Looking to convert from CRT to LCD

basmic

basmic

basmic

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Basically I have a trusty Hansol 710D. Ok, so the image is a bit skewed (one corner out slightly), it pumps out tons of heat, and it gobbles up the electric...oh and it sometimes hurts my eyes when looking at bright stuff. Enough cons for you? :p

I should have about £150 in a month or so, and I've seen the prices of 19" TFTs. I'm not sure if I could use a widescreen, but I'm going to go to shop and try one out. I've been reading that I should look for contrast ratios above 500:1, go for a moderate brightness level.

Now the thing that's going to get me, is the pixel response time. I like to play mostly FPS games - often with dark scenes, but not always. That's alongside the usual web-browsing, Photoshop, etc. At night, the monitor will usually be used to play movies - usually 16:9 movies, but I have some 4:3 amongst the 'collection' also.

From what I've read, some manufacturers have different ways of measuring response time - ie: grey-grey, back-to-black, and back-to-white. Is there any way of telling who has used which method to measure these times? Or is it pot luck? I suppose I'm looking for a 4-5ms or better response time - but I am open to suggestions and comments.

I will NOT be using the built in speaker in the monitor, if it comes with one. If it's £20 cheaper to buy a monitor with speaker with good specs, then so be it. Just means it'll never get used.

One more thing while I remember - bugs! How easy is it to get these swines out, should they decide my new monitor is a nice home? :eek:

I am not entirely bothered about looks of the monitor. I don't want to buy some monitor, just because it has a nice paint and plastics job. :p

Looking forward to comments, and what I should be looking to buy. I really can't afford to increse my budget much more than £150 - ideally, I'd like the budget to be kept to a minimum.
 
A good 19" monitor is this LG L194WT Widescreen. It has a low response time of 5ms, though I'm not sure how this is measured. To be honest, I wouldn't take much notice of people who complain about response times, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. It also has good Contrast and Brightness levels at 2000:1 and 300cd/m2 respectively. Falls well under budget as well. Check out the reviews, they all look good.
 
I would avoid the 194, increase the budget a little bit and get an L204WT you will not regret it. If you like to watch movies and play games then wide screen is without doubt the way to go.
 
Clarkey said:
I would avoid the 194, increase the budget a little bit and get an L204WT you will not regret it. If you like to watch movies and play games then wide screen is without doubt the way to go.
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I've always used 4:3 monitors, so I might find it hard TBH. :o

Will older games stretch to fit the 16:9 format, or just box in to fit the 16:9 format?

Another thing - my monitor's viewing area, is 32.5cm x 24cm. Will the height increase with a 19" widescreen? :confused:
 
i cant recommend you a monitor unfortunately since my experience with them are only with large LCD panels, but i did get a 19" lcd wide screen for my sister a while back. To be honest it was too small, specially when compared to a normal 19" lcd. If you can save up then i would definitely recommend a 22" wide screen or a 20" normal. But if your budget is not flexible then i would personally recommend a 19" normal rather than 19"w.
 
what do you want from the lcd? £150 is only going to get you a budget screen and you'll be making sacrifices somewhere, nearly always its the image quality. 19" panels as far as im aware are all tn-film panels and they have poor colour reproduction and poor black levels. 22" screens are all the same also - they use budeg panels



if you want a decent monitor its going to be 17", 20" wide or 24". every time ive bought a budget panel, ive only been disapointed. alex may roll his eyes at this one but so what - id try to increase the budget. avoid tn-film for definate!
 
james.miller said:
what do you want from the lcd? £150 is only going to get you a budget screen and you'll be making sacrifices somewhere, nearly always its the image quality. 19" panels as far as im aware are all tn-film panels and they have poor colour reproduction and poor black levels. 22" screens are all the same also - they use budeg panels



if you want a decent monitor its going to be 17", 20" wide or 24". every time ive bought a budget panel, ive only been disapointed. alex may roll his eyes at this one but so what - id try to increase the budget. avoid tn-film for definate!
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Glad you've been honest with me. I've seen the LG L204WT (recommended earlier), and the price I am comfortable with. Would you this is a good choice?

I am really humming and harring about a widescreen monitor. Fine it'll be good for watching films at night - but what about mostly Internet use, and playing FPS games? Would a 4:3 monitor be better suited?

I'm going to hunt around at the 20" prices. If you see a decent model elsewhere than OcUK, just name the make, model and price to the nearest £5. That should fit within the OcUK rules.
 
I have the lg194wt it is an okish screen. You could do better, and I could've too, given what I have seen now. I'm not saying the LG is bad, just it a very average screen. The annoying issue I have with it is with movies - there is lots of digital noise all over the place - more than most screens I have seen.
 
Ok, I've been looking at funds.

Sometime in September, I will have £200 to pump out onto a 20" widescreen monitor.

So I've decided I now want to see if it's worth my time paying out the £50 more than my original budget of £150. Ie: Will the £50 difference be marginal, or significant?

