Advice please: 19" Graphics\Gaming Monitor

BlackAqua · 29 Jan 2006 at 17:31

Hi there,

I've decided to take the plunge and get a LCD monitor. I'm going from a very nice CRT with excellent colour reproduction.

The main task will be gaming and so advoiding ghosting is vital. I do a lot of graphics work so the colours also need to be spot on as well.

Max budget is £300 inc VAT, if the "perfect" monitor is under £350 I could just stretch to it. Any suggestions please?

I've looked at the samsung 930 but it doesn't seem to be rated too highly on colour

Thanks!

PieEater · 29 Jan 2006 at 18:26

There are some very similar posts in these forums, it would be beneficial for you to have a read through them.

The Viewsonic VX922 would suit your needs, the Viewsonic VX924 (previous model) has better colours than the 930BF according to the reviews I read.

Shifter_Hull · 29 Jan 2006 at 18:30

i agree Viewsonic Vx922 Very good vaule for the money

BlackAqua · 29 Jan 2006 at 19:49

Do you get any ghosting with your VX924?

PieEater · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:25

BlackAqua said:
Do you get any ghosting with your VX924?

These are very responsive gaming monitors so ghosting should not be an issue at all.

I have the VX922, I mentioned the VX924 as I had read a comparison against it and the Samsung 930. However the VX924 and VX922 have the same panel so colour definition should be the same, the difference is the VX922 has higher overdrive making it slightly more responsive (2ms G2G as opposed to 4ms) either would be a good choice for your requirements, though obviously the later model is slightly more expensive (though it's currently on offer this week only).

BlackAqua · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:44

Ok thanks, VX924 then atm.

Dont you love cheques and non working days?

Any other recommendations away from viewsonic so I can compare?

PieEater · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:37

BlackAqua said:
Any other recommendations away from viewsonic so I can compare?

Reccomendations for gaming screens normally go to Samsung or Viewsonic who seem to be putting the most effort into overdrive technology to get response times right down. I settled for Viewsonic for the reason you've already given, potentially better colour reproduction. I got good fast responses from Viewsonics customer service team when I emailed them which also tilted me their way, I've heard that Samsungs customer service can be a bit ropey.

Baddass · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:40

PieEater said:
The Viewsonic VX922 would suit your needs, the Viewsonic VX924 (previous model) has better colours than the 930BF according to the reviews I read.

which reviews were they? would be itnerested to read them since most of what i have read has been the opposite. Samsung make quite an effort with the colour reproduction capabilities of their screens. In independent tests at Tom's Hardware, here are the graphs of DeltaE for them both:

Viewsonic VX924

Samsung 930BF

the lower the better basically. You can also note that the darkest colours (Delta 0 - 20 range) are more accurate on the Samsung. It has been stated in the past by THG that the black depth on the 8ms TN Film panel from Samsung is about as good as you'll get from a TN panel at present. This is the same panel which has been used in the 930BF, just with some aggressive overdrive added, which doesn't effect colour quality at all.

Equally at BeHardware they compared the two side by side and right out of the box, the Samsung was better off too:

DeltaE is on average lower on the Samsung than on the Viewsonic. They said:

It seems obvious that the color quality depends mainly on the panel manufacturer and that Samsung seems to be more preoccupied by color fidelity than Au-Optronics.

After advanced calibration the Samsung also came out a little better in their tests:

anyway, i am just trying to say that if you're worried about colour accuracy, i think you may find that models based on the Samsung panel are a better choice than those based on the AU Optronics panel (like the VX924 is). Only a little bit, but it might make a difference. I think tbh with your budget and gaming needs you are going to want to look at the fast TN Film market. models like the Samsung 913N, Hyundai L90D+, Samsung 930BF are most suited to your needs and price range i think. I would put them a little ahead of the Viewsonic VX922 / VX924 in colour quality. That's not to say the VX924 / VX922 aren;t good, because they are, and certainly very repsonsive, just the Samsung panel is a little better for your graphical needs i think.

