LCD display

I am building a new PC and I still need to pick an LCD. Something good for gaming but not *overly* expensive. 1920 x 1200 would be great.

Any suggestions?

I've been using a Samsung SyncMaster T240HD, and I think it's excellent for the price. It's 24", 1920x1200, and also includes 2 HDMI inputs and an HDTV tuner + remote. I paid around $250 for it.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Samsung SyncMaster T240HD

Checking at a few sites I shop at shows that as "out of stock, probably not going to be restocked" so I assume it is no longer in production. That's the problem I have with my current monitor (a LENOVO L220XW) which I love. It's a WONDERFUL monitor and was priced great but Lenovo doesn't make them any more.

Wow, you`re in for a battle :)

Been through this recently. There`s so much advice & contra-advice in this field and also smokescreens from manufacturers themselves it can be a nightmare.

I finally got LG Flatron W2220P - way over my original budget, but it`s also an excellent ISP panel and was well worth it. I have an OCD when it comes to graphics and this one is amazing in games and photography.
(apart from &^%$*& `touch` controls - it`s only flaw)

Here is a decent DigitalVersus review. It`s for the 22" but i guess it applies to the 24" model too. They also mention Dell 2209WA line - which is also very good.

Do you know what the "extra" numbers and letters are in the LG models? I assume two of the "22"s are the size. What's the P? I ask because in search on that some other models came up like a 2340V which is a 23" LCD.

Yeah, I assume it`s size…as for P no idea, seem to recall hearing somewhere it might have to do with it`s colour (as in W for White model)…but not sure - like I said it`s frustratingly hard to find out things. Good luck

Sometimes on things like that a "P" might mean "professional" and a "V" value or something. Sometimes the professional branded things are just overpriced or overfeatured but then sometimes the value things either take shortcuts or leave out needed features.

Yeah, at some point I suppose I'll just have to pick a few models and try to find reasonable reviews of them.

There aren't really any terrible TFTs on the market. Some a only okay-ish, but probably still better than what you have now.

The two brands to buy are Samsung and LG.

The huge price differences come from different panel technologies. All cheap TFTs use TN panels. That's the normal stuff - very fast reaction time but the colors aren't "real" enough for professional graphics artists. That's perfectly fine for gaming.
But the guys who are paid to know exactly which color of their color table they use for their project need a monitot which (a) offers a color space similar to reality (and print) and (b) can be calibrated to make the fit 100% if possible. As you can imagine they're charged quite a premium. These monitors are often too slow for gaming, at least for shooters, but their image quality is absolutely superb.
There's also another panel in-between. Better, more "real" colors than TN, faster than the pro stuff. How fast TFTs based on such a panel are has to be checked for each model. Maybe it's fast enough for gaming. Their image quality is also better than on TN panels. The price maybe only twice as much.

The differences in speed and image quality can actually be seen. They're not just theoretical numbers.

As you can see the choice is not easy.

Things you should know before you buy:
1. panel type (not mentioned means TN)
2. LED backlight, etc. (many new technologies in the last 12 months)
3. pixel error class (maybe even the possibility to return the product at your convenience)
4. input lag (how long the TFT "thinks" before doing what it should; very important for gaming)
5. is the monitor silent or does it make a humming sound (most TFTs do the latter!)

You can either spend a lot of time finding the relevant infos or you simply browse a dozen games sites and write down their top 10 lists for monitors. I know the German print mags have such lists on their sites and update them every month.