Need suggestions for a good LCD monitor for web and mild gaming. (1 Viewer)

[jeff lam]

I'm looking for an LCD that will be good for mostly web browsing and some gaming. I know LCD's aren't the best for video games but I dont play much PC games as I have a PS2, but wan't to play some games. I don't know what size I need, just something 15" or larger. Is it true that the larger ones have better resolution? I would love to get the Dell 20" but think it's just too much $$$, what about the 15" or 18"?

 

[Tekara]

I know hitatchi makes a very nice one that is currently being touted about. it runs at 16ms which means there will be very little ghosting on the monitor making it a lot easier on your eyes. I would suggest getting the 17" model it's looking to be the current sweet spot.

I can't remember the exact model number but just look for hitatchi and 16ms that should pull up the right lcd screen.

no matter what you get though I do highly suggest making sure that you get one with a native resolution of at least 1280x960 (1600x1200 would be ideal). because when you play games on an LCD it is best to run the game at the native resolution of the screen and higher resolutions are starting to become popular.

hope that helps some, if your having trouble finding that hitatchi just bug me and I'll lend a hand. if you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask.

 

[John_Berger]

Jeff, how do you define "mild gaming"? The sad truth is that there is currently no consumer-level LCD monitor that has the capability of refreshing quickly enough to work well with games.

Again, this also depends on what games you're talking about. First person shooters? Forget it! LCD would probably work best only with third-person games where there is not a lot of constant screen movement. This of course varies for each person. Some have a better tolerance for LCD ghosting than others.

 

[jeff lam]

No 1st person shooters at all. Maybe 3rd person action games, but mostly stratigy games like the warcraft/starcraft series type games.

Mild gaming means maybe 5 hours per week playing. We use the computer mostly for web, email, word, photos, and mp3's. Web being the most monitor inclusive/critical.

 

[Max Leung]

The fastest refresh rates on an LCD monitor available to the average consumer is 25ms. That's 40 frames per second. It's no problem for console gaming, as they only output 30 frames per second anyways. High-end PC gaming is another matter entirely though.

Samsung makes good LCD monitors. I'm drooling over the 19" Samsung 191T LCD monitor. 1280x1024.

However, my laptop's 1600x1200 15" screen has it beat. I wish manufacturers would make standalone 1600x1200 resolution monitors. But they are too stupid to realize this.

 

[Tekara]

Max: as I said before, hitachi makes an LCD with a refresh of 16ms, it's the CML174 (I went and found it :p). it's 17" with a native resolution of 1280x1024. it's a great lcd screen that can be had for around 640$.

there are actually a number of screens showing up that support 1600x1200 nativly, I know dell makes one and apples 22" cinemas do as well (which have dropped in price to around 2000$!)

anyway that hitachi is the best bet imho.

here's a link to a review of it: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1785&p=2

 

[Max Leung]

Cool. I wonder if Hitachi allows fine-tuning of the LCD monitor (for calibration and stuff). For photo and prepress work, CRTs still rule the roost, because LCD monitors are often wildly off the mark in color reproduction!

Time to followup on your research Rob, thanks.

 

[Max Leung]

Just finished reading that review. It's the first LCD monitor review I've ever read that actually gave a damn about color accuracy and image quality! Not the garden-variety "this monitor is the greatest" review.

I'd guess it will be at least 2 years before LCDs are usable to graphics professionals. Which makes me think that Apple dropped the ball by only selling LCDs with their new computers..come on Apple, no graphics and publishing professional would ever use an LCD monitor as they are today!

 

[MikeH1]

Question: Are these LCD moniters that your talking about here the high resolution flat panel ones that I see that look so cool? I have been thinking about a moniter upgrade... but am into some high end gaming...you mean to say that these dont refresh faster than 40 fps?

 

[John_Berger]

but am into some high end gaming...you mean to say that these dont refresh faster than 40 fps?

Assuming that "high end gaming" refers to things like Unreal II and the like, I would not recommend an LCD panel. The ghosting will probably be severe.

 

[Scott L]

I game like a mofo and the LCD ghosting issue, imo, is exaggerated. I'm one of the best snipers in my clan for Medal of Honor and I play on a 15" LCD (Viewsonic VA520). I would no doubt improve if I got say a 19" CRT, but it's not anything like night & day.

That Hitachi recommended sounds great. I saw this Planar on the Anandtech forums which also sounds great for gaming.

 

[MikeH1]

ok what I meant is I play Battlefield 1942. Its a FPS with lots of action going on.

 

[Tekara]

I have yet to hear anyone complain about ghosting on that hitatchi.

Rememember that the refresh rate is a given value for full black to full white. so games aren't restricted to a particular framrate like one would think. the only time you would get 40fps on a 25ms monitor is if the first frame was pure white and the second was pure black and it just alternated. if the lcd isn't going from jet black to pure white then it will be faster.

but aside from that the 16ms lcd that I am reccomending minimums at 62fps which is more than enough imho. LCD makers have gotten the hint and LCDs are starting to become pretty good counterpart to the CRT.

 

[Karl_Luph]

Max mentioned the Samsung lcds. I bought a Samsung 151v 15" for about $250.00 at BB. It doesn't seem to have too much ghosting. You might want to wait another year though, the manufacturers seem to be getting better every year reducing this problem in LCDS and the prices will be even lower. Good luck!