The LCD Buyers Guide

[Teratism]

It isn't fully correct on the 1:1 pixel mapping by what I assume is an ATI card, with ATI mobile graphics cards they do it right but desktop cards they don't. The difference is they add black bars to the top and the bottom of the screen yet the resolution is a 4:3 display and should not have bars on top or bottom.

[KoHaN69]

It isn't fully correct on the 1:1 pixel mapping by what I assume is an ATI card, with ATI mobile graphics cards they do it right but desktop cards they don't. The difference is they add black bars to the top and the bottom of the screen yet the resolution is a 4:3 display and should not have bars on top or bottom.

If you're referring to:

I went into my drivers and changed it from "Fill" to use "Centered Timings" and tested 1024x768. The image was in the middle with all the area around it in black.

Then that IS correct, because it's 1:1 pixel mapping by the monitor itself.

at 1400x1050 you will have black bars on the side with 4:3 ratio


Or did I misunderstand you?

[Teratism]

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1149693

This should explain what I meant.

[Knight]

I'm in that market for a nice 24 inch screen. What is my best option?
So far the BenQ looks better than the Samsung and Dell.

The price can be up to $800.

[halo112358]

I'm in that market for a nice 24 inch screen. What is my best option?
So far the BenQ looks better than the Samsung and Dell.

The price can be up to $800.

I'm extremely happy with my 22" WS benq I only wish it had lower aspect-correct resolutions so I could play games at higher FPS. I've noticed that samsung LCDs seem to have a lot of supported aspect-correct resolutions (ie: not just 1680x1050 but also 1440x900 and others).

[Soulburner]

I'm extremely happy with my 22" WS benq I only wish it had lower aspect-correct resolutions so I could play games at higher FPS. I've noticed that samsung LCDs seem to have a lot of supported aspect-correct resolutions (ie: not just 1680x1050 but also 1440x900 and others).

Right, but you don't want to use them. Because it is non-native, it is not nearly as clear as 1680x1050 on a 22" screen.

[SquattingDog]

I'm extremely happy with my 22" WS benq I only wish it had lower aspect-correct resolutions so I could play games at higher FPS. I've noticed that samsung LCDs seem to have a lot of supported aspect-correct resolutions (ie: not just 1680x1050 but also 1440x900 and others).

All you need is one of the top-end graphics cards - at least of ATi Radeon X1900XTX 512Mb or nVidia GeForce 7900GTX 512Mb spec or above to run good framerates on games @ 1680x1050. LCDs don't look anywhere near as good on non-native resolutions, regardless of scaling options.

Get a second card for Crossfire/SLI if you want more fps.

[ReDeemer]

Hi all,

Has anyone had to do with HP LP2465? My primary concern is how it will look like in games or DVD movies. Heard about some bluriness and hitching in multimedia apps but that was a while ago.

Thank you.

[wizardz]

i really recommend the DELL 2407FPW,

i bought this monitor almost a year ago, and all i can say is WOW..1920x1200, dvds look awesome, and almost any games can run at native resolution, ( albeit with a reduced image quality ). i know that one some revisions ( a02 and before ) that there is some color banding, i think mine's a rev2. and ,in i think it's multimedia mode, you can see some of it, i think...

anyway, lots of input, PIP, PBP, and almost anything you would want out of a multi-function-monitor...

cheers

[Soulburner]

If I had to choose a 24" with money as a concern it would definetely be the Dell 24". However with no regards to cost I would choose the BenQ.

Still though, I rather like the 22" because 1680x1050 is a good resolution to game at. It isn't too big to need a ludicrous video card that will be outdated in 6 months.

Someone needs to make a non-TN 22" panel with an adjustable stand...

[AzraelDarkangel]

However with no regards to cost I would choose the BenQ.

Lol, no regards to cost I would get an Eizo or NEC. I was recently looking at alot of specs and reviews of monitors in the 20"-24" range. 24" are still too expensive for me at $600+ and the nicer ones at $700+. I was going to get a 22" widescreen but I found out most of them use cheaper panels. Alot of people noticed the increased sharpness and quality of 19-20" when both were compared side-by-side (such as the smaller and larger versions of the same model line) I didn't really care for the 1440X900 resolution and thought all widescreen monitors in that size were like that. I almost forgot to look at the Dell monitors until recently and noticed that for the price they were superior to all the other monitors I've seen in quality and features. I might be getting the 2007WFP 20.1" widescreen 1680X1050:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-4688
Although I'm very tempted by the Dell 24" UltraSharp 2407WFP at $609.

compare to other popular monitors:
SAMSUNG 206BW
The ever popular Samsung, good all-around 22" widescreen but still uses an inferior panel with poor viewing angle and some backlight bleed.

HP W2207
Coveted for it's glossy screen which some people find annoying because of reflections, supposed to be one of the best 22" widescreens but some people have said that it's quality is noticably lacking when compared side-by-side to it's 19-20" younger brothers, W2007/W1907.

