LCD Buyer's Guide

[noname4498]

I can notice the blocks on my 997df CRT, they are just really hard to see (blured together), and it has a .20 dot pitch, I am done with CRT's, they give me bad headaches, even at 120hz I can still see it flickering.

 

[Mephibosheth]

Originally posted by: noname4498
I can notice the blocks on my 997df CRT, they are just really hard to see (blured together), and it has a .20 dot pitch, I am done with CRT's, they give me bad headaches, even at 120hz I can still see it flickering.

I have to agree...LCD is much easier on the eyes (not to mention the desk)!

Meph

 

[redfoot12]

I only looked at the first post so excuse me if this was answered earlier in the thread...
Anyone know of a good 20" monitor for gaming (other than the Dell models)?
Thanks!

 

[Scorpion]

Well guys, after much delay, and taking 2 weeks to get my monitor from Dell since it was backordered, I'm here to give my thoughts on the ViewSonic VP2030b 20.1" LCD Monitor. This is my first LCD monitor to own.

VP2030b Quick Specs:
Type: 20.1" TFT MVA
Pixel Pitch: 0.255 mm
Optimum Resolution: 1600x1200
Color: True 8-bit (16.7 million colors)
Image Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Response Time: 8ms (grey-to-grey), 16ms (off-on-off)
Connectors: VGA, DVI-I, 4xUSB

First off, No dead Pixels. (Yah!)
The colors are amazing! Very vivid and vibrant. This thing comes very bright right out of the box. Right now I have my Contrast at 70 and my Brightness usually between 50-70.

Installation was a cinch. The stand is very nice, the monitor slides up and down with ease and stays in place very well. The cable clips on the back of the stand were somewhat hard to deal with after trying to lock 4 cables down. Definatly feels something that will possibly break later on if messed with frequently. The OSD controls are very easy to use and nice to work with. Installing the Color Profile was very easy.

Then came the PerfectSuite software. Installation off the CD was no problem. The program was fine to deal with intially. It tells you how to calibrate contrast, brightness, color, etc etc and gives you options to use other features such as Theft Lock which I don't use. This was fine until I plugged the computer into the network and then for some reason the only option it would give me was to update, which I did but with some slight pains. To get the update they request your info and email. I gave them bogus information and was then allowed to download the update. Even after I installed the update it still would not let me access any of the other tabs other than the update tab. I had a few display issues of only going into DVI-A mode until reboots, but it seems that worked itself out. Then the Perfect Suite software began letting me access the other features. It was probably just due to a loose cable.

I'm not using the newest setup with this monitor. My Video card is just a GeForce4 Ti4600. I'll be upgrading soon and then I'll really get to push this thing. Games look very good though. The overall image quality of games looks amazingly better than my previous CRT. The motion took me a bit to get used to. This could be due to a lot of factors not related to the monitor. I moved while getting this and had not even played a game in over a month. I might have just need a few days to get adjusted to the screen again. I do not notice any ghosting during gaming. I get low framerates (~20-30) with my current setup anyways. So I do not get the smoothest picture. I'll have to wait for my next card to really see if the response time is noticeable.

Video looks very smooth. I popped in The Matrix DVD and did not notice any video lag, blurring, tearing, or ghosting. The blacks were very black and the colors were great.

Now I had heard and seen all of the tragedy with the VP930s backlight bleeding. Some of the pictures I had seen I could visible see an X through the whole screen. My VP2030b does suffer from some corner bleeding that is only noticeable on a black screen. The bleeding is not nearly as terrible as what I've seen with the VP930. The bleeding is light and difuses very quickly from the corners and does not propagate to the center of the screen. There is no visible X, just some faint "smudges" in the corners.

That's my review for now. I definatly recommend this monitor unless you're higly sensative to response time or slight corner backlight bleeding. I'm totally satisfied with my purchase. I got mine for $600 from Dell and despite the delay in shipping due to being on back order, I'm happy with the quality I got for my $. I love this thing to peices.

Sorry for the brevity of the review. I'm currently in the computer lab and in dire need of food!

 

[redfoot12]

Scorpion might have my answer...

 

[darXoul]

Thanks for the review, man!

I've been waiting for this, and it looks good. If I drop the idea of getting the pricy Samsung 244t widescreen, the VP2030b will be for sure my monitor of choice.

 

[Compellor]

Originally posted by: Scorpion
Now I had heard and seen all of the tragedy with the VP930s backlight bleeding. Some of the pictures I had seen I could visible see an X through the whole screen. My VP2030b does suffer from some corner bleeding that is only noticeable on a black screen. The bleeding is not nearly as terrible as what I've seen with the VP930. The bleeding is light and difuses very quickly from the corners and does not propagate to the center of the screen. There is no visible X, just some faint "smudges" in the corners.

