Best Gaming Monitor?

[fraya713]

so i don't know a lot about monitors, but i am looking at good monitors for first person shooter games, i need a fast refresh rate, but other than that.. i don't know what to look for... i have 3 different monitors i am looking at, its a hard decision...

thanks for the help guys!

Samsung
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16824001268

LG
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16824005097

Viewsonic

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16824116096

[hat]

If you really want a high quality monitor for gaming, CRTs still have the best image quality. I think DaedulousHelious (or however the hell you spell his name) has a 22" CRT that does 1600x1200 @ 85Hz =O

[fraya713]

lol i had a feeling someone was going to throw in the crt monitor... sadly, i am not in the market

to big.. to much energy.. ugly

[imperialreign]

out of the three you posted, I'm leaning towards the ViewSonic followed by the Samsung. The LG only as a last pick, considering the slightly higher price, although offering similar features to the ViewSonic.

Only problem, though, when looking at specs like that posted on a retailer's site - is that not all companies use the same format and methods to determine their response rate, brightness/contrast and whatnot.

Although it's a great idea to ask members here, you might also get suggestions from the brand loyalists as well; in the mean time, googling for reviews of models that you're interested in might provide a better idea of how well that monitor compares to similar models as well, and quality reviews would even shed light on anything odd that you might run into (overly bright displays, poor stand desings, etc).

[oli_ramsay]

Out of the 3 I would go for the Samsung monitor as it has a better contrast ratio (although it's digital contrast ratio and some maunfactureres fudge the numers to make their specs seem better).

If you can afford it, I would go for a 24" monitor as they use different panels (the 22" ones are made from TN panels and have a smaller viewing angle), but they are a lot more expensive for 2" more, plus you can watch full HD movies on them at 1920x1200.

I personally would read a few reviews on anything I'm about to spend $300 on, and there's a few 22" monitor roundups around the net (I'll try and find some).

good luck :toast:

EDIT: Here's a couple of roundups

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/22inch.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/22inch-2.html

[farlex85]

I'd say the samsung. I just got a similar one to that. I saw a review for it somewhere that called it the "best gaming monitor." All of those have the right specs for a solid gaming monitor though.

24" is better resolution but you'd be hard pressed to find a reasonably priced one w/ 2ms timing, a key for gaming.

[calvary1980]

CRT are the best for gaming because of the color, refresh rate and multisync. however for LCD the Samsung Syncmaster 226BW is arguably the most popular gaming monitor however you will have to check which Panels they are using.

you should also stick to 22" or lower as it's already going to effect your gaming with a 7950 GX2.

- Christine

[fraya713]

what does the panel have to do with the monitor? what does it do? how does it affect performance? ect.

thanks!

[suraswami]

I asked about this LG in another thread. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8739092&productCategoryId=pcmcat143700050048&type=product&id=1201913867402

[calvary1980]

the panel replaced the tube (CRT) if you need information I suggest you use google. actually with a gig of vmem you should be fine.

- Christine

[PuMA]

well i have samsung 226bw (dont now wich panel, maybe S or C) , but i like it. It looks cool and image quality is perfect for games and movies. I think it would be a waste of money to go for 24" with 1980x1200 as they are pretty expensive.

[DaedalusHelios]

If you really want a high quality monitor for gaming, CRTs still have the best image quality. I think DaedulousHelious (or however the hell you spell his name) has a 22" CRT that does 1600x1200 @ 85Hz =O

I have a 21" that does 2048x1536 @85Hz as my gaming rig computer monitor.


PS. My HTPC has a 65" DLP Samsung with a crazy contrast ratio...$2,000+ USD....... its great for games and movies and its top resolution is only 1920x1200, so I would say Samsung since they have always been the best to me.

I have heard Viewsonic has cheap build quality but I would still buy one if the price was right. The LG is my second pick. ;) That Samsung would be my first pick. I would buy that as a secondary monitor right now if I had the money(nice rebate).

[3870x2]

CRTs dont provide enough positives to account for the space taken, or the ugly look. I have a 24" DCLCD(Acer) that I bought for about $320. It would be a bad choice to go with anything below1920x1200, which is 80 more vertical pixels than Blu-Ray 1080p HD. You really need to look into your investments before you make a decision, 1680x1050 just doesn't cut it at this point in technology.

