Which one to buy - 19" tft

KoemanGR

KoemanGR

KoemanGR

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Hi everyone, I am an owner of a 17" crt dell monitor (1024x768 @ 100hz) for the past 6 years or so, which still runs without a problem but I feel like it's time for the big step forward and join the tft world:)

I am a GAMER, I do watch films on my pc and of course I spend a lot of time surfing the internet etc etc.

Having read the stickies here, plus lots of other reviews here and there, I can say I am confused. I don't know which monitor to pick from all those models out there.

Ok now to the point. My budget is max 450 euros, which has to be around 300 pounds. The models I've been looking at are:

- Hyundai Q90U
- Samsung SyncMaster 960BF
- Samsung SyncMaster 930BF
- Viewsonic VX922 and VX924
- NEC multisync 90GX²

These all look similar to me on paper more or less so as I said I am quite confused which one to buy. I tend to the Samsung 960BF for some reason.

So what do you guys think? which one is BEST for the purposes I ve mentioned above? Any other suggestions maybe?

I know my thread is not original but spare some of your time please and help me out on this one, the choice is harder than I thought!

Cheers:)
 
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Nice topic, i was just going to create one simliar to this but you saved me a job ;)
Everyone seems to lean more towards the Samsung 930BF for gaming and at a guess if they're using it for gaming i would imagine they would be using it for watching films and general browsing of the web aswell.

Im interested in the response you get from others on the Viewsonix VX922 (2ms Response time)

Sorry i couldn't offer any plus points of the listed LCD's but im in the same dilema as you, i'll keep a check on the post you made.

Good luck man hope you find the right one that does you proud.

~Monty
 
Good luck to you too mate, its quite an investment and I wanna make the right choice without regretting in the future.

I've seen many people going for the Samsung 930BF indeed, but is the 960BF better or not? I gave up on the VX922 because from what I've read the improvements over the VX924 are minor and the price difference is unjustified (+100 euros).

Give us your lights guys cmon:)
 
i just upgraded from a 17" iiyama to the Samsung 930 BF and think its top. Not blurring in games very bright. Some light bleed to the top but it may be like this as i sit about 1 foot away from the screen.
 
Upgraded from my Viewsonic VP171s 17" & went for the Samsung SM-930BF,only had it for a few days,but it's awesome for gaming.very nice monitor :D Very happy

Rob
 
Hi guys. Firstly, there is no difference in the panels used in the Samsung 930BF and 960BF, they both use a 4ms TN Film panel from Samsung themselves, and only the design of the monitor varies. The models you have shortlisted are certainly the most popular gamers monitors in the market at the moment. One thing you're going to have to be wary of is the movie playback however. All these modern 4ms, 3ms and 2ms models are using a heavy application of overdrive to improve responsiveness across grey transitions. While this leads toa very good gaming experience, the poor control of this overdrive function can often lead to added noise in movie playback including twinkling and artifacts. TN Film panels are not ideal for movie playback at the best of time since the viewing angles are restrictive, especially in the vertical field, and movie playback can often be quite noisy anyway.

In real terms, there is not much difference between all these models in responsiveness for gaming. The VX922 didn't really offer much real improvement over the VX924 in practice, only on paper and as you've said, it's probably not worth the extra. If you can still get the VX924 before they stop producing it then that would perhaps be a better choice over the VX922, unless you really have to have the latest and greatest spec on paper. The Samsung 930BF and 960BF are both very responsive too, but fall a little behind the VX924 / VX922 in the movie playback department since the overdrive is qutie poorly controlled. X-bit labs recently did a comparison of a lot of the screens with overdrive (RTC) and they favoured the VX924 over the 930BF for movie playback certainly.

I would say that in real use you are unlikely to tell much difference between the VX924, VX922, 930BF and 960BF. they are arguably the fastest models in the market for gaming and i think they would all be good choices. Maybe best just to base your decision on price, looks and features, with perhaps the edge going to the Viewsonic's on the movie playback

hth
 
Baddass said:
Hi guys. Firstly, there is no difference in the panels used in the Samsung 930BF and 960BF, they both use a 4ms TN Film panel from Samsung themselves, and only the design of the monitor varies. The models you have shortlisted are certainly the most popular gamers monitors in the market at the moment. One thing you're going to have to be wary of is the movie playback however. All these modern 4ms, 3ms and 2ms models are using a heavy application of overdrive to improve responsiveness across grey transitions. While this leads toa very good gaming experience, the poor control of this overdrive function can often lead to added noise in movie playback including twinkling and artifacts. TN Film panels are not ideal for movie playback at the best of time since the viewing angles are restrictive, especially in the vertical field, and movie playback can often be quite noisy anyway.

In real terms, there is not much difference between all these models in responsiveness for gaming. The VX922 didn't really offer much real improvement over the VX924 in practice, only on paper and as you've said, it's probably not worth the extra. If you can still get the VX924 before they stop producing it then that would perhaps be a better choice over the VX922, unless you really have to have the latest and greatest spec on paper. The Samsung 930BF and 960BF are both very responsive too, but fall a little behind the VX924 / VX922 in the movie playback department since the overdrive is qutie poorly controlled. X-bit labs recently did a comparison of a lot of the screens with overdrive (RTC) and they favoured the VX924 over the 930BF for movie playback certainly.

