Accessory Portable LCD monitors for work and gaming, recommendations?

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
1,949
2,619
high ppi screens only makes sense when they're at book reading distances. for desktop displays they're usually more than twice the distance away from the face, so it's really hard to see the pixels from regular use (unless you want to squeeze more onto your screen without using windows's UI rescaling assistant, in which 1440p should be better)

I had to scale up my iPad display because everything on it looks so tiiiiiiiiiiny ._.
 

smitty2k1

King of Cable Management
Dec 3, 2016
967
492
It definitely matters for me in certain applications like lighroom, Photoshop, after effects etc. The way windows scales all the menus in 1080p on a smaller screen is aweful, barely leaves any room for a workspace.
That makes sense. My primary use would be the (very occasional) LAN party so I'd be gaming. In my case I think I'd benefit from a "lower" 1080p for better gaming performance on an APU if I don't want to bring my NCASE w/ Vega56 along.
 

ywori

Trash Compacter
Jul 6, 2018
38
30
Hi there, sorry for talking in this thread but I am guessing people who travel alot with portable monitors should know a thing or two.

Could anyone point me in the right direction of how they usually pack their monitors (portable or not) and their sff cases on international travel?

I am thinking of putting my case in a hard foam cut out in a carry on suitcase. I do not think the wallye is that suitable as I will be doing alot of walking and it seems easier to lug my case by rolling it around rather then in a backpack of some sort.

Thanks in advance for all the ideas.
 

loader963

King of Cable Management
Jan 21, 2017
660
568
Hi there, sorry for talking in this thread but I am guessing people who travel alot with portable monitors should know a thing or two.

Could anyone point me in the right direction of how they usually pack their monitors (portable or not) and their sff cases on international travel?

I am thinking of putting my case in a hard foam cut out in a carry on suitcase. I do not think the wallye is that suitable as I will be doing alot of walking and it seems easier to lug my case by rolling it around rather then in a backpack of some sort.

Thanks in advance for all the ideas.


I did this a couple of times, I had a pelican case that I could pull the top cushion out and slide it between the foam and hard shell. My monitor was a sibolan s4 ( a 17.3”) and it came with a nice cloth cover pictured beneath it. Kept it safe and secure, along with the kB/m, Xbox controller, the pc and all the wires. The Cases I was using were the dan a4 and a custom mod sfx.

Edit: the pelican case is the air 1525 and is classified as carry on but I’ve never flown with it.
 

ywori

Trash Compacter
Jul 6, 2018
38
30
thanks for your reply. This looks really sturdy. I might look into it, depending on how heavy the pelican case is.
 

chx

Master of Cramming
May 18, 2016
547
281
Y'all must hate me, well, at least my poor, poor wallet :p -- linking to Sibolan led me to this 18.4 (!) 4K baby. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIBOLAN-S1...578010&hash=item2ab307540f:g:R7QAAOSw68hbfMbl and there doesn't seem to be an ebay premium because this is the same price as on taobao as far as my meager search skills can find: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=571038473985 (I googled: intitle:"18.4" "4k" site:taobao.com)

My current one is 19.5" but only 1080p and this one is getting to the point where the monitor by itself is a useful size and yet it's easy to carry on -- it's probably narrow enough to stuff in your secondary, even. It's a delicate balance... The other ones in this thread for me were curiosities but this, this is actually useful... do I travel enough these days to warrant something this expensive? ho-humm.
 
Last edited:

chx

Master of Cramming
May 18, 2016
547
281
Could anyone point me in the right direction of how they usually pack their monitors (portable or not) and their sff cases on international travel?

You could look at DJ bags, I have a Magma DIGI Control-Backpack XL (which is now actually up for sale) it's made to travel with large, fragile rectangular objects. I also have a Magma Rolltop (also up for sale) which I used to pack a giant ass monitor in but it's not an awesome bag -- it's a structureless pile of tarpaulin.

My current choice is a Red Oxx Sky Train but only because it got a customized one before Red Oxx stopped customizing. Nonethless, it's a great bag you should look at. The 13"W x 19"L x 1"D compartment eats up most monitors you'd want to travel with.

ANy Pelican is way too heavy for carry on.
 
Last edited:

smitty2k1

King of Cable Management
Dec 3, 2016
967
492
Calling all portable monitor experts!

With today's 15% off anything at eBay, I think I'm finally going to pull the trigger on a portable USB-powered monitor.

My requirements:
15.6", 1080p, 60hz, USB powered

Ideal:
low latency input

Here are the contenders:

ASUS Zenscreen MB16AC: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-ZenSc...Widescreen-LED-Backlight-Monitor/263520356944

SIBOLAN S3: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIBOLAN-S3...1080P-dual-HDMI/263919026458?var=563360957900

SIBOLAN S14AC: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIBOLAN-S1...775261?hash=item2ab572065d:g:CHkAAOSwqsxbmyZY

They all seem to be pretty similar, ASUS does not have a real video input, but seems the most 'trustworthy'. The two SIBOLAN screens also seem like good competitors, with a real input.

I have two PCs I will occasionally use this with, a APU build with a dedicated USB-C port, and a gaming PC with a standard graphics card. I'm a little worried about the display over USB-C. Can't seem to get concrete details about how that works (or doesn't) with a dedicated GPU.

Edit: went with the SIBOLAN S14AC. Will report back with impressions.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Curiosity

Cat5niper

Cable Smoosher
Sep 20, 2018
9
8
Hey I've been through most of the thread looking at all the monitors, I am looking for the best portable monitor for a gaming setup. Features needed:

*At least 1080p (ideally 1440p)
*At least 120hz
*Biggest screen possible while still portable
*Adaptive sync (gsync would be perfect)

The best I have found here or anywhere else is; https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBX27CB/?tag=theminutiae-20

Which is:
1080p, 120hz, 17.3", freesync.

