input lag all important??

yorkiebar · 26 Aug 2008 at 20:22

Hi am looking for a new 24 inch monitor, but ive been put of a few, ie Dell 2408WFP, as they are saying it has a big input lag, i have been using a toshiba 27 inch lcd tv 1360-768, what king of input lag would that have? i also fancey the Samsung t240hd or the t260hd i would like to play cod 4 and other fps games at 1920-1200 ...so is input lag really that important? and has anyone got any of the samsungs ? and what are they like for gaming and blueray playback? thx for any answers sorry for the length

Richdog · 26 Aug 2008 at 20:25

Input lag = the delay between you move the mouse, and when what you see on the screen responds. Jusdge for yourself whether that's important for FPS games...

banja · 27 Aug 2008 at 01:25

I only recently started looking into getting a decent monitor (non CRT) and input lag is my primary concern, above colour representation or viewing angles etc.

This site is quite good, if the numbers are accurate that is. From this site the best 24s I see for input lag are the BenQ G2400W and the the Iiyama ProLite E2403WS. I'm sure there are other as good (I haven't looked at all the results on those comparisons)

I really want to go for the Hanns.G 28 inch screen. The input lag is higher (according to that site) but not too high, average about 15ms. Anything below 16ms average lag should (I think) give as low a lag as is possible, as any lag below that figure means 1 frame at 60fps - which is current TFT refresh - but again, I'm no expert so I could be wrong there.

fish99 · 27 Aug 2008 at 01:54

I race a fairly serious racing simulation called iRacing and recently tried it on my CRT to compare it to my Dell 2007WFP LCD which according to what I've seen on the web has as around 10-16 ms input lag (around one frame in other words). I was surprised to find my driving seemed slightly more precise and I had slightly better control of the car on the CRT. I could run fast laps more consistently.

I guess it depends how seriously you take your gaming, but personally I wouldn't consider a screen with say 30 ms input lag (and definitely not 60+ms). My next screen will have no more than the one frame lag my 2007WFP has, and hopefully less.

A casual gamer though, probably wouldn't even notice 30 ms lag. They might find they're a bit worse at aiming in an FPS, but it wouldn't bother them.

devilkazuya · 27 Aug 2008 at 02:00

if you play competitively like I used to play Quake very seriously I would NEVER have even considered an lcd monitor. Only now that I have stopped competitive gaming have I finally gone to an LCD.

So I agree, if you game seriously, then stick to a good crt.

banja · 27 Aug 2008 at 02:50

fish99 said:
I race a fairly serious racing simulation called iRacing and recently tried it on my CRT to compare it to my Dell 2007WFP LCD which according to what I've seen on the web has as around 10-16 ms input lag (around one frame in other words). I was surprised to find my driving seemed slightly more precise and I had slightly better control of the car on the CRT. I could run fast laps more consistently.

I guess it depends how seriously you take your gaming, but personally I wouldn't consider a screen with say 30 ms input lag (and definitely not 60+ms). My next screen will have no more than the one frame lag my 2007WFP has, and hopefully less.

A casual gamer though, probably wouldn't even notice 30 ms lag. They might find they're a bit worse at aiming in an FPS, but it wouldn't bother them.

iRacing is precisely the sim I intend to concentrate on when I eventually get fully upgraded.

As for your monitor - according to that comparison site that Dell is a non TN panel with 16ms response time. Response times are not necessarily related to input lag, but I don't know if input lag can be less than response time, so your monitor is not particularly responsive.

From what I have read TN monitors are (mostly) much better for gaming with regard to input lag and response rates, although there are compromises with colour depth and viewing angles.

If I bought an LCD and I found my lap times constantly lower than with my CRT I'd be back to the CRT I think. I really would like a larger, wide screen though.

Richdog · 27 Aug 2008 at 06:10

Racing is fine on modern LCD's, it's not a proiblem at all. Just get a decent monitor with low input lag like the Hazro 24". The Dell is reputedly a fair bit slower.

ademcg · 27 Aug 2008 at 09:10

Has anyone got actual figures for input lag on the Dell 2407WFP Rev 04 ?
Fish, is this the model you have ?

fish99 · 27 Aug 2008 at 19:15

From memory the 2407WFP has about 30-35 ms input lag. No it's not the screen I have, mine is the 2007WFP which has around 10-16 ms lag.

banja/
Don't read too much into the 16ms reponse time of the Dell 2007WFP, for some reason they quote the old ISO response time, it's actually an 8 ms G2G S-IPS panel.

Personally I couldn't have a TN for my main display because I've owned them and I hate the viewing angles. Of course most people don't mind them though. If I were buying an LCD now I'd probably have to go with the Digimate or Yuraku 24" MVA.