How do you shop online for an LCD?

pATCheS · Post by **pATCheS** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 3:59 pm

I need to buy two 17\" LCDs for under $200 each. One is for gaming, the other for general use. Longevity is important for both. The gaming one needs to have a good response time, no weird scanning artifacts, good black level, etc. How the hell do you search for a product at such a detailed level? You only get a few specs and you're expected to just pick one and get lucky. I'm not one to roll the dice when spending my money, so I'd like some input on your various LCD experiences. I'm open to 19\" and I can change the financial allocation by about $100 for the gaming one.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:30 pm

To be honest, I've always had great luck with Dell. Over 50 machines with LCDs, none have had dead pixels. If you do wind up with a dead pixel, Dell is more likely to take it back and replace it for you than other retailers.

Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:59 pm

It might help to go to a store like Best Buy and play around with different models. Also, go to newegg.com and read the user reviews, since a lot of Newegg customers are gamers. I prefer to buy things like that locally, since one dead pixel can ruin your day.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:16 am

A gaming lcd for under 200? I doubt it will be worth it.

edit: $300 would be ok. Go to online sites like Newegg and check out the specs, then go to the local stores and find them.

Scorch · Post by **Scorch** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:09 pm

I love my Dell 1704FPT. No ghosting that I can see, very vibrant, no dead pixels and my formerly beloved Viewsonic CRT looked like complete and total garbage next to it.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:21 pm

My Samsung SyncMaster 204b is rather nice for windows and video, but being a 20\" it is obviously not in the 19\" price range and I don't know how well it games.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:59 pm

Dell monitors are made by Sony...

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:00 pm

Uh... tell that to my Phillips-made Dell monitor.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:01 pm

Oh, then they switched recently. They were all Sony before.

Phillips makes a decent monitor?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:50 pm

Yes indeed. Obviously color ratios could be better (as could all LCD's under $400) but I'm not complaining. Plus, it was free.

pATCheS · Post by **pATCheS** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:00 am

Yeah I know, Testi, but keep in mind that I've had decent luck with my 12ms Hyundai L70S. The only things I don't like about it are the alternate-pixel scanning that you can see sometimes and the response time. Black level could be better, too, but it's over a year and a half old now.

*sigh* So many LCDs to choose from... Guess I'll go look at Dell's offering.

pATCheS · Post by **pATCheS** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:14 am

How's this look? Anyone have any experience with it? THG gave it the thumbs up for gaming earlier this year, but its brightness variation was somewhat large and they said it washed out bright colors in movies.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:44 pm

wouldn't that depend on your vid card and media player?

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:10 pm

12ms is garbage..at least, nowadays. I have an 8ms and I see ghosting.

Wow, that VS has 2ms. the specs look pretty good. I'm still dead-against LCD for gaming. I can't play D3 because I'm on an LCD, the 60hz stutter makes me sick in 5 minutes.

pATCheS · Post by **pATCheS** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:07 am

I can see ghosting on an 8ms. I almost can't on a good 4ms. And this one is 2ms... I imagine I'll be quite pleased in at least that department.

Virtually all decent LCDs support refresh rates up to 75Hz. Still probably not enough for you, you sound pretty picky. I personally prefer the continuous image that an LCD provides.

Duper, there's a lot of factors that go into the apparent quality of a video. The LCD is the biggest factor. The quality of the video card's output pretty much just means you won't get ghosting on the right side of sharply different pixels (though with DVI, that's alleviated). Media player, not likely, but codecs for sure (postprocessing and such).

I don't suppose there's anyone here who actually has that monitor..?

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:43 am

I notice no ghosting using DVI

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:43 am

My eyes are very sensitive to the frequency. 60hz kills me. I can barely handle flourescent lights. 75hz would be OK, but I don't think mine does that. Maybe if I got a DVI cable, but I'm running through a KVM, and can't for the moment.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:01 am

LCDs, even running at 60 Hz, don't flicker at all. In order to see a LCD flicker, the backlight would have to flicker and they don't.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:48 am

Not flicker, sorry, bad word. The 60hz framerate in games gives me the same framerate stutter as a CRT@60hz. I can't play any games on it. If I put D3 on an LCD, and next to it, on a CRT, I get sick from the LCD, but I'm fine on the CRT@100 or whatnot.