Advice Re: Road to Righteousness??

Disciple

Disciple

Disciple

Associate
Joined
14 Jan 2006
Posts
4
Currently looking to move from CRT (Diamond Plus 91) to TFT and would appreciate some guidance because some of the monitors I'm considering require reasonable (unreasonable?) trips if I'm to view them before purchase!

We have one TFT in the house, the "Value option" 19" that came with a Dell machine and based on this experience I thought getting a replacement for the CRT would be a simple task, but seems that there are a multitude of different parameters to consider! I plan to use the screen for Office work Surfing and general multimedia, but not whole films. (Lots of Documents). My sons will use it to play Far Cry etc.

I am considering the following:

Samsung SM913
AG 419B
Xerox XA7-19i

The last of these is considerabley more expensive, so question whether it's worth the extra bucks. This forum is full of comment that the TN version ain't worth the extra cost over other TN screens so - would appreciate comments from those who have the TN version - cos this is the least accessible monitor for me to check out.

The other two are around the same price - I saw an SM913 in No competitor talk please and it looked poor - but maybe the set up was up the duff. I've never seen the AG monitor (or heard of it until recently).

Would appreciate comments on relative advantages/merits of these screens versus each other as well as value versus the Xerox. All our PCs are Analogue Outputs at present although this may change soon.

Apologies if the questions seem dumb, or have been covered elsewhere.
 
welcome to OcUK Disciple :)

It is indeed tricky finding a new TFT. All the models you have chosen above are based on TN Film panel technology which will offer some good responsiveness (suitable for your sons to game with), good colour reproduction, and good static image quality for office / internet. The only problems with TN Film panels are that the viewing angles are pretty restrictive, especially in the vertical field, and movie playback can be a little noisy. This probably wont be an issue for your use, and it sounds like you want a more general use TFT, and dont need a professional use screen in any area really.

The Samsung 913N and AG Neovo F419 are very similar in performance when it comes down to real use. As a trend, the faster these screens become, the more restrictive the viewing angles become and the more noisy movie playback can be. This is just a general rule of thumb, and doesnt always apply, but you may find that while the Samsung is a little more responsive, the Neovo might be a bit more rounded in the other areas. Not by much, just a little more rounded. However, I think the Samsung 913N would be a good choice here, as it is an excellent and well established panel, and has been widely used across the 19" market. It has also been used in the highly rated Hyundai L90D+, Samsung 913B, Hyundai B91A etc and is a very good panel. It offers some very good colour reproduction too which i think would put it ahead of the Neovo a little in my books.

The Xerox is a nice screen, but imo is not worth the £100 difference compared with the Samsung. There are a lot of good things said about this screen, but there is way too much confusion around the featured panels to be sure what is being discussed. Imo, the Samsung would be a better choice.

the only other screen i would throw in the mix (without getting into the top end market of >£300) would be perhaps the Dell 1905FP. It would be ideal for your static uses and is arguably one of the best panels for the non gamer. It is based ona 20ms PVA panel technology (or sometimes even better, the 8ms P-MVA version) which will offer much wider viewing angles, a true 8 bit colour depth and smoother movie playback. If you get the 20ms then it might be a little unresponsive for your son's fast paced gaming, but you could very well get the 8ms version which is really the best all round panel in the 19" market right now. Would definitely be an excellent choice, but up to you as to whether you want to risk it for the 8ms version, or whether the 20ms might be fine anyway. Have a read here for more about the 1905FP :)
 
Baddass

Thanks for the feedback. A couple of follow up queries:

1. I read in some review that the Samsung 913N really was aimed at "games" and that text was a little "soft". I will be using it to look at quite a lot of text documents, so would appreciate your comments on use in this way. (How will it compare to my CRT?).
2. Would be interested in the Dell, but concerned that if I got the 20ms version it would be too slow for gaming. I presume that for gaming it would be pretty poor? Any info on the probabilities here?
3. Which leads me to the inevitible question: what would be the best "next price up" monitor (perhaps it would do all that I require)?

Appreciate your views.

Disciple
 
hi mate:

1. The 913N is aimed at the gamers market yes, but for static use like office it is also very good. All TFT's are fine in this area really and have a bright and sharp image. There have been some comments that the text on the 913N is a little soft, but tbh, not really any more so than other models, it just feels a little different to a CRT. ClearType can often help with text on TFT's, but it's all down to preference. The 913N is an excellent model for the price, and i would say probably the best screen you can buy for £200 atm

2. The 20ms is not very responsive, fine for some light gaming but probably not for any FPS games. A lot of ppl have bought the 1905FP recently from OcUK and received the 8ms edition. However, it is still pot luck, and nowhere will check for you. If you get the 8ms screen then great :)

3. Well the Viewsonic VP930 and the Samsung 970P spring to mind as excellent all round performing screens. However, the price is a fair bit higher, and perhaps you don't need the wide viewing angles and smooth movie playback that a non-TN panel can offer, for your needs. Maybe if you're just looking for an office / gaming screen then you might be just as well getting a cheaper model based on TN Film technology, and if you're worried about the 913N, maybe look at the Hyundai L90D+?
 
Thanks again for the info. One final question (sorry!). The Hyundai L90D+ is only slightly more than the Samsung 913N. Is it a better screen? If so, in what way?

Thanks

Disciple
 
it's the exact same Samsung 8ms TN Film panel. However, the Hyundai does have the advantages of more functionlity from the monitor, including pivot / rotate etc, and has a DVI input too :)
 
Sort of an 913n with DVI input then?

As mentioned don't have any graphic cards with DVI outputs at present, but this is likely to change soon. Is the Hyundai performance improved when you use the DVI?

Sorry to drag this out - but this is all useful info for me!

Disciple
 
no worries mate :) It is kind of like the Samsung 913N with DVI i suppose, well, the 913B had DVI and was the same as well. It might make a very very slight difference to the sharpness of the image since it is a pure digital signal and there is no need for the monitor to covert the signal to analogue at any point from the graphics card output. The VGA input on the 913N is of excellent quality though and it would be very hard to tell much, if any difference between the two in real use i would say. Still, doesn't hurt to have it :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom