Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello everyone!

It's some time since my last visit, during which members of the forum helped me decide on an LG-L203WT (20.1", I believe). While on my last visit to Best Buy, I spotted a nice Acer, 24", I think, 2ms response time and a 5000 to 1 contrast ratio (I could be wrong about the specs, but this is what I remember). While it was a beauty screen, I wondered if there was much point in upgrading from a 20 to a 24" display?

Two screens might be nice, but my current LG has a wide bezel, while the new units do not and so it would be hard to match them, unless I found one used.

So, my question here is: what's currently the most practical size of widescreen display and what are the hot performers?

thanks,

John

Are you talking about for gaming purposes? If so, going any higher res at all would put quite a strain on that old rig. Most 24" are 1920x1200. I have better spec than you but only use 1024x768 to 1200x1900 res for the most part, the former on most current games that have a lot of graphical complexity.

That is one tradeoff of higher native resolutions, it means more pixels requiring faster hardware for gaming.

Yes, it's worth it.

Unless you only use it for simple things like surfing and emails. If you watch media or game, then YES, it's worth it.

I use a second screen, and use it all the time. As you can see in my sig, it doesn't comes close to matching my primary (other than res). You can always keep the 20" for primary and slap your new 24" on a wall-arm and slam a couch behind your computer chair. ...like me!

But if i were to grab a sub-$400 24", i'd get an Acer. Dell, NEC, Samsung, LG, BenQ, all make - or put their anme on - get displays. Budget is the deciding factor.

And practical size is whatever you can fit through your doorway. If it's too large, move back.


oh and it's one step closer to triple-head.

Abram and Frag Maniac,

thanks for your reponses.

Yes, I like the idea of keeping the 20" and buying another. Is it possible to run two screens, simultaneously, in different resolutions?

I mostly use mine for e-mails, surfing, vids (you-tube and the news) and a simulator.

Are there any particular displays that stand out for performance and quality? I assume the two are not necessarily congruent, meaning, a gaming display may not provide the best image quality, otherwise? Is this so?

Is there any particular size with a native res that makes that size most practical?

Any and all information appreciated.

thanks,

John

Are there any particular displays that stand out for performance and quality? I assume the two are not necessarily congruent, meaning, a gaming display may not provide the best image quality, otherwise? Is this so?

If what you mean by gaming display is one with the fastest response time, then yes, there will be tradeoffs for other uses like photo work, video editing, movie watching, etc. Anything where you display real life images, a fast response TN panel with 6 bit color depth is going to fall short of the task.

TN panels don't actually have a 16 million color palette like the advertising would lead you to believe. They have to dither (pixel blend) to synthesize many of the colors, whereas 8 bit panels don't, being capable of a full 16 million separate colors. The result is color smearing and noticeably inaccurate colors on faces in real life movies, videos, etc.

You should probably look for at least a PVA type display, and even those can exhibit color shifting at wide angles of view. It is only the high grade IPS panels that don't have these problems, they're the closest thing to CRT in an LCD. The problem is you can only get limited sizes in IPS and they are fairly expensive.

In the UK there is the Hazro brand that makes a 24" IPS. They're the only ones I know of making one that small. Elsewhere you can get a DoubleSight 26" IPS, and they are down to $600 now. I have the chance to buy one for $500 by the end of Feb because I registered for their newsletter/contest before they had a raffle for that display.

I must say it's quite tempting, though I don't plan to build my next system until the end of the year and I was hoping someone would make a 16:9 IPS.

Frag Maniac,

thanks for the detailed explanation. Yes, I was asking about trade-offs, as the panel I was looking at has a 2ms (claimed) response time.

I've had this display for three years and still love it, but change is always nice.

I'll look to see what IPS panels are available locally (I don't recognize any of those brand names) before I make a decision. Perhaps it's best to be patient, wait and see.

I, too, would like to build another rig, but this one still satisfies, for the most part.

Again, thanks for responding and for the information!

John

Frag Maniac,

thanks for the detailed explanation. Yes, I was asking about trade-offs, as the panel I was looking at has a 2ms (claimed) response time.

I've had this display for three years and still love it, but change is always nice.

I'll look to see what IPS panels are available locally (I don't recognize any of those brand names) before I make a decision. Perhaps it's best to be patient, wait and see.

I, too, would like to build another rig, but this one still satisfies, for the most part.

Again, thanks for responding and for the information!

John

You're very welcome John. I should mention as well that though 2ms is considered by many to be a must have for gaming, there are many 5ms displays (the DS-265W included) that are plenty fast enough for gaming. Keep that in mind should you plan to upgrade or rebuild with high end gaming in mind. An LCD crystal takes on average 8ms to refresh on a 60Hz monitor, and as well the DS-265W has less then 1 frame of input lag. Many consider it to be the best all around display.

Yes, I like the idea of keeping the 20" and buying another. Is it possible to run two screens, simultaneously, in different resolutions?

You can run them at different resolutions, yes. But if you want to run two full-screen programs, like a game and a DVD, then you'll need matching resoluion and refresh rates. That's on XP. Vista may be able to, but i doubt it.

You can even line up the pixels to match you real-world dispaly layout. I have my second at top-right of my primary so i can stuill use screen-edge features like niddentaskbar and opera sidebar.

Oh and other plus with Acer is that they all have VESA mounting, which is the gfour screen holes at the back for wall and arm mounts.

Frag Maniac and Abram,

thank you both for your responses. I'll have to do some window (display) shopping before I decide on a model. FM, the model you suggest is not common in this area, although I see they are available in N. America.

