19" TFT's

[Fletch]

I've been putting up with a monster CRT on my desk for quite a while, and i was wondering if i was right to be sceptical of 19" TFT monitors that are priced so low nowadays. On paper the specs seem to be good - seeing as im happy with anything that has 16ms response time or less.

For example http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_6627558/114401.html

The brightness and contrast ratio also seem to be good, but are they these "theoretical" measurments that are never achieved by the panels?

The specs seem to be good, but where's the catch . Im willing to spend £200 - 250 on a monitor, so if you've got any good reccomendations send them my way.

 

[duffers20]

I'm in the same position as you, I want to get a 19" TFT but aren't sure about what it will perform like. I have heard of games being ok, but when it comes to movies, then you get alot of ghosting. Really need some TFT owners or people who know alot about this to post here, get there opinion on it. I will be interested to see what people have tp say.

 

[pukka7]

I've been looking for a TFT that can handle 1600x1200 in atleast 75hz but havnt found any that are priceworthy so I'm sticking to CRT screens.

 

[Fletch]

You want to be looking at other specifications when thinking bout a TFT, refresh rates arent such an issue i believe. There's a good thread here duffers http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=4826961#post4826961

 

[3ssence]

I'm in the same position as you, I want to get a 19" TFT but aren't sure about what it will perform like. I have heard of games being ok, but when it comes to movies, then you get alot of ghosting. Really need some TFT owners or people who know alot about this to post here, get there opinion on it. I will be interested to see what people have tp say.

Imo, tft's are great, as long as you get a good quality one. With tft's you really do get what you pay for, so it is worth forking out the little bit more to get a quality version rather than a cheaper screen.

If you want 1600 x 1200 resolution then i'm afraid you're looking at a 20 inch tft, such as the one listed in my sig (one of the best tft monitors around, i'm still blown away by it) as 19 inch tft's have a native resolution of 1280 x 1024. The only downside of this is that you have the same resolution as you can get on a 17 inch panel, but stretched over a greater area, so the picture isn't quite as sharp. But no reason why 19 inch panels can't be good, there just aren't as many good 19 inch panels out there as there are 17's.

If you are thinking about size in relation to your crt, then it is worth knowing that the viewable area of a tft is its actual size, i.e. 17 inch tft has a 17 inch viewable area, whilst a 17 inch crt loses an inch of that and has a 16 inch viewable area. So if you are not too worried about the loss of an inch, then a 17 inch tft only has 1 inch less viewable area than a 19 inch crt which has an 18 inch viewable area.

The best advice i can give you though, is do your research, read magazines, search for reviews of monitors on the internet, and not just one persons opinion, but a variety so that you can be sure.

Aside from that, i would recommend viewsonic, iiyama, look out for some of the sharp tft's, some nice ones there, samsung make some decent tft's, hitachi as well.

But........... do your own research so you can be sure you are getting what you want, don't just take other people's word for it.

Hope this information is of some use

 

[duffers20]

Thanks for the post 3ssence. Good information there. Don't forget about fletch! he did start the post!

I did look at that overclockers forum not that long ago fletch, but thanks for the link. I'm just gonna do loads of reasearch until I find the monitor i have in mind, because i'm really picky about everything and I don't want to spend £300 on a new TFT and be disapointed with it.

 

[J_Tweedy]

Response time is very important- if you dont want blurry and shifty gaming/video playback experiences you really need under 12ms- preferably 8 or 4. The cheaper TFTs often have turd reponse times.

 

[furiousV]

I have a 17" TFT AG Neovo monitor. It has 16ms Response Time, and im running it at 1024x768 @ 60Hz. Im running it at that refresh rate as my eyes can actualy cope with it unlike CRTs at that rate.
I paid about £150 inc Delivery from Overclockers.co.uk, it was on a This Week Only.

Works great, I do not notice any ghosting or anything like that at all, and I have been watching plenty of movies on this computer, and this is my primary gaming station

I think they only ghost if there was a sudden temperature change, or its really cold. My PC is in my room, so its always warm I do not regret this purchase at all. worth every penny. OcUK always seem to have TFTs on T-W-O offers so look around.

I hope this helps, seeing you wanted a TFT owner to post

 

[J_Tweedy]

oh well, maybe im just a fiend for crispness, but i noticed the difference between 8 and 16ms, and i personally wouldn't go above 8- just me, mind.

 

[3ssence]

Thanks for the post 3ssence. Good information there. Don't forget about fletch! he did start the post!

I did look at that overclockers forum not that long ago fletch, but thanks for the link. I'm just gonna do loads of reasearch until I find the monitor i have in mind, because i'm really picky about everything and I don't want to spend £300 on a new TFT and be disapointed with it.

Ty

I didn't forget fletch, it was aimed at everyone in this thread in general, i just tried to cover as many aspects as i knew anything about lol



And that is the best idea mate, do plenty of research and find the right product for you.

You might want to check out custompc's website as they often have good reviews: http://www.custompc.co.uk

Check out the reviews archive and the labs parts of the website, should have some tft info there. Some prices may be out of date, but there are good reviews on the actual products

 

[3ssence]

Response time is very important- if you dont want blurry and shifty gaming/video playback experiences you really need under 12ms- preferably 8 or 4. The cheaper TFTs often have turd reponse times.

16ms is fine, as long as the monitor lives up to that claim and actually performs at 16ms

 

[Fletch]

Think ill go for a Samsung en, but can anyone differentiate between the 913N 913B and 913V? Damn model numbers, i hope its just the colour

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050215/lcd-09.html

Alternatively can anyone reccomend something similar price/perfomace wise that has the ability to pivot to a portrait position.

 

[3ssence]

I'm not sure about the 913V, but the 913B is the same as the 913N i believe, apart from the fact that the 913B has a digital input as well as an analogue.


Alternatives, hmmm..

The Hyundai ImageQuest L90D+ looks pretty decent and from what i have read is a decent monitor, custompc have a review of this, plus it has pivot function as well.

The Viewsonic VX924 got a good review in custompc and seems to be a good monitor.

I don't know much about the LG L1950S, but it looks nice and has a good specification.

I hope this is of some use

 

[Asus]

LCDs are shaking their ghosting image but it would still be a good idea to look at the LCD in person and see how it performs. Some people can see differences that others can't.

I wouldn't get too low on the response times just because there are a number of screens out there that use less color to display the images in order to get <16ms. Only way I have found out which screens do this and which don't was reading through forums.

The main thing that I don't like about LCDs is the native resolution. You can't change the resolution without it looking bad for games or what ever you are viewing. I also like to reduce my screen res when viewing movies (DVDs are 720x480) so they don't look 'expanded'.

Otherwise LCDs are very crisp and look good. Personally, I'd go bigger and not smaller if I could help it on Monitor size. Games look so much better with a larger screen.