New Monitor ?'s

[Kuyuk]

Heyas, I'm looking at getting a new monitor since mine's older and is VGA, I have the DVI adapter on my graphics card so I'd like to upgrade to something that can use it.

I'm looking at something that has sharp images for gaming and whatnot, but I'm not too smart when it comes to techy stuff

I was looking at a few things on Dell, just because it's one of the few companies I know. I'm looking for something not too terribly expensive, and a flat screen, I dont want to lug around 50# monitors ever again. (mine is currently a 15" LCD)

Some of the spec's I dont quite understand:

Dot pitch (mm)
Image brightness (cd/m2)
Image contrast Ratio (#:#)


Anyway, anyone who has more brains than I, feel free to give me a hand.

K.

[Bobmuhthol]

1. Do not buy from Dell.
2. Buy a CRT monitor if you're going to play games.
3. Make it 19", 1600x1200.
4. Stop bitching about the weight.

[Kuyuk]

1) That's fine
2) Fuck no.
3) Why?
4) Um, no thanks.


K.

[Alfster]

how often do you really lift your monitor anyhow?

[Bobmuhthol]

19" is a great viewing size; if you need more, get more. 1600x1200 pixels is well worth it because you'd be amazed at how much more will fit on your screen. I'm stuck with 1280x960 :'( but it's acceptable.

[Numbers]

I'm thinking of switching to a flat panel as well. I currently have a 21" flat display CRT, but it's stupidly heavy. It's actually starting to warp my desk. That, and the monitor itself is starting to crap out.

I know that the newer flat panels have refresh rates that are more than adequate for gaming. But aside from that, I really haven't been keeping up with LCD technology, so I can't offer any real suggestions. My best advice would be to go to a site like cnet.com and read the articles about LCD's.

As an afterthought, another thing you may want to do is see what brand/type of LCD's companies like Alienware and Falcon ship with their ultra high-end gaming rigs, and see if you can purchase that monitor separately from another place for a cheaper price.

[Kuyuk]

I lift my monitor a lot. I move around constantly as well as bring my computer places. CRT is out of the question.


K.

[Celephais]

LCDs are fine for gaming, as long as you play at native resolution (99% of the time max for the LCD) and you get one with a good response time (this depends on how suspetible you are to the ghosting effect).

Dot pitch (mm) - pixel size, smaller is better (can't see the pixels)
Image brightness (cd/m2) - Brighter generally means better, especially because you can always decrease the brightness.
Image contrast Ratio (#:#) - Contrast ratio is the ratio of the darkest pixel to the lightest adjacent pixel. Higher numbers mean edges can be crisper.

Edit - Response time ms - time it takes to change one pixel... you will want under 20ms for this for gaming, although marketing stats are rarely accurate (different ways to measure it... black to white, grey to grey, etc). If you really want to do some research, check out www.tomshardware.com )

Dell has some fantastic deals if you pay attention to slickdeals.net, I suggest you get a widescreen if you can afford a nice one, not sure what kind of budget you're on... But after using a widescreen monitor I feel weird on 4:3 monitors.

I have a 19" CRT 1600x1200, and a 17" LCD 1920x1200, I prefer gaming on the LCD hands down.

[Kranar]

LCD's are perfect for gaming, I definitely prefer a flat LCD to CRT for gaming. Then again my LCD is widescreen which I find to be a lot more convenient both for games and movies.

It's not just the weight of a CRT, it's the sheer size and bulkiness, some goliath sitting on your desk taking up a crapload of space. With an LCD you're flexible to move it around not just from room to room, but can move it around on your own desk easily. If you do a lot of work on your desk it's nice to be able to quickly move your monitor around.

The LCD I have at work is sweet, basically it's wide screen, but you can rotate the screen so that it's wide vertically or horizontally and it will automatically refresh itself.

Anyhow, I definitely recommend going the LCD route.

[Numbers]

Some possibilities.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116375&ATT=24-116-375&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

I'm considering buying one of these. The BenQ is a 20", but with an 8ms, the ViewSonic is 19", but with a 2ms. After using a 21" monitor for so long, I don't know if I could tolerate dropping down to 19". But it may not make a noticeable difference, as the LCD is widescreen.

[Parkbandit]

I just got the ViewSonic Vx2025wm and couldn't be happier with it. I bid goodbye to my ViewSonic 19" monster monitor a month ago.

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/xseries/vx2025wm/

[Gan]

I've yet to notice a difference between my new LCD monitor and my old CRT monitor with regards to screen/picture quality and resolution.

I've noticed a HUGE difference in desktop real estate since dumping the old CRT goliath that was sitting on my desktop.

I cant wait to update to a larger wide view LCD with better resolution factors.

[Numbers]

I just got the ViewSonic Vx2025wm and couldn't be happier with it. I bid goodbye to my ViewSonic 19" monster monitor a month ago.

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/xseries/vx2025wm/

Do you find that there's any ghosting when you play games with an 8ms response time?

From what I've researched, an 8ms monitor is either pefectly fine, or very bad for gaming. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground in the reviews I've read.

Additionally, something I haven't been able to find out. What's the deal with "native resolution?" Right now the resolution I use on my 21" CRT is 1600x1200. Would I be able to use a resolution like this (or the widescreen equivalent) on an LCD?

[Kranar]

So unlike a CRT, an LCD is made up of a grid of well... crystals, heh. Native resolution just means how many of these crystals there are on the LCD.

Ideally, every crystal should display a single pixel, and this is also when LCDs shine in terms of quality. If your Windows display is say... twice the native resolution, then each crystal on the monitor has to squeeze in two pixels which worsens the quality.

Bottom line... if the LCD is meant to be 1600x1200, then use it on that resolution or on a lower resolution that scales properly.

[Skirmisher]

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,123857,00.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,123858,00.asp

Those are the 17" and 19" LCD reviews by PCWORLD.

We have used Dell Ultrasharps and have been extremely pleased.

[Parkbandit]

Do you find that there's any ghosting when you play games with an 8ms response time?

From what I've researched, an 8ms monitor is either pefectly fine, or very bad for gaming. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground in the reviews I've read.

Additionally, something I haven't been able to find out. What's the deal with "native resolution?" Right now the resolution I use on my 21" CRT is 1600x1200. Would I be able to use a resolution like this (or the widescreen equivalent) on an LCD?

I haven't had any issue playing any game on it. Crystal clear.