LCD Monitors

[Yrrek]

I am planning on buying a flat panel LCD soon, and I have been shopping around to see what it out there. I noticed all the monitors list under the stats two things I am unsure as to what they mean: Contrast Ratio, and nnms (where 'nn' is a number such as 25).

I know what contrast is, but I am not sure what to make of the ratio, the higher the ratio, the sharper the picture? Or am I totally off?

Then for the ms. Just what is it? From what I have guessed, I *think* it is similar to the refresh rate on a CRT, is this correct? So would that mean that a higher ms is better than a low one?

Thank you all!

[Walkiry]

Contrast is not exactly brightness, but rather the difference between dark and light areas. Take your TV for example, if you turn brightness up everything tends to be "lighter", and if you go too far, black will look somehow grey and white, well, really bright. If you turn up contrast what happens is that color gets more saturated, light colours become brighter and dark colours stay dark. Usually you want to strike a good balance between the two (500:1 or 600:1 are good contrasts).

the XXms is the pixel refresh rate. When you make a pixel certain colour in a LCD monitor, it takes a little bit of time when you deactivate it for the colour to fade. So, that's the time it takes for a pixel to change colours when ordered to do so (changing colours is slightly faster than turning it "off", but nevertheless, same principle). If the refresh rate is too high (25ms, nowadays, is bad) you will see "trailing" behind stuff that moves on the monitor. You should look for 16ms refresh rate minimum, and there're some monitors with 14ms refresh rate even. IMO, this is the most important aspect of the LCD, the faster it refreshes, the better the image will be.

[Yrrek]

Contrast is not exactly brightness, but rather the difference between dark and light areas. Take your TV for example, if you turn brightness up everything tends to be "lighter", and if you go too far, black will look somehow grey and white, well, really bright. If you turn up contrast what happens is that color gets more saturated, light colours become brighter and dark colours stay dark. Usually you want to strike a good balance between the two (500:1 or 600:1 are good contrasts).

the XXms is the pixel refresh rate. When you make a pixel certain colour in a LCD monitor, it takes a little bit of time when you deactivate it for the colour to fade. So, that's the time it takes for a pixel to change colours when ordered to do so (changing colours is slightly faster than turning it "off", but nevertheless, same principle). If the refresh rate is too high (25ms, nowadays, is bad) you will see "trailing" behind stuff that moves on the monitor. You should look for 16ms refresh rate minimum, and there're some monitors with 14ms refresh rate even. IMO, this is the most important aspect of the LCD, the faster it refreshes, the better the image will be.
[right][snapback]68562[/snapback][/right]

Thank you very much, that is exactly what I needed to know!

[JustAGuy]

Thank you very much, that is exactly what I needed to know!
[right][snapback]68578[/snapback][/right]

Did you find any worth mentioning? I was thinking of upgrading to LCDs as well, and I'd be interested in hearing what you settled on.

[Ashkael]

I will be putting together a computer in a fews days, and I was thinking about getting an LCD monitor. If you find anything good (and cheap! :P) share the information with us! :)

[Mephista]

I'm in the market too, I think... I've heard good things about Dell LCDs, in that they're cheap.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/Product...k=&refurbished=

A gaming friend has this (or something similar) and likes it. 1600x1200 res, and he *says* it's got a 16ms response time, but the specs page doesn't say that.

You might want to check tom's hardware (www.tomshardware.com) for information. (drooooooool 8ms response time...)

I've noticed contrast as an issue on my laptop display with things like gmail/other webmail where read mail is white and new mail is very pale blue. It's obvious on the CRT which is which, but looks different on the LCD.

[Yrrek]

ALL:

I was thinking about this one from NewEgg :

Monitor

[Walkiry]

ALL:

I was thinking about this one from NewEgg :

Monitor
[right][snapback]68661[/snapback][/right]

Dead Pixels Policy: Replacement and Refund for 8 or more DEAD PIXELS ONLY!

8 dead pixels is A LOT. I'd suggest looking for a shop with a better policy (and, if memory serves, they have to change it if the monitor has dead pixels wherever they like it or not, defective products and all that, but it'd be a pain in the butt).

Dead pixels are an issue. I suggest steering clear of these guys and going to a shop where replacing the monitor if a red dead pixel is at a bad spot won't be an issue.

As far as specs go it seems ok. Contrast should be better though, luminosity is quite nice.

[Yrrek]

Dead Pixels Policy: Replacement and Refund for 8 or more DEAD PIXELS ONLY!

8 dead pixels is A LOT. I'd suggest looking for a shop with a better policy (and, if memory serves, they have to change it if the monitor has dead pixels wherever they like it or not, defective products and all that, but it'd be a pain in the butt).

Dead pixels are an issue. I suggest steering clear of these guys and going to a shop where replacing the monitor if a red dead pixel is at a bad spot won't be an issue.

