New monitor advice please

[Frankiemac]

Hello all.

I am on the lookout for a new monitor as my 3 year old has scratched the heck out of the screen of my current one with a screwdriver :cry: .

I have found one with a hard glass screen which I am attracted to for the obvious reasons, but I have no idea about specs etc, and this would be my first wide-screen monitor.

I use my PC for office apps and games, such as CoD4, Crysis etc. Looking at the specs below, would this monitor be good enough for gaming?

I'm not after huge resolutions etc, I have been happy enough with my 17" Acer AL1715, which was just a budget monitor.

If it helps, my graphics card is a 8800GT.

The monitor:

Monitor Cosmetics: Black bezel with black stand and black rear cabinet
Glass Hardness: 8h
Optic Glass: Optic10
LCD: 22" active matrix, thin film transistor (TFT) LVDS
Pixel Pitch (mm): 0.282mm
Native Resolution: WSXGA+ 1680 x 1050
Scan Frequency: Horizontal: 30kHz - 80kHz Vertical: 60Hz - 75Hz
View Angle: Horizontal: 170° Vertical: 160°
Display Area (mm): 474 (H) x 296 (V)
Display Colour: 16.7 Million
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Response Time (Tr+Tf): 5ms
Speakers: 2 x 2 Watts per channel
Anti-theft Security: Kensington® Lock
Compatibility: Windows 95/98/98SE/Me/NT4/2000/XP, Mac OS, Macintosh,
Linux Plug & Play - DDC1/2B
Input Video Signal: Analogue: (Connector: 15 pin D-sub) 0.7 Vp-p separate sync.
TTL level, RGB analogue, Detachable cable
Digital: DVI, Detachable cable
Input power source: AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz
Power management (EPA Compliant): Normal operation: < 49W Off/Suspend/Stand-by mode: < 1W
Operation Environment: Temperature: 5 - 40°C Humidity: 20% - 90%
Tilt Angle: Max. Forward tilt 5° Max. backward tilt: 15°
Weight: Net: 5.3kg
Dimensions (W x D x H): 512 x 160 x 405mm
VESA Wall Mount Compliant: 100mm x 100mm
Warranty: Three year on-site exchange

Thanks for your help...

 

[kimsland]

Well it's true there are monitors and there are monitors!

But you should be aware of something from the start.
A standard new monitor will show just as well as a very expensive monitor
The actual color depth and graphics are coming from your Video card inside your computer. Monitors do not make it better (or worse) they just display the image received.

So why are some more expensive than others?
Well they come in different sizes, connections, sometimes speakers, and also differnt quality (there's probably a whole lot of other useless stuff too)

Some monitors just last longer than others (basically built better)
Some are more (or less) expensive due to brand names like Dell

Anyway, any monitor will do

Note: I have not spoken about:
CRT
LCD
TouchScreen
Or any other design and make

 

[Frankiemac]

Thanks kimsland.

Couple of questions:

So is it purely down to the graphics card that will determine frames per second? i.e. does the monitor refresh rate not come into effect? Are all modern lcd's fast enough for this not to matter anymore?

Is it the monitors (lack of) refresh rate that would produce screen tear?

Is WSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 as a native resolution decent enough for games?

Thanks again.

 

[kimsland]

Oh that's another good point

Individual monitors have their own best setting size

ie some Monitors will work best on 1280 x 1024, whilst others are some other resolution.

Yes it's purely down to the graphics card on all new monitors