LCD Monitor help needed

Xtreme331

Xtreme331

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Hey all,

OK, so I want to finally buy a LCD monitor for my computer and get rid of my ancient but still functional 17" CRT. I have quite a few questions though. I've been doing my research and have discovered a lot of things, but still need some issues clarified. Right now I'm looking at a 19" LCD. I like the Dell (on sale right now) and there is a good sale at TigerDirect for a ViewSonic monitor, although I'm keeping my eye open for a good sale at NewEgg. Any opinions on these two (or other) brands?

Any particular brands that I should buy or some I should stay away from?

What is the world is Pixel Pitch? I've heard that 0.264mm is better than 0.294mm, but if it has to do with actual size, we're talking about the difference of 30 micrometers (not very big).

Most recommended resolutions are 1280x1024. Good? Bad? I honestly can't remember what I run my CRT at, but I'm sure it's not this high. Should I look higher? lower? unimportant?

Brightness: I've seen some listed at 250 cd/m^2 and others as high as 500, what difference does this make when viewing the screen?

Contrast ratio: what is it, what should I be looking for, and why is it important?

I know to look for a response time below 12ms and I'm actually looking only at 8ms and below. DVI input would be best so that I can utilize the best connection to my beautiful 6800GT video card.

OK long post, I know. Sorry. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated as there are several sales going on right now that I might be inclined to snap up if they actually are good deals. As always, thanks a bunch.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I would also like a monitor that included USB ports (this is more of a plus than a requirement, but still good). As always, the cheaper the better.
 
I think you need to not focus on the hard numbers so much because they are often fudged by the manufacturer.

What you need to decide on is what the main purpose of this thing is.

Games?

Tv?

Desktop stuff?

If games you need a fast panel and to do some serious homework on it. MINIMUM Id get is the Dell Ultrasharp IF I HAD to have LCD. CRT is still better IMO.

Just a desktop CRT replacement you can buy something boring and not worry so much about specs. Id say the Dell Ultrasharp is a great value (the e series sucked to my eyes) You can find other brands equally as nice but usually more $$$.

Check Fatwallet for deals and reviews. Buy when the time is right.
 
[quote name='Xtreme331']

Contrast ratio: what is it, what should I be looking for, and why is it important?

[/QUOTE]

Contrast ratio typically measures the luminance of colors between brightest whites and darkest blacks. You should compare it along with the brightness levels of the monitor. It is pretty important in LCDs, especially as the displays get bigger. Essentially the higher the contrast ratio the brighter and more vivid colors you'll see (darker colors and grayscaling are improved greatly by a higher contrast ratio too). I'd say go for at least a go for 700:1 ratio, and def. don't settle for anything less than 450:1 which become at least the standard except in the cheapest of monitors.
 
ViewSonic's CRT monitors are and always have been great. I personally dislike LCD's so I don't know about any specifics, but if a company called LaCie makes and LCD you can bet that it's one of the best
 
Today the big choice for gamers is wether to go with a 27 or 32" LCD TV as a gaming monitor, or to go with one of the higher-rez but smaller sized Dell or Samsung Widescreens.

Example: 26" HP LCD TV with built in HD tuner and 4000:1 dynamic contrast (uses the same glass as the SHARP tv's, considered some of the best LCD TV's currently made). Advantages: Huge display, amazing contrast ratio, more inputs than you could ever need.

Disadvantage: 1366x768 resoltuion...thats fine for most people, but some love to run windows at like 1600x1200 or love the super-small stuff. You cant use a TV like this if you do any serious work. For a home PC game/web/email monitor, its great. Also, all of these TV's have HDCP on their DVI ports.
Thats going to mean something when VISTA comes out.

The other option is to go with a smaller 24" DELL at like $800 bucks, or a 24" Samsung at like $1400. You get a much higher resolution for windows, but most of your games (unless you run a dual-SLI computer) will have to be run at a resolution lower than the monitors native 1920x1200....few videocards can push that number of pixels today.

The Dell also doesn't support HDCP over its dvi inputs...but it does have USB ports, Picture in Picture, AND component and svideo inputs fo ra PS2 or xbox or whatever.
 
ViewSonic and Samsung make great LCDs. I've seen some really good NEC ones too. I'd stay away from BenQ.

Native resolution is sorta imporant. Most 19" and 17" LCDs have a native resolution of 1280 x 1024, while 15" LCDs have a native resolution of usually 1024 x 768. If you drop the resolution to something like 800x600, then the LCD has to do scaling and it makes the image a little uglier.

Pixel pitch (DPI) will make a difference in the sharpness of the pictures. Lower is better, but there's not a huge difference.

Contrast Ratio: Higher is better. I'd go for at least 500:1

Brightness: Again higher is better. Get at least 300 cd/m2
 
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