TFT's

Rockiemalt

basically I'm looking to upgrade my CRT to a 19" TFT monitor.
What should I look out for when buying cause I don't have any idea! I know theres contrast ratio and responce ratio...but don't know what that means.
Looking to get a resonable priced one, found lots on komplet but theres a huge price range so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Rockie,

A low response time means that there won't be any ghosting of an image when your playing games. The high the response time the better it is for games. In reality anything below 16ms is AOK for games, though the norm at the moment on newer TFT's is 8ms, newer models are now coming with 4ms.

A high contrast ratio is good as it means the image will be bright and clear, as far as I know.
Try and get a monitor with a DVI connection, as this is a digital connection, it will give you better picture quality.
Some monitors have a built in TV tuner, which is cool if you want to watch TV on your monitor or in some cases, connect auxiallary equipment to it, whether or not you really want that depends on you.

In relation to games, the most important thing is RESPONSE TIMES, the lower the better!!

Good Luck!

(PS- I have a Sony myself with Black Onyx technology and it kicks ass- hurt me to pay €500 for it, but after playing some games on it, I soon got over that!)

Rockiemalt

thanks for the reply, excatly what i wanted... I amn't too into gaming ocasionally the sims or theme hospital! what i would be using it for is flash, and photoshop, hence why i want a nice big screen
thanks for the explanations

Snowbat

You should look out for dead pixels. Beware Komplett's warning "All LCD displays adhere to the ISO 13406-2 standard with regard to pixel faults."

Personally, I never buy an LCD unless
a) I'm sure that the vendor will accept return of a unit with dead pixel(s)
or
b) I can see the unit in operation before buying

AndyWarhol

Snowbat wrote:

You should look out for dead pixels. Beware Komplett's warning "All LCD displays adhere to the ISO 13406-2 standard with regard to pixel faults."

Personally, I never buy an LCD unless
a) I'm sure that the vendor will accept return of a unit with dead pixel(s)
or
b) I can see the unit in operation before buying

Yeah, I'd watch out for the suspect LCD manufacturers. The best screens are from Samsung and Philips. These guys are the LCD experts.

Most big LCD manufacturers just won't allow screens with dead pixels out of their factories any more. LCDs are now mainstream and the processing technology has improved dramatically where dead pixels are essentially a thing of the past.

My advice is: buy not just a good brand of screen, but a recent one (i.e. was built in 2004 onwards). Beware of cheap screens and older big brand screens on special offer.

BTW, I bought an Acer there recently for use at home it is brilliant, no dead pixels etc. I also use a dell flat screen during the day and the quality is good there too. I'd recommend LG, Acer or Dell screens as good alternatives to the Samsung and Philips displays.

Rockiemalt

I was looking at this one
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=308573&cks=PRL

or maybe this one
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=306235&cks=PRL

calex71

neither have a dvi connection , but if you dont have one on your pc ne way it doesnt matter as said earlier tfts give best result on dvi

Drapper

humm


http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312605&cks=SER

see the awards on Jes.de

http://www.jes-computer.de/product_info.php?pID=19524

me has one !

-oRnein9-

This is a far better monitor for the price with a response time of 4ms

[size=+1]Samsung SM930BF 19" LCD Monitor - Silver (MO-029-SA)[/size]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_This_Week_Only_25.html#aMO_2d029_2dSA

Rockiemalt

humm, i was looking to spend about 350 max on one cause i'm a cheap student!

Sgtshaft

I have the Samsung , if you don’t care about the lack of a DVI port (I dont), at 8ms there is absolutely no ghosting in games, great value for a 19" tft at Komplett for €329

mp3guy

in all fairness, response time is one of the biggest marketing scams ever. 25ms is fine, 4ms is just plain madess. I've played halo, quake 3, half life 2 on a 25ms TFT, and no problems or page tearing at all, or ghosting. 16ms is the most you should shell out for