Do I need a Windows 10-specific monitor?

[swee'pea99]

Most monitors, including mine, don't have drivers for Windows 10, so you end up with a generic plug & play monitor driver. It's an old monitor anyway, and I've been thinking a widescreen one might be handy for my work. I've been checking likely candidates on ebay, but very few seem to have W10 drivers available. Am I on a fool's errand, or is it worth continuing to look for one (there are some) with W10 drivers?

 

[Milkfloat]

IMO, totally pointless looking for a Win10 monitor. By all means get a new one though.

 

[grumpyoldwoman]

I agree,pointless.
My monitor is an old one I bought form a second hand shop when my other one died recently. This one works fine on W10.
Means more money for

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I've not needed drivers for monitors for a long long time.

If you're not on widescreen yet, You may as well treat yourself to something new, you can pick up widescreen monitors quite cheap now.

Although, depending on where you are based, I do have an Acer S240HL that is surplus to requirements that I'd let go for around £50
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compu...lbid-full-hd-24-led-monitor-21433233-pdt.html

I no longer have a desktop as I work entirely from laptop these days.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I don't think I've ever bothered with the driver for a monitor and they've all worked. This one is at least seven years old and Win 10 is running on it.

 

[ColinJ]

I have just upgraded a Win XP PC to Win 10. I had a couple of old smallish (19" and 22") widescreen LCD monitors lying about and the NVidia graphics card in the machine had 2 DVI-I outputs so I thought I'd try and rig both monitors up, side by side. If they worked, fine, and if not I'd buy a big new widescreen monitor.

Well one monitor worked straight off because it had a DVI input and I had a DVI lead. The other monitor turned out to have an analogue input (VGA) so I bought a DVI-I to VGA converter for about £1.50 on eBay and that solved that problem. I got the most up to date driver for the graphics card but didn't bother doing anything for the monitors themselves. All I did was to enable both outputs and configure the analogue output manually to suit the monitor's native resolution and a 60 Hz refresh rate.

The arrangement works pretty well. The 2 monitors don't match so at some point when I have cash to spare I will buy a new widescreen monitor anyway.

The only annoying thing so far is that Windows forgets to apply the settings to the second monitor when I boot the PC. I have to go into the NVidia control panel and reapply the settings. It has remembered what they are but they don't get applied until I change them and then change them back.

A long-winded way of saying 'You could try the old monitor, but buy a nice new one if you can afford it, and don't worry about drivers'!

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks everyone. That seems like a pretty strong consensus! Don't s'pose you're in North London, Phil?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Thanks everyone. That seems like a pretty strong consensus! Don't s'pose you're in North London, Phil?

Unfortunately not! I'd keep an eye out on YouTube and don't rush into buying if yours still works, as there's plenty around!

 

[swee'pea99]

Ah well. No worries. Thanks for your advice anyway.

 

[mybike]

I found running 2 monitors on Windows XP easy and a really useful way of working. I've since moved to Linux Mint and only have one output from the new PC so haven't tried it. It's probably a good idea to have identical monitors if you do go that way.

 

[ColinJ]

I found running 2 monitors on Windows XP easy and a really useful way of working. I've since moved to Linux Mint and only have one output from the new PC so haven't tried it. It's probably a good idea to have identical monitors if you do go that way.

I am running software now which uses so many windows that displaying them on just one smallish monitor would be a complete pain. Putting 3/5 on the larger screen and 2/5 on the smaller one does work quite well but the picture quality of the digital one shows up that of the analogue one. (It isn't the analogue connection, but the fact that the digital monitor is so much brighter. Even on full brightness, the whites on the analogue monitor look more like very light grey.)

I would like to use a high res monitor 32+ inches in size. I have seen quite a few 27 inch ones but it would be better if everything was a bit bigger to suit my old eyesight.

 

[Sea of vapours]

I would like to use a high res monitor 32+ inches in size. I have seen quite a few 27 inch ones but it would be better if everything was a bit bigger to suit my old eyesight.

Before you go that route, consider two smaller monitors. One really big monitor is not as nice as two side-by-side unless you actually need one application to be full screen and huge. The sheer size of one large one, combined with [assumed] close proximity means that you're always scanning around it too much (I've found anyway). On the other hand, two smaller, high resolution widescreen monitors side-by-side is much nicer and they can both be angled inwards, flat to you. You can also rotate one to vertical when that would be helpful (which it is when editing portrait-shaped photographs, for example.)

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Before you go that route, consider two smaller monitors. One really big monitor is not as nice as two side-by-side unless you actually need one application to be full screen and huge. The sheer size of one large one, combined with [assumed] close proximity means that you're always scanning around it too much (I've found anyway). On the other hand, two smaller, high resolution widescreen monitors side-by-side is much nicer and they can both be angled inwards, flat to you. You can also rotate one to vertical when that would be helpful (which it is when editing portrait-shaped photographs, for example.)

I've done that with my home desktop PC: a pair of 27" monitors next to each other, with one angled about 10° away from the other. As a software geek, I do programming at home sometimes, and find this setup very useful. The monitors cost about $300 each.

 

[ColinJ]

Before you go that route, consider two smaller monitors. One really big monitor is not as nice as two side-by-side unless you actually need one application to be full screen and huge. The sheer size of one large one, combined with [assumed] close proximity means that you're always scanning around it too much (I've found anyway). On the other hand, two smaller, high resolution widescreen monitors side-by-side is much nicer and they can both be angled inwards, flat to you. You can also rotate one to vertical when that would be helpful (which it is when editing portrait-shaped photographs, for example.)

I've done that with my home desktop PC: a pair of 27" monitors next to each other, with one angled about 10° away from the other. As a software geek, I do programming at home sometimes, and find this setup very useful. The monitors cost about $300 each.

Ha ha - I like the idea of 2 x 27 inch!

That would not have been practical in my old house but I am lucky enough to have my home office/studio in a big attic room now. The guest bed is tucked away on the far side of the room and the rest of the space is mine, all mine, muhaha!

I have enough space that I could put the monitors a couple of feet behind the desk to reduce the angle I would have to scan. It would make the setup less intimidating.

 

[ColinJ]

Hang on ... I have just been shopping around and discovered 'ultrawide' monitors (21:9 format). One of them might be the ideal compromise for me. Decisions, decisions ...