New monitor, but which one?

[J0s3e]

Quickly, briefly :

I want 23'' - 24'' display. (already have 22'' - want something slightly bigger, but 27'' would be too big on my desk.)

It should be 1920 x 1080, not 1200, unless the 1200 monitor will be superior to the 1080 ones.

I play max. 10 - 12 hours a week, hardcore first person shooter shit

, so very low response time and high frequency will be nice, although I would sacrifice these two a little if the picture quality is AMAZING.

I only want to hear your suggestions, and we can discuss pros and cons on every monitor you happen to suggest. I know something about monitors, but other peoples opinions sometimes help a lot.

At the moment I am on Samsung SyncMaster 226BW, but this one goes to my housemate soon (two weeks or so) and my budget is roughly around £300.

Basic questions : Is an IPS panel worth getting, even for just a few hours playing a week? I think I would still regret getting it a bit, if it was very slow in games.

Is LED really a big difference?

Is 120 Hz really a noticeable difference? (I know it was back in the days of CRTs, but LCD panels dont vary much, or am I mistaken?)

Thanks for any input.

 

[J0s3e]

LG I personally fancy this one, but some reviews say 22'' and some 23''

BenQ This was the one I originally wanted, but has a few flaws.. Backlight bleeding etc.

Asus Another great looking monitor (at least on paper)

Acer I also like this one

Have I missed some? I've seen better panels, but simply I can't afford anything above £350.

 

[DragonPC]

120hz is no needs if your not going to play in 3d and led is difference, its thinner, saves more power and is thinner! and 2ms respons time is very good for gaming

 

[J0s3e]

But hey, as I said, I notice a HUGE difference between 60 Hz and 120 Hz, although that was back in the days when I used to play Counter-strike competitively on an CRT monitor. And who knows, I might try 3D one day, as my setup will definitively let me, therefore I am really leaning towards 120 Hz monitor at the moment. In fact, I think I have already decided to buy a 120 Hz monitor, after seeing a couple of reviews, all of them being positive on 120 Hz even without 3D enabled. So my choices are the 4 above, most likely the BenQ or LG.

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

Funnily enough, I was also checking out all these monitors yesterday and I to was going to go for the BenQ, although you have made me worry saying about the bleeding and such.

The reason I was going for this one over the others is because these all pretty much the same specs, but the BenQ can swivel to portrait and back landscape which would be cool for certain things and also its 24" which is also 2 foot, and personally I just liked the idea of when discussing specs that I could say my monitors 2 foot

.

If the problems are that bad though with the BenQ then I'd go for the ASUS in its place as it may look slightly better than the BenQ and can also swivel all be it a measly 23"

I also plan to make sure my next monitor runs at 120 Hz because 1, some people swear that a 120Hz monitor does look crisper and 2, although I'm using ATI atm, I do plan on getting a NVIDIA card some time this year and would love to try out 3D gaming and movies.

Please let us know what you go for, why and what you think

Edit: Btw, if you do get the LG and it arrives as a 22" instead of 23" then send it back and make them pay for it too as it clearly says 23" on there website so a 22" wouldn't be what you paid for.

 

[dugdiamond]

TBH the difference between the sizes of 1080p and 1200 are very hard to see, visually.

it all boils down to the contrast ratios and the response times

contrasts of 10K+, and responses of 2millisecs (or less) are what you are after

this will give you better blacks and more subtle tones throughout, with the least amount of ghosting.

 

[JCBenton]

I have the LG monitor you listed. I think it's excellent, but I'm not a reviewer. It's got everything I was looking for, although the downsides are certainly the setting buttons; they should've really been lit.

I've been 120hz gaming since my Viewsonic FuHzion. I wasn't around/aware at the time CRTs were everywhere so I can't compare a 120hz LCD to a 120hz CRT, but seeing my framerate drop from round 120 to about 70 is a big difference. The difference is there; I certainly would be irritated without it. From what I've gathered from reading articles all over, old CRT 120hz is supposed to be better than LCD 120hz, but with the downsides of size, encumbrance etc. The million arguments as to exactly how much the human being can process as an individual shouldn't really be relevant here, as you've stated you were able to recognize it playing CS.

I've no experience with LED monitors, sadly. Sorry!

 

[Bungral]

Are you kidding??

The monitors themselves are physically taller and very noticeable at least to me anyway.

Use a 1200 at home and 1080 at work and definitely notice the difference.

TBH the difference between the sizes of 1080p and 1200 are very hard to see, visually.

it all boils down to the contrast ratios and the response times

contrasts of 10K+, and responses of 2millisecs (or less) are what you are after

this will give you better blacks and more subtle tones throughout, with the least amount of ghosting.