Philips 200P7EB/27
An example of a relatively inexpensive 20.1" 1600X1200 using a top quality panel (unlike the 22" widescreens), dead giveway is the higher than usual price and the high viewing angle, 178 by 178 degrees and the slightly higher response time compared to most "gaming LCD's". It's still cheaper than most monitors at it's quality range.

HP LP 2065
Similar specs to the Philips listed above, somewhat less expensive, high quality panel.

LG L226WTX-BF
Said to have slightly better color quality than the Samsung but worse backlight bleed. Another version of this monitor, the L226WA is better and more expensive but said to be one of the best 22" widescreens, however it's almost impossible to find in the US. Listed here:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...10084266&catid

Gererally speaking the better 19-20" use the best panels, the 22" widescreens use the lower quality panels and the 24" widescreens use intermediate quality (better than the 22", worse than the nicer 19-20") There's a guide to panel technology at HardForum:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1039222

Also look here:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com...p/Category:XHD

[Soulburner]

I wouldn't say the 22" monitors use "lower quality" panels. It is simply a different type. The 22" screen are TN based panels where the others are not.

TN panels can produce good color when calibrated and are among the fastest. The downside is the viewing angle is very picky, and I'm talking up and down, looking at it straight on, not from the side.

[thunderstruck!]

I'm thinking about the BenQ fp222wh, mainly for it's connectors. I want to keep the option of using it as a console gaming monitor. Is there anything comparable to this in the same price range? Anyone with experience?

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

KICK ASS GUIDE!!!! Should have noticed this thread earlier.

[halo112358]

All you need is one of the top-end graphics cards - at least of ATi Radeon X1900XTX 512Mb or nVidia GeForce 7900GTX 512Mb spec or above to run good framerates on games @ 1680x1050. LCDs don't look anywhere near as good on non-native resolutions, regardless of scaling options.

Get a second card for Crossfire/SLI if you want more fps.

What I really need is more CPU horsepower :P I've got an 8800gts bound by a 3ghz Opteron...

I'm kind of curious if there is some way to force 1440x900 on the benq fp222w, I'd really like to cut pixels on screen from ~1.75M to ~1.2M .. that should make things a little faster

[KoHaN69]

Hey guys. I'm still on my 2405fpw here. Man I wish Dell made a 22" version of this screen (2207fpw?) and priced it at ~$300

Question:

Sceptrex22wg-Gamer
VS Sceptre x22wg-1080p

The x22wg-1080p is cheaper and supposedly much better (by spec comparison).
What gives? Is it the same panel?

Looks like the X2gen was slightly updated:
x22wg-Gamer
anyone try that one yet?

-kohan

[TeeO]

I'm thinking about the BenQ fp222wh, mainly for it's connectors. I want to keep the option of using it as a console gaming monitor. Is there anything comparable to this in the same price range? Anyone with experience?

I'm in the same boat. I'd be willing to go up to about 350-375 for 22 wide that has hdmi...any suggestions?

[Johnmark]

Did a bunch of research, knew I didn't want a TN panel so I was looking for alternatives that I could buy locally. I wanted a 24" or 26" screen, main use is photography, video and the odd game.
Went to buy a Benq FP241VW even though the colors looked a little saturated, but figured I could set it up later, it has a great feature set as well as being a S-PVA panel.

Of course none in stock, so that Acer AL2616W looked very nice, not much for features but a nice 26" P-MVA panel so I bought it.
Get home pull my trusty old 19" CRT off the desk and put this monster on. Fired her up and she looked beautiful!
Then the fun started, it's native resolution of 1900x1200 wasn't on the listed as one of the modes supported by my 7600GT. As a matter of fact the highest supported resolution supported by the GPU/monitor talking to each other "plug and play" was 1690x1050. So I uncheck the "hide modes not supported box" and set the monitor to 1900x1200 "native resolution. And what I got was a screen that wouldn't fit on the display i.e. had to move the cursor around to see hidden parts of the screen. Look up the mode on the LCD and it's running at 1900x1050.
So off to the Internet I go. And sure enough find that Acer has a problem with the monitor, early models will not display native resolution due to some problem they will not elaborate on. Many people have RMAed their screens and are waiting forever to get them back.
Bottom line seems to be Acer fixed the problem with displays built from Dec.2006 onwards. Mine was dated Oct. 2006.
Thankfully I bought locally so I'm just taking it back to the store today and hope they have some that where manufactured this year.

P.S. I would really like an IPS panel but other than the NEC2690WUX or 2490WUX I can't find a reasonably priced one. Anyone know of one? I'm not going to order a Dell 2007WFP and HOPE it's an IPS, I want to know what I'm getting.

