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First LCD, I'm stuck

R

r4nger

Junior Member
Ok so I've been researching LCDs for a while now but just can't seem to make up my mind on which one should be my first. My budget is 200-300ish.

I'm a big FPS gamer so I'm constantly playing games like CS, BF2, FEAR, and Farcry so the response time for my monitor has to be good.

I'm also a Film student so I do a fair amount of video and picture editing for school, plus it's a hobby. For that reason my colors need to be good. They don't have to be spot on but they can't be real bad. I can always use my crt so I suppose gaming would be my first priority.

I realize I can't yet have have both speed and quality color, especially on my budget but I was wondering what would be my best bet?

The monitors I've been looking at include:
VX922(heard it's THE gaming monitor, although meh on color)
940BF
90GX2 (seems a bit pricey)
971P (read it's very nice for colors, haven't heard about its gaming)
FP93GX (nice for the money)

I'm home on Christmas vacation but will be ordering a monitor before I go home around the first of the year so any help before then would be great.
 
The 971P has stunning color reproduction/contrast and a decent response time. I would take the 971P any day to be honest, even if I were a gamer, but if you absolutely must have the fastest response then you'll be stuck with mediocre colors. In that case, the NEC 90GX2 is the best of them (its color reproduction isn't too bad, but it's a long shot from the 971P).
 
Have you used the 971P for gaming?

If the ghosting isn't to bad I might go with that.

And I guess your saying you would take the 90gx2 even over the VX922...interesting.

 
I was checking out the reviews for the 90GX2 on toms hardware and they tear that monitor apart. However every other review I've read has always been very positive towards that monitor.

Is toms just off on their review?
 
I own the 90GX2 and its amazing. Anandtech has a LCD buying guide and they rate it pretty high in the gaming area as well as having great color/contrast. If you don't want to spend the money extra money on the 90GX2, Anandtech also rates the Samsung 940BF very well. Whats funny is that the 90GX2 and 940BF use the same exact LCD panel. Although with the Samsung, you do lose a few features though such as the 4 port USB 2.0 Hub and the OptiClear high gloss coating (to me this is the best part makes the monitor a lot more brighter and makes the colors jump out of the monitor). The 90GX2 also has a swivel base which is also a great feature cause I can turn the monitor without scratching up my desk. I was surprised to hear that Toms gave this monitor a low rating...many places give this monitor great reviews.
 
Man this is a tough decision!

I'm pretty sure I have it narrowed down to the 971P and the 90GX2.

I'm just curious to hear from a gamer how the 971P does. I think it was overclockers.com that said it did great in farcry, no ghosting but I'd be interested to hear how it does in cs:s when alot of stuff is going on. Or Doom3 with the fast action in a very dark room where I'm assuming the ghosting would be the most noticeable.
 
LOL as long as your staying away from DELL, id say almost all is a pretty good choice and should be determined on budget.

As for me, i have a Dell LCD. 2007FPW to be exact, and in some games i get some ghosting issues. So yeah.. stay away from DELL 😛
 
It's lame how reviews differ so drastically from one site to the next.

At overclockersonline the guy raves about the 971P and said no ghosting at all in farcry, bf2, and fear but over at tweaked news the guy said the ghosting was really bad in the same games so he switched back to the 970P and it was gone....that doesn't even make since.

Tweaked News Review

OCO Review

Grr
 
Not to throw a wrench it your plans, but I notticed that your original list didn't include the Samsung 204B. Yeah, it came out 8 months ago (there are newer monitors out there but it is a great LCD panel with really good specs from a great manufacturer. I run/play everything at 1,600x1,200 and text and games look awesome. I mainly play BF2, but occasionaly I play DOOM3 - even is that dark, dark game this panel looks really good.

20.4" screen
5ms Response Time
1,600x1,200 native/optimum resolution
800:1 contrast Ratio
Super sharp picture and very good color reproduction
Rotatable LCD Panel
Sexy, clean lines and thin bezel design
Unobtrusive, easy-to-use front bezel controls
3-Year Warranty (at least in the U.S.)
MagicBrite, MagicTune, and MagicRotation software
Widely available in stores and on the Net'
$300ish-350 now
Available in Silver and Black
 
I thought about it but the thing is I have an older video card 9800pro 256mb and I'm not ugrading my system until the price drop on the Intel chips in early-mid 2007 so that card would be dieing in games with that 1600x1200. For a now really slow card its actually a champ in games but that's at 1024X768.
 
Originally posted by: r4nger
Anyone else have any input?
Click to expand...
The desktop market is moving quickly towards the widescreen 16:10 format. This should be especially important, as you will do video editing and video is also moving towards widescreen.

