Chosing a Monitor

ben90

ben90

ben90

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My question is basically - what is the most important factor when looking for a gaming monitor out of resolution/contrast etc in terms of getting the best detail. Is there any downsize of a high resolution but low contrast ratio?

I know response time is important and that size is obviously personal pref.

The reason i ask it because searching around i see some monitors that cost twice as much as another but spec wise I can't find much difference.

Cheers peeps.
 
I think it all depends on your demand.
Say, you want a gaming monitor for competetive FPS gaming, then you wouldn't want to go for a monitor with a high price tag (non TN panel) as it just wouldn't cope with your demand for low input lag.

There are also people who prefer playing games with quality in mind. These people would usually get a monitor with a high price (non TN panel) tag to make the game look as beautiful as it can get, with the least black crush or anything sort of colour banding and ofcourse, vibrant colours.

As for contrast ratio, in these days, It doesn't matter as anything above 1,000:1 would be dynamic contrast (which I have tried and I think its an awful feature.) You would have to look at the reviews to see what contrast ratio it can actually achieve.

As for the resolution, these days, 1920x1080 is the best you can get for pixels/price in mind. I however, prefer 1920x1200, because of the added area for general work (which you would have to pay quite a bit more for.)

There is also another factor, which is the connectivities available (you should know what you need by now, so that shouldn't be a problem)

Those monitors that you're asking about that have their price doubled compared to other screens would most likely be a monitor with a non-TN panel, such as Dell 2408WFP, Dell U2410, HP LP2475w etc.
 
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Excellent post mate thanks!

I basically want to maybe upgrade my monitor as im going to be buying an i5 system (if its worth it) and it seems a bit of a letdown if i could run at high settings and not appreciate it.

I play Counter Strike Source mainly so i'm looking for something that will basically look good and also have a quick response time but also around 100hertz.

Everyone seems to be looking at:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-029-DE

How ever i can't find what hertz that goes to. This one seems pretty good:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-AS&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

Any opinions on these? Would like to spend around £170-£180 maximum really, open to any offers below that of course.
 
I'm sure i remember reading somewhere that CSS can only register 100fps if your monitor is at 100hz and therefore has something to do with bullet registration, which is why CRT's are so popular with players.

Searching on Google has led me to the theory that this could be down to 'Intput lag' so i'm looking for a monitor that will hopefully avoid that problem.
 
Input lag is the main cause of bullet not registering, because as when you fire, the enemy you see on your screen isn't there anymore as there is a bit of delay.

But I think the 100fps theory is a load of trash bth, this will be only useful if you can actually see 100fps and react to it frame by frame (which I think is impossible).

higher Hz only means less motion blur and smoothness for LCD, nothing else.

CRT are popular for competetive FPS players as there is almost no input lag (which can be found in some LCD's too, but with motion blur and less smoothness.).

CRT produces a crisp picture 100% of the time however fast the action is going on the screen. LCD can only have 100% crisp image if the image is still, but you'll get used to it, so you won't even notice it after a while of using it, and besides, It is barely noticable with a good LCD monitor.
 
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I currently use an LCD (Asus VW192s) and I can't really see anything wrong.

On that basis would the above monitors i listed be able to avoid input lag?

Thankyou.
 
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