Flat panel (LCD) monitors - help please
Posted by: MichaelC on 08 July 2005
And a quick thank you to everyone who responded to my previous question about buying a pc.
I am looking at lcd screens. I ended up with a hp computer. I now want to add a flat screen - 19 inch give or take. Should I stick with hp's own screens? Or should I look to other brands, in particular Ilyama or BenQ?
Any comments will be appreciated.
I am looking at lcd screens. I ended up with a hp computer. I now want to add a flat screen - 19 inch give or take. Should I stick with hp's own screens? Or should I look to other brands, in particular Ilyama or BenQ?
Any comments will be appreciated.
Posted on: 08 July 2005 by Deane F
I take it you're not a dyed in the wool gamer if you're thinking of a flat screen?
Posted on: 08 July 2005 by Jay
There are some good LCD's for gaming Deane. Below 20ms is a must. I had a Viewsonic something or rather. Was very very nice. No gghostingg and great colour. Perfect alignment is very nice too, no fiddling with the h and v all the time. Get a decent card though...
J
J
Posted on: 08 July 2005 by MichaelC
Deane
I am hardly a "dyed in the wool" game player. Main uses will be work related (Word/Excel/Sage related), mail, web browsing, photo editing (I have to teach myself though, but I live in hope!!!).
I am hardly a "dyed in the wool" game player. Main uses will be work related (Word/Excel/Sage related), mail, web browsing, photo editing (I have to teach myself though, but I live in hope!!!).
Posted on: 08 July 2005 by Reginald Halliday
quote:Originally posted by Deane F:
I take it you're not a dyed in the wool gamer if you're thinking of a flat screen?
Deane,
I take it then that CRT screens are better for gaming than LCD? If so, why, and what are the important specs to be aware of? I ask as I'm thinking of buying a PC for my grandson who is 14 and likes games such as Riven, Myst and the like (not the 'shoot/kill' type, thank goodness). I was going to give him my 15" LCD, as I'm going up to a 19". Any guidance gratefully received.
Regards,
Reginald.
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by Robmark
Michael - not sure if you have resolved this issue yet. Sorry for the delay in replying. I recently went through the same process. Dell came up as having a great screen, and cheaper than all others as well. Hope this helps.
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by Deane F
Reginald
It's bang for the buck really. Unless footprint is a big issue you will get a much bigger screen for much less money with a CRT. If you are going to put together a good gaming computer (and the footprint of the monitor doesn't matter..) then the extra money is far better spent on a video card and a good quality motherboard, fast RAM and a fast processor. You will be able to get a 19" CRT monitor for half as much as the same size LCD - although it must be said that with a 19" CRT only 18" is viewable. The price of the latest video card (Nvidia 7800 GTX) will take the breath away (and probably cost as much as the rest of the system put together) but it will survuve just about every game released for the next three to four years. I don't know how savvy your grandson is with computers but he will appreciate a good motherboard (DO NOT get one with integrated graphics) as he will be able to do some tweaking in the bios.
When choosing the (CRT) monitor get a "real flat" screen and make sure that the refresh rate is around 100Hz at 1024x768.
Search on Tom's Hardware Guide to get an idea of how well the various bits and pieces perform against one another on benchmarking tests.
It's bang for the buck really. Unless footprint is a big issue you will get a much bigger screen for much less money with a CRT. If you are going to put together a good gaming computer (and the footprint of the monitor doesn't matter..) then the extra money is far better spent on a video card and a good quality motherboard, fast RAM and a fast processor. You will be able to get a 19" CRT monitor for half as much as the same size LCD - although it must be said that with a 19" CRT only 18" is viewable. The price of the latest video card (Nvidia 7800 GTX) will take the breath away (and probably cost as much as the rest of the system put together) but it will survuve just about every game released for the next three to four years. I don't know how savvy your grandson is with computers but he will appreciate a good motherboard (DO NOT get one with integrated graphics) as he will be able to do some tweaking in the bios.
When choosing the (CRT) monitor get a "real flat" screen and make sure that the refresh rate is around 100Hz at 1024x768.
Search on Tom's Hardware Guide to get an idea of how well the various bits and pieces perform against one another on benchmarking tests.
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by Deane F
Oh, and forget AGP for graphics and get a PCI-E motherboard. If you get a 7800 GTX video card you will have to anyway.
And if money is no object you could get a dual PCI-E motherboard and *two* SLI capable PCI-E video cards and interlace them. You'll need a good quality power supply for that - the wattage is not as important as the amperage on the 12v rail. Get a name brand PSU like Enermax.
And get SATA hard drives.
If money is no object you can stripe two on a RAID setup which will be exactly twice as fast as a single drive.
And so it goes...