[DaedalusHelios]

Color correction is inferior in LCDs. :(

[D4S4]

As long as there are CRTs, I'll never get an lcd. They still blur, I hate that I can see the matrix and you MUST use it @ native resolution to get quality display. :shadedshu

AND IT DOESN'T IRRADIATE YOUR BRAIN! F*** a monitor that can't do that! :rockout: :rockout: :rockout:

[fraya713]

WIth the samsung, this sticks out as an oddity for me.. Response Time 5 ms, 2 ms (GTG) what is gtg? is it important for games, is it 5ms or 2ms?

this also confuses me

Horizontal Refresh Rate 24kHz~82kHz
Vertical Refresh Rate 50Hz~75Hz

soo... which one has the best refresh rate? it gets confusing with horizontal and vertical refresh rates...

[imperialreign]

I have a 21" that does 2048x1536 @85Hz as my gaming rig computer monitor.


PS. My HTPC has a 65" Samsung with a crazy contrast ratio...$2,000+ USD....... its great for games and movies and its top resolution is only 1920x1200, so I would say Samsung since they have always been the best to me.

I have heard Viewsonic has cheap build quality but I would still buy one if the price was right. The LG is my second pick. ;) That Samsung would be my first pick. I would buy that as a secondary monitor right now if I had the money(nice rebate).

we have a couple ViewSonics here, and not all of them come across as cheap. TBH, though, they have amazing picture clarity, and response as well. My father uses one with an 8ms response time, and I never notice any ghosting or otherwise.

There are really good LCDs out there, but trying to compare based on spec sheets is a hassel, cause all manufacturers test and rate differently. It's best to compare in person, if possible. Asides, what one display looks great for one person, won't look the same for another, as everyone's eyes are different - just like how one person might not hear the differences in audio files, or with various audio hardware, while other's will.


As long as there are CRTs, I'll never get an lcd. They still blur, I hate that I can see the matrix and you MUST use it @ native resolution to get quality display.

AND IT DOESN'T IRRADIATE YOUR BRAIN! F*** a monitor that can't do that!

Not all LCDs suffer from those issues nowadays - LCD technology has come a looooong way over the last 7-8 years; typically the only monitors you'll notice ghosting on anymore are the extreme oversized displays (28"+), and monitors with stoopid high response times (typically anything over 10ms).

You don't always see the display matrix, or even the screen halo anymore - there are a lot of LCD monitors out there that can run with a CRT nowadays; even including correct blackness display as well. The CRT is a dying breed, and I place another 3-4 years on it's head for the consumer market.

[Black Panther]

WIth the samsung, this sticks out as an oddity for me.. Response Time 5 ms, 2 ms (GTG) what is gtg? is it important for games, is it 5ms or 2ms?


It's grey to grey.

Normally the refresh rate quoted is always grey to grey. I have an LG 226WTQ it's 2ms gtg and 5ms white to black. I came from an Olidata which said it had a 6ms response... that was gtg and the white to black when I searched it on the net was around 20ms!

About the OP's question - I can't say anything against LG really.

This year I got the LG LCD 22", and well it's pretty good, I never had a better monitor. It's got 2ms response time, 3000:1 contrast ratio (5000:1 with DFC, and I guess the latest LG the OP is quoting gets 10,000:1 with DFC), got a nice matt face (I can't stand reflective monitors, they might look nicer but the reflections really distract me), it got all pixels working, the colours are very customizable...

The only thing is that it's a TN panel so there's the viewing angle inaccuracy. But really... unless you plan to use your monitor as media entertainment for the family the viewing angle isn't really important because we always stay with our face directly in front of it. That's what I do anyway. :)

[xubidoo]

i have a samsung 226bw 2ms ,and im very happy with it ,never had any blurring or ghosting in even teh fastest moving games ,unlike my older hanns-g 19" 5ms which did blur in faster games a little.

as some1 mentioned lcd's have come a long way in the last couple of yrs ,i was a diehard CRT user tbh ,but this samsung has made me change my mind.
i would not go back to a CRT now after using this samsung for a while.

my previous crt was a Sony Trinitron 21" but compared with my current lcd its not a patch on it quality wise.

[warlord2000ad]

The Dell 24" Ultrasharp-HC has served me and most of my Clan very well. With a nice 1920x1200 resolution.

There was another one that has highly recommended but i can't remember it off hand. There was a topic about it at the bit-tech forums for gaming monitors. I'm sure it was NEC branded.

[panchoman]

grab the samsung