The upgrade to 1080 and what happened next…

“I don’t always upgrade, but when I do, I get an IPS. ”

Yes, that’s me in a nutshell. After months of resisting the urge to go 1080p, I took a good, hard look at the IPS panels I work with day in and day out and decided it was time to stop fussing and get one.

For those who aren’t aware, IPS (Inter-Place-Switching) is a type of panel technology. Originally patented by German researchers in the 90’s (and later, by Hitachi), an IPS is essentially the next step up the evolutionary ladder from a standard LED/LCD screen. It’s got better colors, far better viewing angles, AND doesn’t fade when touched. Think Apple’s iPhone screen: yes, Retina looks so good because it’s an IPS.  I bought it mostly for the insanely awesome colors (and not the 1080, as I tell myself). So, voila: the AOC I2267Fwh, a gorgeous 21.5-inch IPS screen running at 1920×1080.

So THIS is what’s sitting on my desktop right now.

This literally is my first foray into proper HD at home. I’m not dissapointed. It’s true what they say: the greatest upgrade you can give yourself is more screen real estate. For the first time, I’m sitting back and letting the screen push content at me rather than peering into a bordered box trying to make out details.

Never mind if my 460 can’t handle everything on ultra at that resolution. Or can it? I honestly don’t know. One would expect that the first thing I’d do is to play games like crazy. Instead, I’ve been watching Heroes. The TV series. And let me tell you, it looks gorgeous. Even lowly 480p videos can be watched from a few feet away with all the luxury you expect from a great TV. Other than that? I played a bit of Minecraft and Dota 2 which obviously run perfectly smooth. And a bit of Tomb Raider at ultra with 2x AA: again the game looked as smooth as you please, even though I didn’t run the benchmark to see actual results. Honestly, I’m not bothered. Even if things run at 35 FPS,  I’d still be content. The awesomeness of the screen more than makes up for everything.

My workspace. Yes, that’s a Deus Ex poster in the background.

Advertisement