I am trying to pick out a new LCD monitor. I tried asking the bit-tech.net forums, I tried using the guides at behardware, prad, tft central, x-bit and of course here.
I currently own a BenQ FP222W and I was pretty happy. Every now and then I saw some washed out colors in usually SVG graphics, or .png like a million shades of blue would lead to that dithering. Sorry if I am using the wrong technical terms. Until one day I was looking at a picture of the planet Saturn. The rings were noisy, with flashing black/purple pixels, there was banding etc. it was terrible. I thought something went wrong with my monitor. I tried a different DVI cable and tried to trouble shoot the problem. Well it was not the cable or video card...it was my monitor. In figuring out just what went wrong I learned pretty much the "truth" and discovered I sure was one un-informed consumer on LCD Monitors.
I am having a terrible time of picking out a monitor now. My biggest complaint with my monitor is the performance with black in anything. Whether I am looking a picture with shadows, or watching a movie like sunshine. It?s just terrible.
I thought the only solution with a new monitor is going non-TN panel, and 8-bit. But everything in that category seems out of my price range or doesn?t sync with what I would use the monitor for. Using the anandtech buyers guide I fall under the multimedia category.
My computer is used for office work, games, and movie watching. But not hardcore movie watching I am not sitting 10ft away from my monitor and expecting the best picture. I sit in front of the monitor so viewing angles won?t be that big of a problem. With gaming I assume I need to be picky with the specifications. I use a high performance mouse, and play games that sometime require a lot of speed?which is any online FPS. I never suffered performance problems with my current monitor in that area, or know of any times in which I would blame in-game death on the ?lag? of my monitor. Whether that?s related to input lag or response time I am not that clear about.
In terms of graphic work I have been just fine I assume, with my monitor. Pictures taken with DSLR's, and digital cameras touch up fine and I get what I want accomplished in photoshop and lightroom. Not sure if it falls under graphic work. But editing digital video has been fine, and I get the same performance with this monitor as I do out of the Apple Cinema Displays on campus.
So where do I go? I think I can only afford TN panel monitors. I don?t mind 19-22? widescreen size range but above that seems too much, especially cost wise. I am still just a student and need to invest in education. The ability to tilt the monitor to portrait mode would be great, and the only accessory I would use would be USB ports. Not S-Video, Component, HDMI etc.
Lastly I believe I might have discovered what I wanted in a monitor, it was a Belinea model. But they don?t seem to be sold anywhere?