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thepominlaw

thepominlaw

thepominlaw

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Joined
8 Aug 2005
Posts
234
Hi all,

Any pointers appreciated here.

My Iiyama Pro 410 17" CRT is on its last legs.......so now is the time for a new TFT.

At work I use a Samsung 913N which although good seems slightly Blue, but using this had made me realise i need a TFT not CRT.

Its a family PC and as such is used for everything although my main use is playing RTS games and FPS (Halflife 2 etc). Another big use is photo editing and I am a little concerned with the colour reproduction. (I am not seeking professional exact colour matches but i would like them to be similar)

My biggest concern is the effect the resolution jump from 1024x768 to 1280x1024 will have on my games as i cannot afford to upgrade it any more. Will my PC still be able to cope with the games?

My current system is

Athlon 64 3200
1gb ram
AGP 128mb Geforce 6800 (not the LE but the one with 12 pipelines)
320gb HDD
2 x Pioneer DVD-RW
Audigy 2ZS

thaks

john
 
Your video card isn't that bad. I would think 1280*1024 would be ok in most games except very demanding ones (stuff like Fear) where you might have to turn some settings down.

As for a screen, VP930 is a great screen if it fits your budget, especially since you mention photo editing. That's got an overdriven MVA panel in it, which means great viewing angles and full 24-bit colour.

If it's not in your budget, there's other screens with the same or very similar overdriven MVA panels, like the Belinea 10-19-20, Format Xtreme 3 1900 etc... although they're not quite as good as the VP930.

To be honest even on the cheaper TN panels (like your 913N there), the colours aren't that bad, especially if they are calibrated properly. The viewing angles are a bit of a problem though.

Have you considered widescreen btw? And what sort of budget are you looking at?
 
well the Samsung 913N is an excellent choice in the price range really, maybe also the 930BF if you want a slightly faster version of it. For the budget, you're limited to TN Film technology panels really and the 913N / 930BF's Samsung TN panel is about as good as they come really for colour reproduction from a TN screen
 
To be honest the 940B doesn't have a lot to recommend it over the 930BF, except it has a more flexible stand. 8 ms is quick enough though, unless you really want the quickest screen around.

If you're not bothered about a bit more ghosting (all TFTs ghost at least a little), and you'd appreciate a height adjustable stand, then the 940B would be fine.

Also the difference between a 4 and 8 ms panel is not a lot in reality, a 4 ms screen is nothing like twice as quick as an 8 ms one, it's probably more like 20%.

I did see that Formac Xtreme 3 1900 for ~£240 a few months ago. It might be a good option if you don't want the limited view angles of a TN panel. It's a stylish looking thing too, but its stand is very limited.
 
i'm in a similar situation. have a 17" iiyama crt and am now ready for a flat screen

i've been considering the 940b. i think the height and pivot/tilt would be a good feature to have. is this a good all round screen then and the best i can get for £250.

one more thing. roughly how much less power will this screen use compared to my CRT. would it be using a 1/3 of the power overall?

actually two more things. would want to run this with a DVI cable, can't find any on ocuk though

thanks
 
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They usually come with a DVI cable, my last Samsung TFT did anyway. Power consumption is about 35-45W for most TFTs, and 17" CRTs come in at around 80-110W typically. Still a very worthwhile improvement. Height adjust is very useful, especially if you want to get a centre speaker under the monitor. Pivot is a bit of a gimmick though - don't expect to use it often.

As for the 940B being the best TFT for £240, well, there's plenty of similar monitors out there in the same price bracket. 8 ms TN screens are a little out of date now, and the 4 ms 930BF is only £10 or so more, but it doesn't have the height adjust. If you can find the Formac xtreme 3 1900 for £240, that's probably better value. Again, it has a limited stand though.
 
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