LCD Buyer's Guide

[Heartbreaker]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Slickone
I returned my Acer. I feel better now. Upset it didn't work out but better since I'd been driving myself crazy for 2 weeks trying to decide whether to return it or not. So it was a TN, which is even worse than PVA/MVA, correct?

For viewing angles and contrast, yes. Generally, TN is at the bottom, MVA/PVA are middle-high, and S-IPS is high quality.

S-IPS is definitely the best for viewing angles by a large margin. Not sure I agree for viewing angles of TN vs PVA/MVA. PVA/MVA has the worse horizontal tone shift of all the technologies IMO.

Look at this compare. The P/MVA (LG 2040 claims S-IPS but is not) washes out from the side. The TN (Samsung 204b) doesn't change much from the side. Both washout from above. TN of course is black from below (where you will likely never be). Switch the LG to the L2000C to see how well a real S-IPS does.

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?...=68&p1=752&ma2=36&mo2=101&p2=1021&ph=8

 

[t4t3r]

I'm going to go take a look at the VX20205WM at my local Office Depot this weekend. Looks like it is $400 before taxes, which is about as close as you can get for a B&M. I'd much rather have the 2-week window of returning it for any reason versus saving $50 or so by buying online and getting stuck with it if I'm unhappy.

 

[imported_Septimus]

Costco has been selling it on the cheap, much closer (or even less) than on-line. I got mine from NewEgg though.

 

[PsychoAndy]

I have a dell 2007FP that I got for a really good deal. I'm looking for a better monitor, widescreen or regular, for some gaming, using a console, and internet usage. However, the dell monitors have not only dvi/analog but also s-video and composite inputs. Are there any other monitors on the market that have these features? I looked on newegg at the latest 20" widescreens and none of them have it. Is there anyway to convert s-video or composite from a console to dvi/vga?

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: guidryp

Originally posted by: xtknight
For viewing angles and contrast, yes. Generally, TN is at the bottom, MVA/PVA are middle-high, and S-IPS is high quality.

S-IPS is definitely the best for viewing angles by a large margin. Not sure I agree for viewing angles of TN vs PVA/MVA. PVA/MVA has the worse horizontal tone shift of all the technologies IMO.

Look at this compare. The P/MVA (LG 2040 claims S-IPS but is not) washes out from the side. The TN (Samsung 204b) doesn't change much from the side. Both washout from above. TN of course is black from below (where you will likely never be). Switch the LG to the L2000C to see how well a real S-IPS does.

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?...=68&p1=752&ma2=36&mo2=101&p2=1021&ph=8

It seems with the new TNs, MVA only has an advantage at extreme side viewing angles or from the bottom, where a TN starts getting darker quickly. MVAs tend to get a yellow hue when looking at them from the side, on average slightly worse than TNs. The real and important upside of MVAs is the high contrast they offer. They have an indisputable lead over TN in that category. Also, there a lot more 8-bit MVAs (I haven't seen any 8-bit TNs and I don't suspect there will be any).

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: PsychoAndy
I have a dell 2007FP that I got for a really good deal. I'm looking for a better monitor, widescreen or regular, for some gaming, using a console, and internet usage. However, the dell monitors have not only dvi/analog but also s-video and composite inputs. Are there any other monitors on the market that have these features? I looked on newegg at the latest 20" widescreens and none of them have it. Is there anyway to convert s-video or composite from a console to dvi/vga?

The NEC 20WMGX2 has S-Video/composite inputs. I'm not sure how to go about converting them.

 

[alpha0ne]

Excellent guide, I really appreciate all the effort that has been put into this wonderful thread

 

[sokos]

yes it's a hell of a thread

Now i have a good question:
For the Netcafe (gaming) what would you recommend?
the 19" 4:3 BenQ FP91G+ or the 19" wide Viewsonic VA1912W ?

How will most games run on the Viewsonic ?

