[cobaka]

I'm thinking of getting a new monitor. Currently I have a CRT, but those seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. But how good are current gen LCDs? This seemed like a good place to ask this, given the crowd. I would want something that can play games, preferably near the top end of image quality (assuming the GPU etc. necessary). Also, I use my comp mostly for graphics - PS and 3DMax. Are CRTs still the choice of "professionals"?

[Jsonedecker]

For what it's worth, I use a Dell 24" widescreen LCD at work and a 20" widescreen at home. Both are great and fairly economical as far as LCD's go.

I have also heard good things about the ChiMea 22" as well and those can be had for $250 here localy.

[NYR_32]

cobaka, on Mar 20 2007, 07:22 PM, said:

I'm thinking of getting a new monitor. Currently I have a CRT, but those seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. But how good are current gen LCDs? This seemed like a good place to ask this, given the crowd. I would want something that can play games, preferably near the top end of image quality (assuming the GPU etc. necessary). Also, I use my comp mostly for graphics - PS and 3DMax. Are CRTs still the choice of "professionals"?

I made the switch a little over a year ago to a 20 inch widescreen Dell 2005FPW (which has been replaced by the 2007FPW). I haven't had any issues while gaming (both on my 360 and PC), the images are nice and sharp at the native resolution (1680 x 1050). I've found it much easier on the eyes to look at this monitor for extended periods than my old one. I don't do professional level things in PS and 3dmax, but for me the colors and such are fine. Not to mention I love the fact that I actually have some desk space now.

[MONOLITH]

Jsonedecker, on Mar 20 2007, 07:33 PM, said:

Dell 24" widescreen LCD

Was this the one that only became available recently? (Within the last year). I was looking to buy a 24", pretty sure it was the Dell, an nowhere had it available yet.

I ended up with a 22" widescreen Gateway.

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1158104010371


I love it. I'll never go back to a 4:3 box. Gaming is great on it. At the end of the summer when I buy a new gaming rig I'll get the 24" with it.

[Kabal]

I currently run the dual 19" LCD monitors, and my only complaint is that the screens arent big enough - I will be upgrading one to at 22" - 24" sometime in the next year.

Not really out of necessity, but just because I can.

I have been using LCDs for a couple years, and I have nothing but good things to say about them - although I find the greatest advantage is still having them mounted on the arm mounts and not sitting in the middle of the workspace on my desk.

[Nailbomb72]

Jsonedecker, on Mar 21 2007, 08:33 AM, said:

For what it's worth, I use a Dell 24" widescreen LCD at work and a 20" widescreen at home. Both are great and fairly economical as far as LCD's go.

I have also heard good things about the ChiMea 22" as well and those can be had for $250 here localy.

I have one of the Chimea 22" LCD's - it's very no-frills and quite basic looking but for the price it's great. I mainly use it for games (of course!) so don't know how well it would go in a more professional environment.

I did have trouble with picture quality using a VGA cable but switching to DVI solve this.

[JTF-2]

I just got a 22" LG widescreen for $399 CDN from FutureShop (the 226WT). It's awesome. 2ms respone time if you believe the box! and 3000:1 dynamic contrast (forget what people say about dynamic contrast, it works). It's alos got HDCP. Awesome for games, and movies have never looked better. If you need HDMI and component input, there's the LG 226WA. Samsung make some very nice 22" LCDs at exactly the same pricepoint which have the same specs, but LG's warenty is better.

22" widescreen is about the right size for me. AFAIK, any bigger and i'd need to use two DVI outputs. and 20" widescreens seem a little small compared to my old 19" CRT.

REMEMBER: the best way to choose is to go to the store and actually demo the monitor.

good luck!

[ato]

i'm using CG220,best LCD (at least top 5 LCD monitor) in the world
link to image

Edited by ZJJ, 20 March 2007 - 07:39 PM.

[krise madsen]

Yes! You should definately replace your CRT with an LCD. I was wary myself, but the LCD is so much less tiring for the eyes to look at and I could never go back now.

As for quality, make sure it's a good one, probably more important than with the CRT, though these days the average quality should be pretty good. As for specifics you should probably ask someone closer to home than me

Respectfully

krise madsen

[Clanky]

I've got a 20" Viewsonic LCD monitor and it's great for gaming. Not to mention very thin and doesn't hog up any desk space at all.

Definately worth the switch.

[Jsonedecker]

MONOLITH, on Mar 20 2007, 06:59 PM, said:

Was this the one that only became available recently? (Within the last year). I was looking to buy a 24", pretty sure it was the Dell, an nowhere had it available yet.

I ended up with a 22" widescreen Gateway.

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1158104010371
I love it. I'll never go back to a 4:3 box. Gaming is great on it. At the end of the summer when I buy a new gaming rig I'll get the 24" with it.

It was the second rev of the very first model they came out with. I have had it for over a year now. It even has Component inputs so run my 360 dev kit into it.

[MONOLITH]

Jsonedecker, on Mar 21 2007, 09:36 AM, said:

It even has Component inputs so run my 360 dev kit into it.

Yep. My 360 is plugged into mine through the component inputs as well. Supports 1080i and looks great.

[}SkOrPn--7]

cobaka, on Mar 20 2007, 11:22 PM, said:

I'm thinking of getting a new monitor. Currently I have a CRT, but those seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. But how good are current gen LCDs? This seemed like a good place to ask this, given the crowd. I would want something that can play games, preferably near the top end of image quality (assuming the GPU etc. necessary). Also, I use my comp mostly for graphics - PS and 3DMax. Are CRTs still the choice of "professionals"?