I want the game for mostly internet browsing. But I do want to play games, often with dark scenes. When I'm splashing £150-200 on a monitor, I do NOT want to see ghosting. :eek:

So...prepare me. :o:D
 
there are some 20" 4:3 monitors around for pretty cheap, how good are these?

i wouldnt get one for fear of performance loss as a result of higher resolution but if you got a decent gpu it might be good idea :p
 
I've been using my Hanns-G HC194D 19" TFT (non widescreen) for about 6 months now and i have no complaints. Running 1280x1024 @ 75Hz, online gaming nearly everynite and it seems fine to me. They can be picked up for a little as £119 now if you know where to look.

I'm still very tempted to upgrade to a 22" monitor, just abit concerned with playable game resolutions vs native resolution.

It took me a while to move away from CRT monitors, i still have my 21" Hyundai in the cupboard (weighs a ton) but i have no regrets as yet :)
 
Been looking at this monitor, and it looks good on paper. Decent response time, decent contrast ratio, it's a widescreen 20" - and it's also less than £200. :cool:
  • Viewable Area: 20” Widescreen (1680x1050 Resolution)
  • Interface: Analog / Digital
  • Response Time: 2ms
  • 16.7M Colours
  • Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
  • Viewing Angle (H/V): 160°/ 160°
  • Brightness: 300cd/m2
  • 3 Years On-Site Warranty with Samsung
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I am looking around to see if I can get a bigger monitor, with the same specs - but, TBH, I think a bigger monitor will be overkill for me and my desk. :p

Any opinions of the above - is it rubbish, decent, or bloody good? Can I buy a better monitor for the same price?

One thing I don't mind, is buying elsewhere other than OcUK. What I'm more interested in right now, is getting the best value for my money. So if you name a make and model, I am capable of using search engines such as Google. :)
 
Just to follow up on what James was saying, there's also plenty of TN panels in the 20" segment, including that Samsung you've listed. If you want to avoid TN look for 178/178 viewing angles.

If you can find the extra for something like a Dell 2007WFP that's an excellent screen, quick, good viewing angles, lovely colours, extra inputs, adjustable stand etc.

If you can't find the extra and you're stuck with TN you may as well get a 22" like the LG or Samsung, which I believe can both be had for £200.

Just one more thing - if you play dark games at night with the lights out, be prepared for a certain amount of dissapointment because TFTs just can't do a proper deep black like a CRT or Plasma. The black depth looks fine in the daytime, in fact it's better than a CRT in those circumstances because CRT screens are so reflective, but once the lights go out you become aware that you're basically looking at a very bright light with a thin film in front of it.

Black depth is a trade off worth making when weighed against the benefits that TFTs bring though IMO.
 
fish99 said:
Just to follow up on what James was saying, there's also plenty of TN panels in the 20" segment, including that Samsung you've listed. If you want to avoid TN look for 178/178 viewing angles.

If you can find the extra for something like a Dell 2007WFP that's an excellent screen, quick, good viewing angles, lovely colours, extra inputs, adjustable stand etc.

If you can't find the extra and you're stuck with TN you may as well get a 22" like the LG or Samsung, which I believe can both be had for £200.

Just one more thing - if you play dark games at night with the lights out, be prepared for a certain amount of dissapointment because TFTs just can't do a proper deep black like a CRT or Plasma. The black depth looks fine in the daytime, in fact it's better than a CRT in those circumstances because CRT screens are so reflective, but once the lights go out you become aware that you're basically looking at a very bright light with a thin film in front of it.

Black depth is a trade off worth making when weighed against the benefits that TFTs bring though IMO.
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Are you saying to me, try to go for a non-TN monitor? If so, can you name me some examples please?
 
Can anybody find me the best value, non-TN, 20/22" monitor?

I've been advised to go for that, and a 22" if I can. :eek:
 
thats the problem, they charge through the roof for non-tn, only gotta see the price of the Dell 2007WFP to see that :)

What first person shooters do you play? and how seriously?
 
bobert50 said:
thats the problem, they charge through the roof for non-tn, only gotta see the price of the Dell 2007WFP to see that :)

What first person shooters do you play? and how seriously?
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I play FarCry, HalfLife 1 and 2, FEAR, train sims, Unreal Tournament. I do mostly MSN and internet browsing, but I like to Photoshop every so often.

I reckon I could get away with Samsung that I linked to earlier.
 
I'm in a very similar situation to yourself:

Not sure about widescreen, but thinking it can only be a good thing.
Budget of £250 ish
Looking at a 20"/22" screen

Now, I've been trying to figure out what to get for ages. All 22" screens are TN panels. TN - faster response time, "crap" viewing angles (140 degrees or so), worse colours, "the inferior panel" according to the experts.

That leaves 20" or 24". Can't afford 24", so that leaves 20"! I was days away from ordering the Dell 2007WFP but then it went out of stock at OcUK and they had good pricing and a VERY good warranty option available included in that price.

Overall: I'm just going to wait until the 2007WFP comes into stock and get buying :)

Other options I was considering were:

LG 22" Widescreen (Model # ends in a Q!)
Samsung 22" Widescreen (226BW)
 
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