TN or IPS for gaming? Help me please!

[DR_Pingu]

Is the ms response time difference really all that noticeable? And would it be possible to get a 144Hz monitor that wasn't GSync - in the sense that if it dropped below the 144Hz would it tear/bugger up at all?

Basically even after reading into a fair bit, I still don't really know what'd be best for me. The main types of games I will play are fps (CSS/GO mainly on PC). Would say budget of around £140 but could probably stretch past £200 if it really made a difference.

Also, lastly, size - 24inch monitor would be fine right? I'm about to be set up again for the first time in about a year so getting back onto my fantastic 19inch TV (yes TV, with built-in DVD player, from Argos over 6 years ago! HD tbf still at least) - would jumping to 27in be 'too much' as my mate's just got a 24 and it seems almost perfect size in my eyes.

Cheers in advance

 

[skarpinis]

IPS I cant recommend because of glow and backlight bleed!

 

[Legend]

TN I can't recommend because of the poorer viewing angles, chance of clouding and less accurate colour reproduction...

Rock - YOU - hard place

 

[Rroff]

The ms response time numbers at face value are pretty much meaningless - the real test is how the real input latency feels to you and also very importantly the clarity of tracking an objection in motion - which isn't easy to get a feel for without sitting down and testing side by side though stuff like pixperans/blur busters comparisons go some way.

 

[PHazlington]

There are so many misconceptions about IPS vs TN it's driving me insane.

IPS glow - Yes, it's a thing but it isn't noticeable unless the picture is dark and you're looking at the monitor from a weird angle. It will not bother you because you will get used to it (this is a concept that many people don't seem to understand). IPS glow is very often mistaken for backlight bleed; they are not the same thing. Backlight bleed is perceptible from any angle but IPS glow works kind of like colour shift in TN panels because it is only perceptible from 'extreme' angles (on good quality panels anyway).

Backlight bleed - Where did this one come from? This one really is complete BS.
IPS panels are just as prone to backlight bleed as TN panels! LCDs bleed! There's no two ways about it. My last monitor was a TN (Asus VE247H) panel and my current is IPS (Dell U2515H) and the former had much worse backlight bleed than the latter. They even mention in this article that they've heard mention of TN panels being worse for backlight bleed than IPS panels.

Input lag - yes, IPS panels do tend to have higher input latency than TN panels. Does 6ms of input make a difference that you can notice unless you are superhuman? No. I am sick and tired of people banging on about input lag! Console gamers manage to play FPS games on TVs with 20/30ms+ of input lag. Admittedly it's not a great experience but it's still perfectly playable in most situations. Have a read through this article for a bit of validation.

Input lag causing motion blur - Increased input lag does contribute towards motion blur but frame persistence is much more of a deciding factor in this. A low quality TN panel with a 2ms response time has scope for more motion blur than a high quality IPS panel.
If you look up the response times of the TVs in this test, you will see that there is not a clear correlation between motion blur and input lag.

It really does seem like lots of people are out to get IPS panels for no reason and I just wanted to (hopefully) dispell some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding this topic.

As for recommendations for you: If you are competitive then yes, a 120Hz/144Hz panel would be a good investment. It is a lot smoother than 60Hz and it makes FPS games easier to play.
If you are not competitive, though (in my mind, just playing GS:GO doesn't necessarily make you a competitive gamer per se), a nice IPS panel would be perfect. My U2515H works just fine for me when playing Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3 online (I really suck but I'm not being hindered by my monitor, just my playing ability).

As for size, 24 inches is perfectly fine, you'll end up sitting further away from a bigger monitor to fit the whole picture in your peripheral vision anyway. 27 inches only seems justified to me if you have to/want to sit further away from your monitor or use it for things other than gaming.

 

[Rroff]

I wasn't equating higher input lag with increased blur btw but those are the 2 factors that for gaming make or break a monitor for me, how the input lag feels to play with and how clear the panel actually is irrespective of its stated timings when trying to track an object in motion.

Console gamers btw play fps games with a controller and more often than not reclining on a sofa with more often than not a 30fps framerate :S - there is a huge difference in how noticeable input latency is when your using a keyboard and mouse sitting close to the monitor and maintaining 60+ fps.

 

[PHazlington]

I wasn't equating higher input lag with increased blur btw but those are the 2 factors that for gaming make or break a monitor for me, how the input lag feels to play with and how clear the panel actually is irrespective of its stated timings when trying to track an object in motion.

Console gamers btw play fps games with a controller and more often than not reclining on a sofa with more often than not a 30fps framerate :S - there is a huge difference in how noticeable input latency is when your using a keyboard and mouse sitting close to the monitor and maintaining 60+ fps.

This wasn't aimed directly at you, it was just a general post.

That is true but it's been overblown quite a bit. Anything sub-10ms is just not noticable. I couldn't tell you that there was a difference between my last monitor (2ms) and my current monitor (8ms) if you put a gun to my head.

 

[Rroff]

Yeah anything sub about 13ms end to end latency I don't really notice the difference - doesn't take much more than that to start feeling it in most games though and at 60Hz even on the desktop I notice anything more than 2 frames of latency.

Having been playing quake games for 20 years or so doesn't help.

 

[paulo7]

Love ips

 

[se_vietboi]

Having an IPS (technically PLS) monitor doesn't stop me from stomping people in CS:GO heh. On top of that I got amazing picture quality and viewing angles for watching movies and general use 24 inch is fine but I watch movies from my bed so went bigger.