As far as specs go it seems ok. Contrast should be better though, luminosity is quite nice.
[right][snapback]68662[/snapback][/right]

From what I have seen, most places have that 8 pixel policy. I haven't checked Toms Hardware yet though.

[Walkiry]

From what I have seen, most places have that 8 pixel policy. I haven't checked Toms Hardware yet though.
[right][snapback]68690[/snapback][/right]

Have you checked Best Buy? I've heard a couple of people having good experience with that. If at all possible, try to make them let you try your monitor before you buy it. Plug it in and see if there're really bright stuck pixels (pixels stuck in dark colours are not too bad and it takes a while to notice them, bright whites and reds are really glaring).

[Yrrek]

Have you checked Best Buy? I've heard a couple of people having good experience with that. If at all possible, try to make them let you try your monitor before you buy it. Plug it in and see if there're really bright stuck pixels (pixels stuck in dark colours are not too bad and it takes a while to notice them, bright whites and reds are really glaring).
[right][snapback]68692[/snapback][/right]

I have never had good experiences with Best Buy. Horrible employees (at least at my location) and they are way over-priced. That is why I prefer buying online, I rarely find sales in the stores to beat the online warehouses.

[Tal]

Have you checked Best Buy? I've heard a couple of people having good experience with that. If at all possible, try to make them let you try your monitor before you buy it. Plug it in and see if there're really bright stuck pixels (pixels stuck in dark colours are not too bad and it takes a while to notice them, bright whites and reds are really glaring).
[right][snapback]68692[/snapback][/right]

Ugh. Just say no to Best Buy. A scenario I observed recently sums up just about every time I've interated with Best Buy's Tech Support:

C = Customer
BB = Best Buy (duh! ;))

C: Okay the problem I'm having is that the modem is not connecting. When I look at the control panel it shows a resource conflict. For the life of me I can't figure out where the conflict is coming from. I've updated the drivers, made sure my virus definitions were up to date and did a complete virus scan. I've not installed anything recently but I did have a power flicker a couple of days back.

BB: Its probably a virus. We'll do a complete scan and get back to you in a day or so.

C: You didn't listen to a word I said did you? *takes computer back and leaves store*

EVERYTHING to them is a virus including my monitor getting a dark patch in the center.

Edit: I've also had less than good luck with hardware returns with them.

[LochnarITB]

Ugh. Just say no to Best Buy.
[right][snapback]68736[/snapback][/right]

Seconded. I posted my rant here when it happened so long story short. They wiped my notebook's hard drive to replace a bad cd/dvd drive and the replacement drive is the same or worse than the original. Generic electronics and supplies, yes because they are the most accessible for me. High end audio and computers, NO!

[Walkiry]

I don't even live in the US, so my suggestion was based on online discussions about dead pixels and return policies (specifically when Samsung announced their "zero dead pixels" policy, which only applies to Korea) :)

Nevertheless, my suggestion still stands, find a place where you can return the monitor if you get a couple of bad pixels in bad positions. A black pixel in the lower right corner will hardly be noticeable, but I'm looking at a dead red pixel in the center of my Acer monitor (bought... you guessed it! Online!) and it sucks ^_^

[jahcs]

Does anyone here have any experience with Fry's Electronics?

[Wyrm]

I haven't checked Toms Hardware yet though.
[right][snapback]68690[/snapback][/right]

They just did a review of 19" LCDs with good refresh rates (~8ms) that's worth a look.

I've heard good things about Dell LCDs, in that they're cheap.

Ugh... Dell... They really aren't all that cheap when you compare the specs for their models with similar stuff elsewhere. Also, I've heard a lot of bad things about compatability with Dells, in that they tend to not work well (if at all) unless hooked up to a Dell system. And good luck getting tech support from them.

[DeeBye]

Ugh... Dell... They really aren't all that cheap when you compare the specs for their models with similar stuff elsewhere.  Also, I've heard a lot of bad things about compatability with Dells, in that they tend to not work well (if at all) unless hooked up to a Dell system.  And good luck getting tech support from them.
[right][snapback]68775[/snapback][/right]

This is a very sexy LCD, you HAVE to admit. It's a 20.1" Widescreen LCD. I've been hearing really good things about this LCD, and the price is not too shabby.

[Yrrek]

I don't even live in the US, so my suggestion was based on online discussions about dead pixels and return policies (specifically when Samsung announced their "zero dead pixels" policy, which only applies to Korea) :)

Nevertheless, my suggestion still stands, find a place where you can return the monitor if you get a couple of bad pixels in bad positions. A black pixel in the lower right corner will hardly be noticeable, but I'm looking at a dead red pixel in the center of my Acer monitor (bought... you guessed it! Online!) and it sucks ^_^
[right][snapback]68754[/snapback][/right]

Hmm, well thank you for that. That is definitely one aspect I haven't thought of myself, being that I have never owned an LCD other than Gameboy, calculators and cell phones! :P