Which LCD 19' for SHIII?

[jaxa]

GWX is incoming quickly and I'd like to play it with better view 1280x1024. I want to change my monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 700IFT 17', 1024x768) for 19' LCD. What do you suggest?

PS. I've checked hardware forums and found BenQ FP91GP (MVA) and BenQ FP93GX (TN with 2 ms), cheap but good. What will be better: TN 2 ms 16,2 mln colours or MVA 8 ms 16,7 mln colours?

[kylania]

I use the 21" Samsung 215TW widescreen LCD and it freaking rocks.



At first I was a hesitant to move into LCDs due to the "swish" that fast movements cause but you quickly stop noticing that and it wasn't too terrible to begin with.

So yeah, the Samsung would be a good one, I've loved their monitors for years (bought 3 in a row, 17" CRT, 19" CRT and now the 21" LCD).

[Segwin]

I use the Westinghouse 19" and have been very happy with it.

BTW Kylania, I like the Saitek you have. I have one slightly used and one brand new X-36 which I really like. Use them for Falcon 4.

[Gunner]

Had a Samsung CRT and just upgraded to a Samsung 940B 19" LCD and I luv it, great grahics with SH3, Pirates of the Carribean, and Ages of Pirates.

[jaxa]

I'd like to know what will be better: TN 2 ms 16,2 mln colours or MVA 8 ms 16,7 mln colours?
Is it big difference between TN 16,2 mln colours and MVA/PVA 16,7 mln colours?
I'm looking for fast LCD with pretty colours. What should I choose - TN or MVA/PVA?
I play SH3 of course and flight simulators, strategy games and FPS.

I have the same joystick and throttle. Got 'em a month before I bought SHIII . . .

. . . haven't used 'em since. --wry grin--

[fredbass]

I have a Dell Ultrasharp (DVI) widescreen and it looks awesome. I'm not really promoting Dell. I just like those monitors. And as I've said on other threads, find one with a low response time and good contrast ratio.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by jaxa

I'd like to know what will be better: TN 2 ms 16,2 mln colours or MVA 8 ms 16,7 mln colours?
Is it big difference between TN 16,2 mln colours and MVA/PVA 16,7 mln colours?
I'm looking for fast LCD with pretty colours. What should I choose - TN or MVA/PVA?
I play SH3 of course and flight simulators, strategy games and FPS.

Good post you ask good ???. I was going to look at 20" minumum 700 to1
res and 5ms. Thats all the smarts i got. Ihope Kylania comes back and
answers our ???. I GOT $600.00 BURNIN A HOLE IN MY POCKET Good luck on your new lcd. Let us know what you got.

AHHHHAAA... I'm jinxed ....Look at new avatar

[AVGWarhawk]

I have a Dell 19' LCD. I'm happy with it. Samsung is a good product. Also check out Viewsonic. I hear these are nice as well. My pop got a Sony with a super nice picture. Use the internet and get reviews. Compare each. Then make your decision!

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by kylania

I use the 21" Samsung 215TW widescreen LCD and it freaking rocks.



At first I was a hesitant to move into LCDs due to the "swish" that fast movements cause but you quickly stop noticing that and it wasn't too terrible to begin with.

So yeah, the Samsung would be a good one, I've loved their monitors for years (bought 3 in a row, 17" CRT, 19" CRT and now the 21" LCD).

Just going out the door to get new LCD so this thread couldn't come at a better time. Kylania what kind of keyboard Saitek? Ialso have X-52
I think i'll hangout awhile and wait for answer.

[kylania]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

what kind of keyboard Saitek?

It's the Logitech G15 keyboard actually. Really great feel, a switch to turn off Windows Keys, blue neon backlight with three settings (off, faint, brighter), a programable LCD screen with media player controls, 18 "G" programable keys in three banks, so 54 possible keyboard shortcut macros, USB plugs in back. It's an awesome keyboard. A little pricy at around $100 though.

For around $70 you can get the G11 instead. It's the same keyboard but without the LCD and media controls.

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by kylania

It's the Logitech G15 keyboard actually. Really great feel, a switch to turn off Windows Keys, blue neon backlight with three settings (off, faint, brighter), a programable LCD screen with media player controls, 18 "G" programable keys in three banks, so 54 possible keyboard shortcut macros, USB plugs in back. It's an awesome keyboard. A little pricy at around $100 though.

For around $70 you can get the G11 instead. It's the same keyboard but without the LCD and media controls.

THX Kylania I'm off shopping G-15 and a 20+ lcd Will let all know what lcd i got when i get back.

[Redwine]

Take a look into a review of a ViewSonic VX-922 2ms on grey-white-grey, balck-white-black or on-off-on.

