I had occasion to move my DAW downstairs. Instead of lugging the big OLD crt monitor that I had it connected to, I borrowed one from another computer, an LCD, just because it was lighter to carry and didn't take up as much desk space. I was amazed at how much "better" the picture from Cubase is on the LCD compared to the CRT ... though I haven't done an A/B, it seems that I may have more real estate showing, and things are sharper. I've often wondered why my CRT DAW images don't look like the ones in the youtube tutorials, and now I have a strong feeling that it is at least in part due to the CRT monitor I was using.

So, I have started reading up on how to buy a new monitor. Found this site, which seems as good as any for use as a getting started "how to buy a computer monitor" site: http://www.pcworld.com/article/125652/how_to_buy_a_monitor.html .

My first question of what will probably be at least a few is ... how do I determine what kind of monitor my OLD daw computer will support: digital, size, dual vs. single monitors, etc.? I know how to go into CTRL PANEL ... HARDWARE, but not really how to interpret the information I see there.

Here is a summary of some of my computer specs, it is an old Clarion-built music PC: XP SP2, Seagate Barracuda 80/160/160GB; Intel 550 Pentium 4 3.4GHz, 2GB RAM, HT+; Intel D915PBL mobo; Dual Radeon ATI X300SE 128MB video.

Thanks for any help!

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Alexis -Cubase 6.5.0/SX3.1.1.944, XP SP2, 4GB RAM (1GB not accessible, but used just to balance the computer so it doesn't tip over); Delta 66 in Omni i/O Studio; Motif8; UAD-1

Hi Alexis.
Sorry I can't answer your question re monitors but I am sure a Top Bod will be along shortly.

I would like however to mention a possible "problem" with using flat screen TVs as monitors. I use a bog S LG widescreen 22" on Win 7 no bother and a 32" Sony Bravia on an Asus MOBO XP pro pc, again no problem but I recently had need to connect my very old HP Compaq 850mHz laptop to the Sony. It worked fine for normal usage but since the lappy had not been checked out for some time I decided to run a diskcheck from bootup. The Sony showed a blank screen and "No Sync" for the duration of the check and so that leads me to think that TVs will not show all if you need to go into BIOS especially with older PC's?

Dave.

Yes, some tv's will not show some resolutions required by older software. The daewoo unit I got off work (had no scart socket so difficult to upgrade to digital, they were going to chuck it so got it for free!, will not show the bios which is a real pain, however my cheap argos 19" seems fine so just be careful. I would always reccommend a proper monitor rather than a lcd tv.

Quote alexis:

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how do I determine what kind of monitor my OLD daw computer will support:Dual Radeon ATI X300SE 128MB video.

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In answer to your question you google your graphics card and determine the specification for it

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Madman_Greg

Thank you all for responses!

I've googled my card: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-66419 . I guess the next step is to go to the store with the specs and ask for a compatible monitor. Any hints on common pitfalls/pratfalls at that stage?

"LCD" ... in the information I've been reading (referenced in my first post above), I got the impression when the term LCD was used they just meant a flat screen computer monitor, as opposed to a television ... ?

Thanks again, if any other helpful comments, please keep them coming!

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Alexis -Cubase 6.5.0/SX3.1.1.944, XP SP2, 4GB RAM (1GB not accessible, but used just to balance the computer so it doesn't tip over); Delta 66 in Omni i/O Studio; Motif8; UAD-1

The link you gave shows that the card can have either VGA or DVI connectors and it does list it as dual head so you can run two monitors if you wish. Below is a pic of a VGA and DVI connector:



DVI is on the left and the VGA in the middle. Maybe post a pic of the connections on your graphics card so someone can confirm. The card supports full HD and so you just need to choose between two monitors or one and also what size you would like. This will depend entirely on your workflow and personal preferences.

As you can see from this link there's a whole lot to choose from:

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/monitors-tvs/161/486/874/ 101

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

Quote Will_m:

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The link you gave shows that the card can have either VGA or DVI connectors and it does list it as dual head so you can run two monitors if you wish. Below is a pic of a VGA and DVI connector:



DVI is on the left and the VGA in the middle. Maybe post a pic of the connections on your graphics card so someone can confirm. The card supports full HD and so you just need to choose between two monitors or one and also what size you would like. This will depend entirely on your workflow and personal preferences.

As you can see from this link there's a whole lot to choose from:

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/monitors-tvs/161/486/874/ 101

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Will_m - you are a Prince, at least! Thanks so much for your help in interpreting those specs. Please find the requested pics below, it looks like I indeed have a VGA and DVI in comparing to your pic. I apologize for my presentation being so large, I'm afraid I don't know how it got that way or how to make it smaller (one would think I'd get used to it after all these years ... ).

Seriously, thanks so much. Off to the store I can go now with some degree of confidence.





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Alexis -Cubase 6.5.0/SX3.1.1.944, XP SP2, 4GB RAM (1GB not accessible, but used just to balance the computer so it doesn't tip over); Delta 66 in Omni i/O Studio; Motif8; UAD-1

Looks like it'll do a upto a 27" monitor if you use the correct cable and dual link DVI conector or upto around a 24" on any old cable going off the specs here : http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11907_na/11907_na.HTML so you should be able to get something with ease for it.

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