I would say that in real use you are unlikely to tell much difference between the VX924, VX922, 930BF and 960BF. they are arguably the fastest models in the market for gaming and i think they would all be good choices. Maybe best just to base your decision on price, looks and features, with perhaps the edge going to the Viewsonic's on the movie playback

hth
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the kind of answer I was hoping for to come, cheers mate appreciated!
 
The 930Bf can be according to Samsung.co.uk spec for it, and i'd be very surprised if the 960BF couldn't, but it doesnt explicitly mention it on the Samsung.com website
 
I have a 960BF turning up today from OC, I'll let you know if it's wall mountable tonight when I get home if you like?
 
I just upgraded from a 17" Iiyama to the Samsung 940 B. Although not as fast as the 930BF I have yet to see any ghosting in my games. colours are perfect, and I am using "out of the box" settings, no fine tuning or calibration carried out on the panel yet.
Colours are nice and bright in games like Far Cry and dark and atmospheric in games like FEAR and Quake IV. Build quality oif the Sammy was very nice too, was surprised at the sturdiness of the height adjustable stand.
If you have no need for a stand get the 930BF (it just looks nicer than the 960BF).

Cheers,
cathal
 
Just to throw a spanner in the works...... but have you considered the VA1912W 19" widescreen? :D http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/lcd19.html

I just got myself one, predominantly used for gaming, but also some web design work and browsing etc. I find it awesome! It's just the perfect size, no ghosting, no dead or lazy pixels..... I love it!

Of course, you might not want to go widescreen.... But I think it's perfect for CoD2!

Happy spending!
 
I Ordered my Samsung 630bf on Wednesday at around 12 noon and it arrived yesterday at 7.45am so I am very impressed with the service from Overclockers. The monitor itself is fantastic. I can't compare it to the others you mentioned because I haven't tried those, and it's quite possible they are better, but if you do get this one, you will not be disappointed. It's awesome.

I play WoW and I spent several hours just staring in awe at the detail and the colours and because of the 4ms, there is no visible ghosting at all. Fantastic monitor.
 
I went to a big shop here in paris today and i ve seen all these monitors from close. Surprisingly enough I was impressed by another model, the samsung syncmaster 913 BM. It had a movie trailer playing on it, and the colours/contrast were stunning, as well as the angles! By the way the vx924 was next to the 930 BF showing the same image, and it looked like the image on the 930BF was more crisp and clear, dunno.

So here I am again to ask you...what do you think of the 913 BM? i cant find anything like a review on the internet

http://www.samsung.com/fr/products/...digital/ls19mjstseedc.asp?page=Specifications

i cant find the model on the UK page on their site.
 
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=GAMMO= said:
That would be great, let us know what you think of it :)

Cheers

=GAMMO=
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The only word I can think of to discribe the 960BF is, stunning.

No dead pixals, not a scratch on it and its design is IMO sexy! ;)

On the down side I couldnt see anyway of wallmounting it, but I will have a proper look today as when i got it yesterday I was so excited I hooked it up and started playing Far Cry and DOD:source got carried away and forgot to look in the manual to see if it is wall mountable.

I dont think it is going to be wall mountable for one reason, not sure if this is the same on any other Samsung 19" but on this one you plug the DVI and power cable into the base stand of the monitor.

I am at work at the moment but when I get home this afternoon I will check it out.
 
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KoemanGR said:
I went to a big shop here in paris today and i ve seen all these monitors from close. Surprisingly enough I was impressed by another model, the samsung syncmaster 913 BM. It had a movie trailer playing on it, and the colours/contrast were stunning, as well as the angles! By the way the vx924 was next to the 930 BF showing the same image, and it looked like the image on the 930BF was more crisp and clear, dunno.

So here I am again to ask you...what do you think of the 913 BM? i cant find anything like a review on the internet

http://www.samsung.com/fr/products/...digital/ls19mjstseedc.asp?page=Specifications

i cant find the model on the UK page on their site.
Click to expand...

that looks quite interesting. Samsung list it on that spec page as an 8ms TN Film panel. However, with the listed specs it looks odd, and very much like a case of overexageration on Samsung's part. 170/170 viewing angles are not going to eb realistic for a TN panel, and is just another misleading extension of the previous 160/160 quotes. They're doing this to try and compete with other panels which are offering these kind of figures, but whereas VA / IPS panels might be able to reach these figures, TN panels remain very restrictive in viewing angles in comparison, especially in the vertical field. It looks like this is based on very lapse measuring techniques.....170/170 is not realistic.

Likewise, the quoted 1000:1 contrast ratio looks like an effort to keep up with other panel technologies, and it loks a little like Samsung are even admitting this is perhaps a little exagerated from the bit where is lists it as "max". I doubt very much that a TN panel can reach this figure in reality, and again is probably based on lapse measurement techniques. Sadly, another case of trying to keep up with changging specs, where TN panels cant really properly achieve much over 700:1 in real measurements

Having said all this, it looks like it might be an extension of the excellent and well estblished 8ms panels from Samsung including the 913N/B and the other models like the Hyundai L90D+ based around the same panel. A good screen for gaming, but dont be fooled by the figures they list....
 
I went for the samsung 930BF finally and i m satisfied with my choice so far. Havent tested many games yet, it sure is different than my crt but I guess I ll get used to it (fps games)

ps: 0 dead pixels :)

thanks for the help
 
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