A very fast one.

If you look for a better image quality instead a fast one... ViewSonic VP-930 may be considered, i read it has one of the best image quality. But is is 8ms grey-white-grey, 16ms black-white-black.

Sony XBrite line looks so good image quality but not so good for games.

[Hartmann]

you can also build a lcd proyector with a lcd screen

Rig for red your room and put a big stereo speakers... enjoy your sh3







the instructions here

http://www.denguru.com/2004/11/13/su...or_/index.html

[Potoroo]

Originally Posted by jaxa

GWX is incoming quickly and I'd like to play it with better view 1280x1024. I want to change my monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 700IFT 17', 1024x768) for 19' LCD. What do you suggest?

PS. I've checked hardware forums and found BenQ FP91GP (MVA) and BenQ FP93GX (TN with 2 ms), cheap but good. What will be better: TN 2 ms 16,2 mln colours or MVA 8 ms 16,7 mln colours?

Possibly in no other area in computer components can specs be trusted less than with LCD monitors. To put it bluntly, nearly everything that the manufacturers tell you is next to worthless. I'll tell you why.

In the most simple terms, LCD displays work by passing light from a source from behind a crystal helix (the "liquid crystal") towards the front of the screen. By varying electric impulses the helix can be twisted more or less, thus varying the amount of light that passes through. To get colour each pixel has three subpixels behind an RGB substrate, so there are three helixes per pixel.

The time it takes for the screen to go from black to white is called the Rising response time, and the time it takes to go from white to black is called the Falling response time. Adding these times together gives the Average Response time. IOW, an average response time of 8ms means it takes an average of 8ms for the all the helixes in the monitor to completely twist and untwist. It's the single most quoted spec and it's the first one you should mistrust. Pixels rarely spend their lives going from white to black to white again. It's just not a worthwhile measurement.

A far more important measurement is the Grey-To-Grey time, and nearly all manufacturers won't give it to you. Most pixels spend their lives going from one stage of partial twistedness to another stage of partial twistedness but due to electrical modulation the GTG time can be slower (sometimes a lot slower) than the average response time. It can be faster too, but how are you to know?

Even if manufacturers do give a GTG spec it's usually just a single number. A 6-bit LCD subpixel has 64 potential positions. If the cited GTG time is only the time takes to twist from one of those positions to any of the other 63 then it's nearly as bad as the average response time spec. To be most useful the GTG time spec should be the average of all the GTG response times but you'll rarely see it.

Since making these helixes twist and untwist fast enough is difficult, the manufacturers sometimes play a trick to get better speeds. They reduce the monitor's bit depth. An 8-bit LCD can potentially display the full colour spectrum, 16,777,216 colours, since each subpixel has 256 possible positions. However, to get extra performance many cheaper LCDs are 6-bit, with only 64 positions per subpixel, meaning they can only display 262,144 colours. To display the "missing" 98% of the colour spectrum these monitors must dither, which sacrifices sharpness. A monitor with a spec of 16.2 million colours is a 6-bit LCD with dithering.

This probably won't be an issue for gamers playing a FPS. It may be acceptable for SH3. If you want to use your LCD for things like graphic design or whatever, then it's a real problem.

Another spec which is almost completely untrustworty is the contrast ratio. It is supposed to measure the difference between the luminescence of the lightest and darkest areas of the screen. Because there is no standard way to measure it manufacturers play all sorts of tricks to get a better figure. Some use different test patterns, some even measure from angles other than 90°, all sorts of things. Consequently, even though there are a mere handful of substrate manufacturers in the world supplying the monitor manufacturers, you get many different specs from monitor manufacturers who are in fact using the same substrate! It's nonsense.

There is more to all this but that's the basics. Don't rely on manufacturer's specs. You must read reviews by review sites with technical expertise, like Tom's Hardware Guide or Anandtech, and avoid fanboi sites that give 90%+ to everything they review. You must read as many user reviews as you can find. You must read, read and read more. And when you're done reading you absolutely positively must see the unit you're interested in in action. Do not buy from a vendor who has an "x dead pixels or no return" policy - expect zero dead pixels and check it in the store before you take it home.

Without considering budget, I suggest you look at units like the Dell 1907FP (their LCD monitors are first class - yes, I was just as surprised) or the Samsung SyncMaster 915N. In the LCD monitor game if you buy cheap you'll very likely be very disappointed.

Alternatively, you can do as I did about 2 weeks ago and grab a 19" CRT cheap before they disappear forever. No native resolution issues, no motion blur issues (often wrongly called ghosting, which is something else entirely), no real viewing angle issues, greater colour depth and contrast.