LCD for gaming yet?

[silentScope]

Hi, I'm so eager to get one of those cool new LCD's but I'm a hardcore online gamer (mostly play BF1942) and I was wondering where the LCDs now a days are at. ie. Are they any good for games yet ? I've heard over the years that they aren't too good for gaming so I never bothered purchasing one. The ones now, would they look fine for a game like Battlefield 1942?

Thanks in advance for replies!

 

[BeauJangles]

I have a Hitachi CLM174, 16ms response time. It plays BF like a dream

 

[Vich]

I have the same monitor as Blinder. Its great i havent seen any sign of ghosting or anything of the sort!!:sun:

 

[Megatomic]

I was just window shopping at Best Buy and CompUSA today and I discovered something tragic about LCDs... Many of them are not capable of accepting DVI input. I'd say that easily 9 out of 10 of the LCDs that I saw had only DB15 connectors. What is the deal? Why are they not manufactured to take DVI input this late in the game???

 

[4x4expy]

I have an NEC 1860nx. It is 18.1inch and 30ms response time. It plays BF1942 very nice and crisp without the ghosting that my friend's 2yr old viewsonic 17inch does. It is only a 30ms response time, but I don't feel that I'm losing any perfromance from it. The monitor cost me $480 shipped. The 1760nx is an inch smaller, 16ms response time, and costs $100 less. I think it is one of the big bargains of LCD monitors right now.

 

[AngryKid]

We have a Sony SDM-V72W at work and it seems to keep up pretty well.

 

[4x4expy]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
I was just window shopping at Best Buy and CompUSA today and I discovered something tragic about LCDs... Many of them are not capable of accepting DVI input. I'd say that easily 9 out of 10 of the LCDs that I saw had only DB15 connectors. What is the deal? Why are they not manufactured to take DVI input this late in the game???

Tragic? I agree that the manufacturers are cheating themselves, but is there a big difference? I have connected mine on both inputs and didn't really see much difference. Currently I am using the db15 input, because I have yet to come across a KVM with DVI in/out.

 

[Megatomic]

There is a benefit to using DVI but you have to have a video source as good as the display to see it. I have an ATI Radeon 9800 and it has DVI out. I have heard that the image from this card (and it's brethren) on quality LCDs when using DVI is incredible. I just want to go with the best when I spend the big bucks on an LCD. I don't want to regret saving a few dollars next year...

 

[4x4expy]

I'm sure that there is benefit to using it. I just am saying that with my 9700pro, there isn't really a visible difference. And I have two computers that connect to the monitor, one with a 9700pro, the other with a softmodded 9500np. So both have DVI capability, but I have yet to find a KVM that has the DVI in/out. When I do, and the price is not ridiculous, I will have it and be using the DVI input all the time.

 

[John]

Do a search for the Dell 1800FP.

I have (2) 1800FP's w/ a paper spec response time of 30ms, and I do not see any ghosting while playing GTA3 VC, UT2K3, or watch DVD movies. Hands down these are some of the best LCD's currently on the market with a nice price vs. performance ratio.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: John
Do a search for the Dell 1800FP.

I have (2) 1800FP's w/ a paper spec response time of 30ms, and I do not see any ghosting while playing GTA3 VC, UT2K3, or watch DVD movies. Hands down these are some of the best LCD's currently on the market with a nice price vs. performance ratio.

Do they have DVI inputs?

 

[sinthon]

Just to be safe and to know your not gonna have any problems go CRT with huge res. Unless you are willing to pay big bucks your gonna get shadowing/ghosting.

 

[MGMorden]

I've played Quake 3 and the new Wolfenstein (as well as RTS and RPG games) on my Hyundai L70A 17" no problem. Everything is sharp and beautiful. There's no way I could go back to a CRT now. It'd feel like going from a computer back down to a typewriter .

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: John
Do a search for the Dell 1800FP.

I have (2) 1800FP's w/ a paper spec response time of 30ms, and I do not see any ghosting while playing GTA3 VC, UT2K3, or watch DVD movies. Hands down these are some of the best LCD's currently on the market with a nice price vs. performance ratio.

Do they have DVI inputs?

Yes, DVI-D & 15-pin D-SUB

 

[TerryMathews]

Keep in mind that LCDs don't scale well to resolutions except their native one (And native divided by two). So, when shopping for one, keep in mind that if it's native resolution is 1024x768, it's only going to look good at 1024x768 and 512x384. Not a big deal on most LCDs and video cards, but some LCDs have a native res of 1280x1024, which IMO is still stressful for a middle-of-the-road system with the newest games.

