Well this past weekend, I shelved my beloved Sony GPD-520P Monitor. It is still in excellent condition with perfect blacks and whites and no loss of focus or other problems. They seem to be worth about $50 or so on craigslist.
It's not that I have never used LCDs - I have used them a lot - on laptops and monitors at work - the problem is, I have never had a good gaming experience on one - until now.
I have been reading everything I could about LCDs and trying to decide - should I get a single large screen or a high end 120hz panel like the new Acer panel (23.6" for $400) or should I get a medium quality display that I can later afford to replicate into an Eyefinity system?
On Friday, I bought the HP 2509m at Frys. I used it for 2 days and tried several games on it. It was not a CRT, but the pixel response was much better than I expected and I decided I could live with it - until I used it during the day and the glossy screen reflections made my eyes bleed.
I also found I was very sensitive to the off axis color shifts - even using it from 3 feet away, each eye sees the screen edges at a different angle and this effect gave me a headache. Towards the end of the second day, I started getting used to it.
On Sunday, I took the 25" HP back because of the glare and because I wanted something larger. I have been working from home since July and I use my PC all day to work (recruiter) and then at night I play games for a couple hours. I am pushing 40 now and the 21" CRT was just too small.
I paid a little more money and picked up this LG 27" screen:
Newegg.com - LG W2753V-PF Black 27" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 400 cd/m2 50000:1 w/ Smart Package - LCD Monitors
I think the HP was 5ms and the LG is a 2ms panel. I had read a lot about the fact that many makers fudge the screen response numbers so I was not worried too much about 2 or 3 or 5ms.
Also, I really wanted to have a VESA mount option and built in speakers. I use the Logitech G35 headphones to play games so integrated speakers would be fine for normal daytime sounds.
Well, the LG does not have speakers or the VESA mounts - but - but - the response on thie panel (2ms) is so much better than the HP, it's like night and day. In retrospect, the HP did have moderate to minor ghosting, but this screen has virtually none. The colors are vivid and intense - I don't do anything that needs to be color accurate so dont lecture me - the web and gaming look amazing.
1920 x 1080 is almost 2 pages wide and I can now display a resume and a page from our database at the same time.
I could not be happier about this monitor.
This screen has DVI, HDMI and VGA inputs.
Currently I have my HD4850 1GB card on a single link DVI cable running 1920x1080 @ 60hz and the Xbox360 on the HDMI cable. The monitor has a headphone jack I am going to use to carry the Xbox sound to the line in on my PC.
Should I be using the HDMI port or a dual link DVI cable for the PC? I have a VGA cable I can use on the Xbox if I have to (I dont use the Xbox much).
Anyway, I feel like the grandpa that finally discovered color television or something.
It's not that I have never used LCDs - I have used them a lot - on laptops and monitors at work - the problem is, I have never had a good gaming experience on one - until now.
I have been reading everything I could about LCDs and trying to decide - should I get a single large screen or a high end 120hz panel like the new Acer panel (23.6" for $400) or should I get a medium quality display that I can later afford to replicate into an Eyefinity system?
On Friday, I bought the HP 2509m at Frys. I used it for 2 days and tried several games on it. It was not a CRT, but the pixel response was much better than I expected and I decided I could live with it - until I used it during the day and the glossy screen reflections made my eyes bleed.
I also found I was very sensitive to the off axis color shifts - even using it from 3 feet away, each eye sees the screen edges at a different angle and this effect gave me a headache. Towards the end of the second day, I started getting used to it.
On Sunday, I took the 25" HP back because of the glare and because I wanted something larger. I have been working from home since July and I use my PC all day to work (recruiter) and then at night I play games for a couple hours. I am pushing 40 now and the 21" CRT was just too small.
I paid a little more money and picked up this LG 27" screen:
Newegg.com - LG W2753V-PF Black 27" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 400 cd/m2 50000:1 w/ Smart Package - LCD Monitors
I think the HP was 5ms and the LG is a 2ms panel. I had read a lot about the fact that many makers fudge the screen response numbers so I was not worried too much about 2 or 3 or 5ms.
Also, I really wanted to have a VESA mount option and built in speakers. I use the Logitech G35 headphones to play games so integrated speakers would be fine for normal daytime sounds.
Well, the LG does not have speakers or the VESA mounts - but - but - the response on thie panel (2ms) is so much better than the HP, it's like night and day. In retrospect, the HP did have moderate to minor ghosting, but this screen has virtually none. The colors are vivid and intense - I don't do anything that needs to be color accurate so dont lecture me - the web and gaming look amazing.
1920 x 1080 is almost 2 pages wide and I can now display a resume and a page from our database at the same time.
I could not be happier about this monitor.
This screen has DVI, HDMI and VGA inputs.
Currently I have my HD4850 1GB card on a single link DVI cable running 1920x1080 @ 60hz and the Xbox360 on the HDMI cable. The monitor has a headphone jack I am going to use to carry the Xbox sound to the line in on my PC.
Should I be using the HDMI port or a dual link DVI cable for the PC? I have a VGA cable I can use on the Xbox if I have to (I dont use the Xbox much).
Anyway, I feel like the grandpa that finally discovered color television or something.