 

[mauri]

Is the ViewSonic VP930 maximum refresh rate 75Hz? I got a weird problem that has been there since I got this monitor. It was away for a while, but now it has come back.

While in desktop use, I usually get from time to time (once or twice a day) these flashes, where the image goes out for a second (total black like it was off) and then comes back.

When I first plugged in this monitor (I use DVI) I got problems runnign it at 75Hz. I got these flashes, and black horizontal, vertically rolling lines while browsing and common desktop use (And then always came the Flash, on-off-on effect). It seemed that I forgot to install the drivers at the first time, and after doing so it eliminated the 75Hz from my Windows settings (Hide frequencies the monitor can't use..). So I used the maximum settings at 70Hz and the problem went away.

But now the flashes have come back, for a week or so. For my surpise, the Windows shows the 75Hz again as a valid refresh rate. It didn't allow me to do that a month ago.

I re-installed the monitor and video drivers. monitor drivers are the ones which I got on the CD, (I couldn't find newer ones) and I'm using ATI 6.4 at the moment, but the problem is still there. I tried to drop the refresh rate at 70Hz, but the flashing doesn't seem to go away, altough It has eased a bit.

Has anyone else got these kind of problems? Other hardware has been the same for a while and hasn't been changed.

EDIT:

I finally got through ViewSonic service (or actually the local contractor which deals the warranty services) and they told me that it is most likely a bad unit. That would make this my 4th defective VP930. I'm so dissapointed and angry. I have no faith to ViewSonic anymore and I'm afraid that the exchange unit will most likely be crap like the all the four before it.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: mauri
Is the ViewSonic VP930 maximum refresh rate 75Hz? I got a weird problem that has been there since I got this monitor. It was away for a while, but now it has come back.

While in desktop use, I usually get from time to time (once or twice a day) these flashes, where the image goes out for a second (total black like it was off) and then comes back.

When I first plugged in this monitor (I use DVI) I got problems runnign it at 75Hz. I got these flashes, and black horizontal, vertically rolling lines while browsing and common desktop use (And then always came the Flash, on-off-on effect). It seemed that I forgot to install the drivers at the first time, and after doing so it eliminated the 75Hz from my Windows settings (Hide frequencies the monitor can't use..). So I used the maximum settings at 70Hz and the problem went away.

But now the flashes have come back, for a week or so. For my surpise, the Windows shows the 75Hz again as a valid refresh rate. It didn't allow me to do that a month ago.

I re-installed the monitor and video drivers. monitor drivers are the ones which I got on the CD, (I couldn't find newer ones) and I'm using ATI 6.4 at the moment, but the problem is still there. I tried to drop the refresh rate at 70Hz, but the flashing doesn't seem to go away, altough It has eased a bit.

Has anyone else got these kind of problems? Other hardware has been the same for a while and hasn't been changed.

EDIT:

I finally got through ViewSonic service (or actually the local contractor which deals the warranty services) and they told me that it is most likely a bad unit. That would make this my 4th defective VP930. I'm so dissapointed and angry. I have no faith to ViewSonic anymore and I'm afraid that the exchange unit will most likely be crap like the all the four before it.

Did you try 60hz refresh?
Hard to belive that 4 LCDs were defective...
Either you are the unluckiest anandtecher ever or something else is up... maybe your power source is bad or you vid card is really to blame. It lends to logic that something else is up.

 

[Luddite]

Here is a CNET review of the Viewsonic VX2025WM

They give it high marks all around. One user reviewer says movies look blurry.

Samduhman, how is your VX2025 looking so far? Did you decide it keep it, or take it back? How does the text look in office documents?

 

[mauri]

Originally posted by: gersson
Did you try 60hz refresh?
Hard to belive that 4 LCDs were defective...
Either you are the unluckiest anandtecher ever or something else is up... maybe your power source is bad or you vid card is really to blame. It lends to logic that something else is up.