The 19-inch 5:4 monitor is becoming an entry-level product.

You can also read the above test for info if you really want a 19-inch non-widescreen. But at this stage, I think you should have a look at 20-inch and 21-inch widescreen monitors. A 20-inch widescreen has a smidge more surface area than a 19-inch non-WS, but will display a much bigger picture when viewing a movie. Check it out at http://www.tvcalculator.com/

Also, games are moving towards widescreen too.



 
Ghosting is overemphasized, as some people don't really experience it at all.

I have an old Samsung 910T, 25ms response time, I don't feel any ghosting at all.
 
Bernard, believe me, I'll be buying a WS before to long. I could really use it for editing!
However at this time I just want to get my hands on an LCD. I'm sick of my enormous crt stealing all my workspace.

When the price drops on the intel chips in a few months I'll be upgrading my system to a quad core and probably be getting a ws monitor at the same time. Prosumer editing heaven there 🙂 .

For now I'm just using up some Christmas money and getting a nice lcd.

I had read that inexpensive/quality 19in screens article before and it helped me out.

And Farmer I was wondering if the whole ghosting issue was really as bad as everyone made it out to be. Since I've never owned an LCD I wouldn't know.
 
Originally posted by: r4nger
I was checking out the reviews for the 90GX2 on toms hardware and they tear that monitor apart. However every other review I've read has always been very positive towards that monitor.

Is toms just off on their review?
Click to expand...

I don't really trust Tom's anymore. They told me the ViewSonic VP930b was great and had perfect response time control, and when I owned one of the units it was an absolute mess. IIRC they also said it had good uniformity (mine was a mess). I didn't like that monitor much.

The 90GX2 uses the same panel as the 940BF AFAIK, it's a very fast panel. The 971P is reasonably fast too.

Anyone who says there's "no ghosting" simply doesn't know what they're talking about. But the 971P's ghosting/blurring should not be that prevalent. Of course, it will occur even less on the 90GX2, which in itself is still 7x+ as slow as a CRT.

Ghosting can be annoying and can impede your gameplay a bit (depending on the game). If you're playing realistic games with lots of small objects, those objects won't track so well in motion. If you're playing Quake 1 with huge smudgy textures to begin with, the ghosting will be like nothing. Same with dark games like RTCW...it'll be very hard to notice. But in BF2 it can be annoying and even frustrating with a slow LCD.
 
Hmm that's interesting.

Toms is usually pretty accurate with their reviews but after reading some of the reviews for LCDs they got me doubting their conclusions.

That stinks your monitor turned out a mess...I've read that there was problems with that monitor.

Thanks for all the input guys, it really does help out.
 
Originally posted by: r4nger
Bernard, believe me, I'll be buying a WS before to long. I could really use it for editing!
However at this time I just want to get my hands on an LCD. I'm sick of my enormous crt stealing all my workspace.
Click to expand...

OK then. Have you considered the Samsung 931C?

It is one of the very few monitors out there with Super CCFL backlight, that gives 97% of the NTSC color gamut, vs something around 72% for regular LCD's and CRT's. It is also very fast.
 
If you want accurate colors you'll want to stay away from the 931C. Its vibrant colors are great for gaming but the 971P will be a lot better for anything color/media related. It does offer a large gamut, however much less accuracy as the colors are just farther apart. It can't actually reproduce a higher number of colors.

Though if we take a step back here maybe you should get the 931C and then use your CRT for editing until you can get a widescreen that is both accurate and great for games.
 
Just curious, what would be a ws thats accurate and good for games?

I'll be keeping it in mind when I buy a ws.

Oh and why would you guys throw another option at me haha, can't ya see I'm struggling enough with the choices so far 🙂
 
Originally posted by: r4nger
Oh and why would you guys throw another option at me haha, can't ya see I'm struggling enough with the choices so far 🙂
Click to expand...

Many top-of-the-line LCD televisions, like Sony Bravia already have Wide Color Gamut Backlights. The wider color palette allows for better realism.

It is to be expected that WCG-CCFL backlight technology will spread to computer monitors. The Samsung 931C is an affordable 19-incher that already has it, undoubtedly a distinguishing feature. Worth to try to have a look at it. Maybe you would like it better than all those other choices :evil:


 
Ok...*takes deep breath*

I'm buying the 971P

I'm not a gaming junky(to often 😛 ) so response time is taking the backseat this time.

Quick question though...are there usually new years day sales at newegg? I could buy the 971P for 340 now which is a reasonable price but I'd be kicking myself if there was a sale tomorrow.
 
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