Indy500 · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:45

Sorry to hijack the thread, but just curious: is it possible to get a decent (1600x1200, reasonable response time) 19' LCD monitor for gaming\graphic work\films for under £250?

Baddass · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:48

short answer im afraid is no.

You can't get 19" screens with higher resolution than 1280 x 1024. To get a truly all round monitor which is suitable for gaming, movies and graphics work you are probably going to be wanting to look at the non TN Film market, models like the Viewsonic VP930 for instance. However, the price range is much much higher

PieEater · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:52

Baddass said:
which reviews were they?

BeHardware have said it on a couple of occasions;

http://www.behardware.com/news/lire/05-09-2005/

BeHardware said:
On the paper, the VX924 becomes the faster monitor in front of the Samsung SyncMaster 930BF (4 ms) which has, from our point of view, a lower reaction time. The ViewSonic displays however nicer colors.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/572-13/comparatif-lcd-19-4-6-8-ms-tn-ips-va.html

BeHardware said:
We actually preferred playing with the VX924. First of all, the ViewSonic monitor is nicer, not the most important aspect but it matters. Colors are also much more vivid. The Samsung’s seem dull (we already saw that during the comparison with the BenQ monitor).

Indy500 · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:53

Baddass said:
short answer im afraid is no.

You can't get 19" screens with higher resolution than 1280 x 1024. To get a truly all round monitor which is suitable for gaming, movies and graphics work you are probably going to be wanting to look at the non TN Film market, models like the Viewsonic VP930 for instance. However, the price range is much much higher

Damn...guess I'll have to stick with this CRT then.

Baddass · 29 Jan 2006 at 22:22

yeah i see what you mean PieEater. That is odd, since BH have contradicted themselves there really with recent reviews preferring the Samsung panel for colours. At the end of the day i would think they are going to be pretty similar in real terms, but to the OP, dont discount the Samsung models, they are very good as well

glitch · 29 Jan 2006 at 22:42

sr4470 said:
Damn...guess I'll have to stick with this CRT then.

What's wrong with a CRT? Providing you've got the desk space, there's no reason to upgrade to a TFT just yet.

Obviously different people have different wants, but if you really want a fast monitor with truly accurate colours you should stick with your CRT for now.

Indy500 · 29 Jan 2006 at 22:45

glitch said:
What's wrong with a CRT? Providing you've got the desk space, there's no reason to upgrade to a TFT just yet.

Obviously different people have different wants, but if you really want a fast monitor with truly accurate colours you should stick with your CRT for now.

Its a Hansol 920D...

glitch · 29 Jan 2006 at 23:27

Is that bad?

Indy500 · 29 Jan 2006 at 23:31

glitch said:
Is that bad?

Yes, aside from which, its old and has some minor damage on the corners (causing some flickering). Then again, I bought it a year ago for £60...

Spook · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:45

Baddass said:
yeah i see what you mean PieEater. That is odd, since BH have contradicted themselves there really with recent reviews preferring the Samsung panel for colours. At the end of the day i would think they are going to be pretty similar in real terms, but to the OP, dont discount the Samsung models, they are very good as well

Nicer more vibrant looking colours does not necessarily mean more accurate.

Surfer · 30 Jan 2006 at 15:31

Baddass said:
yeah i see what you mean PieEater. That is odd, since BH have contradicted themselves there really with recent reviews preferring the Samsung panel for colours. At the end of the day i would think they are going to be pretty similar in real terms, but to the OP, dont discount the Samsung models, they are very good as well

been thinking about which of these to buy as well

in real terms is the difference between the vx922 and both vx924 and the S930BF worth between 70 - 100 pounds? Possibly not.

Best bet would be to buy the cheapest and if you're happy with it then no need to worry about whether its the 'best in its class'.

Although the best bet would be too see all 3 of them side by side and testdrive them...dont know of a store which has all 3 to be able to do this though

Baddass · 30 Jan 2006 at 15:48

i think if it were me, i'd find it hard to justify the extra money for the Viewsonic models compared with the 930BF. Imo also, the 930BF looks nicer in design