What are the high quality specs for lcd monitors?

[PenelopeDreamweaver]

I'm trying to get my boyfriend a lcd monitor for a present. I'm not as computer conscience as he is, so if anyone could help me figure out the best price/quality ratio and best brands are I would appreciate it.

 

[BentValve]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

 

[PalmettoTiger]

I can't help you with a good price/quality overview, but I can tell you what to look for in product reviews, and what specs translate into good quality. Brightness, contrast ratio, viewing angle, and response times are the numbers to be aware of. Brightness and contrast ratio are the main factors when you're considering comfort over the long term (i.e., reducing eye strain). A brightness of 250 cd/sq meter or better is probably what you want to shoot for, and contrast ratio of at least 400:1. Viewing angle is how far to the side of the display you get before the colors start looking freaky. Most good LCDs have high viewing angles, like 160/160 (horizontal/vertical). 180 is the max, but really, who's going to be looking at the LCD nearly edge-on?

If he's going to be using the monitor for gaming, then response time becomes very important. For me, I'd figure that 40 milliseconds is the highest acceptable. Anything higher than that and 'ghosting' or 'streaking' starts to get annoying.

Just beware that there's no standard for arriving at the figures; manufacturers will tend to fudge and tweak to get the best possible result. Your best bet would be to find a site that reviews several models at once. This site has done a lot of good LCD reviews lately.

I've had a Samsung SyncMaster for about six months now and I'm VERY happy with it. However, it was pretty expensive, more than I'd expect someone to pay for as a gift for me.

 

[PenelopeDreamweaver]

Thanks!!!!

 

[AT]

Here's a link to another forum about LCD's that I found to be very informative and thorough when I was choosing LCD.
LCD posts

I ended up with Hitachi CML174 and I'm really happy with it. It equals or exceeds all the values PalmettoTiger posted above.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

over 400:1 contrast ratio,
over 250 cd/m2 brightness,
170/170 viewing angle,
under 25ms response time.

 

[0roo0roo]

under 25 def. 16 even better.

 

[NeBaWONG]

Why dont you tell us what price range you want to pay and about what size u want?

 

[buleyb]

Originally posted by: NeBaWONG
Why dont you tell us what price range you want to pay and about what size u want?

Yes, or even just a price range. If you limit us there, I'm sure we'll gladly empty our brains of everything we've been drooling over that fits your budget

 

[PenelopeDreamweaver]

Okay... My boyfriend does a lot of gaming... AOM and stuff like that. I'm thinking somewhere around $400-$500 and 17". Also... the color scheme should be black or silver... some sort of of that combo.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

you want Hitachi/Planar/Benq 16ms.

 

[KristopherKubicki]

Dont be so quick to pick up a CML174. Our review will be posted next week - I think a lot of people might be surprised of our analysis.

Kristopher

 

[ClarlieW]

How important is contrast?

I found this product review very interesting ....


Product review[/S]:Q

 

[ClarlieW]

Sorry about that .... hope this link works. Wanted to know how important contrast was ....


Product review