1080p or 1440p monitor - Or both?

[neorichieb1971]

Hi there,

I want to buy a monitor later this year for my shmups. Half my shmups are on switch, half on PS2 and other 240p consoles.

I am more a vertical shmup fan. I know 1440p is better for 240p consoles especially with the 6x processing I will have at my disposal. But how does a switch handle 1440p monitors? Will I see any degradation in the image?

Thanks.

[tongshadow]

If you play shmups you probably value motion clarity, this will shortlist your options to monitors that have anti-motion blur technologies. I would recommend the Viewsonic XG2431, it's a 1080p/240hz monitor that has a blur-busters certification. So far this is the only monitor that can achieve CRT-like clarity even at 60hz using BFI:
https://www.rtings.com/assets/pages/q2a ... -large.jpg
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/viewsonic/xg2431

The Switch is mostly a 720p console, and virtually all modern displays employ a form of bilinear filtering/interpolation to upscale lower resolutions to their native panel's. The result is always a softer picture, and even if a 4k/1440p display could upscale 720p using integer scaling, the result would be a very blocky, aliased picture. If you really love the Switch on a big screen, look for older native HD panels, they're usually 1366x768 or 1024x768.

That said, when 240p sources are processed by a line multiplier the results look really good at 4x and 5x on 4k/1440p/1080p panels, so dont worry too much about panel resolution, and yes, compatibility. Monitors are more tolerant to off-spec resolutions.

[orange808]

Some people have issues with viewing angles when they tate an LED monitor. Make sure you can return it.

[Lethe]

If you play shmups you probably value motion clarity, this will shortlist your options to monitors that have anti-motion blur technologies. I would recommend the Viewsonic XG2431, it's a 1080p/240hz monitor that has a blur-busters certification. So far this is the only monitor that can achieve CRT-like clarity even at 60hz using BFI:

I own this monitor and I don't think that the BFI implementation is a sure sell over potentially more practical concerns.

When on its Ultra setting, motion certainly looks great, but it has barely any practical implications on clarity when playing. In exchange, you're losing a huge amount of brightness, introducing a little lag, and potentially introducing some eyestrain.

On any setting below Ultra, the corona artifacts on small objects like bullets are much worse than the conventional LCD blur in non-BFI mode. I really can't overstate how bad the artifacting is; it's a totally pointless non-option for these types of games. You're also choosing between BFI and VRR, and I'd personally say VRR is the more attractive option most of the time given the blur is pretty non-intrusive. Especially as VRR singlehandedly resolves any problems with nonstandard framerates. It's a tradeoff.

[neorichieb1971]

I was going to stick with LG.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Dis-27GN800 ... C84&sr=8-1

I've never had issues with angles before. I'll be sitting right in front of it.

[VEGETA]

I am "that guy" who will jump to suggest a CRT. I have 29" Sony Trinitron SW-292M80 which is awesome with component input (converted all my console RGB output to component). I tested lots of shmups on it from PC Engine and other consoles... they run perfectly fine zero lag vibrant colors. Can't beat that.

So my suggestion is a good CRT.

[tongshadow]

You're also choosing between BFI and VRR, and I'd personally say VRR is the more attractive option most of the time given the blur is pretty non-intrusive. Especially as VRR singlehandedly resolves any problems with nonstandard framerates. It's a tradeoff.

I believe he will be playing mostly older consoles, so VRR wouldnt benefit his use case.
LCDs can achieve higher brightness levels to combat the loss caused by BFI.

I was going to stick with LG.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Dis-27GN800 ... C84&sr=8-1

I've never had issues with angles before. I'll be sitting right in front of it.

If I wanted a monitor for shmups, I would NEVER buy one with poor ergonomics that cant even be put in portrait mode.

[KPackratt2k]

I am "that guy" who will jump to suggest a CRT. I have 29" Sony Trinitron SW-292M80 which is awesome with component input (converted all my console RGB output to component). I tested lots of shmups on it from PC Engine and other consoles... they run perfectly fine zero lag vibrant colors. Can't beat that.

So my suggestion is a good CRT.

The problem is good CRT TVs are getting hard to find nowadays. I rarely come across them for sale in my area anymore.

[neorichieb1971]

The LG monitor I proposed is in the top listed vertical monitors for 2023 -

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/vertical


Some here as well -

https://www.bestproductsreviews.co.uk/v ... 1gQAvD_BwE

I assume you mean it won't rotate because its so low, I assume the stand goes up and then rotates?

I have a CRT. But its not ideal for Nintendo Switch and I'm not too keen on putting it on its side. I've managed to keep this CRT mint.

This one looks pretty nice - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-S27A60 ... 9hdGY&th=1


I am interested to know what a Switch looks like on 1440p monitors and if its something I should really go for a 1080p monitor instead?

[BazookaBen]

The problem is good CRT TVs are getting hard to find nowadays. I rarely come across them for sale in my area anymore.

Wut? I just found like two dozen near you in 5 seconds:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/se ... ?query=crt

[tongshadow]

They werent kidding about people wanting 100$+ for ordinary TVs

[KPackratt2k]

Wut? I just found like two dozen near you in 5 seconds:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/se ... ?query=crt

Fair enough. I haven't been searching as often as I used to now that I have no reason to since I already have good CRTs. I've only been checking CL once in a while, but that's just one site, so I spoke too soon. I rarely check FB Marketplace since I don't like using Facebook for reasons I won't get into here.

However, there are other places where you don't have much luck at finding them nowadays, so it depends.

I'm not going to derail this thread, so this will be the last reply I'll post regarding this.