Does anyone mind giving me a list of good gaming lcd monitors between 18-20 inches. It would be really appreciated.
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Does anyone mind giving me a list of good gaming lcd monitors between 18-20 inches. It would be really appreciated.
Update on Gateway FPD2185w: If has banding issues if you are sitting and staring at color gradients rather than doing something productive ;). Not noticeable otherwise.
hmmmmm, way too many choices! before I would have just gotten a 30" apple, but its not worth the $$$!
so, choices are the 30" Apple, this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009061 or this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001223
what do you think, experts?
Yan
now im stuck.
VX724 i cant afford the big brother .. and definitely want to stay within CompUSA because of my employee discount. i bought this monitor for 230 bucks. and took it home that day... its my X-Mas present and i have to wait till X-Mas to play with it.. but i wanna know if i should be concerned.. i will be running it @ its native resolution with a DVI cable.. off a 7800GTX.. im mostly (100%) concerned about Ghosting.. i have played on 2 of my friends monitors (19" Acer and 19" Viewsonic) and the ghosting drives me nuts.. its absolutely annoying.
im just checking that the VX724 will perform optimally for gaming just as the VX924 does...
Thanks guys and great guide :up:
WOOOT!!!
I got my VP930B for Xmas today!! Dam this thing is f'ing amazing.. Its huge compared to my 17" CRT and it is beautiful in every way.
I must say the blacks on thsi monitor are aamzing.. absolutely perfect blacks. Did that PixPerAn program, but i dont really get it, so i gave up on that. rather play with the monitor..
could you put some pics and impression in a review style maxxxracer please
I just picked up one of these http://www.sceptre.com/Products/LCD/...0g_NagaIII.htm at Costco 379.00 bucks.
Has great Picture Quality for a cheap 20".1 wide screen.
I just picked my one of these
http://www.consumer.philips.com/cons...ESHQNHKFSEKI5P
(sry for dutch) only avaible in EU I think.
got it for 299 euros.
I'm very satisfied about it!!
what's your opinion about price/quality & specs?
xyus
Be warned... People have had those specific screens die on them in 2 months or less!Quote:
Originally Posted by bypolar
leviathan are you addressing me.. cuz i gotthe VX724 anyway's.. and it is sharp.
Ok, warning heeded. I picked up 3 actually 2 for work. I will report back with any Issues on any of them.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by DilTech
bypolar, dont worry. Its costco.. You should return them in 6 months anyway, and buy a new group of monitors.
Lev, here are some pictures.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1135756001
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1135756308
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1135756308
MaxxxRacer's ViewSonic VP930b Mini-Review
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1135756001
First Impresions
Upon pulling the VP930b out of the box, you really get a feel of how large the monitor is. When compared to my previous 17" iiyama CRT the monitors viewing space seems unending.
The next thing you notice is how surprisingly heavy the monitor is for a LCD. I've handled a number of LCD's of similar size, none of which had as much heft to it as the VP930b. The weight is due to two features. First, the onboard power supply which for the most part is a nice feature, eliminating the need for the power brick that accompanies all Samsung LCD's. Secondly is the incredibly sturdy base. At first glance, the base seems unimpressive, but when view from below, the base is entire of steel construction, the plastic, merely a vanity cover. Infact the base has so much weight to it that half of it can hang off the back of my desk with absolutely no risk of falling.
What Comes in the Box
~2meter Length Black DVI Cable
~2 meter Length Black VGA Cable
~2 meter Lenght Power Cable
Small manual
2 Setup CD's
The Monitor itself
Features
The Base
Viewsonic Includes cable management hooks on the back of the base stem, which at first glance seem useful, but in practice they are completely useless due to the heft of the DVI and power cables. I managed to get the cables in the hooks, but they quickly poped out as soon as I adjust the monitor.
While the hooks may not be a useful feature, Viewsonic did include several other very useful features that come in handy. The monitor features 180 degree swivel so that the base does not need to be moved when turning the monitor to allow others to view the monitor (although the incredible viewing angle makes this a not so needed feature)
The next feature of the base is the height adjustment. The panel can be lowered all the way to the base (so that it touches) and to a maximum of 16.5cm (measured from table to bottom edge of panel). The panel is supported by a spring in the base that makes lifting the relatively heavy panel incredibly easy. There is also absolutely no worry of the panel dipping down from the desired height as the gripping force is quite strong.
The last feature of the base is the tilt of the panel. Not much to say here other than that it can be tilted back around 30 degrees and forward about 10-15. Again this adjustment is very secure with no worry of it coming out of alignment with regular use, or from jostling of the monitor from the table shaking (an issue for glass table users such as myself)
OSD
The OSD is rather simple and very intuitive. Not much to say here. If anyone wants some pics just lmk and I will post.