From all the manufacturers I've researched, none reveal the type of panel used, except when it's a TN. From one review of the Acer I read, they said the manufacturers have found a way to tweak the performance of a TN. As my sim is like the most demanding of a display and since I spend likely less than an hour a day doing that, I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off with a display that provides the best quality of image (especially as my eyesight is weakening)? While I'm sure the one you recommend, FM, might be ideal, if they're not available locally, I'm somewhat disinclined to purchase from a afar.

We will see.

Again, thank you both.

John

I wouldn't believe all the hype about claims of boosting the performance of a TN, be it color palette, color quality or contrast. The only thing they are really "better" at is response time, and even there it's not going to be noticeable as I implied above since the crystals refresh much slower than 2ms. Where they do tweak such things, such as contrast, you end up with severe tradeoffs, like even worse color accuracy.

I only mentioned IPS panels because that particular model can be had at a great price right now and to cover the range of panel types, mentioning the differences of each. You might be just fine with a 24" PVA, especially if you plan to view it primarily on center.

I agree that sourcing such a significant purchase from afar is not necessarily a good idea. Unfortunately however, I don't know what your area has to offer. I do know though that many in Canada use ncix.com or newegg.ca.

BTW, here's a handy site that lists what panel type the displays use, along with other handy specs.
http://prad.de/en/guide/vergleich_auswahl.html

Hope that helps, good luck, and keep us informed if you narrow it down further. :wink:

i used shopbot.ca to find a low price and forced futureshop (Though they certainly resisted) into matching it saved a LOT of money.

FM, thanks for the suggestion. Yes, a lot of hype in this product category.

There are so many to choose from that it's a little overwhelming. I noticed that once you breech the 24" size, the price escallates exponentially.

Thanks for the links. I'll check both sites. There's always Tigerdirect, but they seem to carry the bottom end of the market.

Thanks for that particular link; it's very useful, although it almost confuses things even more! lol There's also the question of my rig. I have a 7600GT SuperOverclock, which seems to work pretty well, but, at this point, the cpu is the bottleneck.

Again, thank you both!

John

There's also the question of my rig. I have a 7600GT SuperOverclock, which seems to work pretty well, but, at this point, the cpu is the bottleneck.

Ah ha, I was going by the spec in your sig. Perhaps it's time you updated that too. :wink:

"Asus A7N8X-DX, AMD3200+ @ 2.3 ghrz, 1 gig pc3200, ATI 9600 Pro, Western Digital Raptor 36 gig HD, Sony DVD player, Thermaltake XIII case, LG Flatron 20.1", L203WT and 17" Mag Innovision CRT, with Trinitron Tube."

FM,

It would be nice to build a new rig, but I cringe at the thought of having to reload all that software. Nor, I think, do I have the patience to go through another computer build. Yet, at the same time, driving a larger or two displays may exacerbate the situation (already hiccups when I max out the video quality settings). Maybe it's best I wait until I'm forced to make a change.

In all my research, I came across this web site, which is also helpful:

http://www.prad.de:80/en/index.html

Dell makes a very nice 27", the 2709, which, when on sale, is under $600 cnd. Unfortunately, it's not on sale! :cry:

Thanks for your help and guidance.

John

p.s. I also now have two 74gig raptors in a raid array and have two 1gig sticks of quality ram (but couldn't push it past 2.3ghz). I see they now have electronic (non mechanical) hard drives, but I'm not sure how they perform.

It would be nice to build a new rig...
In all my research, I came across this web site, which is also helpful:

http://www.prad.de:80/en/index.html

LOL, I was referring to "upgrading" your signature. It still says ATI 9600 Pro yet you say you have a 7600GT SuperOverclock.

Also, that is the same site I linked you to above, no need to do all that "research".

A lot of info on that site, but when i looked up my displays, there were 5 incorrect specs between the two.. nothign big, but it goes to show that you can't trust anyone too much.

Still bookmarked it, though.

Some of those specs are hard to find, so it's understandable that they occasionally get some wrong. For the most part they are accurate with them. It's more an anomaly than the norm to see that many specs being off on the two displays a person happens to check specs on.

FM,

dah ... I'm always confused! Update complete. Still, a new rig might be nice, but I can't justify it, haven't the patience or time.

There sure are a lof of panels to choose from.

Again, thanks for all.

John

Abram and FM,

I've been reading through the lists. The ISP panels are considerably more money and that's if you can find one, at all. BB and FS, all their displays are TN panels. Also, while some say the glossy panels work better, I have a window directly behind me.

I called LG to ask if their S-ISP display would become available in N. America and have yet to hear from them (said they would give a return call, two hours ago).

The 27" Dell, that's the bargain, has its share of weaknesses, not to mention the $1,000 price tag. Every ISP I found was over a $1,000, in the 26" and up, range. Maybe I'm being too fussy or I should just be satisfied with what I already have.

Thanks,

John

IMO you can never be too fussy about a display. Room lighting makes a huge difference too, and getting it via a window behind you is not exactly ideal. Consider rearranging furniture if you can or looking at anti glare screen options.

The Dells aren't bad, but be wary of certain models with significant input lag problems. Lately there's a lot of complaints about that. There was supposedly revisions coming on certain models having this problem, but it's still a bit dicey.

BenQ is a pretty good brand that makes PVA monitors if you can't find an LG. Also Samsung has some good displays, including some PVAs. Some older Acers, if you can find one, are PVA type and have pretty good color accuracy out of the box for a low priced display. They are definitely a no frills brand with cheap stands and such though.