What specs for gaming monitor?

[gamingmage]

I was thinking about buying a LCD monitor but I heard that they arent as great for gaming as CRTs because of refresh rates and clearness. Still my bulky CRT needs to go so i was just wondering wat kind of refresh rates i want and contrast ratio and so on. I use my comp for gaming with games such as CS:S, BF2, AOEIII, and Oblivion as well as for casual use such as web browsing typing up word documents ect. Please help.

 

[wolfram]

How much can you spend?
Remember the basic rule: You get what you pay for

There are some great LCD´s on the market, but if you want very good image quality, and no ghosting, you have to pay for that. Also, to get the best image quality, you should use the LCD at its native resolution. Of course you can use it at other resolutions, but the image quality won´t be the best.
Unfortunately, if you want a big monitor (17" or 19") and want to use the native resolution, you need a powerful computer to run the games smoothly at those high resolutions.

If you, like me, don´t have a cutting edge machine, look for a 15" LCD. Its native resolution its 1024x768. That should tax too much your machine.

 

[gamingmage]

dont worry i have a 7800gt with an oced Opteron 144. um basically im looking at newhere from 200-400 dollars

 

[kirock]

The best is 3ms refresh rate, but those are a little more expensive. i have a Samsong Syncmaster 730b it's 8ms at 1280X1024. It plays CS:S, Oblivion, HL2, COD2 just great. 8ms would be the highest refresh you can go for a gaming LCD.

 

[wolfram]

This is a very good one!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824005046

If I were you, I would choose it!

But, its your money and your decision.

Good luck!

 

[gamingmage]

cool but ive seen 2ms ones out or are those fake? also the higher contrast ratio the better picture or clearer picture right?

 

[wolfram]

Just remember something; lower response time, worse color reproduction.

Regarding the LG screen i suggested, you can find a review here on Techspot.
Take a look HERE

Good luck!

 

[gamingmage]

that monitor sounds awesome thanks but i still have a couple of ?s cuz im a noob wen it comes to monitors, explain the refresh rates, contrast ratio, brightness to me and can u tell me what specs are the best for each like higher or lower ect.

Thanks

 

[wolfram]

I found THIS page for you.

Hope it helps! :wave:

 

[gamingmage]

wow that does help very much thank u im thinking about getting that lg one thanks for the help wolfram u've been a BIG help.

 

[gamingmage]

oh one more question which is better dvi or the other one which i think is analog? cuz my 7800gt can do both. also i wanted an opinion if i wanted to play games would i want a really bright screen?

 

[iss]

Take a look at teh Samsung SyncMaster 204B 20.1 " (equal to a 22" CRT) 800:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time with a 1600X1200 resolution. Newegg has them for about 289.00

 

[wolfram]

oh one more question which is better dvi or the other one which i think is analog? cuz my 7800gt can do both. also i wanted an opinion if i wanted to play games would i want a really bright screen?

DVI is the best choice. It has the best quality.
Check this info:

How does DVI work?

To understand how DVI works we must first understand how a PC creates and transmits a video signal. The PC/VGA/CRT set up is most common among computer users. PC's create digital signals (0's and 1's). Your typical CRT monitor can only display analog signals. It is your PC's video card (VGA connection) that does the work of converting those digital signals to analog for the monitor to display. DVI has no place here though, really, but to understand how DVI can improve and preserve image quality understanding how video signals work needs to be explained. This setup would not improve even if you could use a DVI connection on it.

Without a DVI connection image quality is diminished because the video card on your PC has to turn the signals into analog and the LCD has to convert them back to digital when it receives them. (An LCD monitor without a direct DVI connection still has a graphics interpreter in the monitor itself to convert those analog signals back into digital.)

This is where DVI comes in. It makes no sense to convert digital signals into analog just to be forced to convert it back to digital form once more at the display. The loss of image quality between non-DVI LCD's and DVI LCD's is minimal at lower resolutions, but at higher ones, you'll start to notice quickly. DVI allows this loss to be virtually non-existent. There are many different ways to implement the DVI specification too, all the way from just buying an LCD with DVI or implementing the cables into your system set up.

Hope this info helps you! :wave:

 

[gamingmage]

ok do u think this one would be good i read on a review of this product that turning on v-sync for games that it will help with the blurry image caused by fast refresh rates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014111

 

[wolfram]

That´s a very good LCD screen.

Turning on V-Sync removes the tearing effect seen at high framerates. For example, you set your monitor´s refresh rate to 60HZ, but your card produces more than 60 frames, then you get the tearing effect. Turn on V-sync and your card will lock the framerated to 60 only in this example.

That doesn´t help with blurring though.
Anyway, 2ms response time is PERFECT. I can assure you that some very very slight blurring won´t make you mad.

Don´t listen to the reviewer who said that it is not for FPS shooters.

Good luck on your choice!

 

[gamingmage]

ok another ? how would i make my monitor or any monitor for that matter be able to play my PS2 or Xbox? is that possible?

 

[wolfram]

There COULD be some monitor models that allow you to use them for that. That depends on the monitor though.