Does anyone know any better portable gaming monitors?

Ideally I am looking for:
Portable, 1440p, 120hz+, 23"+, gsync
 

loader963

King of Cable Management
Jan 21, 2017
660
568
^ 1ms response times makes me think it is a tn but yet it claims hdr as well?? Price looks good though.
 

chx

Master of Cramming
May 18, 2016
547
281
23"+ is not this thread, plain and simple. I mean, I did carry on an AOC e2351f in a rolltop but that's a miserable experience and I very quickly gave up on doing that.
 

Cat5niper

Cable Smoosher
Sep 20, 2018
9
8
Even without the size difference, any portable monitor with gsync would be awesome. Otherwise I feel very limited to AMDs graphics which just arn't as available, as cool or as powerful as the nVidia cards.
 

EdZ

Virtual Realist
May 11, 2015
1,578
2,107
1ms response times makes me think it is a tn but yet it claims hdr as well?
There's HDR, and then there's 'HDR'. There are a whole pile of monitors that are basically SDR panels, but that accept an HDR input and attempt to squish that entire range down into what they can actually display (similar to the old 'HD' TVs that accepted HD inputs and displayed them on an SD panel).
For the moment, if a monitor does not have a full-array backlight (or is OLED), then its claims of being HDR are tenuous at best.
 
Last edited:

riposte

Trash Compacter
Dec 9, 2017
45
88
Right now I'm looking for a 13.3" portable monitor, FHD, over 80% sRGB (72% NTSC?).
What do you think about this monitor? ali express dot com/item/Elecrow-IPS-TFT-LCD-13-3-inch-1920-x-1080-HDMI-Portable-Display-for-Raspberry-Pi/32875552638.html
I'm so tempted to buy that monitor because it supported USB-C video-audio output and cheaper compared to another USB-C portable monitor.
I hope everything is true as advertised but the contrast ratio is a bit bummer.
EDIT2: why my link is always add this line? https://www dot anrdoezrs dot net/ so I must edit my link to aliexpress

EDIT1:Now I'm searching a kickstand like this...
 
Last edited:

smitty2k1

King of Cable Management
Dec 3, 2016
967
492
Calling all portable monitor experts!

With today's 15% off anything at eBay, I think I'm finally going to pull the trigger on a portable USB-powered monitor.

My requirements:
15.6", 1080p, 60hz, USB powered

Ideal:
low latency input

Here are the contenders:

ASUS Zenscreen MB16AC: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-ZenSc...Widescreen-LED-Backlight-Monitor/263520356944

SIBOLAN S3: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIBOLAN-S3...1080P-dual-HDMI/263919026458?var=563360957900

SIBOLAN S14AC: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIBOLAN-S1...775261?hash=item2ab572065d:g:CHkAAOSwqsxbmyZY

They all seem to be pretty similar, ASUS does not have a real video input, but seems the most 'trustworthy'. The two SIBOLAN screens also seem like good competitors, with a real input.

I have two PCs I will occasionally use this with, a APU build with a dedicated USB-C port, and a gaming PC with a standard graphics card. I'm a little worried about the display over USB-C. Can't seem to get concrete details about how that works (or doesn't) with a dedicated GPU.

Edit: went with the SIBOLAN S14AC. Will report back with impressions.

Ok so I finally received the monitor. Here are some photos.

I'm pretty impressed with how bright it is. The included accessories were everything I would need.

The monitor does have a "FreeSync" option in the menu, but it didn't work properly. The seller told me that functionality doesn't work, hence why it wasn't advertised as such.

The monitor does have the option to select USB-C as the video input (instead of HDMI). Does anyone know how to do video over USB-C from a Intel 4770k, Vega56, or Ryzen 2400G. I don't have a laptop with DisplayPort over USB-C functionality, but I've heard you can get drivers to make something similar work.
 

Elerek

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jul 17, 2017
228
165
I ordered a sibolan 17.3" 1440p 120hz monitor a few weeks back with the same 15% off on ebay, trying to get a refund or replacement but they keep insisting I'm just using it wrong...

Basically the monitor only lists up to 1080p 100hz. I can force it to 120hz in the nvidia control panel and it seems to work fine in the ufo test, but I can't force it to 1440p even at 30hz. The monitor still reports 1080p and the image is clearly downscaled (very blurry since 1440p and 1080p aren't multiples of each other).

I'll update once I get it resolved somehow.


Just for clarity, I'm already running a 1440p 144hz panel as my main monitor and I have a gtx 1080. 1440p 120hz is no problem for my hardware.
 

annasoh323

Master of Cramming
Apr 4, 2018
424
314
Ok so I finally received the monitor. Here are some photos.

I'm pretty impressed with how bright it is. The included accessories were everything I would need.

The monitor does have a "FreeSync" option in the menu, but it didn't work properly. The seller told me that functionality doesn't work, hence why it wasn't advertised as such.

The monitor does have the option to select USB-C as the video input (instead of HDMI). Does anyone know how to do video over USB-C from a Intel 4770k, Vega56, or Ryzen 2400G. I don't have a laptop with DisplayPort over USB-C functionality, but I've heard you can get drivers to make something similar work.
That's pretty slick looking. I might look into it for the next sale.
Re: USB C, I could have sworn I saw a DP to USB C dongle somewhere. Dont know if it works as intended though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: smitty2k1