Gaming LCD monitors ? Anyone got a Samsung 193P ?

netman

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of replacing my old 19" CRT monitor with an LCD screen, but quite frankly I'm not sure if it's worth the money. We're still using CRT monitors in work, so the only exposure I've had to LCD's was working occassionaly at a laptop (woeful screens) or looking at them in the shops.

The shops in Dublin have crappy monitors, but even on those the picture looks much more vivid than any CRT I've seen.

I've been looking around, and right now I'm considering getting a Samsung 193P monitor. It's a 19" screen with 20ms response time, but it's quite pricey and I don't want to burn a hole in my pocket just to find out that it doesn't match my expectations.

I'm aware of the dead pixels issue, I can live with that (I think).
I'm also aware of the interpolation issue, it's a bit more worrying but again I think I can live with that too.

What I'd like to hear is impressions from people who already have this monitor, or a similar LCD monitor that they could recommend.

I don't play games that much, but I do enjoy them and I want to be able to play fast paced games on my new monitor. Ghosting is still the biggest problem from what I can see, and even the best LCD monitors have some problems. I'm looking for a perfect monitor, and as usual there's no such thing, but I do want to make the right choice and get one as good as possible.

Any suggestions?

BloodBath

Here is a link for a review of your monitor and other monitors in the same performance/price bracket.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/display/20040326/lcd-04.html


BloodBath

netman

I don't trust Tom. He's published plenty of bull****, it seems to be the case of who's going to buy more banners on the site gets a better review. And I've seen plenty of Samsung ads

I've already checked the reviews on the web, and the monitor sounds pretty decent.

What I'd like to hear is end-user experience. If you ask me about a piece of hardware I own, I'm not going to lie to you or tell you bull**** stories like the hardware review sites do. I simply don't gain anything by saying "this is great, buy this!".

850 euro is a lot of money to part with for a piece of equipment that could totally dissapoint you, and komplett don't give credit back for simply "not liking" the item.

secret_squirrel

dont get a 19" lcd unless it does 1600x1200 if it only does 1280x1024 then you're no better off than with a 17" imho. And there werent many 19" that did it when I last looked (although it was a good few months ago now). Dell US were doing one and viewsonic both vvv pricey.

netman

well.. i have a 19" CRT monitor and I'm running 1024x768.

i don't like tiny text, i don't have perfect eyesight and it's a strain for me to run high resolutions.

i figured a 19" LCD would be about the same size as a 21" CRT or maybe a tiny bit smaller, so 1280x1024 shouldn't be that much of a difference - and they're sharper.

i don't think i'd be able to cope with 1600x1200, which is why i'm interested in all these 19" LCD's out there.. most of them are 1280x1024.

not to mention that no graphics card out there offers good gaming performance at 1600x1200, so i'd have to switch to an interpolated resolution and loose a lot of image quality just to be able to play with any decent performance.

1280x1024 is also stretching it a bit, but geforce 6800 and radeon x800 should be able to handle that.

OfflerCrocGod

Originally posted by netman
1280x1024 is also stretching it a bit, but geforce 6800 and radeon x800 should be able to handle that.

No prob the 6800 Pro was playing Far Cry at 1600*1200 all Very High quality settings using the BETA drivers and getting 30FPS+ dont you worry about the power of your Gfx card if you are serious about getting the 6800/x800(when they come out 1 month more from now). Any way if I were you I would get the screen with the highest res and use that res when working on it - if you can't see use glasses - the higher res makes everything just much easier and clearer to work and use.

netman

Well, I guess I'm just trying to say I'm not that pushed for high res monitors, 1024x768 is fine by me.

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro which is pretty decent up to 1280x1024 where things start getting tricky. 30 fps is pretty crappy gaming, there's no strict rule but things look a lot smoother in the 60+ range. I guess it depends on the game really, but you can definitely see a difference when the frame rate drops in the 30 range.

I'm looking to upgrade, be it 6800 or X800, in a few months, when socket 939 becomes available. Unless of course it ends up being overpriced. I can live with 300-350 euro price range. I'll probably end up getting a 6800 and overclocking it, or whatever the ATI lower-spec offering will be. With watercooling and low temps it shouldn't be too difficult, or so I hope.

BloodBath

I play almost all my games at 1600x1200 and have my desktop at 1600x1200 although some of the newer games I have to drop. B-Vietnam and halo being 2. Although with halo it's just bad programming. Haven't played far cry yet but it wouldn't either.


Seriously want a 6800. Might try and pick one up on the cheap from e-bay in a few months time. Do the cards have a different name in America? Sorry to go off topic.


BloodBath

secret_squirrel

I think the readability of a good lcd would surprise you. i had the same problem as you on my pc at work and with my old 17" monitor. Could only run at 1024*768 without my eyes bursting. (sometimes even had to have large fonts enabled)

However my 17" Hansol LCD (cheepy) is miles better my desktop is at 1280*1024 and easy as pie to read.

btw my softmodded AIW 9800SE will run both farcry and UT2004, and X2 at 1280*1024 with no probs.

Is it true you get a free nuclear reactor with every 6800pro to power the thing???

netman

Hehe it's true nvidia wants you to use 480W or better power supply.

My friend was in Geneve for the presentation and checked the PC's where they were demoing the card. Most had 400W power supplies, but brand names, no 30-euro power supplies

I have an antec truecontrol 550W so I'm not worried about the power consumption. And watercooling should handle the heat.

I've been playing halo recently, and the highest playable resolution (where everything is smooth) is 1024x768, on an overclocked Radeon 9700 Pro and Pentium4 at 3.2 GHz. At 1280x768 it's ok but not as smooth, and slows down at times when there's lots of light effects on the scene.

Do you play games on that Hansol LCD ?

halkar

I have a LG 1710B 17" LCD and usually I don't notice any ghosting for FPS games. I use the monitor at 1280x1024 all the time including games.
I agree with secret_squirrel about not going for 19" as replacement to your 19" crt as most 17" LCD are replacement for 19" CRTs as they used to say, 15"LCD replaced 17"CRTs. Something like that. Not sure if it is still true

secret_squirrel

Originally posted by netman


Do you play games on that Hansol LCD ?

Yep I forget the response time (25ms maybe?) but its just under the acceptable maximum for gaming without ghosting.

Also am I right in thinging a 19" lcd has less pixels per square cm than an 17" with the same resolution - Im wondering if that would be noticeable?

po0k

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/accessories/monitors/crt_allmodels.html
Cheaper and better quality.

I don't really like TFTs.

neokenzo

Originally posted by halkar
I have a LG 1710B 17" LCD and usually I don't notice any ghosting for FPS games. I use the monitor at 1280x1024 all the time including games.
I agree with secret_squirrel about not going for 19" as replacement to your 19" crt as most 17" LCD are replacement for 19" CRTs as they used to say, 15"LCD replaced 17"CRTs. Something like that. Not sure if it is still true

I have the same model. I think the monitor is great. No ghost on it and the pic is sharp.

19" CRT's viewing size is the same as 17" TFT's. Thus, a 19" TFT will have the same view surface as 21" CFT. I guess at the end of the day, its your own preference. If you like really big monitors than go for it. For myself, 17" TFT is more than I need.

po0k

/me likes proper colour representation, high res at high refresh (100Hz+) and the security in having a large heavy expensive piece of tech on one's desk