LCD 1080p Monitor?

I have a Viewsonic 28" LCD monitor (model vx2835wm) which is pretty good, but not the greatest quality to say the least. It is 1080p supported too.

However, I need something of better quality. My question is the monitor *must* have 1900x1080 resolution specifically to be 1080p supported correct, even if it offers higher resolution options?

Example:
Dell 27" UltraSharp Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

Higher resolutions, 1920x1200 too, but not 1920x1080 specifically. Would this be a bad idea for Blu-Ray movies (my Sony laptop has a built in Blu Ray player)?

Not a problem, as long as it has 1080p support over the *relevant* inputs (eg, some 24" monitors support 1080p on VGA and DVI, but not on component input etc), so you will have to check the specs of the monitor you intend to buy.

If it has 1:1 pixel mapping, or scaling on those inputs, you should even be able to view the movie at the correct aspect ratio. PC widescreen LCD monitors have 16:10 aspect ratio while HDTVs are 16:9. So, your 1920x1080 video will be seen with small black bars along the top and bottom of a 1920x1200 LCD, but with the correct ratio of height and width. Ofcourse, you will still be able to 'fill the monitor screen' if you choose, but with the penalty of slight distortion of the image.

1:1 Scaling can be achieved either via your PC graphics card (if Nvidia) or through the configuration settings on your monitor. Note that not all monitors offer 1:1 mapping, and IIRC, some ATI video cards lack this feature too.

I am running an LG246W for over a year now, I chose this one over all other 24" monitors and 1080P movies work really well. Very pleased with the quality.

Chad, there are no monitors that are 1080p for PCs. Resolutions are either 1680x1050 (not enough for 1080p), 1920x1440 (just a bit more than 1080p) or 2560x1600 (way too much for 1080). The higher the rez, the better, as it scales to 1080p wonderfully.

Mind you, for ultra hi rez monitors, like the 30" dell, you need a decent video card to scale that rez.

Ginter do you mean there are no native 1080 resolutions? and what does progressive scan have to do with resolution? Also are you confusing pixel DPI with line count?
as for my 1920 x 1200 monitor it fully supports 1080 specs

That is correct, there are no native 1080 computer monitors. Your 1920x1200 monitor fully supports 1080, yes, but notice that vertical resolution is 1200 lines, not 1080. Meaning, there is never a 1:1 ratio of displaying the 1080 lines from source material. 1080 is interpolated to match 1200 lines vertically.

Dpi has nothing to do with what I was trying to say, as it covers an area of one inch, and how many dots fill that inch. It's a measure used in printers.

If you want true 1080, your vertical resolution must be 1080, which is in most HD tv sets.

As for progressive versus interlaced (1080p and 1080i) - progressive simply means that it paints all 1080 lines at once. Interlaced means that first the odd lines are painted (half of 1080) and then even lines are painted (the other half of 1080) to compose a 1080 image.

Progressive scan has nothing to do with resolution. 1080i is 1080 as is 1080p. As explained above, the only difference is how the image is rendered on that 1080 display.

I'm running on a Sceptre 37" 1080p LCD I snagged off eBay for $500.

What do you mean by 1080 interpolating to 1200?

With 1:1 pixel mapping, you don't need to interpolate or extrapolate any 1080i/p source on a 24" 1920x1200 display. You can watch it at 1920x1080 with thin black bars of height 60 pixels on the top and bottom. The correct aspect ratio is maintained, and there is no distortion.

Ofcourse, this is dependent on whether the input you are using for the source (VGA/DVI/HDMI/component/whatever) has 1:1 mapping and is capable of accepting 1080i/p source material. Some monitors have inputs that do, some don't. If you are playing it in Windows itself, then there are no problems; you can easily select aspect ratio and size in the software player itslef, eg VLC. But you do need a beefy CPU to decode 1080p; or a newer nvidia or ATI card that can handle a lot of the H.264 decoding on the GPU itself.

So true about the vid card, while I am still running a 6600GT and it does run Vista ultimate with the Aero and Dreamscene perfectly the story ends when watching HD vids in full screen.

Just to add something extra, the LCD panel type makes a vewing difference as well.

[quote=Benjamin;564331] How would 1:1 pixel mapping look on a 30" monitor with a 2560x1600 resolution? I'd be pretty pissed if I saw a box 20-some odd inches inside my 30" monitor.

I understand your reasoning.. My point was only that there aren't any native 1080p computer monitors. It's a strange fact that all wide-screen monitors have a 16:10 ratio, and not 16:9, as 1080p tv sets do. Personally, I'd prefer TV sets and computer monitors to have yet a wider ratio, like that of cinema screens, which is about 2.4:1.