Don't get 22" most are TN and are lower in quality seek out any S-IPS and also most 22" are 6bit colour and again seek out 8bit or above. I know money maybe a issue but the truth about it is you pay for what you get.

While hardware you can purchase some crappy products and be stung wishing you spent a little more but in most case you can get away with it. Monitors on the other hand many over look and to me there one of the biggest items that when looking for spend up big and research heavily. If need be save more and go straight out for the best because every time you turn it on your not going to mumble to yourself if it performs and be kicking yourself that you didn't hold off until more funds came in to buy better if it doesn't perform.

Better to be happy now than grit your teeth and blame BFS for a poor game when it turns out it was the cheap nasty monitor all along.

I have a Dell UltraSharp 2407FPW and that I would recommend to anyone.

Edited by }SkOrPn--7, 21 March 2007 - 10:20 AM.

[cobaka]

Thanks for all the responses. Glad to know that LCDs can handle what I want. Time to start shopping.

[MONOLITH]

}SkOrPn--7, on Mar 21 2007, 12:19 PM, said:

Don't get 22" most are TN and are lower in quality seek out any S-IPS and also most 22" are 6bit colour and again seek out 8bit or above. I

Check my link above. I'm curious what flaws you see in my monitor.

[}SkOrPn--7]

MONOLITH, on Mar 22 2007, 12:27 AM, said:

Check my link above. I'm curious what flaws you see in my monitor.

These are no big issues because your monitor seems to pack allot of punch.......

#No swivel and this maybe why it only has a 160 degree view instead if 178 degree.
#Big problem is light bleeding from top and bottom or don't you notice it or didn't know about it?
#I haven't been able to find if it's a TN or S-IPS with the specs given but being a 22" I suspect it's TN. Correction it's a S-PVA
#Response time is 5ms is that black to white or grey to grey and that info isn't in the specs.
#Not a deal breaker but no adjustable height.

While I wouldn't invest in this monitor I will say it's a great bang for buck.

[MONOLITH]

I was asking so I know what to look for next time.

I don't think I've noticed 18 degrees of angle missing.

There is no light bleed.

I confess I have no idea what S-PVA is.

Shopping around at a variety of monitors, 5 ms seems to be a pretty fast response time. It games great, no ghosting, no lag, etc.

It's got a ton of height adjustment. I can slide it up or down at least 8", and it does a 90 degree rotation with auto adjust software.

Got Picture in Picture as well.

I can watch television in the PiP, while computering with the rest of the screen.

I'm happy with it.

[}SkOrPn--7]

MONOLITH did you order the adjustable stand because that is to my reading a addon if you wish to purchase it?

S-PVA is a cheap screen while S-IPS is the rolls royce so next time your in the hunt for an upgrade make sure you check things like that out. I know your happy with your monitor but there is so much companies try and push to cover over the marketing hype it gets confusing.

Anyone can claim 5ms response time but how did they achieve that is the question and is that a true response time? While your not seeing any ghosting which is a great thing just beware again of false specs without giving the complete picture.

I agree you will be happy with your purchase and I'm not knocking it but many tend to forget that a monitor is a major purchase and quality should always be high on the list when making such a purchase. Many spend $$$ on there PC hardware but fail to spend $$$ on there monitor. This leads to them being disappoint in there hardware purchase but the fact is there monitor is letting them down.

[}SkOrPn--7]

This might help you out.....

VA Panel Technology

S-PVA and MVA panels are middle of the road panels. They offer better color reproduction and wider viewing angles than TN panels, but have slower response times. They are very similar to S-IPS on paper. They also offer large viewing angles and good color reproduction, though not as good as S-IPS. The response times are generally worse than TN or S-IPS panels and there have been reports of a few monitors with VA panels that suffer from input lag, so they may not be the best choice for gaming. S-PVA has the advantage of higher contrast ratios than the other panel types which leads to better black levels. The biggest disadvantage of S-PVA panels is color shifting. Color shifting is when the image from one angle changes or "shifts" when viewed from another angle. This bothers many users to the point they will not even consider buying an S-PVA panel, while others don't even notice the color shifts. Color shifts also cause a loss of shadow detail in dark scenes when viewed directly from the center. Prices on S-PVA panels are around the same or slightly cheaper than S-IPS panels, but they are much easier to find as many manufacturers use S-PVA panels. Also, almost all monitors in the popular 24" category use S-PVA panels.

TN Panel Technology

TN panels are the most widely used panel type as they are cheap and offer excellent response times, making them perfect for fast paced gaming. The response times of current TN panels range from 2ms to 5ms. However, color reproduction, viewing angles and contrast ratios of TN panels are the worst of any LCD panel technology. Unlike most 8-bit S-IPS/S-PVA/MVA panels, TN panels are only 6-bit and unable to display the full 16.7 million colors available in 24-bit true color. They can mimick the 16.7 million colors of 8-bit panels using a technique called dithering, but the results are unimpressive. TN panels have become popular with the average user because they are very inexpensive. They are also the only panels currently being used in 22" widescreen monitors, a very popular size. Many of these 22" TN panels are around the same price or cheaper than other 20" monitors with different panel types, so it is easy to see how how they gained popularity. Afterall, the average user buys a monitor based on price and size.

Edited by }SkOrPn--7, 21 March 2007 - 11:46 PM.

[will wabbit hunter]

another good thing about lcd monitors is they are nice and light. when the crt one i had died about a year ago or so i had to chose between another crt or lcd. i decided to buy a lcd seeing as at the time i had a bit of the flu and my shoulders were aching. didn't want to carry something heavy.