How important is monitor response time?

[tyl998]

I'm considering buying an additional LCD monitor for my computer in the near future. I've noticed that monitors with a 5 ms response time (gray to gray usually) are noticeably less expensive than similar monitors with a 2 ms response time.

Am I going to notice lower quality and blurring going with a 5 ms response? Is the difference big?

 

[vshin]

I can notice a slight difference between 2 and 5ms. If you play FPS games I'd avoid monitors above 5ms response time (most IPS panels).

 

[blastingcap]

Blasphemy. There are those who play shooters who nevertheless say TN is crap, that IPS is the first AND last word among LCDs, that they can't tell between 5ms or 6ms or even 8ms, etc. and that you are a heretic for saying otherwise.

 

[tyl998]

What's TN and IPS? I do play some FPS, but I also play racing games and SC2.

 

[Throckmorton]

IPS monitors use a different technology from the usual cheap TN ones. The IPS screens are 24 bit color instead of 18 bit, and color reproduction is usually more accurate. It looks like modern IPS screens like the HP 24" are 7ms response http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/tp/24inchLCDs.htm

In any case, I highly doubt you'd notice anything. The 5ms difference is 1/200th of a second! That would be massively overshadowed by your own reaction time, ping to servers, input lag, etc.

BTW, wouldn't the dithering process used by TN screens to turn 24 bit color into 18 bit color add input lag time?

 

[Throckmorton]

According to this review, S-IPS screens have the lowest input lag and S-PVA the worst. I have no idea why http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/4

 

[GZFant]

I can notice a slight difference between 2 and 5ms. If you play FPS games I'd avoid monitors above 5ms response time (most IPS panels).

Totally disagree unless you play professionally.

TN is a cheaper LCD technology therefore does not and cannot offer the quality of experience that an IPS does.

If your eyes can notice the difference between 2 and 5ms then they surely can notice the viewing angles and incomplete color accuracy that TN panels offer.

 

[tyl998]

So...how can I tel which monitors use TN and which ones use IPS? The descriptions don't exactly spell it out even on sites like Newegg.

 

[Throckmorton]

If it's under 6ms it's TN (afaik). Best way to tell is probably to google the model + "ips" or "tn" or "pva" and read a few of the pages Google turns up

 

[GZFant]

So...how can I tel which monitors use TN and which ones use IPS? The descriptions don't exactly spell it out even on sites like Newegg.

A little bit of investigative work and resourcefulness should give you the answers

or

You could ask one of the many search engines, I'm sure they'd know.

 

[tyl998]

I'm so far trying to decide which of these three monitors to buy...and given their response times are under 6 ms I guess they're all TN?

($119.99) eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 80000:1(1000:1): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product


($169.99) ViewSonic VX2239WM Black 22" 2ms GTG, 5ms BTW 1920x1080 2ms Full HD HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers 300 cd/m2 1000:1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...920x1080%202ms


($169.99) Hanns·G HZ251HPB Black 25" 2ms X-Celerate OD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 X-Contrast 15,000:1 DCR (800:1 typical) Built-in Speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254048

 

[GZFant]

I'm so far trying to decide which of these three monitors to buy...and given their response times are under 6 ms I guess they're all TN?

($119.99) eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 80000:1(1000:1): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product


($169.99) ViewSonic VX2239WM Black 22" 2ms GTG, 5ms BTW 1920x1080 2ms Full HD HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers 300 cd/m2 1000:1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...920x1080%202ms


($169.99) Hanns·G HZ251HPB Black 25" 2ms X-Celerate OD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 X-Contrast 15,000:1 DCR (800:1 typical) Built-in Speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254048

The first hit on google shows the first monitor to be TN. I typed in "E233Hbd panel type" so you could probably do the same for the others and find out.

 

[jinsaotomex4]

The only games that require little to no input lag are fighting games (where combos either connect or miss based on frames so execution is key) and rhythm games unless they have input buffering.

 

[tyl998]

I just checked out some prices for IPS monitors..and they're horrendously expensive. Thus, I can be certain none of these monitors are IPS

Any thoughts on which of those monitors are good to buy?

 

[Patrick Wolf]

This site should be stickied.

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php

The most affordable one's are the 22"/23" Dells (e-IPS), 22"/24" HPs(S-IPS) and 23" NEC and Viewsonic (e-IPS). S-IPS is generally better than e-IPS. The NEC is 14ms so you can rule that one out.

 

[Painman]

The panel type is only part of the equation. A really, really dirt cheap TN might be the fastest of the lot, but that's only because the signal goes through so little before it's output to the LCD array.

My H-IPS monitor (a 2690) has less than "optimal" response time; it does a lot of post-processing before it sends the data to the LCD array. I don't really care, since I gave up trying to be competitive with the best of the best in online FPS more than a decade ago. On the rare occasions that I do go online to frag people nowadays, my ability to hold my own is in no small part due to having hard-wired lag compensation circuits in my brain.

But, yeah. "panel" response times are meaningless. They're measured in a vacuum. You need to look at an input lag test for a given display unit to have a concrete idea.

 

[Ben90]

Blasphemy. There are those who play shooters who nevertheless say TN is crap, that IPS is the first AND last word among LCDs, that they can't tell between 5ms or 6ms or even 8ms, etc. and that you are a heretic for saying otherwise.

You would be correct if the advertised response time was the actual response time. A 8ms monitor can take up to 40ms for certain color combination such as brown to brown.

Every 2ms monitor uses some sort of overdrive technology to achieve this number. The overdrive creates a more linear response time as a side effect so even those tough brown/brown transitions take less than 10ms.