Finally making the switch from CRT to LCD...

Duff-Man

Duff-Man

Duff-Man

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Well, I've always been a CRT whore, doggedly refusing to switch to LCDs.

I use an LCD at work, and it's very nice for desktop stuff, but I always wanted the high framerates that come from running at 100 or 120hz refresh rates, without Vsync, when gaming. I've noticed that tearing is far more noticable on CRTs, as the refresh rate can't generall be set higher than 60 or 75hz. This said, the tearing is less noticable than a CRT set at equivalent refresh rates (60 or 75hz).

Anyway - enough about CRTs. My 22" CRT has finally started to die, so it's panel time. I'm something of a noob here, and I'm not looking to be spoon-fed a model to buy, rather I'm wondering what the defining features are in the LCD market?

A few that I understand:

* Contrast ratio and brightness (fairly self explanatory)
* 1:1 pixel mapping: Would be a useful feature, but not essential for my needs.
* HDCP support / input types (again seems fairly self explanatory)

What I'm mainly interested in is the effect of response time. A lot of monitors quote 6ms, which to my mind should allow a refresh rate of ~166Hz, right? Obviously this is not the case, so what does the refresh rate indicate, in terms of picture quality for gaming? How about tearing? I've noticed some LCDs will happily run at 75Hz (and a few at 85Hz, which really helps with tearing) - what spec indicates that this will be possible?

Also, what about the 'advanced features' offered by some manufacturers, like the PIP (Picture-in-Picture) and PBP (Picture-By-Picture) quoted on the Dell 24"? Are these mainly marketing jibe, or are there real benefits to them?

Finally - where would you recommend for thorough, trustworthy monitor reviews?

Thanks in advance for any help :) I'll probably end up going for a 24" monitor, at a price-point which satisfies my needs (no specific budget). If anyone thinks there is a strikingly good value / quality monitor at this size then also chime in and I'll look into it. Thanks again.
 
Perfect_Chaos said:
dont forget to look for input lag graphs if it would bother you for fps games etc, and also the response time will be higher on a 24"
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Input lag? Is this a delay beween (say) mouse and keyboard signal, and the response appearing on the monitor?

What would a typical value be for (say) a typical high-end 24" and a 22" monitor? I do a fair amount of online gaming, so anything above about 30 or 40ms would add significantly to the ping...

Thanks for the responses guys :)
 
Duff-Man said:
Input lag? Is this a delay beween (say) mouse and keyboard signal, and the response appearing on the monitor?

What would a typical value be for (say) a typical high-end 24" and a 22" monitor? I do a fair amount of online gaming, so anything above about 30 or 40ms would add significantly to the ping...

Thanks for the responses guys :)
Click to expand...
In essence yes but there is more to it than that. Compared with a CRT, that whole image is delayed.

So say you were playing an online game, 0 pings, and you were playing against someone with a crt, and you had a LCD that had 20ms input lag, then you will see the realtime gameplay and image 20ms after he does. You would also notice 20ms response from when you move your mouse and what you see on screen.

You can see this in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi2OE6hSh00

Some say its because the monitor has to process the image and that takes a little time. Some also say that if you dont run the game in native resolution then the panel has to do further processing to scale the resolution and increase input lag in the process. However in all the reviews and comparisons Ive seen nothing is mentioned of this - I presume their analysis is based on running in native resolutions.

Its very slight though, but its still there. I also wish to move from a CRT to my first LCD, but I did a little research and now I know about all these problems with panel type, input lag and viewing angles, and colours (which is also a problem for me as I do do graphic work) and reviews are very scarce about these things. I used to think it was only about response times. Ignorance was bliss :(
 
xiphrex said:
In essence yes but there is more to it than that. Compared with a CRT, that whole image is delayed.

So say you were playing an online game, 0 pings, and you were playing against someone with a crt, and you had a LCD that had 20ms input lag, then you will see the realtime gameplay and image 20ms after he does. You would also notice 20ms response from when you move your mouse and what you see on screen.

You can see this in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi2OE6hSh00

Some say its because the monitor has to process the image and that takes a little time. Some also say that if you dont run the game in native resolution then the panel has to do further processing to scale the resolution and increase input lag in the process. However in all the reviews and comparisons Ive seen nothing is mentioned of this - I presume their analysis is based on running in native resolutions.

Its very slight though, but its still there. I also wish to move from a CRT to my first LCD, but I did a little research and now I know about all these problems with panel type, input lag and viewing angles, and colours (which is also a problem for me as I do do graphic work) and reviews are very scarce about these things. I used to think it was only about response times. Ignorance was bliss :(
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. 30ms or 40ms lag each way is far too much for me. A 100ms+ total lag (taking into account 30 or 40 for ping) is too much - would be like going back to 56k.

I'll be sat directly in front of my monitor, so I guess I'll go for one of the TN-type panels and sacrifice viewing angle for response time and minimal lag. I thinking that the Asus MK241H or the Iiyama PLE2403WS look like a decent bet, but I've not read nearly enough in the way of reviews of similar monitors to make a decision :)
 
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UTmaniac said:
You sound like a candidate for an Iiyama PLE2403WS ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah... the more I read the more I'm coming to this conclusion...

Fast response times and low input lag, decent enough viewing angles (for a TN panel), reasonable colour quality etc, and a good price.

Are there are real drawbacks to the screen?
 
when i made the transition from crt to tft i was worried about the quality and lag etc, but now i have taken the plunge i would never go back, i have a 226bw, which is a very good monitor, but if you were to go for a 24" dell it would more than likely blow that away.
 
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