2 of those defective VP930 were the ViewSonic contractors fault. They sent me 2 units which were DOA, and they have taken the responsibility of it.

I tried 60 Hz, but the flashing was still happening. I have tested it with 2 different power supplies (Antec TPII 550W and with TPII 480W). Voltages were steady and good (12V, 5V at and 3.3V) on both of them, but there was no change with the monitor issue. I've tested this particular VP930 unit with my current X1900XT and with my old X800XL. No change with monitor "flashing" with different cards. I've also changed cables and updated all the drivers, but the problem still exists.

I spent hours troubleshooting this thing yesterday (with the tech support of Viewsonic warranty services), and we basically wen't throught the same things that I've done earlier. He also came to conclusion that the monitor was bad.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: mauri

Originally posted by: gersson
Did you try 60hz refresh?
Hard to belive that 4 LCDs were defective...
Either you are the unluckiest anandtecher ever or something else is up... maybe your power source is bad or you vid card is really to blame. It lends to logic that something else is up.

2 of those defective VP930 were the ViewSonic contractors fault. They sent me 2 units which were DOA, and they have taken the responsibility of it.

I tried 60 Hz, but the flashing was still happening. I have tested it with 2 different power supplies (Antec TPII 550W and with TPII 480W). Voltages were steady and good (12V, 5V at and 3.3V) on both of them, but there was no change with the monitor issue. I've tested this particular VP930 unit with my current X1900XT and with my old X800XL. No change with monitor "flashing" with different cards. I've also changed cables and updated all the drivers, but the problem still exists.

I spent hours troubleshooting this thing yesterday (with the tech support of Viewsonic warranty services), and we basically wen't throught the same things that I've done earlier. He also came to conclusion that the monitor was bad.

Ouch!
Sorry buddy. So that would make you the unluckiest Anandtecher XD

 

[mauri]

Lets just hope my bad luck has been used to those four ones and the next one is good (knocks on wood)

 

[MarkShot]

Sh_t happens.

I received a NEC LCD2190UXi-BK yesterday. I hooked it up today and the DVI-D input was not working. It will be on its way back to the merchant next week and I will try another one.

My past experience with 21" CRTs often saw one or two exchanges before getting a unit with satisfactory image quality. Of course, I would expect that to be more common with large CRTs than LCDs.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

haha

yeah. I would personally go over to Nec or Samsung -- see if they want to use you to beat up on viewsonic, their major opponent.

 

[MarkShot]

Well, NEC was willing to swap it out for a brand new unit with no shipping charges for the first 30 days from date of purchase.

However, I prefer to swap with the merchant, since they offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Since I haven't really seen the display perform, I don't want to relinquish the option of just returning if I am not happy.

---

It was a dissappointment to hook it up brand new and have it not work. Then, I had to go carry it to find another machine to test it on and make sure it wasn't my desktop (previously doing analog to a CRT) and not the LCD. It certainly was much easier to carry a 25LB LCD around than an 85LB CRT. (This is another a reason why I am changing technology ... after a heart attack and surgery ... I physically cannot deal with big CRTs anymore.)

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: sokos
yes it's a hell of a thread

Now i have a good question:
For the Netcafe (gaming) what would you recommend?
the 19" 4:3 BenQ FP91G+ or the 19" wide Viewsonic VA1912W ?

How will most games run on the Viewsonic ?

I'd recommend the FP91G+ because it would most likely be more compatible with games than the widescreen. I'm not sure how the VA1912W would perform but it should be good at gaming because it's a TN.

