Which 24" Monitors Guys

paullewis323

paullewis323

paullewis323

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Hi guys

Am waiting for IB CPU before I order parts for my nw rig

In the meantime, I wanna buy 2 (TWO) X 24" monitors

Can you kindly advise what are the best monitors to purchase?

Mainly for gamining on one monitor whilst I have apps on the other one

Regards

Lew
 
Hi there,

Do you have a budget in mind?

Also, may I ask what graphics card you will be using?

For a gaming monitor, most would recommend a 120Hz TN panel monitor - as for fast motion this option offers excellent performance. The forum favourite at the moment seems to be the benq xl2420t (review here and here).

As for the second monitor, if your budget can support it I would go with an IPS panel monitor - as it offers better colour accuracy and wider viewing angles than a TN panel. For the 24in size this one is the one I would go for (here is a review).

Please bear in mind that while both of the above monitors are 24in they are different aspect ratios and resolutions (BenQ is 16:9 and 1920x1080, while the Dell is 16:10 and 1920x1200) so they won't look identical in size and shape next to each other.
 
Hmm boring post but it's hard to argue against the previous post in terms of price vs performance. It really does depend on budget and what you want from both screens?

A good 120hz (orignally typed Mhz, imagine that :) ) TN as a gaming panel and a high quality 24" IPS for other uses makes sense but only if you have the money. These are pretty premium panels and the Dell being a side option may be slightly overkill for what you may use it for. If it's going to be used regularly then fair enough the high quality IPS panel will be worth it, otherwise its wasted to an extent. Personal preference I suppose but you really need to consider budget vs intended usage to make a fully informed decision.
 
Double07 said:
...A good 120hz (orignally typed Mhz, imagine that :) ) ...
Click to expand...

...What? Not sure what you mean by that, so here's some info to clear out any confusion, just in case:

Hz = 1/second
MHz = 10^6 Hz = 1000000/second
kHz = 10^3 Hz = 1000/second

When talking about monitors, the focus is usually on the refresh rate, which is in Hz range (like 60 Hz or 120 Hz).

From an old CRT manual I can find Video Dot Rate of 320 MHz and Horizontal Scanning of 30-130 kHz. But both of those figures are non-essential in normal speech. I don't even know what Video Dot Rate means, and too lazy to check wiki for its meaning. And then there's the "refresh rate", more officially known as Vertical Scanning in CRTs, which is 50-160 Hz on this particular monitor.

Then, with LCD monitors, there can also be backlight PWM (pulse width modulation) frequency sometimes mentioned, though not in official specs, only in the more in-depth reviews. This is usually 150 Hz or higher. Without PWM the backlight frequency would be in kHz range, I think.

Spoiler contains the mandatory PWM rant to raise awareness, if anyone interested:
Why, why, WHY do they have to implement a low-frequency PWM for LCD backlight, that's basically forcibly bringing back the head-ache-inducing flicker from CRTs to a technology that wouldn't normally even have this. IDIOTS !

And it gets worse:
The manufacturers increase the brightness so high (even 400 cd/m2), that to get a comfortable viewing environment, the user has to decrease the brightness to a very low setting, which means the PWM's duty cycle decreases, which makes the flickering increasingly more noticeable. And it's even worse with LEDs, because they have relatively instant on/off, whereas CCFL stays partly illuminated even between cycles.
 
I'm looking to finally replace my CRT (I had a look previously around the time the Dell U2410 came out but decided against it), and the Benq XL2420T does look nice but I have a few questions if no one minds me jumping on this thread rather than making a new one.

If it is a great gaming monitor (good response, no ghosting etc..) how good is it for things like watching movies? great colours/good blacks?

It has multiple inputs, does that mean that I can for example attach my laptop output, or one of my old PCs to it, and flick back and forth between inputs with no issues?

Finally, what's the dead pixel policy on monitors these days? £300 is a lot to pay for something that could have an annoying dead/stuck pixel in it.
 
I can thoroughly recommend the Dell U2412M which I've been using for a month now. Although there are 24" screens at half the price, this is still a "budget" model by Dell's standards - 6-bit panel, no HDMI, other missing high-end features (compared to U2410) etc - but it's still a fantastic all-round monitor IMHO. Plus there's the Dead Pixel Guarantee, where they'll replace the monitor within the 3 year warranty period, very nice.

The colours are very impressive after using a basic TN model (despite limitations of 6-bit + FRC panel), the contrast and black levels are a huge improvement (great for movies), 16:10 is nice for surfing/office apps/everything else, and I even use it for... gaming!

Although I mainly play RPGs, I've played a few FPS games without any issues. Serious gamers might disagree, but I've had no ghosting/blurring problems at all. (They'd also laugh at my MSI R6870 Hawk as a gaming card, but it overclocks like a demon, and runs 1920x1200 @ 60Hz perfectly well.)

I'd suggest waiting for Ivybridge (April 23rd?) to buy this monitor. If it's not up to your gaming needs, keep it as your second monitor (or DSR it). Or if it is OK, use a cheapie (60Hz TN) for second monitor, or even splash out for a matching pair of Dells.
 
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