Some somewhat noteable things it does is auto sense the 3 ports (2 VGA and one 1 DVI) and you can select which one you want to be the main port and it will automatically try this one first.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1136363695
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1136363695
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1136363695
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1136363695
Software
The software that comes with the monitor is pretty nice and allows you to calibrate the monitor very well. Using the calibration method in the software I have had no issues with the contrast or brightness and all is doing well. The software also allows you to turn the panel and it will autosense and turn the picture in about 2 seconds. The downside is that you need to have the full viewsonic software running for this feature to work. So unless you use portrait mode alot, running the software all the time isnt very useful.
Performance
This is the area where a picture of homer simpson is really the only way to do the VP930b justice. With a real response time of 15ms or lower (minimum of ~12 according to THG) ghosting is non existent in racing games, and first person shooters. I tested with BF2, HL2, MotoGP3, and Toca Race driver 2 (hitting speeds upwards of 250mph without ghosting).
An area that alot of LCD (TN films) panels fail is the color reproduction. The VP930b is NOT one of those LCD's. The color reproduction is as good as my fathers Sony E540, the greatest CRT of all time.
Text is also a problem for some LCD's. Its either too painfully sharp or soft. That isnt the case with the VP930b. At 1280x1024 text is easy on the eyes and perfectly crisp.
Having viewed 4 movies since I got the LCD 2 days ago, I can say for sure that the video quality during film viewing is perfect. Again, there is no ghosting, and the blacks are incredibly deep, rivaling most CRTs. THG mentioned that they had some wierd issues with a tunnel scene due to the overdrive technology and I must admit that I have seen no such artifacts from the overdrive except for when I moved the mouse very quickly over a blue surface. There was a trail of 3-10 pixels of green behind the cursors most reward edge. But in realworld apps I have not noticed any issues what so ever.
Despite all of its great performance I do have one complaint with the VP930b. When the screen is entirely black you can see the 4 backlight LED's shinning in from the 4 corners. they all are pointed towards the cetner of the screenm, so it looks like 4 spotlights aimed at the center of my screen.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1136379606
This picture demonstrates the spotlighting as best as I could represent it. I took about 15 different pictues and tweaked it in photoshop to make it look as much like it does in person. As you can see from the picture the spotlighting is rather faint, but still annoyingly noticeable when looking at a black screen.
Well that about sums up what I have to say on the VP930b.. If anyone has any Q's just ask. If i dont respond within a day, just PM me as I dont check this thread often.
http://img287.imageshack.us/img287/1361/1upanim1iv.gif
New Update
Updated Dec. 28, 2005
LCD Terms:
- Computer Display Standards
Links:
- Store Links
(Need hint on stores in Europe and other continents)
- Review/Preview Links
- Info/News Links
- Program/Tools Links
Interfaces:
- VGA section finished
- Need to complete VGA to Component mod image
- DVI section finished
- "UDI & the HDCP norm" section added, but incomplete
The LCD List:
- Removed all links since they were not working or were moved.
- Created the "Links" section instead (Mentioned above)
15 and 17-inch (5:4 / 4:3)
- Samsung 770P
19-inch (5:4)
- Updated VP191B to VP930b
- Updated VX924 to VX922
19-inch (16:10) (new)
- ViewSonic VA1912wb
- Info used from Maxxx's mini-review
- Link to Maxxx's mini-review
20-inch (16:10)
- Gateway FPD2185W
- Belinea 10 20 35W
Plans For The Future:
OLED (incomplete)
LCoS (incomplete)
SED
- A extra line of info
- More pics
Oh yes I forgot one thing. I do have one complaint with the VP930b. When the screen is entirely black you can see the 4 backlight LED's shinning in from the 4 corners. they all are pointed towards the cetner of the screenm, so it looks like 4 spotlights aimed at the center of my screen.
Like I said you only notice it when the screen is jet black, but boy is it annoying.
thank you very much for this review maxxx... :toast: :toast: :toast:
well i will have to wait till 4 jan to do my review... hope more ppl join this guide to contribute with this kind of reviews so we dont have problems with dead links etc... once again thanks maxxx
np lev. glad i could help.
btw, is the spotlight thing i mentioned common with LCD's? Wondering if I just got an LCD with that annoying backlight effect or if its a neccesary evil of backlighting.
Yah my viewsonic vp191b does that with the back lights, however its barely noticeable with the screen completely black, and since its rarely in that state it doesnt bother me.
The hooks use for cable management seems to work ok on mine, i found if i pull and couple of inches of extra slack i can pivot/rotate/swivel it without the cables getting yanked out.
It wouldnt have took much to come up with something better.
Bullet2urBrains ViewSonic VX724 Mini-Review
First ImpresionsPulling the monitor from its box on Christmas i could really realize how substantial LCD's are. Although it is fairly thin this monitor is quite substantial. The monitor has a great two tone color scheme.
