EPTOnce connected one of my TV sets but there were some issues, the borders were cut-off. I tried other solutions, for example to use the main monitor of my desktop PC, but it did not satisfy me either because it is too far away. No matter what, I never got a relaxing Starcraft experience.
So I now purchased a monitor dedicated to watch Starcraft while I am in bed. And it's great!
The monitor was affordable, just EUR 120 for 21.5” and 1920x1080 resolution. The quality is not the best due to the TN-type panel used, but it's acceptable and got LED backlight. 21.5” is not too large, but since it is quite close to me it's really ok.
With having the new monitor, watching Starcraft is an entirely new experience. Not only the action is better, I also see much more of what is going on regarding the strategy. It’s hard to describe the effect. The monitor is big enough to cover a large part of my vision but not too large so I don't have to wildly look around.
In comparison to the old solutions, I no longer have a narrow viewing hole but a panorama vision over the battle field.
Because I am a perfectionist, I also adjusted the contrast in the graphics driver, so that the GSL stream shows real black instead of dark-gray areas. I also use the sharpest setting in the monitor configuration, to fight the slight blurriness due to the GSL video scaling (720p up to 1080p.)
Now it’s almost too good, I can see some video compression artifacts but still it is a very good overall experience. Watching San owning White-Ra can only be appreciated if one can see the godly micro. Previously I missed a lot of details because everything was so tiny.
And I am even expanding my Starcraft "Cinema". Last night I watched a Shoutcraft cast from TotalBiscuit but his voice needs better loudspeakers than the Macbook build-in ones, so I ordered a 2.0 speaker set with no subwoofer (it's late when I watch, don't want to disturb anyone) but with two drivers per speaker to get a clear sound despite the small frame.
Since the mischievous money roobers from Apple required me to buy an € 30 adaptor to connect a display to the Macbook, my "Cinema" now costs 175 Euro. (Monitor, display adaptor, speakers, audio extension cord for speakers.) BUT the Macbook has a build-in DVD drive so I can watch movies, too :D
TL;DR
I am glad I spend some monay for a good setup to watch Starcraft while I am in bed. Beeing in a relaxed environment (in bed
) and having a screen big enough improves the experience ALOT.
