Transition from CRT to LCD

[Aug2006]

In views of the low price LCD widely available in the market one of these days, I am planning to move from CRT to LCD.

However, I am worrying about the resolutions a LCD supports. Everyone understands that at native resolution say 1280x1024 on a 17" or 19" LCD both 2D and 3D gaming images are alright.

I am a hard-core gamer, and I love my CRT. It is just that I need to optimise the space on my desk that I need to dump my CRT. Now my favourite games include Battlefield, Rise of Nations, Civilization IV, Splinter Cell and Shattered Union. My graphics card is only a 6800XT(128MB). What is troubling me is that if I run these games at 800x600 to maintain a good frame rates, would the image quality be bad or even worst on a LCD? Currently, running Battlefield at 800x600 on my CRT looks pretty handsome.

Your information and advices will be highly regarded.

 

[Randum]

yes, lower than native res on LCDs, does not look that great....I have 2 LCD's now- and if it doesnt run in the native, you will notice big time, especially if you are a pretty hardcore gamer.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Make sure you have enough power to run games at your display's native resolution- otherwise it looks like garbage.

 

[ForumMaster]

or choose an LCD with a native rez that matched the aspect ratio of 800x600. namely, a 16x12 but those LCD's are more expensive. i guess it's upgrade time?

 

[Dkcode]

I run a 16x12 LCD and running it at 800x600 it still looks garbage.

Stick with your CRT untill you can afford a decent video card.

 

[OCNewbie]

Read about LCD input-lag as well. As a reasonably avid gamer this was the killer for me. I tried a really fast LCD, 5ms response time, and it still looked like junk to me unfortunately, and many many other people seemed to think this monitor was great for gaming. I'm back on my 19" CRT now, and happy. I hope to make the switch sooner than later, but not before my eyes are satisfied and I don't see much ghosting, lag, etc.

 

[Dkcode]

Speaking of input lag it makes a mention in this thread http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1912208&enterthread=y
Seems as though it only applies to MVA & TN panels.

 

[kmmatney]

I've never minded the way LCDs scale for games. Running at non-natie resolution is crappy for the deaktop, but usually games don't look so bad. I play a few games at 800 x 600 on my LCD, and it looks fine. My LCD has a 4:3 aspect ratio that might help.

 

[Heartbreaker]

You might get used to it, but it doesn't look very good compared to CRT when scaling (since a CRT doesn't have to scale). I have a CRT and an LCD hooked up and if I have to scale, I run the game on the CRT.

 

[TheRyuu]

If you need to run at a low resolution, you might be better off looking for another CRT.