That's how it looks on my VP930b. I think people that took pictures of their VP930b probably had the brightness at max. Once you get the brightness down to a usable level the "X" issue is really a non-issue because the bleeding onlyshow up in the corners. In my case I can only notice it in the top corners and it's very faint.

 

[dman918]

Do you recommend using the default color profile from within the nvidia panel, or would you use another one (such as the one found on the viewsonic cd)? BTW, VX924 here.
Thanks!

 

[marshallb]

Man, I can't decide between the Samsung 17" 740B or the Rosewill 19" R912E for only about $30 more(newegg). They are both 8ms and max at 1280x1024 which fits my needs for gaming. I'm kind of leaning towards the Rosewill because of the extra size, but I want to make sure that I'm getting a great quality LCD. Can someone tell me if the difference between a 19" and a 17" is noticeable?

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: marshallb
Man, I can't decide between the Samsung 17" 740B or the Rosewill 19" R912E for only about $30 more(newegg). They are both 8ms and max at 1280x1024 which fits my needs for gaming. I'm kind of leaning towards the Rosewill because of the extra size, but I want to make sure that I'm getting a great quality LCD. Can someone tell me if the difference between a 19" and a 17" is noticeable?

I say go for the 740B, it's probably of higher quality and also probably faster.

 

[prayforMOJO]

I'm trying to find a 17" 8bpp monitor that's usable for gaming. I play a variety of games but mostly FPS, RTS, and RPG. I've browsed through the thread but it seems that all the 17" recommendations are 6bpp, so maybe such a monitor doesn't exist, but I'd like it if one did.

The reason I want a 17" is that it runs the same resolution as a 19" but has a smaller dot pitch, so it'll actually look better. I'm a bit spoiled in that regard because I've recently been using a laptop that runs 1680x1050 on a 15.4" diagonal, so it's very fine dot pitch. Being slightly physically larger doesn't really entice me. And if I'm not getting a higher resolution, why pay more for the bigger monitor?

Then there's the question of whether it's worth going from a 17" 1280x1024 for ~$300 to a 20" 1600x1200 for ~$500. I was considering the Dell 2001FP and the Samsung 204T as 20" options, and both can be had for ~$500 (not sure where to look for the supposed coupons for the dell monitor though).

And finally is the question of whether faster response times are worth the reduction in quality. It seems from what I've read that advertised and actual response times can be vastly different, and that the difference between a "slower" 8bpp panel and a "fast" 6bpp can be a lot less than the marketing specs make you think. It seems like a complicated balance between cost, response time, and color gamut. Help is appreciated.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: prayforMOJO
I'm trying to find a 17" 8bpp monitor that's usable for gaming. I play a variety of games but mostly FPS, RTS, and RPG. I've browsed through the thread but it seems that all the 17" recommendations are 6bpp, so maybe such a monitor doesn't exist, but I'd like it if one did.

The reason I want a 17" is that it runs the same resolution as a 19" but has a smaller dot pitch, so it'll actually look better. I'm a bit spoiled in that regard because I've recently been using a laptop that runs 1680x1050 on a 15.4" diagonal, so it's very fine dot pitch. Being slightly physically larger doesn't really entice me. And if I'm not getting a higher resolution, why pay more for the bigger monitor?

Then there's the question of whether it's worth going from a 17" 1280x1024 for ~$300 to a 20" 1600x1200 for ~$500. I was considering the Dell 2001FP and the Samsung 204T as 20" options, and both can be had for ~$500 (not sure where to look for the supposed coupons for the dell monitor though).

And finally is the question of whether faster response times are worth the reduction in quality. It seems from what I've read that advertised and actual response times can be vastly different, and that the difference between a "slower" 8bpp panel and a "fast" 6bpp can be a lot less than the marketing specs make you think. It seems like a complicated balance between cost, response time, and color gamut. Help is appreciated.

The Samsung 770P will fit your needs perfectly, but it is not available in the US. I was in the exact same predicament, and the 770P still hasn't showed up in the US, so I had to jump on a 8-bit 19"er. (If the 770P's available in your country, consider yourself lucky and get it immediately. )

(Note they are actually 24bpp (bits per pixel) monitors but 8 bits per subpixel.)

Unfortunately, you will pay a premium, but there are fast 8-bit monitors (via an overvoltage technique). They are close to as fast as the fastest 6-bit ones by now, but still have a little ways to go. Lower response times doesn't have to mean lower quality if you go with the overvoltaged 8-bit monitors. For 6-bit ones, yes, the color gamut will be reduced.

Yup, my guide takes into account the advertised vs. 'in reality' numbers. Believe me, if there was a 17" 8-bit LCD with lightning-fast response time, I'd be all over it too.