 

[David Bisset]

Had a low response time TN, moved to a higher response time IPS, motion clarity is still about the same. I believe changing frequency would have made more difference.

The likes of the Eizo 120Hz (+120 turbo black mode thingie) VA panel beats both - though I heard some of them had build issues.

Unfortunately with your budget the really exciting ones are out of range so you're probably picking between a 120Hz TN or something like a P2414H... I guess if it's exclusively for FPS gaming the 120Hz option is a winner (If both 60Hz I see no reason to go TN over IPS as while paper response times may be lower they seldom are actually any better for trailing/ghosting)

Based on tftcentral reviews the input lag on the p2414H is very low, the u2414H even lower (so low it was approximated to 0) so I'd not worry about input lag on IPS necessarily, just check reviews of the specific model - loads of TNs are higher, though plenty good TN options too.

 

[infernox]

Never again will I go back to TN. Never.

 

[Dimension]

I have a pair of the eizo foris 240hz monitors, they are a good compromise.

Great colours and viewing angles, and good for gaming. neither have uniformity or clouding issues.

The gaming response is not as good as my 120hz TN panel, but you do not see ghosting in any games, I only see then when scrolling black text on a white screen.

 

[llamadal]

There are so many misconceptions about IPS vs TN it's driving me insane.

IPS glow - Yes, it's a thing but it isn't noticeable unless the picture is dark and you're looking at the monitor from a weird angle. It will not bother you because you will get used to it (this is a concept that many people don't seem to understand). IPS glow is very often mistaken for backlight bleed; they are not the same thing. Backlight bleed is perceptible from any angle but IPS glow works kind of like colour shift in TN panels because it is only perceptible from 'extreme' angles (on good quality panels anyway).

Backlight bleed - Where did this one come from? This one really is complete BS.
IPS panels are just as prone to backlight bleed as TN panels! LCDs bleed! There's no two ways about it. My last monitor was a TN (Asus VE247H) panel and my current is IPS (Dell U2515H) and the former had much worse backlight bleed than the latter. They even mention in this article that they've heard mention of TN panels being worse for backlight bleed than IPS panels.

Input lag - yes, IPS panels do tend to have higher input latency than TN panels. Does 6ms of input make a difference that you can notice unless you are superhuman? No. I am sick and tired of people banging on about input lag! Console gamers manage to play FPS games on TVs with 20/30ms+ of input lag. Admittedly it's not a great experience but it's still perfectly playable in most situations. Have a read through this article for a bit of validation.

Input lag causing motion blur - Increased input lag does contribute towards motion blur but frame persistence is much more of a deciding factor in this. A low quality TN panel with a 2ms response time has scope for more motion blur than a high quality IPS panel.
If you look up the response times of the TVs in this test, you will see that there is not a clear correlation between motion blur and input lag.

It really does seem like lots of people are out to get IPS panels for no reason and I just wanted to (hopefully) dispell some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding this topic.

As for recommendations for you: If you are competitive then yes, a 120Hz/144Hz panel would be a good investment. It is a lot smoother than 60Hz and it makes FPS games easier to play.
If you are not competitive, though (in my mind, just playing GS:GO doesn't necessarily make you a competitive gamer per se), a nice IPS panel would be perfect. My U2515H works just fine for me when playing Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3 online (I really suck but I'm not being hindered by my monitor, just my playing ability).

As for size, 24 inches is perfectly fine, you'll end up sitting further away from a bigger monitor to fit the whole picture in your peripheral vision anyway. 27 inches only seems justified to me if you have to/want to sit further away from your monitor or use it for things other than gaming.

One of the best overall posts I've seen in a while, in fact most of the comments here are good

Although I've since gone over to the rog swift, I've had no problems on IPS screens.

While it will cause some hassle on, you could just buy and test for a few days and see how it feels to you.

 

[Qitarah]

All my friends raved about their 120hz monitors for cs:go. Until I pointed out the max tick of MM servers are 60. Anyways I will always go with IPS over high refresh rate Tns.

 

[DR_Pingu]

Thanks everyone for your input, you've definitely given me more clarity on the subject! Even after reading the guide posted (one of the stickeys I believe) this has helped me even more and that's no offence to the guide, I just don't think the info went in very well from there (personal thing I guess). Looks like I've got more research product wise on my hands now!

As for bedtime viewing, I've got a 32inch TV which does me fine, and am currently hooked up to until my desk gets made - should be here tomorrow in fact!

EDIT: Also, I must admit I'm very competitive when it comes to CS games, let alone anything competition wise (like football), been in a number of teams and a number of leagues and am looking to get back to that once I'm set up once again!

 

[llamadal]

In that case and with the budget in mind, then a 120 hz tn would be a better overall feel for twitchy fps shooters...... But will look a bit crap for everything else.

 

[DR_Pingu]

In that case and with the budget in mind, then a 120 hz tn would be a better overall feel for twitchy fps shooters...... But will look a bit crap for everything else.

Regardless, it'll still look better than my current "monitor" thanks again

 

[nitram100]

All my friends raved about their 120hz monitors for cs:go. Until I pointed out the max tick of MM servers are 60. Anyways I will always go with IPS over high refresh rate Tns.

??

 

[infernox]

Why not both? Haha 120hz PLS. You take a gamble yeah sure. But mine paid off.