What to Look for in an LCD Monitor

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jonathan Bones

Baseband Member
Messages
75
As part of my ongoing study of hardware (see here), I have a few questions regarding LCD monitors. In short, what does the intelligent consumer look for?

My experiences so far tell me that response time (in ms) is key. Also of some importance are contrast ratio and brightness, but only in comparison to other models.

Question 1, response time: Response time is, in effect, refresh rate for LCD monitors, correct? If you want to see no drag whatsoever, how low of a response do you want? 12ms? 8ms? I know that it's still noticeable in our 16ms models. And this is really only an issue if you're gaming/watching video, right? A 25ms response is fine for desktop publishing/internet browsing?

Question 2, contrast ratio: How big of a contrast ratio difference is notable? In our 17" BenQ models at work, which range from $279.99-$429.99 CAD, they're all from 450:1-500:1. So there's really not much difference here, right? The 19" Acer for $399.99 has an 800:1 contrast ratio, on the other hand.

Question 3, brightness: All of the 17" BenQ models have 260 cd/m brightness. The 19" Acer has 300 cd/m. Like in question two, how big of a difference is a notable difference? What's cd/m? And is this something that really only scales with monitor size, or do higher quality monitors have higher cd/m?

Question 4, other things?: What else is crucial, in your opinion? I imagine that resolution is notable.. For example, our 19" will only support up to 1280x1024, not 1600x1200. I was also reading in a magazine that dot pitch and pixel size are of issue, as buying a 19" instead of a 17" may just get you bigger pixels instead of more pixels.


Thanks!
 
Does anyone have any advice? I was hoping to have some knowledge to take into work tomorrow.

My apologies for the bump.
 
Question 1, If you are looking for a home us gaming/movies - you should be looking around 8ms/12ms 12 been minium.

25ms is fine for browsing/publishing when it comes down to gaming = no good, you get double vision.

Question 2, I'm sure this is the angel you are looking at, depending on the ratio will depend on how far you can look at it on an angle without the image disapearing or bluring. The better ratio the better you can look at it on the side.

Question 3, I'm not too sure on this, sorry. my guess the brighter the monitor can go but not really a notice unless it improves alot.

Question 4, if you want a bigger resolution go for the bigger monitor.
 
If you are mainly a gamer, then allow me to recommend to you that you stick with a CRT monitor, they are still the best for gaming...

A friend of mine has a 21" viewsonic PerfectFlat CRT. That thing is freakin' incredible. Max Res: 2048x1536 @ 68Hz / 1600x1200 @ 87Hz
He paid about $430.00 at newegg.com.
 
I'm actually not looking to buy for myself right now, HAVOC-- though I might be in the future.

Right now, I'm just trying to sort out the differences between LCD specs for my job. So far I've learned that 12ms or lower is preferable for gaming/movies. Still unsure of contrast and brightness, though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom