LCD questions

dlb · Mar 18, 2008

I'm in the market a new LCD display to replace my 19" CRT. I'm looking to spend $200 (+/- $25) and a 19"WS or 20"WS is what I'm looking for in the way of size. My CRT works fine, it's just a bit dark when gaming or watching videos. I've played with the gamma and all that stuff and it just doesn't do it. Anyway, I've been looking around at the various online places and I'm wonder what I should be looking for. What's better in contrast: 500:1 or 700:1 or 2000:1? Is it noticeable? Is it worth paying extra for? And what are "ms" ratings for; like when it says 7ms or 5ms? I'm assuming it's milliseconds, so the lower number would mean something is faster, but what is rated in millseconds? If anyone has any model numbers or brands they prefer, feel free to post. I'm looking for suggestions, and warranty is definitely important. I do some casual gaming, but I mainly just use my PC for internet type use, DVD/CD ripping and burning and converting, some office type work.... general use with a bit of high end gaming thrown in....
Thanks!

Clark_Kent · Mar 18, 2008

The higher the contrast the better quality i have 3000:1

And the ms the smaller the number the better i have 5ms.

But you will see a big difference for quality of image it take me a few weeks to adjust to my LCD.

dlb · Mar 19, 2008

the ms the smaller the number the better i have 5ms
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Yeah, I pretty much figured that, but what is it measuring? Refresh rate? Response time? Is there really any noticeable difference between 7ms and 5ms?

hegemon875 · Mar 19, 2008

Response time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from active (black) to inactive (white) and back to active (black) again[1]. It is measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower numbers mean faster transitions and therefore fewer visible image artifacts.

Older monitors with long response times would create a smear or blur pattern around moving objects, making them unacceptable for moving video. Long response times can be annoying to a viewer depending on the type of data being displayed and how rapidly the image is changing or moving. Many current LCDs' monitor models have improved to the point that this is rarely seen.

A figure of 8 to 16 ms for rise + fall times is typical. The response time was traditionally recorded at the full black > white transition which became the ISO standard for this specification on LCDs. Grey transitions are far more common in practice but in terms of pixel latency, they remained significantly behind the ISO transition. In recent years there have been a wide range of Response Time Compensation (RTC) / overdrive technologies introduced which have allowed panel manufacturers to significantly reduce grey transitions. Response times are now commonly quoted in "G2G" ("grey-to-grey"[2]) figures and specs of 6ms, 4ms and 2ms G2G are widely available. There are various names used for RTC technologies, and these vary from one manufacturer to another. Terms such as ClearMotiv (Viewsonic), AMA (BenQ), MagicSpeed (Samsung) and ODC (LG.Philips) are widely used to identify RTC enabled displays.

In comparison, a CRT displaying a picture with an update frequency of 60 to 80 Hz could be said to have a response time of 12.5 ms and upwards. However, as the picture is updated completely (and virtually instantly) each time the electron beam passes over the screen, CRTs do not have the same problems with smearing or ghosting. The same is true for plasma displays (however, both CRTs and plasma displays can have problems with flicker).

LCD screens with a high response time value are often unsuitable to play fast paced computer games. The pixel response time is often confused with the LCD input lag which adds another form of latency to pictures displayed by LCD screens. An LCD screen with high response time and significant input lag will not give satisfactory results when playing fast paced computer games or performing fast high accuracy operations on the screen (e.g. CAD). Manufacturers only state the response time of their displays and do not inform customers of the input lag value.
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-Wikipedia

IMO the only place where response is really something to consider is if youre going to be watching tv or movies on your monitor. Otherwise any new LCD should be just fine.

yeeha · Mar 19, 2008

Just from my personal experience I'd recommend an LG 1933 19" display.

Its specs beat out everything in the field, at least when I bought it (high contrast, 3000:1; very fast refresh, 2ms grey-to-grey; good brightness, 300 cd/m3; and the widest view angle I could find on a display with similar specs -- 170 degrees). I bought it at a retail location and had to have it replaced 3 times due to dead pixels, but I finally got one that is perfect, has zero dead pixels 1 year later, and produces a beautiful picture. The stand is cheap, but I just stacked it on some books and that was that.

In my opinion, you're better off buying at a retail location as they have laxer return policies. An online merchant may require a minimum number of dead pixels before they'll swap a display out, and some may refuse to exchange anything based on dead pixels alone. At Best Buy, on the other hand, all I had to do was say the words "dead pixel" and they happily provided an exchange. If purchasing online, I'd recommend you read the merchant's policy if in doubt.

DavidGP · Mar 19, 2008

HI dlb

I likely i just typing stuff you know already, but the 700:1, 3000:1 and highter all the way to 10000:1 is the contrast ration, which in basics is the difference from the whitest white to the blackest black the highter the 1st number the more steps there are between the two opposite colours with many colour steps inbetween, so colours are richer and blacks dont look grey.

So with a low refresh rate its good for games and video, lower ms figures lower the amount of motion blurr that some LCDs with higher ms rates have in games, also called ghosting.

Some options, searched for USA models:

http://www.amazon.com/E207WFP-DIGIT...ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1205955427&sr=1-3 Uncle of mine has one of these and its a good allrounder.

http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VX2...ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1205955549&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AL2216Wb...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1205955752&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SyncM...ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1205955752&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Flatron-L2...ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1205955879&sr=1-8

Note could get them cheaper at other online retailers but I know you know which are the best in USA to use, so didnt go into depth, tried to keep as close to your $ limit as possible and keep to best contrast and response times.

Please do let us know what LCD you finally go for.

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LCD questions

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