 

[Mem]

My Samsung 191T which has a native res of 1280x1024 looks great in 1024x768 res at full screen( full expanded mode) for Dungeon Seige.

You have to remember when you use lower res(non-native) you have the option to use centred or expanded(two expanded modes on my 191T) mode which will give full or near full screen for lower res,if you use those then quality will be reduced slightly,as to centred mode that mode will be perfect since just the proper lower res centred not expanded so it does not use all the screen or have reduce IQ .

Some LCDs scale better then others,I find mine is excellent for most res but in the lower 800x600 in expanded mode seems to be the worst.

Ghosting wise I would have to say not really a problem on my Samsung 191T (using 9700NP and Belkin DVI Pro cable) on fast action games I do get slight ghosting if I look for it but not enough to bother me.I will say LCDs are so crisp compared to CRTs, even graphics seem so much crisper so they do have their advantages in gaming.Games I play online are UT,CS,TFC,DoD,Q3,NS etc.

The 17" 16ms are the best you can get for gaming at the moment however down the road you can bet faster LCDs will be available it`s only a matter of time.

 

[DrHiggy]

Many of the 17" LCDs these days are very decent for gaming. The native resolutions tend to be 1280x1024, with high contrast ratios (500:1 to 700:1), with 16ms total response times (rise+fall). Add DVI inputs and brightness levels and you have a good combo for gamin.

Many 18 and 19 inch LCD have the same resolution, but inferior response times (around 25 ms total), which does very well with gaming, but not as good as the 16ms, smaller LCDs.

The big boys, 20" and beyond, often have greater native resolutions at 1600x1200 with 25ms response times or greater. These panels are also very nice for gaming, but again not as fluid as the smaller/fast panels. There are a host of great panels out there.

In the 17" venue take a look at the Hitachi CML174, Planar PX171, Samsung 172T.

In the 18-19" take a look at the NEC models, Planar PX191, as well as the Samsung 191T or 192T.

In the 20+" take a look at the Planar PL201M, Samsung 213T, NEC 2080UX.

Go for high contrast ratios, fast response times, DVI, and match with a powerful graphics card. !

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: BlinderBomber
I have a Hitachi CLM174, 16ms response time. It plays BF like a dream

I have the same TFT. The white one (CML174SXW).
I play loads of different types of games on it and there is no ghosting whatsoever.

 

[Shagga]

Originally posted by: BoomAM

Originally posted by: BlinderBomber
I have a Hitachi CLM174, 16ms response time. It plays BF like a dream

I have the same TFT. The white one (CML174SXW).
I play loads of different types of games on it and there is no ghosting whatsoever.

Me too.

 

[gagaliya]

What exactly is ghosting? I bought this future power 18.1 lcd way back when it first came out(paid about 900 for it:/). It worked great on all games like ravenshield etc, i was told the only thing ghosting is, is when you scroll through a window like a webpage in a webbrowser the text gets blurry until you stop scrolling? Mine certainly does that, when I scroll I cant read the text need to wait till it stops scrolling. But then again, I tried it on a crt and it's the same. So like...what exactly is the difference between a 16ms and say a 30+ ms (which i am sure mine is).

gaga, gnome

 

[BoomAM]

Ghosting and trailing is a side effect of some TFTs that when a fast moving image is on the screen, such as a DVD or a game, then the image blurs slightly along each of the edges in the image.
Thats a really simple explanation of it, and if you wait a while, i think that some AT members are compiling a guide to TFTs. So you could just read up on that.

 

[pennylane]

I LOVE my Viewsonic VP171b for gaming

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: BoomAM
and if you wait a while, i think that some AT members are compiling a guide to TFTs. So you could just read up on that.

I'll be looking for this guide, I'm shopping for one this year.

 

[BoomAM]

If you dont want to wait, then most 16ms TFTs are very good.
I reccommend the Hitachi CML174SX series. Excellent monitors.

 

[silentScope]

Wow I wasn't expecting so many replies so fast, thanks alot to everyone on their input.

I was browsing around and i came across this one,

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCDMonitor/Monitor_LCDMonitor_172T_sp.htm

It seems pretty good, the price is around where I wouldn't mind spending.

And 17" is perfect for me, I never bother going any higher then that even with CRT.

I was actually wondering, since its native resolution is 1280x1024, would i have to run games at that resolution? Right now on my CRT im running games at 1024x768... if i run them at 1280x1024 would the fps drop by alot?