Which LCD to buy for programming + gaming?

[ark42]

So looking at newegg, I found a few decent choices, such as:
Hyundai L90D+ 19" 8ms 300cd/m2 700:1 $329.99
ViewSonic VX724 17" 4ms/6ms 300cd/m2 500:1 $299.99
ViewSonic VP171B-2 17" 8ms 300cd/m2 500:1 $329.99
ViewSonic VX924 19" 4ms/5ms 270cd/m2 550:1 $378.99
NEC LCD1770NX 17" 12ms 250cd/m2 500:1 $339.99
NEC LCD1770GX 17" 8ms 400cd/m2 500:1 $384.99

But I don't really know how great these are. The numbers can be deceiving with the response time, and I don't know if these brands are really that great. What about Samsung or Dell?

Basically, I want DVI, since my video card has it, and I want the DVI cable included. Most of the time, I program, so I'm staring at Visual Studio with a nice monospace font, but I want to be able to play games such as Age of Mythology or Enemy Territory without any ghosting.

My current monitor is a ViewSonic P95f+ 19", which is very nice, but it's still a CRT, so the text isn't as sharp as it could be, even with ClearType on. What I am really worried about though, more then ghosting, is the poor color representation I see on my cheap gateway laptop's screen. On that laptop, any relatively dark color quickly becomes black, unless you really adjust the brightness, in which case, any bright color is just white. I want to be able to full see the entire range of colors from #000000 to #ffffff. For example, look at http://ark42.com/freeimage/TestClr.png and make sure there isn't a huge black area in the center, or washed out colors around the edges.

 

[BFG10K]

Unfortunately most low response LCDs tend to have poor colour reproduction; OTOH colours are better on the high response ones but they tend to ghost.

Really the best solution would be to try before you buy.

 

[ark42]

Try how, and where? Best Buy? Not sure if B&M stores would have the same things, or for the same prices as newegg would.

 

[Fox5]

I have the L90D+, and the TestClr.png is black for about 20 pixels off from the middle, perhaps a bit less pixels than that, more like 12-15 I think. The edges don't look washed out for me. If you look at the top left box, the white one, like 20 pixels inward from the sides is white, except for the diagonal line that goes like all the way to the corner.

BTW, I think all the 8ms monitors might use the same Samsung panel, so they're not likely to vary much. Oh, and the L90D+ has vga, dvi, and speakers. Oh, you could probably always return a monitor if it didn't look good. Also, I believe the 17" monitors are supposed to be inferior to the 19".

 

[ark42]

Hmm.. on second thought, all these 8ms LCDs are 6 bit (16.2M colors), not 8 bit. Maybe I should be looking for 8 bit 17" LCDs instead. What is the min response time available on panels that are actually 8 bit and don't have to dither anything?

 

[Fox5]

I think the 8 bit panels tend to be 16ms or 20ms response times. Maybe you wanna get one of dell's monitors, I believe they're all 8 bit.