tft flat panel monitors

[seb]

what do you need to look out for when buying one?

resolutions and stuff like that i guess.

 

[Griff]

Native resolution - 1280 * 1024 is average for a 17" - 19" LCD, if you have a large budget 1600 * 1200 is ideal.

Response Time - Sub 16ms (GREY to GREY) if you plan on using the screen to display fast moving images.

 

[seb]

coolio, cheers griff

 

[Munson]

Native res is important. LCDs scale the image if you use a lower res than native. This means that if you play games and want to reduce resolution to improve frame rates, you will suffer some noticable blurring.

Response time is imporatant if you dont want ghosting in games or video. The figures are quoted in different ways though so be carefull. Anything quoted at 16ms or less should be ok for games.

Contrast ratio is important if you want to watch videos/TV shows, as black level can be a bit 'grey'. This isnt so much an issue in games really.

Colour reproduction - I forget all the technical terms, but I know some LCDs, especially those with low (good) response times can have a lower colour fidelity, which you may or may not notice.

Very brief but I hope some of that helps.

 

[seb]

cheers roy

 

[Martin_172]

one thing to look out for is a 19" LCD @ its native 1280X1024 has bigger pixels than a 1280x1024 17" LCD, so the picture looks better on the 17" (if everything else is equal) but most peple dont notice the difference.

when it comes to LCDs i ignore the response time, especially on the cheaper models. ive not got anything fancy only a 17" LG L1715S LCD that cost me £150 from ebuyer.co.uk better than some more expensive models ive used too and has no dead pixels.

 

[Munson]

I wouldnt 'ignore' the response time as such, but certainly the quoted figures can be flattering - something to do with peak and average refresh I think. But if it was quoted at 20ms+ then I'd question it's use for games.

Valid point about the pixel size.

I have an LG Flatron L1710B and it's been great, also with no dead pixels

 

[Griff]

The difference in response times is down to the way the company measure the change of the colour spectrum

The correct method is "Grey to Grey". The referance to "Grey" being because TFT's cannot actually produce a technical Black, it's really an extremely dark Grey.

Some "cheaper/dishonest" manufacturers quote "Grey to White" which is only half the real test.

 

[Darren S]

Native res is important. LCDs scale the image if you use a lower res than native. This means that if you play games and want to reduce resolution to improve frame rates, you will suffer some noticable blurring.

Response time is imporatant if you dont want ghosting in games or video. The figures are quoted in different ways though so be carefull. Anything quoted at 16ms or less should be ok for games.

Contrast ratio is important if you want to watch videos/TV shows, as black level can be a bit 'grey'. This isnt so much an issue in games really.

Colour reproduction - I forget all the technical terms, but I know some LCDs, especially those with low (good) response times can have a lower colour fidelity, which you may or may not notice.

Very brief but I hope some of that helps.

^^^^ - the one reason why I remain in CRT land........ for now

D.

 

[Munson]

Or just maintain a system that can run 1280x1024 in games