Originally posted by: DangerDave
xtknight, I love your thread, I've used it for some time now. The one problem I have with it is that the "hardcore gaming" section has monitors that absolutely no hardcore gamer would use these days. As in 5:4 ratio stuff. Any gamer will tell you that you'd be crazy to not go widescreen, especially for fps and other competitive online games; were the extra viewing space is a big advantage. I don't think that just ms response time is the only factor anymore. Anyways, love the thread, keep it up.
Well, I don't think so either.
I am aware many changes need to be made actually, I just haven't had the time. I have been mostly spending it just answering your guys' questions in the thread rather than updating the OP. But whenever I get some time I want to revamp the gaming section. A lot of the low millisecond LCDs are drying up now, especially at the 20.1" and 22" sizes (or there are panel lotteries making previous recommendations unsuitable).
I don't like to lower the standards too much (hey, if you lower them too much you could just recommend any LCD), but the current market sometimes calls for it. On the other hand, the fact I've been so scrutinizing is the very reason why most of you haven't ended up with absolute crap.
One big impediment to recommending LCDs for gaming is the whole "input lag" thing. I'm really skeptical of it myself. I can understand that LCDs can't process the frame quite as fast and acknowledge that they do indeed lag 2 frames according to camera pictures, but the notion this actually affects humans much is what I find dubious.
At the 24" size however, when we talk about 4-5 frames of input lag, then I can see where it starts to come into play. Unfortunately, there are few 24"s without the problem. But the TNs, Samsung 245BW and Gateway FHD2400 offer some solace here (er, at least the former does from the reviews I've seen).
Right now, I'm not even sure if the "hardcore gaming" section should still exist anymore. I have in there 19" panels that are lightning fast, but 24" ones that have a good amount of delay. So, all of a sudden it seems like this section is a paradox. I do want some reassurance this section is actually worth updating. My own skepticism about input lag can sometimes get in the way of what I put up there. But response time I try and always pay attention to. There's nothing you can do about the input lag on 24" panels but you just have to find the ones with the fastest response times.
I think we all need to lower our standards at this point right now. Guaranteed S-IPS panels, for all intents and purposes, no longer exist at reasonable prices. TN panels are advancing, at least somewhat, but panel lotteries are getting in the way of the truly good TN panels coming down the pipeline. VA panels are always a good choice but input lag can be a problem at higher sizes, and at lower sizes VA panels are drying up as well.
Right now, definitive choices for 20.1" panels are limited. The LG 20.1" panels may have some issues with response (L204WT is not a speeding bullet, and L206WTQ could have overdrive problems). The Samsung 206BW is involved in a panel lottery, and the 205BW, the previous recommendation, no longer exists. The HP w2007 is a good choice if you like glossy panels. NEC 20WMGX2 is out of stock. And I'm not sure what we have left but it's time to do more searching, I suppose, and find the next best.
I'm not sure if the 215TW will cease to exist or what. It has not been in stock for the past few months and only came back into stock recently. I bet Newegg was just selling what they had left? "Deactivated" does not sound good.
Then again, there is the HP f2105 which might be another choice. I don't know about response time there, though.
The Dell 2007WFP is looking like more of a possibility every day. At least you do get either a VA or IPS panel which isn't a horrible dilemma. At least, it's not quite as bad as the TN panel lotteries you get with the 226BW where you get practically faulty panels with response and gamma adjustment problems.
I think manufacturers are spending time trying to get wide gamut LCDs out. And hopefully then (maybe a couple months), we will have many more promising LCD options from the manufacturers we know and trust (Samsung, LG, Dell, NEC, HP). I am hoping for this.
Lack of reviews for current models is also a big problem. I haven't seen any sort of review at all for the LG L206WTQ yet.
LCDs I believe I will add soon are:
- Gateway FHD2400 (glossy)
- HP w2007 (glossy)
- Samsung 245BW (matte)
- HP w2207 (glossy)->Gaming
- L226WTQ->Gaming 22" if overdrive issues solved
The new goal is no longer to find LCDs that are good for a specific purpose, but LCDs that are good at all.