The monitor is quite heavy for an LCD, however this is more of a plus as the base is very sturdy and i felt very comfortable setting this monitor down. the base has a nice rubber coating and holds its weight nicely. There is an onboard power supply which means no brick for you. i was even so daring as to put my Center Logitech Speaker on top of the monitor with no adverse effects. the monitor is so very stable.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/468/lcd0049rh.jpg
Features
The monitor is very sharp looking and fits well with most office colors and almost all cases. the base is silver with a black 3/4" rubber mat to keep the monitor secure and anchored to the desk. there are the traditional 4 buttons for Viewsonics OSD and nothing more to distract on the monitor. THe back of the monitor offers a cable cover to keep the SIgnal and power cable tidy. There is ofcourse including in the box a DVI and VGA cable and Power Cord. But this is a gaming panel not an Email Reading panel.
Gaming on this panel is nearly flawless. and i say nearly with much pain in my heart. There is one slight downside to the panel and that is backlight leak. It leaks from the top and bottom quite obviously. This was most frequent when playing my testing game of choice Call of Duty2. When in a near black sequence or a night shootout the backlight leak came onto the screen like a spotlight from a german aircraft. Next i tested on a game with High FPS to see if i could get the panel to ghost at all. i tested using CS:Source @ 1280x1024 (the native resolution) with 8x AF and 6x AA FPS was ~140fps fairly constantly. i can say with no conviction that this panel just would not ghost as the VX910 does. movements were crisp and colors were accurate. only thing lacking here is the Darkness of Black. CRT's are still a shade ahead in reproducing a solid black.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3...d0050sy.th.jpg
OSD
Viewsonics OSD.. 4 buttons labeled 1,2,Up,Down very intuitive and simple to operate.
Back of the monitor has DVI and VGA with a power cord. very simple and tidy.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2315/lcd0108lg.jpg
Performance
Well as i stated above gaming looks great once calibrated. however movies are a different object. the actual movie looks seamless and picture is great. but the backlight leaking in widescreen movies can become quite annoying. fullscreen movies look fantastic and play without a hitch. Color reproduction is fairly accurate after calibrating. Using ViewSonics software helps an enormous amount. out of the box or using a VGA cable the colors can be a wee bit off.
All in all... Great panel for gaming if your in the market for a 250 dollar LCD.. only complaint is the backlight leaking which happens on almost all LCD's..
oh and the height is not adjustable but it does tilt a fair amount... so if you are above 6'5" or shorter than 5'4" this panel may not sit correctly with you.
Special thanks to MaxxxRacer for his template.
~James.
Thank you MaxxxRacer and bullet2urbrain for your mini-reviews.
Your contributions will help make this guide less biased and more into the facts of actual users. :up:
MaxxxRacer and bullet2urbrain, could you edit your reviews with screenshots of the LCD showing the connectors, buttons, accessories, and backlight issues?
Would be greately appreciated :worship:
If anyone else is interrested in helping out with a review, you could do something like MaxxxRacer's or bullet2urbrain's review or something else as long as:
- It sticks out over other posts
- It's well organized with bold, colored, or large titles on each section.
- Pictures showing the accessories, the LCD in different angles, buttons and interfaces, and any issue that can be seen with a camera.
- That it's posted within this thread so It's more organized.
To ensure the accuracy of your reviews, make sure your LCD is well calibrated and use the DVI interface only if the LCD offers a DVI connector.
(Use these programs to help setup and test your monitor:
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testprogramme.html )
I will link XS member's reviews from the guide to the corresponding page so it doesnt get lost between all the posts :p:
that is the best right up i've ever seen on here great job, Those seds sound insane i would like to see one.
what size do you want the pictures... right now they are 2436x1700ish.
i have taken all of them.. just need to shrink and host them.
oh and no problem.. this guide was a great resource for me when deciding what monitor to investigate..the thanks goes out to the Creators of the guide.
Leviathan's 18 Dell 2405fpw mini review
First impression
When i went to pickup the package from the DHL center in Caracas, I was astonished by the box's size and weight. When the DHL employee brought the box to me, I said "wow it's big". Then he asked me what it was, and if it was a case or a PC? I said no, it's just a big LCD :D
I took the box straight home, and opened it as soon as I got there. The first thing I saw was a lot of cables and accessories. Then I saw the base. It's apart so it can fit better in the box without getting fractured or something. The LCD was packed well, secure enough to travel from Austin, TX to Florida to Caracas in 2 days (That's right, 2 day international shipping!). When I picked up the LCD from it's box it was pretty heavy, like 20 lbs. The size was mind blowing :eek: . Imagine what the 30" will be like when it releases :slobber:
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/2...36285yd.th.jpg
Features:
What came out of the box:
- One really long DVI (about 2.5m long (8.2 ft)
- One really long VGA cable (about 3m long (9.8 ft)
- One power cable (about 2m long (6.5 ft)
- One USB connector that enables the USB and Card readers on the LCD (about 1.75m long (5.7 ft)
- The base
- And the manual + a simpler manual + the warranty
And what came on the LCD :D
The bezel features 4 USB ports:
- 2 on the front;
and
- 2 on the back.
