Coming out soon, finally an LCD *I* would find worth buying.

[mdzcpa]

Unbeleivable, but true!

I think I found an LCD I am going to keep!! That's right...you heard it here first!!

This thread has had me researching for the last week and half looking for an LCD I could live with. I've been through a TON of them...priced from $450 to well over $1k. They all sucked for gaming IMO.

Then, above, someone recommended the inexpensive LG 204wt. I went to look at it at the store and it looked crappy. Text and desktop looked awesome, as did "some" gaming. But I fired up a first person shooter and proceeded to walk out the door disappointed.

However, while thumbing through the paper, I saw that my local CC was selling the monitor for an incredible $299. I thought "what the heck" I'll take one home and hook it up to my own system and see what i can get out of it. For that price why not. I can always return it in 14 days at no charge.

Sooooo, I brought it home and hooked it up. As usual desktop looked awesome. Great color production for being only 6 bit. No bleeding at all. No dead pixels. Hmmmmm....not a bad start.

I then fired up BF2 ready to be disappointed. OMFG!!! It looked great!! Ghosting and blurriness were almost undetectable. Unlike previous LCDs I've tried, within one hour of gaming I loved it. Its a keeper!!

To be honest, I was expecting it would take a $1,000 LCD to satsify me. But, nope. It was a inexpensive, no frills, widescreen. Paint me fickle, but I'm now an LCD convert

[eXa]

lg 204wt, ill have to write that down...

edit: nice its cheap here in norway too. but 2000:1 in contrast... thats BS right? i was considering samsung 205bw wich cost about the same but maybe this lg is a better choise.

[syne_24]

I dont see a lot of people talking about LG monitors. But they are pretty damn good. My old LG L1981Q had color that is still more superior than my Samsung 215TW. It was more rich and deep tone yet still vibrant. I wish it would make a 21-22 widescreen. LG makes some nice quality monitors for sure.

[cadaveca]

Funny..imagine that..i mentioned the 204wt, and someone else bought one... and agrees it's a great unit...even someone that said CRT's were better. Glad you like the monitor, mdzcpa.

Like I said earlier, it depends on your usages which is best, but the difference, now, is so close, that only if you are worried about colour-correction does it matter.

But everyone, pls keep in mind i'm talking about newer monitors...and ya know...they really use the same old panels...but it's the controller pushing those panels that makes the real difference.


As well, the older LG monitors DO NOT COMPARE to the new line. Once agian, different controllers, as well as brightness. the 2000:1 on the 204WT really makes the difference of the 1400:1 of the old LG's, which were still very good units...passed over many time because of "ghosting"...


BTW, let's be honest...

This is simply horse crap (no personal offense). First off there isn't an LCD made (regardless of price) that can keep up with CRT image quality in video and gaming. Not a one. Every LCD I've tried has been been top end, well reviewed, well received, and well complimented by the media and users. And everyone one has had at least some issues with video and gaming compared to my high end crt.

would be "dissing" a LCD over CRT.

And i bet ya you are powering the monitor with a far better vidcard than was in the store...it matters...because ghosting isn't just a problem with the panel...

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Unbeleivable, but true!

I think I found an LCD I am going to keep!! That's right...you heard it here first!!

This thread has had me researching for the last week and half looking for an LCD I could live with. I've been through a TON of them...priced from $450 to well over $1k. They all sucked for gaming IMO.

Then, above, someone recommended the inexpensive LG 204wt. I went to look at it at the store and it looked crappy. Text and desktop looked awesome, as did "some" gaming. But I fired up a first person shooter and proceeded to walk out the door disappointed.

However, while thumbing through the paper, I saw that my local CC was selling the monitor for an incredible $299. I thought "what the heck" I'll take one home and hook it up to my own system and see what i can get out of it. For that price why not. I can always return it in 14 days at no charge.

Sooooo, I brought it home and hooked it up. As usual desktop looked awesome. Great color production for being only 6 bit. No bleeding at all. No dead pixels. Hmmmmm....not a bad start.

I then fired up BF2 ready to be disappointed. OMFG!!! It looked great!! Ghosting and blurriness were almost undetectable. Unlike previous LCDs I've tried, within one hour of gaming I loved it. Its a keeper!!

To be honest, I was expecting it would take a $1,000 LCD to satsify me. But, nope. It was a inexpensive, no frills, widescreen. Paint me fickle, but I'm now an LCD convert

haha, nice to see someone else has come over to our side.

all you needed was find a panel you liked, the 20" panels are some of the newest.

[mdzcpa]

Funny..imagine that..i mentioned the 204wt, and someone else bought one... and agrees it's a great unit...even someone that said CRT's were better. Glad you like the monitor, mdzcpa.

