Looking for a good TFT

[scratch]

Hello everyone,

currently i'm still using a 19" CRT and i'm kind of sick of walzing through the internet, reading reviews and user comments for months, and yet not being able to decide which TFT i should get. Of course i have certain expectations which make it even harder to decide especially because i have no actual reference of what i want - i just want something that replaces my CRT in all its glory. I don't want to play lottery with ordering and returning TFT's all the time just to find something suitable, so this is kind of difficult.

So since there are alot of people here who engage in mapping, modeling, texturing and - not to forget - avid gaming, i thought i'd ask around here to see if i can get some good suggestions from people who actually do what i do.

This is what i'm doing at the PC:
- alot of gaming, especially fast-paced shooters
- mapping, modeling, creating textures (no professional photo editing though)
- watching movies now and then
- some programming and web designing, not that much though

I guess i could have said that i'm doing almost everything there. I'm working alot on the PC, so i do have certain expectations towards the display - it's not just that i do this and that - i want to enjoy it, of course.

And here is what i'm looking for in detail:

- 16:10 resolution
- 22" - 24", not sure
- up to 400€, maybe even 500€ if it's a really good model
- no noticable tearing (FPS) and input lag
- good interpolation (my rig ain't that fast), good color balance and so on


Well, yeah, i guess i'm looking for a good TFT. Maybe you even see my slight dilemma since i'm really looking for an all-rounder. However it just has to fit my profile and not disappoint me with stupid little annoyances.


Ideas? Thanks in advance!

[coder0xff]

I suggest using http://newegg.com not only for their excellent customer service, but because their guided search (and optionally advanced search) will help you narrow down what you want. Get something with a 5-star rating, and I'm sure you'll be happy with the product.

The only not-so-obvious thing to be aware of is to check whether the monitor is HDCP compliant. Most monitors are these days, but some of the cheap ones will not be. HDCP basically means that when you watch blu-ray movies (using a blu-ray player in your computer) you will be able to watch them in hi-def. Without HDCP, they'll be downgraded to standard def. This doesn't effect anything that's not coming directly off a blu-ray disk. If you don't think you'll be using your computer for that, then there's no concern.

BTW, TFT-LCD monitors are usually just referred to as LCD.

[scratch]

Thanks for your answer, however this doesn't help me at all.
I've been "narrowing down" my searches on sites that give me a far bigger insight on what's on the market without really knowing what i would buy if i'd have chosen one of those i found, and these "5-star ratings" on newegg aren't reliable at all. Even the cheapest LCD's are getting 5 stars there which makes me doubt the entire system. Well, it's no wonder, you get what you pay for, and people probably are happy with a mediocre display when they only have to pay <$200. They probably don't even need more than that.
It gets worse though, if i actually select the $300-$400 section i end up with 19 widescreens from which only 6 are within the 22"-24" boundary which get reduced further by other requirements. And there are no leftovers with the suspicious 5-star rating.

What i'd like to see are some real suggestions of what people here bought or have seen in action, and what they're actually happy with while gaming, mapping, texturing and so on.

And btw, here in Germany these displays are commonly referred to as TFT displays

[marnamai]

http://www.samsung.de/de/Privatkunden/B ... etail.aspx

[coder0xff]

I have a never-heard-of-brand-name LCD screen made by a company called PLANAR and the model is a PL2010M. It's the cheapest one of this size that I could find. Got it from newegg. It's the most reliable and effective cheap piece of crap I've ever bought.

Point is, as far as I can tell, LCD screens are pretty reliable across the table. I dunno what (bad?) experiences you've had, but you probably don't have to be so critical in your selection. They wouldn't have become the dominating technology if they were so much worse than CRTs.

The reason they're all 5 star is because they work. It's not like RAM where if you get the wrong kind it may not work in your computer. It's just a monitor.

[trcc]

I bought a dell monitor last December and it's really great. There is an amazing deal on Dell Canada for example:

24 inch for 189$...

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/product ... u=320-1070

I hope you live in Canada

[scratch]

Point is, as far as I can tell, LCD screens are pretty reliable across the table. I dunno what (bad?) experiences you've had, but you probably don't have to be so critical in your selection. They wouldn't have become the dominating technology if they were so much worse than CRTs.

Most LCD screens do have some disadvantages compared to CRT. Be it miserable colors, responsiveness, viewing angle, interpolation or whatever - they didn't just become the dominating technology by really being better. Some are, yes - but as far as i understand it the majority of screens is rather "cheap".

However, you're probably totally right about me being overly critical. That's why i need some pointers

marnamai & trcc: Thanks for the answers, shame though that those are 16:9 screens.

[BubbleQ]

I have the perfect monitor for you! I was kinda in the same situation a mounth ago as you are now. I used an old crt with the high refreshrate in mind, for the fast peaced fps games Quakelive and Counter-strike. But I had to get a new one sins it was to big and heavy to move around, witch I do alot.

So I started to look for an new monitior in the internet. My goals where:
High refreshrate to maximize and don´t lose any feeling for fast peaced fps games.
Any resolution that is around 1600x1200 4:3
It had to be flat^^

So I ended up with this one http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/monitors/gaming/LS22CMFKFV/EN/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

It has an exelent refreshrate at 120Hz in any resulution(even in 1680x1050), Flat, Only 3ms, Nvidia 3d vision ready thing.
It is probaly THE best gaming monitoor you can buy today. I got it for 300€. Check it out and see for your self. I can actually only say that this is probaly the best buy I have ever done in my life, can´t find any downsides with it. Are only positive to it

[zombie@computer]

im still using my almost ten year old 17" tft from iiyama. its still working ok!

[scratch]

zombie: Well that's just sad

BubbleQ: I'm not sure about a hardcore gaming monitor. Granted, i spent alot of time playing games, but i don't think i need 120Hz for that, and it would probably also sacrifice other things (judging by a few reviews: not-so-good interpolation, missing ergonomic functions and connectors, wobbly foot). I guess other Samsung screens might be better all-rounders for me. Anyway, i will still keep an eye on that one since it's not that bad apart from the few shortcomings.
Thanks for the reply!

[BubbleQ]

Buy it!

[scratch]

Does anybody else have some suggestions? I'd greatly appreciate it!