And if money is no object you could get a dual PCI-E motherboard and *two* SLI capable PCI-E video cards and interlace them. You'll need a good quality power supply for that - the wattage is not as important as the amperage on the 12v rail. Get a name brand PSU like Enermax.
And get SATA hard drives.
If money is no object you can stripe two on a RAID setup which will be exactly twice as fast as a single drive.
And so it goes...
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by Reginald Halliday
Deane,
Many thanks for your comprehensive replies. Space won't be a problem so I think the CRT+better bits route is what I shall take.
Regards,
Reginald.
Many thanks for your comprehensive replies. Space won't be a problem so I think the CRT+better bits route is what I shall take.
Regards,
Reginald.
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by bazz
quote:you can stripe two on a RAID setup which will be exactly twice as fast as a single drive
In practice a striped (RAID 0) set is about 50% faster than a single drive. Still worthwhile if you do data-intensive work, especially considering that drives are relatively cheap and most SATA enabled motherboards offer RAID capability for free with built in Silicon Logic or similar controller.
Posted on: 09 July 2005 by garyi
LG d some nice screens as do Sony and Dell.
The apple 20 inch is a bit more money, but at £549 you get a superb screen with twin fire wire and USB.
As for gaming, well for me it is totally stunning on a 23inch LCD monitor, I am aware of no issues.
The apple 20 inch is a bit more money, but at £549 you get a superb screen with twin fire wire and USB.
As for gaming, well for me it is totally stunning on a 23inch LCD monitor, I am aware of no issues.
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by bazz
Viewsonic VP191b. Possibly the best 19" LCD display around.
Bright and very sharp image, excellent detail and colour gradation, 8ms response time and looks great on the desktop to boot. I wouldn't be faffing around with CRT.
Bright and very sharp image, excellent detail and colour gradation, 8ms response time and looks great on the desktop to boot. I wouldn't be faffing around with CRT.
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by Paul Hutchings
According to a lot of the Mac forums the Dell is the same panel as the Apple Cinema Display as are the similar HP models. Having seen both at work, I have to say I prefer the Apple for sheer style, the Dell is basically a TFT with a bunch of tacky plastic around it.
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by garyi
I remember someone here mentioning that the panels come from LG for dell and apple.
Of course it dosn't end there, its how they are driven as well. I am still confused as to what issues LCDs have for gaming?
Of course it dosn't end there, its how they are driven as well. I am still confused as to what issues LCDs have for gaming?
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by MichaelC
Thanks for the replies - having asked the question there is something completely different on it's way. A 19" ilyama. Should arrive tomorrow or Wednesday.
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by Deane F
quote:Originally posted by garyi:
I am still confused as to what issues LCDs have for gaming?
12ms on a LCD is equivalent to 83.3hz refresh rate on a CRT. 8ms (Viewsonic VP191b) sounds good - but in New Zealand costs $900. For $360 a 19" flat CRT can be had - although admittedly on 18" viewable.
So I guess if one is prepared to pay the money there are no issues with anything in computing.
Posted on: 11 July 2005 by Top Cat
I cheaped out and bought two Dell 2001FP 20.1" flat panels. No regrets at all. In terms of general use, they're *very* bright, can deliver all the shades of gray in the test images that someone will no doubt point you to, and aside from not being as pretty as the Apple monitors, they're visually just as good to my eyes.
What's more, you get a pivot capability and extra inputs (DVI, VGA, SVHS and something else) whereas on the Apple you get DVI only. Dell's DVI compatibility is a bit ropey, however - my 6800 Ultra is susceptible to 'display blanking' if I drive both displays via DVI, so I keep one at DVI and one with a DVI->VGA adaptor. Sacrifices a tiny little bit of quality (noticeable only when looking hard for it) but at least the blanking is gone.
John
What's more, you get a pivot capability and extra inputs (DVI, VGA, SVHS and something else) whereas on the Apple you get DVI only. Dell's DVI compatibility is a bit ropey, however - my 6800 Ultra is susceptible to 'display blanking' if I drive both displays via DVI, so I keep one at DVI and one with a DVI->VGA adaptor. Sacrifices a tiny little bit of quality (noticeable only when looking hard for it) but at least the blanking is gone.
John
Posted on: 12 July 2005 by Nime
There is a nice light to images on LCD compared with the same size CRT. A bit like photographic slides or backlit stained glass or sunlit scandinavian glass.
Take up much less room, are easy on the eyes for hours on end and they don't add to the heat of summer in an over-warm office.
I have just discovered that storm flies can get behind the front screen surface. Though I'm not about to squash them. They can hopefully find their own way out.
Take up much less room, are easy on the eyes for hours on end and they don't add to the heat of summer in an over-warm office.
I have just discovered that storm flies can get behind the front screen surface. Though I'm not about to squash them. They can hopefully find their own way out.