Both are USB 2.0 compatible.
It also has several card readers, such as:
1) MS (Normal)
2) MS (Pro)
3) MS (Pro Duo)
4) SD
5) Mini SD
6) MMC
7) CF (Type I & II)
8) Micro Drive
9) Smart Media
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5...36577ct.th.jpg
the base has a simple cable management system.
the back has a mechanical atttachment for Dell monitor speakers.
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/7803/lock9vp.th.jpg
(dc power connector for dell sound bar)
it has a kensington lock slot.
You also have:
- Picture in Picture (PIP);
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/8...36627zx.th.jpg
- Picture by Picture (PBP);
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/5...36639tb.th.jpg
- and 1:1 display mods .
There are 6 buttons
5 buttons for the OSD and the 6th one is the power button.
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3...36592sm.th.jpg
The osd is pretty simple.
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/4...36606qt.th.jpg
One of the OSD buttons changes the display input on the screen (1=VGA; 2=DVI; 3=S-Video, 4=Composite, 5=Component)
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7...36878cp.th.jpg
(the numbers that show the video source)
The rest is for selecting, deselecting, and direction.
Connectors / Interfaces:
The monitor's interfaces are:
-DVI: digital interfase.
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3687/dvi4xy.th.jpg
-VGA: analog interfase.
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7961/vga1nh.th.jpg
-Component (Y, Pb, Pr): this can be used for DVD or HD ready systems like the XBOX360. Image quality is nice on the 2405fpw.
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3...nent4wh.th.jpg
-S-Video: For systems that don’t support Component or HDTV, like old Cable or Satellite boxes.
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3...ideo6py.th.jpg
-Composite: Good old RCA for older systems like the psx and N64 and other video source of that time.
http://img433.imageshack.us/img433/5...site2xs.th.jpg
Performance
well i played Quake IV, Need for speed most wanted, need for speed underground 2, Unreal tournament 2004, Fable, Dawn of war, war hammer 40k and Day of defeat source, most of the games i couldn’t play at native resolution i just have 2 6600gt but downscaled resolutions looked simple amazing compared to my 17" crt i could play ut2004 at native resolution and it was great it looked like another game all the vivid colors you don’t need AA at that resolution i recommend this LCD for anyone with enough video power to play with it @ high resolution
Movies perfect color reproduction great blacks no backlight bleeding anywhere when everything is black, no weird noises from the back of the lcd.
NOTE that this may be because I have a newer LCD version. My Dell 2405fpw was built Sep. 08, 2005.
Older 2405fpw have had problems with buzzing noises, dead pixels, some backlight problems, etc.
Web browsing this is amazin. I can open two firefox windows wide open next to the other with
Photoshop i think this is the best part you have so much space to work with photoshop that if you do a lot of photoshop you will love this LCD.
Viewing angles are excelent. Looks great at all angles.
It can rotate sideways without moving the base, and if you rotate it 90 degrees, you can view the screen in a vertical mod(Excelent for looking at a really long list of text).
HD videos are amazin. The Project Offset and Gears of War HD videos look awesome. Hope to see more HD content in the future :D
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/8...36845vi.th.jpg
(As you can see on this pic of the Project Offset HD Trailer, there are no backlight issues visible)
i think the only downside on this LCD is that you need a lot of graphic power to run games at WUXGA/ 1080i / 1980x1200 / HDR resolutions. Playing at lower resolutions look great, but it's not the same as the native resolution. DoD:S looks like another game in game 1920x1200 with all effects in mid and no HDR looked better than 1024x768 HDR and all effects at max. Imagine how it would look like with 1920x1200 TSAA 4x, AF 16x, HDR, Reflect all, and everything max :slobber:
As stated above, I couldnt see any bluring, ghosting or motion blur. I only noticed a very slight blur with some changes from bright red to another color far from the red scale. All the FPS, RTS, and Racing games played excelent without showing signs of motion blur. This LCD is ten times better than the 17" CRT I had before
This is a great buy for any enthusiast user.
Limit the pics to 800x600, and if you want to show a lot of details on the pic, 1024x768 would be an exception. You could also make a image link to a larger pic.Quote:
Originally Posted by bullet2urbrain
The reason for the size is because most use 17" and 19" monitor with a recommended or max resolution of 1280x1024 or 1280x960 pixels, and a 1024x768 would nearly fill the whole screen.
edited original post with some pics.. more can be taken or added at request.