had that typical Samsung pop where some of the colors where just over saturated.  Also the specs are off the charts good but it has been criticized for not actually meeting those specs.  Fairly typical these days but at least it was flat if that is what I want!

They also had a Samsung 32" G5 which is a little more popular I think and it looks a few levels higher in the build quality department.  Spec wise its a bit more down to earth with its claims but actually looks better and the colors did not pop as much.  This might be the one I grab since they had it priced at $290 but I see online its priced at $430.  Still a 2K monitor but its approaching base 4K prices. 

They had a few lesser known brands at 32" and 4K and they were in the $500 to $600 range.  Looked pretty good actually!

Going to sit on this overnight and decide what to do tomorrow?  I might just go to Costco and get the Samsung 32" curved screen for $250.  You can't beat the 90 day return window plus you get 2% back on executive and another 2% back on your Citi Visa card.  It is curved but pretty conservative on the curving and it just looks so much better than my broken garbage monitor at home.  I ripped the internet forums apart and pretty much everyone says the curved monitors are awesome for flight simulation.  So I think giving it a shot and getting used to it will yield positive results.

  

Last night I was suffering from withdrawals and just wanted the problem solved.  So I ended up heading to Costco and picking up the 32" Samsung curved panel.  I am not super tech savvy anymore or even really care I just want my stuff to work and work well.  It turns out my old LG monitor was actually a 2020 model purchased in early 2021 so it definitely had its limitations.  For starters it was truly only a 2K panel at 1440 x 1080.  It had some pretty impressive performance numbers for that era and was not expensive to buy but that low resolution at that size was a bit of a strain and limiting what you actually see.  This new monitor is not 4K but I guess it sort of a 3K monitor at 2560 x 1440.  So you basically now get access to a bunch more screen real estate at that resolution.  In fact at least for right now I really don't feel the need for a true 4K monitor.  

I was concerned that at the higher resolution my 2070 Super would suffer but for the most part it seems to be holding up well.  In big cities and flying out of the Inibuilds DFW airport it seemed a bit more taxed but overall still totally usable in FS2024.  I am starting to think what a faster card would deliver but for right now I am just going to wait until I buy or build a new case next Fall. 

As for the curved thing the jury still out on this one and its one reason why I bought at Costco for the 90 day return window.  As far as immersion I see why these curved monitors are so popular.  They really do seem to do a good job of bringing you into the action.  In fact when turning I almost got a bit dizzy.  At my age I have some minor issues and on medication for it so I can no longer ride roller coasters and if I watch a movie like Tron or whatever it actually makes me sick.  With that issue I can tell the curved monitor does increase immersion and despite my issues I liked the affect.  What I don't like is the keystone issue especially in the lower half of the monitor.  Also makes my panels look warped and the worse think the exterior of my A321 looks bent.  This can mostly be corrected by tilting the monitor up so its more in line with your eyes but Samsung for whatever reason made this monitor so you can't adjust the tilt.  So I may find something to put under the front part of the stand tilting it up a bit.  Won't eliminate the issue but should make it better.

The biggest problem is my wife hates it.  She does a lot of work on Filmora and the curved monitor just gets in the way.  I am also finding standard internet work to be more annoying and even typing this post is more annoying that it should be.  So I have a feeling unless I magically get very used to it I will have to find a flat panel out there.  I got 90 days to figure it out!        

  

Probably too late given you’ve bought a replacement but my BenQ 32” 16:9 IPS monitor has been superb. Bought in 2018 and still going strong. I have a smaller 27” 2560*1440 BenQ for photo editing as well as displaying moving map software for my sim.

The Professional range is their highest quality range if you want something better. Vertical adjustment and plenty of USB ports.

https://www.benq.eu/en-uk/monitor/creative-pro/select.html?color-calibration=factory&series=professional&tabIndex=3&screen-size=31-32

To each, their own. But I will never voluntarily fly on a 16:9 monitor. To me they are boring. Widescreen is the wow that makes flying fun. But it can be overdone, I guess..

 

Like the the guy in the video, I love VR. But for long flights and fiddling with instruments 2D is better. Mine is just two 16:9 side by side using Nvidia Surround bezel correction. My enjoyment is 10 times above when I just use one screen. The secret is to have both screens identical make and model so the displayed colors and settings will match perfectly. 

If I was longhaul47, I would run down and buy another identical monitor to the one that he bought. 

EDIT: Two monitors will not cut your fps in half. More like only 20% reduction. Setup is super easy, barely an inconvenience. 

Edited February 25Feb 25 by Fielder