I have to say, give the VP2030b a shot if you want a fast 8-bit 20"er. Scorpion loves his (couple posts ago).

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: dman918
Do you recommend using the default color profile from within the nvidia panel, or would you use another one (such as the one found on the viewsonic cd)? BTW, VX924 here.
Thanks!

Personally the VP930b profile is too dark for me so I just use gamma=0.75. But generally the ICC profiles are what you're supposed to use.

 

[prayforMOJO]

unfortunately I'm in the US, and every website result I could find for the 770P was in the $650-700 range, for which price I may as well get a 20". I wonder why they decided not to sell that monitor in the US....

It also makes you wonder why 19" monitors are the new thing, when they actually offer a decreased visual quality from 17". I guess that a lot of people think that bigger is better regardless of whether or not it actually is.

any others besides the 770P that would be acceptable?

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: prayforMOJO
any others besides the 770P that would be acceptable?

Not that I know of. Sorry.

 

[pcsavvy]

Hi all,

I have been skimming through the replies after reading the quide. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on how well a LCD vs a CRT does with video. I like watching Japanese anime on my computer and I currently have a Viewsonic 17 in flat screen crt. It's about 5 years old and I know it's reaching the end of its suspected lifespan. I read with great interest all the specs and etc. It's confusing I am not sure if I should go with a 17 in or 19 in LCD or buy a once high priced 19 in CRT real cheap.
Or should I just wait till my CRT blows a gasket and then buy.

 

[Michael]

prayforMOJO,

Since the resolution of a 17" and a 19" LCD monitor is the same, it is obvious that the "dot pitch" would be larger for a 19" monitor. That actually is not bad in many cases. I have 17" and 19" monitors at home and I prefer the 19" at the normal distance I sit a monitor coupled with my eye sight. It mostly comes down to individual preference. If you find the 17" is fine, then you'll certainly save money.

Michael

 

[speedlever]

Scanning through the Samsung site, I came across some interesting information (at least, to me).

http://tinyurl.com/aa4v4

Says here: "The life expectancy of the backlights on LCD TFT monitors is 20,000 hours with 90% confidence."

The interesting thing to me is that the unit has a 3 year warranty. Now it's time for some math:
20,000/24 = 833.33 days
833.33/365 = 2.28 years.

I've been used to leaving my equipment on 24/7 behind a quality UPS. Now I'm wondering if I should turn off the monitor every time I finish using it... or maybe at the end of the day.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[xtknight]

Yeah, definitely turn off your monitor when you're not using it. When the monitor is off or it's in stand-by mode, the backlight is not used so that's not a problem. It will automatically go into standby mode after no use, if you didn't change Windows's settings. Screensavers still don't help LCDs, because the backlight is still on.

 

[speedlever]

Well, the easy thing to do is change Window's settings to turn the monitor off after some period of non-use. Thanks for clarifying. I had no idea this was so limiting.

 

[xtknight]

Well I mean, they really don't expect you to be using your monitor 24/7. CRTs will continue to degrade too unless they are properly treated by screensavers or turning them off (best).

 

[speedlever]

This is interesting. My main PC running XP/home/sp2 and the 970P will allow me to change monitor power settings on any user account.

The secondary PC running XP/pro/sp2 and the VA721 will not allow me to change monitor power settings on anything but the primary account. I have 3 other user accounts defined as limited users. So I changed them all to administrators and still get the error msg saying "Power Policy Manager unable to set policy." (indicates two revision levels are incompatible... according to KB Q302713 on the MS support site.) I have no idea what this means.

 

[xtknight]

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/47716/47716.html

Go that site, download the zip, extract the zip, rename the extracted .txt to a .reg extension, and then merge it with the registry (on the secondary PC).

Edit: actually I found an article on it.

 

[speedlever]

Thanks for the info.

My initial attempts included changing all users to administrators, but that didn't make any difference.

After getting your msg above, I d/l the file, unzipped it, changed the extension and imported it to the registry. I then rebooted the computer.

At this point my account was admin and the other three were limited users. I went to the first limited user and again got the msg about Power Policy Managment. So I logged off that account and went back to my admin account, changed the user to admin... went back to that user account and was THEN able to change the power settings.

I then changed the other accounts to admin, went in and changed the power settings and upon completion, reset them all back to limited users.

What a pain in the butt!. It's taken me an hour or more to do all that on that old slow PII/400 Mhz box!

Now the question is this: if all users are signed off, what power settings apply to the sign-on screen?

 

[xtknight]

Not sure about the sign-on screen. I recommend you/whoever else just turn it off if you get to the sign-on screen. I'm pretty sure the monitor has in-built standby things as well though.