TFT Choices

Hey guys, I am looking to get a 17" tft. I have a budget of £200-£230. So far the best black, DVI'd, low latency, best value ones are (in order of chances that I'll get them):

17" Iiyama E431S-B3S 8ms £195
(http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...roductID=83938)

17" Samsung SM730BF 4ms £215
(http://www.savastore.com/productinfo...282444&pid=206)

17" Viewsonic VX724 3ms? £225
(http://www.savastore.com/productinfo...04&rstrat=3236)

Edit:Okay I have decided its going to be one of these three.... Which ones the best to go with my 7800GT...? :inquisiti

I would go for the 17" Iiyama.

I'm not really too keen on Sony's. My past experiences with their tft's are that they are very prone to dead/stuck pixels. The digimate looks like an unknown brand, and the Samsung doesn't have dvi.

Sure the 17" Iiyama is the most expensive, but you know what your paying for, and the E431S-B3S model in particular seems to fairly popular.

It really does depend on what your usage will be though.

I like Iiyamas.

I've got one of the IIyama's. It's a great monitor. One of the first editions with 16ms response. Not a single dead pixel and had it a while now :) Getting another one this week too.

i don't see a digimate in the original post but saw them mentioned in uchiha_itachi's post... I have a 17" 16ms digimate and I'm personally very happy with it. Mine just has a DSUB connector but they have faster ones with DVI now as well. The only slight downer with mine is that the bezel aint that pretty...

I know its a little over you budget but...

Worth checking the Samsung 19" LCD Syncmaster 930BF TCO-99 Monitor, DVI-D, D-sub, 4ms (NEW!!)..

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=311134&cks=SPK

4ms which is gooood.... 16.2 mil colours, not true colour but almost there (you probably won't be able to tell the difference)
700:1 contrast ratio
DVI, VGA (HD-15) connectors.

Seems good to me. Might be worth the extra £30 over your budget and you get a good 19" TFT instead of 17"..

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Originally Posted by 8bit

i don't see a digimate in the original post but saw them mentioned in uchiha_itachi's post... I have a 17" 16ms digimate and I'm personally very happy with it. Mine just has a DSUB connector but they have faster ones with DVI now as well. The only slight downer with mine is that the bezel aint that pretty...

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Ok, I am pretty sure the original poster has changed the digimate to the viewsonic. But it was there, believe me it was.

Oh, and 8bit, I didn't mean that unknown a brand, its just that in comparison to samsung, iiyama and sony it is a low quality brand tft.

sure, digimate isnt a name that springs to mind as a known supplier of top quality monitors, I was just saying the one I have is IMO very good quality.

At the end of the day, isn't it the case that the actual display panel components are manufactured by 3 different companies then the likes of BenQ, LG, Sony etc just stick their own bezels and brand names on? If so then how can it be that two monitors based on the same OEM manufacturers panels can exhibit different quality output?

Yeah sorry bout the confusion guys I changed the post. I did originally put a digimate down as one of the options but then decided its a bit too random, and didnt like the look of it.

Anyway I think all those monitors are 16.2M colours, is that gonna be noticeable?

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Originally Posted by 8bit

At the end of the day, isn't it the case that the actual display panel components are manufactured by 3 different companies then the likes of BenQ, LG, Sony etc just stick their own bezels and brand names on? If so then how can it be that two monitors based on the same OEM manufacturers panels can exhibit different quality output?

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Theres no doubt in what your saying regarding the manufacturing of the panels. Although this brings me to the unfortunate problems of the new apple cinema display screens, (aluminium enclosures). The panel in the 23" version of this screen was an LG manufactured panel, the same as alot of other 23" tft screens, like the HP L2335 and the Sony SDM-P234/B , however the apple display panel was prone to a very widespread problem. It displayed a pink hue/tinge which was, no matter how hard you tried, unable to be solved by calibrating the display. Now this was the same panel as those other hp and sony tft's, yet they weren't exhibiting any of these problems. Factory fault? or fault caused by the akward aluminium enclosure which had no holes for ventilation or escape of heat? Who knows? Also that goes onto the next point, different manufacturers warranty and customer service policies. Sure you could have a digimate and Iiyama share the same panel, but if it goes kaput, maybe the extra money you paid on the Iiyama will really show when you go through the process of trying to get it replaced.

Thats the way I see it really. Wasn't meant to be criticising digimate solely, was just pointing out the lack of stature that this brand has.

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Anyway I think all those monitors are 16.2M colours, is that gonna be noticeable?

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You shouldnt really be able to notice the reduction of colours displayed on tft's. They use some sort of dithering effect. I would probably only imagine if you're a photo editor or designer would you notice.

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Originally Posted by uchiha_itachi

You shouldnt really be able to notice the reduction of colours displayed on tft's. They use some sort of dithering effect. I would probably only imagine if you're a photo editor or designer would you notice.

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Some panels can actually display the ~16,7m colours - they have 8 bit subpixels (3 subpixels, RGB, per pixel 2^8^3) these are the ones to go for if you need the better colour reproduction.

Other panels (usually 6-bit subpixels giving ~4,2m discrete colours) use dithering where they rapidly switch between two colours to give the illusion of extra colours. ie between blue 4 and blue 5 to appear to be blue 4.5 not entirely sure where the 16.2m colours comes from but I don't see why it wouldn't be a production of dithering or similar.

p.s. I have had a 19" Iiyama VMpro454 (CRT) for years and it's still going strong. Popped the first one via a malfunctioning usb hub within a week of dabs delivering it - Iiyama sent a (probably refurbished rather than new but hey...it looked new!) replacement within 2 working days. Great customer service that :)

Okay guys I'm probably gonna go for the 730BF as it is a brand new screen, seems better value for money, doesnt have speakers, is slightly lighter, has a lower response time and comes with a DVI cable.

It got a pretty good review here http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...?cid=1&id=1668

Its a tad expensive but oh well..... what happens if it has dead pixels? Savastore says I can return it within 7 days if not satisfied.

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Originally Posted by herman368

Okay guys I'm probably gonna go for the 730BF as it is a brand new screen, seems better value for money, doesnt have speakers, is slightly lighter, has a lower response time and comes with a DVI cable.

It got a pretty good review here http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...?cid=1&id=1668

Its a tad expensive but oh well..... what happens if it has dead pixels? Savastore says I can return it within 7 days if not satisfied.

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Have you checked out this Samsung 19" at Ebuyer? Under £200.

Are those 3 and 4ms timings correct or are they doing the old lies and only quoting the rise of the signal instead of the rise and fall?

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Originally Posted by amjedm

Have you checked out this Samsung 19" at Ebuyer? Under £200.

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I would be buying the Samsung right now, its just its black and less importantly it doesnt have DVI... but I would love a 19" TFT. Its just it wouldnt go well with the Saitek Eclipse Keyboard im getting.

I am also seriously considering a new Acer screen: the AL1751AS it has DVI, is black, has 16.7M colours, 8ms and is less then £190.