New monitor purchase imminent! Help requested!.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 14 Sep 2010 at 20:59

Hello people of the internets. I recently posted a question in the Graphics section of this forum and got a lot of help, So I'm back with another question in the belief that I can get some advice and help once again. :cool:

As the title suggests I'm in the market for a new monitor, My budget is roughly £250 Here are the things I would like the monitor to have:

1) 22-26"
2) 2 ms Response time
3) Not bothered about the panel type
4) Has to have built in Speakers as I plan on using it as a TV aswell
5) Needs atleast 1 HDMI port (preferrably more)
6) Fairly good image quality

Not bothered about panel type, brand or viewing angle.

(Not sure if this is really relevent but I've been using a 32" Toshiba Regza 1080i LCD TV)

The monitor will be used for playing games on my PC and xbox 360, some light photoshop, CAD and dreamweaver work and also watching TV on it.

So I'd really appricate some recommendations, please say why you'd recommend a particular monitor.

Thanks in Advance.

cmndr_andi · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:22

Hi there,

First thing I would suggest is that in regards to speakers you forget about integrated speakers. On PC monitors they are almost universally terrible and hugley limit your monitor choice. Instead, a cheap set of 2.1 speakers like these are cheap and miles better (I have used those particular ones - I was impressed). So deducting this cost, that leaves ~£230 for the monitor.

Therefore I would suggest this monitor.

If you want to go down the IPS road, this one is excellent (here is a review) but it is a fair bit smaller than the TN options, it would also require a displayport capable graphics card to allow for a free DVI port (converted to HDMI with a cheap adapter).

PCM2 · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:23

+1 to those suggestions.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:39

I'm only going to be using the intergrated speakers for TV watching, I've got LG 5.1 Surround sound for gaming/PC using

You moght be thinking, well why doesn't he just use the 5.1 for watching TV?

because im lazy and don;t want to have to change the cable for the 5.1 from my xbox to my monitor and to my PC all the time + I think the monitor would then require a fibre optics port.

My 5.1 has a HDMI input, some kind of component and also a fibre optics port would there be a way to connect my xbox and my PC to the 5.1 and use my 5.1 whilst watching TV without changing any cables around?

Gaming is important to me so those monitors that you've suggested wouldn't be ideal as they have a 5-8ms response time...
I have a HD5850 which I think is display port capable.

PCM2 · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:46

The B2430H is designed for gaming and entertainment mainly, and for these purposes it's an excellent monitor. You simply won't get better image quality or build quality for the price.

As for response time - I wouldn't look too much into it really. How that 2ms is measured and what this means in reality is questionable. The Samsung B2430H I used was every bit as good as responsive as most 2ms panels I've used. I think Samsung have really good response time compensation algorithms and I certainly recommend the B2430H for entertainment purposes due to the response time.

cmndr_andi · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:50

iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
I'm only going to be using the intergrated speakers for TV watching, I've got LG 5.1 Surround sound for gaming/PC using

In that case I still suggest you get the separate speakers, much better sound quality than integrated speakers and you won't be limiting your monitor choice.

iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
You moght be thinking, well why doesn't he just use the 5.1 for watching TV?

because im lazy and don;t want to have to change the cable for the 5.1 from my xbox to my monitor and to my PC all the time + I think the monitor would then require a fibre optics port.

My 5.1 has a HDMI input, some kind of component and also a fibre optics port would there be a way to connect my xbox and my PC to the 5.1 and use my 5.1 whilst watching TV without changing any cables around?

May I ask what sound system (amp i'm assuming) you are using? so I can look up the full list of inputs and outputs.

Would it be possible to connect the 360 to the amp via the optical sound cable (I believe this AV adapter comes with elite versions), and then route the HDMI cable directly to the monitor?

Also, does your PC have a sound card or motherboard digital coaxial or optical audio output?

iB CoMpL3XiTy said:
Gaming is important to me so those monitors that you've suggested wouldn't be ideal as they have a 5-8ms response time...
I have a HD5850 which I think is display port capable.

Both of those monitors are excellent for gaming, anything under 10ms is generally considered fine.

As you have such a nice graphics card, then you could get a monitor like the Dell U2211H and use the Displayport input for the PC and the DVI (with a HDMI adapter) for the console and it will all work great.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 14 Sep 2010 at 21:53

Thanks for your recommendation, It certainly seems good value for money, Its on my sort list

P.S Very nice website.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 14 Sep 2010 at 22:00

cmndr_andi said:
In that case I still suggest you get the separate speakers, much better sound quality than integrated speakers and you won't be limiting your monitor choice.

May I ask what sound system (amp i'm assuming) you are using? so I can look up the full list of inputs and outputs.

Would it be possible to connect the 360 to the amp via the optical sound cable (I believe this AV adapter comes with elite versions), and then route the HDMI cable directly to the monitor?

Also, does your PC have a sound card or motherboard digital coaxial or optical audio output?

Both of those monitors are excellent for gaming, anything under 10ms is generally considered fine.

As you have such a nice graphics card, then you could get a monitor like the Dell U2211H and use the Displayport input for the PC and the DVI (with a HDMI adapter) for the console and it will all work great.

Yes, everything plugs into the amp/DVD player, I'll find out the exact model number of the 5.1 tomorrow for you
When I play on my xbox 360 slim I plug my fibre optics cable straight from the 5.1 to the xbox as it has a fibre optics port built in.

My motherboard also has a fibre optics port ( Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5) So when I want to use my PC I simply unplug the fibre optics cable from the xbox and plug it into my PC's motherboard.

Yes it would be possible to connect a HDMI cable from the 5.1 to the monitor so that I could watch TV..

Thanks for all your help.

BlackBat · 14 Sep 2010 at 22:25

It's also worth bearing in mind that if you find your TV acceptable as far as response times go then you won't have a problem with any of the monitors suggested. If the viewing angles and response times are to be believed then it may even use an IPS panel although AFAIK Toshiba don't advertise which panel type they use.

PCM2 · 14 Sep 2010 at 22:29

That's a good point actually. I'm fairly sure the Toshiba Regza's have LG S-IPS panels 'under the bonnet'. Any of the monitors we've discussed on this thread will be more responsive than the TV.

iB CoMpL3XiTy · 15 Sep 2010 at 08:34

Yeah that is true, I'm really not sure how I'd notice it, I play mostly online so how would someone destingish what is bad response time and what is internet lag?

I expect the response time of a TV is pretty high as its not really built with gaming in mind.

My brother and my step brother have both recently brought a new monitor which costs them £340, they say its the best for the money because it has a very low amount of input lag, a quick response time and its an IPS panel. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of money.

So Connectivity has become very important now as I'd like to connect my xbox, PC, 5.1 and freeview box to this new monitor, the LG W2486L 24 LCD Monitor has really good connectivity and specs (although how much can really be believed?)

@ cmndr_andi I couldn't find the model number anywhere but the 5.1 has some kind of component audio out and in, Scart, HDMI and fibre optics.