[macdawg]

22' LCD's are in my price range but I'm starting to wait because I think I might want a 24' for the higher res and full hd.

Only game I'll play on it is counterstrike, what I'm worried about is if I get a 22 or 24' with dvi only, then if I ever upgrade to vista, doesn't vistas DRM prevent hd playback unless its using an hdmi cable?

I've googled and can't find a good explanation anywhere, I don't even know if I will get vista but in a couple years who knows and I'm sure if I spent $400 on a monitor I'd use it for at least 3 years.

[Poizen22]

hmm youd need something liek a 3870 then to run it as it is the only descent gaming card with hdmi, dvi seems very capable tho, its really up to you.

[Phoenix219]

I heard Vista DRMs work with a dvi cable because like hdmi, its digital. But on a side note, does full hd really matter when you're playing a game like counterstrike? It's not that graphic-intensive compared to most games developed after 2000

[900RR]

Very good question, I've been wondering the same thing. A lot of the cheaper 24"ers don't have HDMI. I have seen HDMI to DVI adapters and cables though, dunno if you lose anything in the process though?

[Akubane]

As far as I know you don't lose anything, because they're both digital signals.

[atomic tofu]

this is less something about Vista than how "hi def" content is managed.

The same approach can be understood by looking at console players. They will max out at 720p for all other "appropriate" connections, but only output 1080p with the hdmi/dvi...because of copy protection.

You can better understand it simply by doing a search for HDMI.
Live Search: 1080p over hdmi

[aaron09658]

you will only have to worry about that issue if ur going to put a hddvd or blueray drive in ur pc to watch the content. As far as games, it doesn't matter wut type of connection u use. DVI and HDMI are both digital, but hdmi can carry sound while dvi doesn't, for 400 bucks though it should come with hdmi anyways. Plus your current monitor and ur current graphics are about a perfect match. if getting anything higher like 20 inch get the 8000's series graphics or the ati equalivant.

[ThirdLeft152]

nope you should have no worries at all. the only thing you'll have to worry about is if you want to play a HD media in your computer (if you even have a HD-DVD player or Blue Ray player) and then im sure a $400 monitor supports HDCP anyway, and if so then you'll have to worry about your graphics card being able to support HDCP. otherwise you can play whatever you want on it. DVI = HDMI (both uncompressed digital signals) hdmi just supports 5.1 sound as well.

if he's just gonna play CS on it he doesn't need a new gpu..

[macdawg]

"the only thing you'll have to worry about is if you want to play a HD media in your computer (if you even have a HD-DVD player or Blue Ray player) and then im sure a $400 monitor supports HDCP anyway"

this answers my question perfectly, granted it might be 2-3 years by the time I buy a blue ray drive and gpu to support HD, but if I buy a new $400 LCD I want to use it for probably 4 years or so, so I will only be buying an LCD w/ HDMI.

[ThirdLeft152]

Originally Posted by macdawg

"the only thing you'll have to worry about is if you want to play a HD media in your computer (if you even have a HD-DVD player or Blue Ray player) and then im sure a $400 monitor supports HDCP anyway"

this answers my question perfectly, granted it might be 2-3 years by the time I buy a blue ray drive and gpu to support HD, but if I buy a new $400 LCD I want to use it for probably 4 years or so, so I will only be buying an LCD w/ HDMI.

true, well if you get it with HDMI then it can double as a tv for a game system or a cable box/dvd player or whatever and it will support 1080p.