The motherboard on my 3yr old computer just died, so I will be buying a new PC.  I have been using two 17" monitors.  We are now moving to all HD, widescreen video.  Shoudl I replace my 17" monitors with 22" widescreen monitors?  Does Avid Liquid Pro work well with two 22" widescreens?  I want to be able to look at the video in HD on one screen and have the timeline on the other screen.

You have to be careful when comparing screen sizes between regular and widescreen as the dimensions given are for the diagonal length (coner-to-corner) and can't be compared any better than apples and oranges between the two types.  I therefore prefer to use the vertical height of screens as a comparison of picture size.

I have found 17" (4:3) monitors to be a bit on the small side for video editing.  I really like the 19" screens that I upgraded to a few years back.  Now I have been looking at widescreen monitors because like you, I am switching to more HDV work.  The vertical height of a 24" widescreen (16:9) is the same as the vertical height of a normal 19" (4:3) monitor.  I wouldn't want a picture smaller than my current 19" monitors, therefore my preference would be to consider 24" widescreens. 

There are now several threads on this forum discussing wide screen monitors, and I will say here what I have said on the others: 22" does NOT give you the vertical height in pixels that you should be looking for.

Most 24" screens do. I use a single 24" screen that has 1920 x 1200 pixels. Not only is this slightly more vertically than a 4:3 19" monitor, but mine also has an HDMI port that will allow me to watch HD directly from an external device. For instance, I can directly connect my HV20 camcorder to the screen and watch the raw footage in full HD.

22" monitors won't give you this ability. Whether two 24" monitors will give you what you expect - sorry, I can't tell you that. Maybe someone else on the forum has two 24"s.

I'm using two 22" widescreens with Liquid at 1680 X 1050 without any problems.  One monitor has component inputs too.  The other, just a couple of weeks old has HDMI input instead of DVI port. I haven't tried this out yet. The main  monitor is a nice Samsung. The new extra monitor was on sale at Best Buy for under $200.  I can't get an exact color match to the Samsung, but its not bad considering the price.  The timeline display is on the Samsung. The desktop/storyboard display is on the new cheap Hannspree. The full screen preview from the  source viewers and the master viewers come up on the Samsung, which gives pretty accurate color.  The Hannspree is good enough for seaching through the racks looking at the thumbnails and storyboarding. I can watch TV through the cable company's DVR while I'm online at my desk. The DVR has both component and HDMI output, so either monitor is usable for it.

 

The two work well with my HDV1 timeline (720P).  I'm looking for a better camera someday than my JVC, but the consumer cams just don't have the ergonomics or real buttons and focus ring etc., and I can't afford a pro cam, so I'll stick with my present setup.  There's plenty of vertical space for me right now.

If the finances weren't such an issue, I'd go with twin 24" widescreens, of the exact same make and model, but not a cheap off brand.  I've had good luck with Sony and Samsung LCD monitors, and Toshiba LCD televisions.  But if finances are an issue, prices have come down and the off brands give a pretty good picture for the price.

 

Hope this helps.

I am using two HP2207 22 inch LCD flat screens. I wonder how I got along with having two monitors. I am using a Radeon x1650 Pro with 512 meg on the card.

 Simply beautiful. The main monitor is an HPW2207H(HDMI) and the secondary monitor is a HP W2207 DVI.   I had a little problem when the DVI was the primary and HDMI was the secondary. The secondary would flash on and off after about 10 minutes.

Good Luck.