Choosing a good gaming monitor.

[Duke{CLR}]

Last week I build a PC for a friend of mine and he has asked me to choose a monitor and some speakers for him. I think I can handle the speakers but the monitor is proving to be a bit more complicated.

First of all I have to say that I hate LCD monitors, they are not as smooth as the CRTs were so this could be why I'm having trouble picking one. Furryappleseed posted this link in another thread LCD Panel Technology Explained - S-IPS, H-IPS, S-PVA, MVA and TN I found it very informative but it seems that if you want good response time you have to buy one of the cheap TN monitors and sacrifice picture quality. I have come up with two of them, one seems to have better quality whereas the other would be faster. I was unable to find one that had a nice response time and 1920 x 1200.

Here is a nice 24" one that has a crapload of positive reviews.
Newegg.com - ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24 Built-in Speakers

Here is a nice one from Dell but it has a high response time.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...ynote_irrank=0

Any thoughts? are there any other good articles out there that I could read to help out?

[Furryappleseed]

I used to have a Viewsonic vx2520 and it was a s-pva panel. I had no knowledge that there were even different kinds of panels, I just knew this one had great reviews. Its response time was 8ms and I never noticed any ghosting or lag at all.

There was a point where the fastest monitors where 8ms and they got the same "No ghosting, super fast response time" that whatever the fastest is now gets. Not saying there is no noticeable difference between 8ms and 1-2, but I do know I played A LOT of MW2 on it and never, ever, thought I saw ghosting.

I got lucky getting a good panel my first time and enjoyed being able to see accurate color almost 180 degrees. I don't think I could go back after that. Here is an article that is old but I think is still useful. Monitor Roundup: 23-26 Inches : 23'' to 26'' LCD Monitors

Seems that stated response time does not directly relate to performance.

[K PhaNTOM]

I like how they both are 24" but one is 200 bucks and the other is 500. What's even more annoying is the really expensive one doesn't have 120Hz and response time is 6ms. What you need to find is something under $300, with 2ms response, and 120Hz. If you haven't tried 120Hz, you are missing out. Apart from being able to play in 3D, the smoothness is just over the top.

[Donziboy2]

The 500 one is 1920x1200 and the 200 model is just another 1080p tv turned into a monitor.

I actually spent 800 on a 24" Dell monitor about 4 years ago and love it.

[Qicmee]

Just commentary, no advice.

Everybody who has smooth 120Hz loves it, but it's still a premium feature (higher cost). I'm not the most discriminating user; my LCD's 60 Hz refresh rate is fine.

Picture quality might be an overstated feature (measurable, but not discernible) If you buy a monitor that most people agree is excellent (I like Newegg's feedback section), the view will be great. For most people.

[Pumpkin_Jack]

is he going to be playing here at the lair????

[Duke{CLR}]

Thanks for the input guys, ill read a bit more and I'm not sure if he will play here or not, he never stopped by when we had bf2 going for whatever reason.

[Duke{CLR}]

It looks like 1920 x 1200 and 120Mhz don't mix. From what little I have read about them it would appear that this is because of some sort of bottleneck that would be created by the combination.

I did find a few monitors that has 1920 x 1080 with it though. What do you all think about theses two.

Newegg.com - Acer GD235HZbid Black1

Newegg.com - Asus VG236H 23

[Caddys83]

It looks like 1920 x 1200 and 120Mhz don't mix. From what little I have read about them it would appear that this is because of some sort of bottleneck that would be created by the combination.

I did find a few monitors that has 1920 x 1080 with it though. What do you all think about theses two.

Newegg.com - Acer GD235HZbid Black1

Newegg.com - Asus VG236H 23

I have that Acer GD235HZ. In my old topic Thoughts on Matte vs. Glossy Screens - Cain's Lair Forums I was debating between the Acer and that ASUS. Except my topic didnt include the Nvidia 3d Glasses. Newegg.com - ASUS VG236HE Black 231

Several things. That Acer screen is matte finish and the ASUS is gloss finish, So depending on his preference.

My topic also have some youtubes and pics to see the glossiness of that ASUS monitor Alot of people have a bone to pick on LCD vs CRT but I been gaming on LCD over the years, I think it grown on me. But 120 Hz is the way to go.

Now about that Acer monitor. I never found reviews about a "Acer Logo" coming on first and a delay before you see anything. I did read something about light bleed and there is lightbleed and depending on games and movies, you may see it. But you wont see it most of the time unless one does alot of photoshoping or video editing.

About that "Acer Logo," When I press the power button, it takes about 3 to 4 seconds befor the Acer logo comes on and a total of 7 seconds before I see anything on the screen. I was upset with this cause I didnt find any reviews on the web or youtube about this logo. My 2 other previous Viewsonic LCD monitors before Acer didnt have a logo. I dont know if the newer Viewsonic have a logo or not. Anyway here some pics of the logo and light bleed I took. Some pics are blurry and sorry about that. Hope this help some.

[Duke{CLR}]

Good stuff Caddy, I will ask him about the lighting in his room which will help decide with the finish. So how does your monitor perform in games?

[Caddys83]

It does well. I came from a previous 120Hz monitor so I wasnt expecting much other then my needs of a 1080p monitor. I would like to use the HDMI but since I game every now and then with the Nvidia 3D Vision. I have to use the DVI-D. I dont understand it why since the HDMI and DVI are both digital but no biggie, I can live with it.


Its a good gaming monitor other then my "con" issue with the 7 seconds timing it takes to turn on the monitor and show my desktop or browser. And the Acer logo. It doesnt affect the performance of the monitor. It just something I wasnt used to.