Which LCD monitor should I upgrade to, 19 inch or 22 inch?

I am currently running a 17" CRT. Size is not actually the only reason I am looking for an upgrade, I just find LCD's to have a far crisper and sharper image quality and I feel I am missing out with having a CRT, I have enjoyed the vivid colours of this screen alot but it's time to freshen up things.

So the first question is, should I get a 19" widescreen or a 22"? I definitely want to be "wowed" by the upgrade, do you feel a 19" widescreen would actually do that for someone who's coming from a pretty good quality 17" CRT? I have seen the 19" and they seem not anymore taller than my monitor but alot wider obviously.

For the 22" the real problem is the native resolution, my card is just not good enough for 16x10 with anti-aliasing, I know I will be blown away by the games I can handle well on the resolution but is it worth having to drop settings in the newer games? Do you feel the extra size and resolution is totally worth having to drop settings?

A couple of questions. If you play in 14x9 on a 22" in windowed mode, it's practically a 19" LCD right? Is it hard not to notice the fact that the full screen isnt being employed?

The last question, how necessary is anti-aliasing on a 22" monitor?

Edit: One more thing, is there such a thing as a lower resolution non-TN panel LCD with fast response times yet? I would be willing to spend alot more cash for a non-TN panel but a 24" is not an option for me, the resolution is just too high to keep up with.

i went from a 19'' to a 22'' monitor (1440x900 to 1920x1080) with the same card as yours and i feel there is a big difference and the GTS 250 will handle that resolution with no problems with even 2-4x AA, as for AA on a 22' monitor that depends on the resolution if it has a 1080p native resolution its not really necessary.zahyr

Go with a 22" non-TN panel, it will obviously cost more, but if you think about it, you don't upgrade a monitor all too frequently. So it sort of justifies the price tag.

Don't get a 19" =].

It's small and boring. I have a 22" being pushed by my GTX 260 and it handles beautifully. But in theory from my knowledge , the smaller the monitor the better graphics you should be getting dependent on the resolution. However when I was looking I was advised not to get a 22" at 1920 x 1080 as it is not the best number of pixels for that screen size. If you want that resolution, the best option would be a 24".

I may be wrong, However that is my personal opinion =].

I misread your question completely. My bad, You did not want a 24" at all. My apologies.

I see no reason why a GTS 250 cannot push a 22" monitor smoothly on most new games.

Go with a 22" non-TN panel, it will obviously cost more, but if you think about it, you don't upgrade a monitor all too frequently. So it sort of justifies the price tag.

GTR12

24"...cuz 24" has the best value now...you only pay around $20-50 more from 22".

TN panels are fine for gaming.w4rrior17

They are rubbish for everything else.....

considered watching a movie on a TN panel? *throws-up*

Have you considered getting another crt? There are plenty of beautiful 21" flat screen crt's out there on craigslist, ebay, etc for very low prices. It will certainly be a significant improvement in over all image quality over your current one, better resolution scaling, along with not having to deal with typical lcd input lag, and 60hz refresh rate. Just throwing it out there...kidcool189

I havent searched the market here for CRT's, I guess I will and see what is available but dont lcd's have better image quality than CRT's because of the sharpness and clarity?

Also even on a 17" I now find 10x7 too low a resolution, 12x9 is like the minimum I would go now so actually getting a 19" LCD wont give me much of a drawback as far as resolution is concerned. But make no mistake I wouldnt actually mind getting a 21" CRT, I can imagine that'll be quite an upgrade.

Comon more opinions, this forum seems so deserted now.:(