 

[Ya93sin]

A 1900x1200 monitor is 1% shorter and 11% wider than a 1920x1080 monitor. So while the height difference isn't immediately noticeable, the extra width and change in aspect ratio is.

But a higher contrast ratio (once you are past several thousands to one) is better, and a response time c. 5ms or lower is also better.

 

[J0s3e]

I've decided to go for the LG one. Found it for £170, hope it will arrive

After reading many, and I mean MANY reviews, it seems like a better choice, compared to the BenQ.

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

I've decided to go for the LG one. Found it for £170, hope it will arrive

After reading many, and I mean MANY reviews, it seems like a better choice, compared to the BenQ.

Cool. Post again when you get it and tell us what you think will ya?

Would like to get a new monitor myself soonish.

Edit: Jeez, £100 cheaper than scan. That's mental!

 

[oO_KoPiTe_Oo]

I'm currently using this beauty, It's a 23" LED monitor and I have to say its the best I've come across in a long time. I've used the Syncmaster's, Acer's, Asus', Benq's, LG's and even owned a couple. Are IPS monitors worth it? for gaming i'd say no, I had one at my office and I have to say I could't tell much difference at all compared to my HP at home. I don't use the HP for designing that often but for gaming I wouldn't really bother getting an IPS, the price is far to high and all the hype amounts to not that much of a difference really.

I was a little worried about the viewing angles and responce times as it is an LED monitor but I have to say they're actually suprisingly good and as for the responce times, well 5ms is very, very good for an LED.

I picked mine up for a bargain £160 from ebay sealed but it usually retails at around the £200 mark. Its unbelievably thin and is very stylish, It boast's a HP Logo on the rear which lights up blue, it's is also handy for plugging in cables when it's dark. You can turn this off or on in the menus.

Heres some pics of the beauty anyway.

Trust me on this one and go for it, you won't regret it. Actually you'll probably end up with 2, I know i'm buying a second pretty soon.

 

[oO_KoPiTe_Oo]

Sorry, I didn't realise you've already made your mind up.

 

[J0s3e]

Ok, so I am back after two weeks of using my new LG W2363D. The monitor looks awesome, you immediately notice the responsiveness, compared to 60 Hz monitor. For comparison, I even plugged them side to side with my old Samsung, it simple IS MUCH faster. After many endless BFBC2 sessions with my brother, I can really say I am enjoying the game much more now. For all-round use, the monitor is not bad, although you have to fiddle with the colours a little, in order to get the spectrum right. Out of the box, the colors are a bit dull.

All in all, it is a great monitor, and I would recommend it to anyone (especially if you manage to get it for the price I did, it is a no-brainer) as a gaming / all-round use monitor.

The only thing that REALLY bothers me, is that you can't remove the bloody stand (the leg itself). I have always had my monitor wall-mounted, to get it in the right position, and although this one is VESA compatible, you can't remove the leg, and it looks silly on the wall.

Other than that, the modes are a bit of a dissapointment too, as you can only get 120 Hz in 1920 x 1080, other resolutions work either 75 Hz or 60 Hz. So, no more CS 800 x 600 @ 120 HZ for me, like on my old CRT.

 

[JCBenton]

Many 120hz monitors don't utilize 120hz on all resolutions, bro. It's a technology thing, I couldn't get 120hz to work at resolutions lower than 1680x1050 on my old fuhzion, either. As for the wall-mount, sorry I couldn't give you any input on that; I've always been a stand guy.

As long as you're happy with it in the long run, bro.

 

[Tortuga]

Many 120hz monitors don't utilize 120hz on all resolutions, bro. It's a technology thing, I couldn't get 120hz to work at resolutions lower than 1680x1050 on my old fuhzion, either. As for the wall-mount, sorry I couldn't give you any input on that; I've always been a stand guy.

As long as you're happy with it in the long run, bro.

Well usually you buy a display that has a Native resolution of what you want to play on in the first place. Obviously older games will look like crapola. I hooked my Playstation up to my plasma tv to play FF7 and it was unbearable. I had to hook it up to an old tube tv, and all the blur made it look fine. Thems the breaks. But you don't need to high of refresh rate on older games anyway, so it all evens out.

@AmEpic The refresh rate has no bearing on the thickness. They all use similar back lighting unless its LED backlit, which is thinner.

 

[JCBenton]

But you don't need to high of refresh rate on older games anyway, so it all evens out.

You don't need a higher refresh rate in any game. It's just there for the higher visible framerate; it's nice to have.