When people talk about a monitor's input lag are they talking about response time?

Mark_D · 27 Apr 2012 at 13:57

I'm confused!

I fancy a 27" gaming monitor and I'm torn between getting the Hazro 27" IPS or going for a BenQ 120hz 24" monitor. I have an older Samsung 24" already but I hear good things about the 120hz panels.

My question is, if I go for the better image quality 27" IPS panel am I going to regret it and wish I'd got myself a 120Hz monitor instead?

craarc · 27 Apr 2012 at 14:05

your goin to get all the 120hz fan boys sayin 120hz and all the 27 " fan boys saying 27" for the realestate.

tbh i went for the realestate of a 27" if you can get it at a higer resolution than 1080p not sure what the hazro will go to

cause imo 1080p on a 27 isnt high enough for me 1200 or 1440 if you can higher the better

just realised that doesnt answer you question tho, think weigh up all the opinions

cmndr_andi · 27 Apr 2012 at 14:12

Hi there,

To answer your question in the title - response time and input lag are two different things.

Response time is the time it takes for the pixels on an panel to change from one colour to another (with the longest time being from white to black). Having a fast response time means that the you don't see much ghosting (a trail of pixels still changing colour) when there is a lot of motion (ie playing fast-paced games). TN type panels (especially ones used in 120Hz monitors) have the best response times - hence why they are recommended if you do a lot of fast-paced gaming. IPS panels tend to have slower response times since the pixels are made differently. This means that these panels tend to have more ghosting than TN panels when there is a lot of motion (though whether this is a problem is really down to the individual).

Input lag is the delay between your graphics card sending out the image and your monitor displaying it. Ideally you want as little input lag as possible if you are playing fast paced games (for example on an FPS game you line up a shot and press the trigger - you want the image you are seeing to be as current as possible so you don't miss), though up to 16ms is generally considered OK for gaming.

As for which to get, may I ask what you mainly use your PC for and if you do a lot of gaming, what type of games do you mainly play?

One option (if you have enough funds to hand) is to order both a 120Hz monitor and a 27in IPS monitor and test them both out on your system. Then when you have decided which you like the best you send the other one back under DSR (as that basically what it is for - to test out items as you would in-person).

PESolution · 27 Apr 2012 at 14:53

or get the 120hz 27inch samsung

Mark_D · 27 Apr 2012 at 15:33

Thanks a lot for the replies guys, much appreciated.

It's mainly going to be a new high end gaming system playing all kinds of games from MMORPGs to FPSs to strategy games. I'm about to order all the bits so that's why my thoughts turned to a new monitor. Since I'll have an IB processor and GTX680 I figured I'd be able to take advantage of the higher framerates with a 120Hz monitor, but I've heard really good things about the quality of IPS screens and would love a 27 incher.

The Samsung is a possibility and only slightly more expensive than the Hazro......hmmmmm.........

Mark_D · 27 Apr 2012 at 15:56

Having looked more closely at the Samsung monitor, the design is poop for me. It has no VESA mount and I have a monitor arm. Plus it only does 1080p rather than the 1440 of the Hazro. Although if I'm right there are no 120Hz monitors which offer that resolution yet.

The agony of decision making!!! :rolleyes:

cmndr_andi · 27 Apr 2012 at 16:06

Mark_D said:
Although if I'm right there are no 120Hz monitors which offer that resolution yet.

You are quite right.

At the moment the only 1440p panels are ones using high quality panel types like IPS. Unfortunately this IPS technology isn't currently fast enough to make use of a 120Hz refresh rate (since the pixels can't change fast enough), therefore for the time being we are likely to only see TN (and a few VA) panels in 120Hz monitors.

It would be interesting to see some TN 1440p panels, but afaik there aren't any yet.

craarc · 27 Apr 2012 at 18:46

cmndr_andi said:
Hi there,

To answer your question in the title - response time and input lag are two different things.

Response time is the time it takes for the pixels on an panel to change from one colour to another (with the longest time being from white to black). Having a fast response time means that the you don't see much ghosting (a trail of pixels still changing colour) when there is a lot of motion (ie playing fast-paced games). TN type panels (especially ones used in 120Hz monitors) have the best response times - hence why they are recommended if you do a lot of fast-paced gaming. IPS panels tend to have slower response times since the pixels are made differently. This means that these panels tend to have more ghosting than TN panels when there is a lot of motion (though whether this is a problem is really down to the individual).

Input lag is the delay between your graphics card sending out the image and your monitor displaying it. Ideally you want as little input lag as possible if you are playing fast paced games (for example on an FPS game you line up a shot and press the trigger - you want the image you are seeing to be as current as possible so you don't miss), though up to 16ms is generally considered OK for gaming.

As for which to get, may I ask what you mainly use your PC for and if you do a lot of gaming, what type of games do you mainly play?

One option (if you have enough funds to hand) is to order both a 120Hz monitor and a 27in IPS monitor and test them both out on your system. Then when you have decided which you like the best you send the other one back under DSR (as that basically what it is for - to test out items as you would in-person).

best explanation ive seen yet tbh