[KoHaN69]

Well, the Sceptre X22WG-1080P sucks royal balls in comparison to the same-priced ViewSonic VX2235wm (and the Dell 2405fpw)

The skin tones are much worse, and everything is tinted blue
both monitors (Sceptre x22wg and ViewSonic vx2245) have backlight bleeding issues. The Sceptre bleeds heavily in the bottom-right corner while the viewsonic is symmetrically bleeding on equally top and bottom.

Both monitors lack 4:3 with black bars, both seemed to have the same response rate using Counter-strike source and passmark monitor test

Both monitors color temp was set to 6500 and only the contrast/bright on the sceptre was adjusted down (the defaults were hurting to look at)


note: this was the x2gen-1080p, apparently there are effing 3 versions of x2gen
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=6&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11202025&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&ca t=62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84 *1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11187193&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=8&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*

[adamsleath]

I've been looking around for "good" lcd's for a couple days now...and i have narrowed my choice down to:

NEC LCD20WGX2 [AS-IPS] - wide screen $900aud - 1680x1050 / 1440 x 900
Philips 200P7EB/75 [cheapest] $650aud
HP LP2065 $800ish aud
in this order of preference.

they are all S-IPS panels 8ms (um, the NEC states 6ms AS-IPS)
the NEC gets excellent reviews everywhere i have looked, it is also the most expensive.
http://www.nec-display-solutions.com...3646,group=all

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...&enterthread=y
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/
..but it all depends what you like in a screen...i'm trying to get the best compromise between picture quality/gamut and response time....and i refuse to pay 1000 clams or more for a monitor.

..and tft panels keep improving...not more than 1 year ago i was looking at an 800 dollar samsung 20 " and it now retails for 400

so prices keep falling and better panels keep coming out, and as time has shown me , quite quickly as well.

i dont know whether the rapid rate of tft evolution will continue...but if it doesnt, a newer technology no doubt will replace it...like Sony's FED (SED) technology.

So; until i have saved up the dough i'll be monitoring (haha get it ?) prices and panels, expecting further price drops...even though i occasionally hear stories saying there will be lcd panel shortages, i've never noticed electronics prices that have not fallen...


as for TN panels...has anyone heard anything about the Samsung 206BW?

[Soulburner]

Well, the Sceptre X22WG-1080P sucks royal balls in comparison to the same-priced ViewSonic VX2235wm (and the Dell 2405fpw)

The skin tones are much worse, and everything is tinted blue
both monitors (Sceptre x22wg and ViewSonic vx2245) have backlight bleeding issues. The Sceptre bleeds heavily in the bottom-right corner while the viewsonic is symmetrically bleeding on equally top and bottom.

Both monitors lack 4:3 with black bars, both seemed to have the same response rate using Counter-strike source and passmark monitor test

Both monitors color temp was set to 6500 and only the contrast/bright on the sceptre was adjusted down (the defaults were hurting to look at)


note: this was the x2gen-1080p, apparently there are effing 3 versions of x2gen
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=6&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11202025&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&ca t=62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84 *1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11187193&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=8&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*

I don't agree with any of this.

1. My monitor doesn't have problems with a blue tint. Have you calibrated it? My color looks quite good, better than I expected.

2. I don't have major backlight bleeding issues. People really over exaggerate it. I never notice.

3. The x22wg does any aspect ratio you want. Read my review of the monitor. You can do NATIVE or FULL aspects. Native meaning you can have your image in the middle and the area around it in black.

[KoHaN69]

I don't agree with any of this.

1. My monitor doesn't have problems with a blue tint. Have you calibrated it? My color looks quite good, better than I expected.

2. I don't have major backlight bleeding issues. People really over exaggerate it. I never notice.

3. The x22wg does any aspect ratio you want. Read my review of the monitor. You can do NATIVE or FULL aspects. Native meaning you can have your image in the middle and the area around it in black.

1. I do not have an external calibrating tool.

2. The backlight bleeding was quiet severe.

3. NO, that was not avaiable, at least for dvi. I believe the x22wg-Gamer is NOT the same thing as the x22wg-1080p model I tested.

[Soulburner]

You may be right then. I wasn't even aware they had more than one model.

I don't have a special calibrating tool either, but I will get one with my next monitor.

[KoHaN69]

You may be right then. I wasn't even aware they had more than one model.

I don't have a special calibrating tool either, but I will get one with my next monitor.

Yeah, I was surprised as well.

note: this was the x2gen-1080p, apparently there are effing 3 versions of x2gen
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=6&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11202025&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&ca t=62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84 *1680*62021*
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11187193&topnav=&whse=BC&Ne=40 00000&N=4018491&Mo=10&No=8&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat =62021&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&hierPath=84* 1680*62021*

check those out, maybe

[adamsleath]

now i'm looking at samsung 215tw S-PVA 8ms: ($635aud)
my second choice behind NEC GX2 20" 6ms AS-IPS ($900aud)


3rd choice:
TN panel samsung 226bw (with "s"-panel by samsung..."a"-panel not as good): ($500ish aud)
22" 0.258 dot pitch 2ms HDCP 3000:1