LOL....no surprise really. It was indeed your suggestion that had me check out the unit in the first place

Although it looked crappy in the store, I knew I had to bring it home to check it out first hand....as I had done countless times before with other LCDs. The only difference this time is that it did not disappoint.

As well, the older LG monitors DO NOT COMPARE to the new line. Once agian, different controllers, as well as brightness. the 2000:1 on the 204WT really makes the difference

This I agree with 100%. I've tried previous LCDs (at home on my system) and they did in fact disappoint. This new LG is clearly a better unit.

BTW, let's be honest... [mdzcpa comment] would be "dissing" a LCD over CRT.

I have to disagree here. Just because I feel LCDs do not compare to CRTs in fast paced gaming does not mean I am dissing LCDs. I beleive my previous comment stands. Although I really like this LG alot, it is, at best, only close in performance to my CRT for gaming. My CRT was still better. The difference now is that this unit is "close enough" in performance to my CRT for fast paced shooters that I am willing to concede a tiny bit of quality to gain the better power usage, real estate usage, desktop 2D performance, as well as gain a widescreen which is simply awesome for gaming.

And i bet ya you are powering the monitor with a far better vidcard than was in the store...it matters...because ghosting isn't just a problem with the panel...

Again I fully agree that this was indeed the case.

Every other LCD that I have tried in the past (and been disappointed with) was tried at home on my own system. And I have always had a top of the line video card. So my previous judgements are valid. I never disregarded an LCD by relying only on the in store performance.

That's why I continued to do my research (based on your recommendation of the LG 204wt) even after my in store look was negative. I knew I had to actually take it home to really know what it could do as i had done in the past. This time, however, I was pleased instead of disappointed

[thunderstruck!]

Just to be clear, the LG 204wt has a 8 bit LG/Phillips panel. Great montior IMO, I am getting one soon.

mzdcpa: How close are your eyes to the monitor when gaming? Can you give me an exact length?

[kemist]

Just to be clear, the LG 204wt has a 8 bit LG/Phillips panel. Great montior IMO, I am getting one soon.

mzdcpa: How close are your eyes to the monitor when gaming? Can you give me an exact length?

That an SIPS? From most of what i have read the newer SIPS panels are currently the best over _VA panels especially in large sizes.

Anyway glad mdzcpa could find a panel he liked Im hoping that some of the newer panels coming out in the next year or two rack it up a notch. Which looking at that 26" NEC seems like will happen. Until then, for gaming ill stick to my 24" trinitron

[cadaveca]

Just to be clear, the LG 204wt has a 8 bit LG/Phillips panel. Great montior IMO, I am getting one soon.

Actually, the 204wt features a 6-bit TN panel. It's an old slow panel, with a great controller and contrast engine. It's also the same panel in most other 20-inch widescreens, but LG has done this one right.

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l204wt.jhtml


The monitor sits 15 inches from my face.

[mdzcpa]

mzdcpa: How close are your eyes to the monitor when gaming? Can you give me an exact length?

I'd say about 17 inches.

Actually, the 204wt features a 6-bit TN panel. It's an old slow panel, with a great controller and contrast engine. It's also the same panel in most other 20-inch widescreens, but LG has done this one right.

They must have done something right, cause this monitor looks great. I knew the 6-bit TN panels were considered "old tech" (hence the very affordable price tag), but I'm not sure how they have it working so well.

I tried out the similar looking (but more expensive) Samsung SyncMaster 215TW and Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP. I'm not sure what panels these monitors use, but they just didn't look as good as this 204wt during gaming. They both ghosted noticeably enough to really bother me. The 204wt barely has any ghosting at all and only in the most unique of circumstances (eg first person shooter with many players on the screen, all up close and all moving fast in different directions...such as a spawn location). Even then, its barely noticeable. But with the Dell and Samsung it was terrible looking. And YES, I had both the Dell and Samsung at home and running off a good vid card (7800GTX 512 in SLI).

So, whatever LG did with this panel, it really does a nice job.

Do you think the 5ms response time is for real and the reason behind it looking so good in faced paced games?

[thunderstruck!]

this is the email i got from LG about the 204WT, Dear Matt, Thank you for your e-mail. The monitor you are inquiring about has the 8-bit true color. If you need further assistance please contact our computer department at 800-243-0000. Thank you again for inquiring of LG Electronics. Kristi Email Administrator Customer Interactive Center LGEAI

its deff. the 8bit panel, it looked wayyy too good to be 6bit!

