help needed to jump from CRT to LCD for gaming.

ItAllMeMeMe

ItAllMeMeMe

ItAllMeMeMe

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17 Feb 2011
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Hi guys, this will be along post but I need advice and I will be very grateful for any help.

I currently have two 19" CRT monitors which I use for gaming, browsing and work. Both are connected to a HD4850 via VGA cables in an extended desktop setup. They are 4:3 aspect monitors but they support widescreen 16:9 with top and bottom black borders. I run the gaming monitor in 1280 x 720 and the second monitor in 1024 x 768. I've stuck with CRT because IMO they have the best image quality and I hate that LCD ghosting. BUT my new graphics card (Sapphire HD6850) only supports 1 VGA monitor out of the box, and I cannot for the life of me get the second working even with the recommended "Active" DisplayPort to VGA adapters. The new card also limits the refresh rate to 60hz which is not good for CRTs. IMO this new HD68xx and HD69xx series fail and I'm a bit ****ed off with AMD tbh.

Well I've decided to take the plunge and replace one of the VGA monitors with an LCD with a DVI-D input. The new LCD will become my main display and the remaining CRT will be used to extended the desktop until I can replace it.

Now I need to explain something before I continue. I was born 3 months premature and my eyes where underdeveloped. I'm not blind lol but I do have problems seeing fine details and small letters. The problems are with my retinas so not much can be done until stem cell research comes up with something, but like I say I'm not blind, I can drive a car legally :D and I'm thankful for the eye sight I have. It could have been far far worse.

So anyway, I need a nice 22" to 24" LCD with a DVI-D input that has good scaling. This size range of monitor all seem to be 1920x1080 but that is way way to high for me. I want to play my games at 1280 x 720 or maybe 1366 x 768. Nobody ever seems to talk about how good or bad a LCD monitor scales down from its native resolution because most people play at the native res but I cant and this is the most important feature for me with my eye condition, followed by viewing angles.

So my requirements are:

moving from CRT to LCD for the first time :S

cost £160ish or less
size 22" to 24"
good upscaling of a 1280x720 image onto a 1920x1080 screen.
good viewing angles but I don't expect miracles lol
minimum ghosting, I like fast FPS such as doom 3, half life 2 etc

p.s. it took me 7 attempts to register with the forum because of the horrid security. I could hardly make out the digits and letters :(
 
Last edited:
Hi there, Most LCD's with a native 1080p resolution will do 720p quite nicely but in your particular circumstance may i suggest looking at a 720p or 1080p LCD TV 28" or 32" you will get a larger pixel pitch than a monitor, which may suit you better.
Take a laptop set to your preferred desktop resolution with a hdmi cable into your local TV stockist and ask to hook up to some HDTV's to check for best results, if gaming, go for something with a good millisecond response time (below 8ms)

I have a 24" Dell monitor which provides pin sharp images at its native 1920x1200 resolution, however, the text can be quite small depending how far you sit from the screen.

Just a thought.
 
Well in the end I purchased a 22" BenQ G2222HDL and I'm very very impressed with this monitor. The sharpness and colours are fantastic and it runs fine at 1280 x 720. It seems LCD have advanced somewhat since I last checked in 2007. Now, its not perfect, the image quality is stlll behind that of a good CRT IMHO, but this is a budget LCD so that is to be expected. I got mine for £107 with free next day delivery. My worst fear was bad viewing angles but in the end it turned out to be almost a non issue.

My eyes are still getting to grips with it so If anybody is interested I will type up my thoughts on this BenQ monitor in a few days time.
 
I got this 22" benQ LED Monitor in the christmas deal of the day thing

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-034-BQ&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

I really like it, and it's quite cheap (particularly for an LED). If you hate Ghosting than a 120Hz monitor may be up your street, but they're a bit out of your price range. Though I can say I haven't noticed any real issues with my monitor and the colours are really good.

The move from CRT to LCD sure had it's advantages (I can't imagine trying to move a 42" CRT screen, but my HDTV is really light), but there were some drawbacks.
 
ItAllMeMeMe said:
The new card also limits the refresh rate to 60hz which is not good for CRTs. IMO this new HD68xx and HD69xx series fail and I'm a bit ****ed off with AMD tbh.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say they fail because they dont work well with CRT's... CRT's are extremely old tech now and the large majority of people are on flatscreens, which poses the question: Why should AMD still provide full compatability for CRT's when they work with 2+ flat screens? It's simply not viable to incorporate old tech into new tech tbh.

However, whilst I say that... I agree that only 1x DVI slot is ridiculous.
 
Tomcat825 said:
I wouldn't say they fail because they dont work well with CRT's... CRT's are extremely old tech now and the large majority of people are on flatscreens, which poses the question: Why should AMD still provide full compatability for CRT's when they work with 2+ flat screens? It's simply not viable to incorporate old tech into new tech tbh.

However, whilst I say that... I agree that only 1x DVI slot is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I understand your point of view but its not CRTs per se, its the VGA standard that AMD seems determined to phase out. I wonder how many people are using flat panel LCDs which only have a VGA connector. I know of two households who are, and the online stores still carry such screens for sale, but yeah DVI-D is the way forwards and I'm happy with my new BenQ G2222 ;) I keep looking at my second CRT and think yuk need to replace that ASAP :)
 
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