 

[revenger]

Hi all,

first of all my compliments for this wonderful thread. many thanks to xtknight and other contributors.

i have saved enough money to ditch my 19" CRT for a nice widescreen lcd beauty. i am not a serious gamer, just grab a racing game or something once in a while. most of the time i am either coding or surfing the web, and ocassionally grabbing a movie when i'm too lazy to burn a DVD.

after reading these forums the nec 20WGX2 (no 20WMGX2 here in the netherlands) and the viewsonic VX2025wm have caught my interest. the nec's glass coating scares me and the MVA panel in the viewsonic seems average compared to AS-IPS. but i must say i like the looks of the viewsonic more than the nec. the viewsonic is not significantly cheaper here, so i am wondering which one is better for me.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: revenger
Hi all,

first of all my compliments for this wonderful thread. many thanks to xtknight and other contributors.

i have saved enough money to ditch my 19" CRT for a nice widescreen lcd beauty. i am not a serious gamer, just grab a racing game or something once in a while. most of the time i am either coding or surfing the web, and ocassionally grabbing a movie when i'm too lazy to burn a DVD.

after reading these forums the nec 20WGX2 (no 20WMGX2 here in the netherlands) and the viewsonic VX2025wm have caught my interest. the nec's glass coating scares me and the MVA panel in the viewsonic seems average compared to AS-IPS. but i must say i like the looks of the viewsonic more than the nec. the viewsonic is not significantly cheaper here, so i am wondering which one is better for me.

I'd have to say, go with the NEC 20WGX2. It's better than the ViewSonic in enough areas to be worth it (color contrast, response time, viewing angles) over aesthetic appeal.

 

[revenger]

Originally posted by: xtknight
I'd have to say, go with the NEC 20WGX2. It's better than the ViewSonic in enough areas to be worth it (color contrast, response time, viewing angles) over aesthetic appeal.

thanks for the reply. the only thing that worries me is the glossy screen. i haven't seen the nec in the shops here, just internet stores, so it's hard for me to judge whether it will be a problem.

 

[Powermoloch]

I got the 2007FP at a sweet price, am I screwed? The monitor looks beautiful when I turned it on

 

[Starbuck1975]

I am definitely sold on the NEC 20WGX2, but the cheapest I can find it for is in the mid $600...anyone find it for a steal beyond the range that comes up on pricegrabber?

Also, I can't seem to find any brick and mortar stores that carry it.

 

[Heartbreaker]

I saw some Sony's with glossy screens yesterday and I loved them. They look fantastic. Didn't really notice any glare.

 

[samduhman]

Originally posted by: Luddite
Here is a CNET review of the Viewsonic VX2025WM

They give it high marks all around. One user reviewer says movies look blurry.

Samduhman, how is your VX2025 looking so far? Did you decide it keep it, or take it back? How does the text look in office documents?

WOW! CNET actually gave an lcd I was interested in a nice review. I am impressed.

Still darn happy with it and looks like Im going to keep it. I have till Friday to make my final decision. My brother, who is even more anal than me (yes, yes it true ) when it comes to visual quality and ghosting came over and was impressed enough that he ordered the VX922. He's worried about the scaling ability (as am I) of the vx2025 with older games. I told him just go with the VX922 then. If he's not happy with the vx922 (for the amount he wants to spend) no lcd will make him happy at this time.

I had a few issues at first on getting an eye pleasing gamers setting but thats because I don't know what Im doing when it comes to lcd video settings. I haven't had to changed in a couple days so I think I finally nailed it down to where I like it. I have no complaints about text. It looks great IMHO.


My only concern left is the scaling issue. I have a Nvidia 7900GT and this lcd/videocard combo doesn't sound like it scale correctly with older games like most widescreen lcds will. It just stretches the game to fit the screen which can make some games looked warped instead of putting black bars on each side to give it the traditional 4:3 aspect ration.

Theres a huge informative thread about the vx2025 thread that can answer practically any question hardocpforums

To be totally honest if the Nec 20wmgx2 was only $100 to $150 more I'd be all over it. However we are talking about $350 vs $650+. It's a no brainer for me. I cannot justify spending practically twice as much for a widescreen gaming lcd when the vx2025 has performed above my expectations after my experience with the Samsung 215tw.