Here's a good thread. I don't normally visit, but they have some good information on LCDs: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1076405

[mdzcpa]

Here's a good thread. I don't normally visit, but they have some good information on LCDs: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1076405

Wow...that's interesting. I thought the 204wt just used dithering to simulate up to 16.7 million colors. But that email does say "true" 8 bit color.

Hmmmm

[cadaveca]

LoL. Tech support. I wonder if it's inhouse or outsourced lol. The L203WT is 8-bit...the 204 is a different beast. Or maybe not...lol..16.7 should be 8-bit, 16.2 should be 6bit. Still a TN panel tho.

[eXa]

Now Samsung has a new 22"! i was considering the 205BW untill i read about the LG screen. but now samsung has an 225BW and it doesnt cost that much more... hard choise!
is there a 22" version of the LG too?

[cadaveca]

yes, there is , but @ the same resolution...i'd take the smallest screen @ each res myself. Most 22 are 1680x1050...the odd one is 1920x1220. TN panels tend to not go that high. S-IPS for larger screens.

[eXa]

i like that resolution!

Edit: soo... are you saying its S-IPS or TN?

[eXa]

do you have any info about the 22" version of LG 204wt? cant find any!

[gr8golf]

I tried out the similar looking (but more expensive) Samsung SyncMaster 215TW and Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP. I'm not sure what panels these monitors use, but they just didn't look as good as this 204wt during gaming. They both ghosted noticeably enough to really bother me. The 204wt barely has any ghosting at all and only in the most unique of circumstances (eg first person shooter with many players on the screen, all up close and all moving fast in different directions...such as a spawn location). Even then, its barely noticeable. But with the Dell and Samsung it was terrible looking. And YES, I had both the Dell and Samsung at home and running off a good vid card (7800GTX 512 in SLI).

Mike - I was happy to read this post. I have the Dell and have been thinking that I'd like a better panel for gaming. I have been an LCD convert for a year now, it was hard but the plusses outweighed the inferior gaming performance. I think I'll pick one of these up tomorrow and see how they compare - I hope I come away as happy as you sound. I had actually been considering looking into CRT's again.

[gr8golf]

Unbelieveable! I just checked the 4 local stores for stock on this monitor and none of them have one! Is this model being discontinued?

[thunderstruck!]

Nope, it just sells out fast because it's a damn good monitor. Also, it's pretty much only available at CC

[gr8golf]

Okay - ordered it up off the CC website. Will be here on Friday. I'll be interested in the head to head comparison with the Dell 2007WFP. I also ordered up an XFX Extreme 7900GTX last night - for $238.99! Might be a price mistake deal that falls through, but I haven't had the order canceled yet - *crosses fingers*. If that doesn't work out I'll be ordering an eVGA 7950GX2. I hope the next gen (DX10) cards ship within the next 90 days - that step up program is the main reason for going eVGA.

[mdzcpa]

Mike - I was happy to read this post. I have the Dell and have been thinking that I'd like a better panel for gaming. I have been an LCD convert for a year now, it was hard but the plusses outweighed the inferior gaming performance. I think I'll pick one of these up tomorrow and see how they compare - I hope I come away as happy as you sound. I had actually been considering looking into CRT's again.

Sorry I missed your post. I think you'll be happy trying this panel. It was definitely the best of the group I tried. Its not the largest....but it certainly looked better than some of the newer 22s and 24s.

Let me know how you make out.

[afireinside]

Mike do you play with vsync on or off? Is there any input lag? Is tearing bad at 200+ fps? I was about to buy that 600 dollar NEC 20" display until I tried a 2005fpw again and couldn't get over the ghosting and tearing. Everyone I talked to says the tearing is terrible on all LCDs without vsync on. If this is ghosting free and minimal I'm sold

[Khaotic]

The Dell 2407 has me pretty impressed. I've got to spend time with last years 2405 (spare monitor at a fellow gamers house) and I like it. 24" wide screen.
The 2407 is this years model.
I WANT IT

[mdzcpa]

Mike do you play with vsync on or off? Is there any input lag? Is tearing bad at 200+ fps? I was about to buy that 600 dollar NEC 20" display until I tried a 2005fpw again and couldn't get over the ghosting and tearing. Everyone I talked to says the tearing is terrible on all LCDs without vsync on. If this is ghosting free and minimal I'm sold

I play with vync off. Probably a "left over" habit from my crt days. I haven't noticed any tearing that would have prompted me to go back and turn it on.

That said, I run mostly new games with all the eye candy maxed, so I'm not seeing much at 200fps...even with my GX2. With res at 1680 x1050 with AA and AF cranked and all in game detsials maxxed, something in the 50 to 90 range is more common (for games like Company of Heros, Oblivion, Prey, etc).