Looking to convert from CRT to LCD

[basmic]

Basically I have a trusty Hansol 710D. Ok, so the image is a bit skewed (one corner out slightly), it pumps out tons of heat, and it gobbles up the electric...oh and it sometimes hurts my eyes when looking at bright stuff. Enough cons for you?

I should have about £150 in a month or so, and I've seen the prices of 19" TFTs. I'm not sure if I could use a widescreen, but I'm going to go to shop and try one out. I've been reading that I should look for contrast ratios above 500:1, go for a moderate brightness level.

Now the thing that's going to get me, is the pixel response time. I like to play mostly FPS games - often with dark scenes, but not always. That's alongside the usual web-browsing, Photoshop, etc. At night, the monitor will usually be used to play movies - usually 16:9 movies, but I have some 4:3 amongst the 'collection' also.

From what I've read, some manufacturers have different ways of measuring response time - ie: grey-grey, back-to-black, and back-to-white. Is there any way of telling who has used which method to measure these times? Or is it pot luck? I suppose I'm looking for a 4-5ms or better response time - but I am open to suggestions and comments.

I will NOT be using the built in speaker in the monitor, if it comes with one. If it's £20 cheaper to buy a monitor with speaker with good specs, then so be it. Just means it'll never get used.

One more thing while I remember - bugs! How easy is it to get these swines out, should they decide my new monitor is a nice home?

I am not entirely bothered about looks of the monitor. I don't want to buy some monitor, just because it has a nice paint and plastics job.

Looking forward to comments, and what I should be looking to buy. I really can't afford to increse my budget much more than £150 - ideally, I'd like the budget to be kept to a minimum.

 

[basmic]

*bump*

 

[basmic]

I would avoid the 194, increase the budget a little bit and get an L204WT you will not regret it. If you like to watch movies and play games then wide screen is without doubt the way to go.

I've always used 4:3 monitors, so I might find it hard TBH.

Will older games stretch to fit the 16:9 format, or just box in to fit the 16:9 format?

Another thing - my monitor's viewing area, is 32.5cm x 24cm. Will the height increase with a 19" widescreen?

 

[basmic]

what do you want from the lcd? £150 is only going to get you a budget screen and you'll be making sacrifices somewhere, nearly always its the image quality. 19" panels as far as im aware are all tn-film panels and they have poor colour reproduction and poor black levels. 22" screens are all the same also - they use budeg panels



if you want a decent monitor its going to be 17", 20" wide or 24". every time ive bought a budget panel, ive only been disapointed. alex may roll his eyes at this one but so what - id try to increase the budget. avoid tn-film for definate!

Glad you've been honest with me. I've seen the LG L204WT (recommended earlier), and the price I am comfortable with. Would you this is a good choice?

I am really humming and harring about a widescreen monitor. Fine it'll be good for watching films at night - but what about mostly Internet use, and playing FPS games? Would a 4:3 monitor be better suited?

I'm going to hunt around at the 20" prices. If you see a decent model elsewhere than OcUK, just name the make, model and price to the nearest £5. That should fit within the OcUK rules.

 

[basmic]

Ok, I've been looking at funds.

Sometime in September, I will have £200 to pump out onto a 20" widescreen monitor.

So I've decided I now want to see if it's worth my time paying out the £50 more than my original budget of £150. Ie: Will the £50 difference be marginal, or significant?

I want the game for mostly internet browsing. But I do want to play games, often with dark scenes. When I'm splashing £150-200 on a monitor, I do NOT want to see ghosting.

So...prepare me.

 

[basmic]

Been looking at this monitor, and it looks good on paper. Decent response time, decent contrast ratio, it's a widescreen 20" - and it's also less than £200.

• Viewable Area: 20” Widescreen (1680x1050 Resolution)
• Interface: Analog / Digital
• Response Time: 2ms
• 16.7M Colours
• Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
• Viewing Angle (H/V): 160°/ 160°
• Brightness: 300cd/m2
• 3 Years On-Site Warranty with Samsung

I am looking around to see if I can get a bigger monitor, with the same specs - but, TBH, I think a bigger monitor will be overkill for me and my desk.

Any opinions of the above - is it rubbish, decent, or bloody good? Can I buy a better monitor for the same price?

One thing I don't mind, is buying elsewhere other than OcUK. What I'm more interested in right now, is getting the best value for my money. So if you name a make and model, I am capable of using search engines such as Google.

 

[basmic]

Just to follow up on what James was saying, there's also plenty of TN panels in the 20" segment, including that Samsung you've listed. If you want to avoid TN look for 178/178 viewing angles.

If you can find the extra for something like a Dell 2007WFP that's an excellent screen, quick, good viewing angles, lovely colours, extra inputs, adjustable stand etc.

If you can't find the extra and you're stuck with TN you may as well get a 22" like the LG or Samsung, which I believe can both be had for £200.

Just one more thing - if you play dark games at night with the lights out, be prepared for a certain amount of dissapointment because TFTs just can't do a proper deep black like a CRT or Plasma. The black depth looks fine in the daytime, in fact it's better than a CRT in those circumstances because CRT screens are so reflective, but once the lights go out you become aware that you're basically looking at a very bright light with a thin film in front of it.

Black depth is a trade off worth making when weighed against the benefits that TFTs bring though IMO.

Are you saying to me, try to go for a non-TN monitor? If so, can you name me some examples please?

 

[basmic]

Can anybody find me the best value, non-TN, 20/22" monitor?

I've been advised to go for that, and a 22" if I can.

 

[basmic]

thats the problem, they charge through the roof for non-tn, only gotta see the price of the Dell 2007WFP to see that

What first person shooters do you play? and how seriously?

I play FarCry, HalfLife 1 and 2, FEAR, train sims, Unreal Tournament. I do mostly MSN and internet browsing, but I like to Photoshop every so often.

I reckon I could get away with Samsung that I linked to earlier.

 

[basmic]

The Dell is loads cheaper than it used to be and £105 cheaper than the NEC. I think I can remember the Dell being £411 early on after release, and I can definitely remember it being £380 the same week I bought mine for £290 off the bay, and Dell are still selling it at £340, so £234 isn't that bad. Pitty it's out of stock though, maybe Gibbo can post when they're getting them in again?

Whether it's worth that extra over the price of a TN is completely subjective. I personally think it is after hating the two TN panel screens I bought before it because of the awful viewing angles, although TN may well have improved somewhat since then.

Do you think I would notice the black and colours on either the LG L204WT 20" or Samsung SM-206BW 20" monitors?

If the colour representation is that bad, I will just have to save up harder for a Dell 2007WFP. :/

 

[basmic]

I do feel the colour reproduction problem on the better tn-panels is wildly exaggerated. I've got a 226bw right alongside a dell 2407 and ..quite obviously the dell's colours are better but the 226bw's are still what i'd consider "very good".

So if you did the colour tests (red to black, blue to black, etc), would you say the colour gradient is smooth and consistent?

 

[basmic]

We're talking colour accuracy, not that gradients aren't smooth or anything like that. TBH I didn't find colours that bad on the TNs I owned but I do think they are better on my 2007WFP. The main weakness of TN is the viewing angles, the other things are pretty minor IMO.

The poor black depth problem is on all TFTs, whether they be TN, IPS, MVA or PVA. On all the screens I've owned - that's 2 TNs, 2 PVAs and 2 IPS (including a 1500:1 screen), they've all had poor black depth.

Again though, it's only a problem in a dark room.

TBH, viewing angle won't me a problem for me - I'll almost always be sat straight on at it. The rest of the time, I'll have the monitor pulled to the front of the desk, so I can watch films/etc on it at night time.