Best 19/20" TFT Monitor???

Hi people,

I know that this is a very broad question but I am looking to upgrade my current Sharp 17" LL-171G Monitor and need your advice on the best replacement.

Previous to my current custom built PC I had a Sony Vaio A series laptop with the large 17" ultra high res screen and loved it (approx 1 year ago).

I am mainly into Music production and the high res screen was a real help as I can open more programs in the one screen, also I do play the odd game of CS / HL2 on occasions so good response times I feel are needed.

Money essentially is not a problem as I am mainly after a class leading TFT but ultimately if the screen is just that (class leading), as well as low to average cost, well that would be a bonus ;)

Again sorry its such a broad question but hopefully I can get a few suggestions from the people in the know and then persue reviews of these monitors and draw a short list.

Many Thanks

Nathan

The best overal ones out atm are any tfts using the P-MVA panel from AU Optronics. Currently afaik there are only 2 19 inch monitors using these the VP191 and the Xerox XA7-192i.
Both have true 8 bit colour depth, wide viewing angles and is constantly below 14ms unlike other so advertised 4ms models where it is only at 4ms for G2G and goes well above 16ms in almost every other colour change.

Personally i wouldnt go for a TFT unless it performs on par to a crt and imo these are currently the only 2 monitors i know of that technically does this.

Thanks for the quick reply Bry. Are these the monitors that you are referring to (bottom of the page)?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/lcd19.html

Well, since you're accustomed to the larger screen space it would be pointless if you got a 19" as they still only reach 1280x1024 resolutions. Paying that extra for a 20" with 1600x1200 resolution will give you that extra screen space and give you the ability to have more windows open on the screen like you mentioned in your first post due to you using music programs.

I would recommend the Dell 20" screen or a viewsonic 20" screen. Check out scan they have a lovely range of products. Or if you prefer you could go with the 20" apple display. Its widescreen so isnt as tall in height comapred to normal 4:3 20" screens but is longer, and subsequently the resolution is pushes out is 1680x1050.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nate247

Thanks for the quick reply Bry. Are these the monitors that you are referring to (bottom of the page)?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/lcd19.html

---

aye it is. There are similar monitors offering 8 bit colour depth and wide viewing angles but afaik none atm with a 8ms response time. The viewsonic and the Xerox are constantly at or under 14ms. The dell one i beleive is rated at 20ms so it will probably be around 25ms. But that is a guess with the dell as i havent looked too closely at it.
I know dell are shipping some models with a lower response time but it is really pot luck atm if u get one.

If you decide to go with the xerox or the viewsonic a few things to bare in mind.
The xerox has a glass front this doesnt help the colours to look mroe vibrant but is not suitable if your monitor will be facing a window and one or two people have reported a barely noticable problem with dust under the glass screen.
The viewsonic on the other hand is soon going to be replace with the VP930 (out in a month i believe) which is basically the same but with higher brightness/contrast.

Remember though as you go above 19inch you will need a more powerful graphics card to play your games in native resolution to get a a decent fps.

I have 2 x XFX 7800 GTX cards so hopefully that should be adiquate ;) lol

Thanks alot for the advice so far though, really appreciate it!!!

I guess bottom line ref size / resolution is that yeah I can get a high res screen (preferred) but the response times suffer as a result as the higher res???

Must admit I do like the look of that Xerox monitor, perhaps I could go the dual monitor route instead (just to throw a few more variables into the equasion) :) lol

Not really i dont know really how response time works but its not really tied to the resolution. Tfts can only display properly in their native resolution using any other resolution leads to distorted and stretched images.
But generally as the viewable area increases so does the resolution and so does the response time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nate247

I guess bottom line ref size / resolution is that yeah I can get a high res screen (preferred) but the response times suffer as a result as the higher res???

---

I think you'll find it tricky to get a 1600x1200 native TFT with good response times at the moment, perhaps durnig the next year? Most of the ones I've seen have 25ms advertised times, but we all know how pointless a lot of those reported response times are - tomshardware do a very nice little test across the board for colour changes and most "8ms" monitors have 25ms+ responses for certain transitions. The vp191b is the only screen I've seen tested so far that was consistently under 16ms. If, of course, you do not play fast action games like fps then you won't mind the slower response times so much I guess...

17" and 19" screens with 1280x1024 native resolutions are beginning to get specs that are good for gaming without losing out in other areas, and the vp191b looked to be the best of the lot, but it too had bad points - poor viewing angles (not a problem if it;'s just you sat in front of the monitor though) and "sparkling" during video playback (although the people I know who own this monitor said it seemed fine for video :)

I must admit that I do quite like the Xerox screen as recomended above but I also like the resolution of the Dell / Apple widescreen offerings, although I am a tad concerned that the refresh rates on the latter may cause a little ghosting when playing CS Source etc.

Hmmm, this is a dilema :) lol

I'm very very close to ordering a Dell 2005FPW from aria for £360 delivered. Apparently gaming is alright on them, with minimal ghosting. Gotta love that widescreen though, I dont even have one and already think I couldnt stand a standard 4:3 screen.

I'm using the Apple Cinema Display 20" - with a Radeon 9800XT graphics card - no ghosting in CS:Source or HL2 .....in fact the screen is totally awesome.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

Well as the Apple uses the same panel as the Dell and offers less features, I would steer well clear of the Apple one, not to mention the fact it costs twice the price of a 2005FPW - personally I think it's an amazing LCD, it uses a Philips S-IPS panel and has almost zero ghosting, mind you, my last panel was a 25ms one so whilst it is noticeably better for me, it might not be good enough for you.

I ain't going to write a massive essay on why you should get the 2005FPW like the others, so I'm just going to say get it. I have one, and I've used about 12 other LCD screens before. (not a collasal amount, but I've been to LAN parties where everyone wants the best)

does urs have bleeding problems? where did u get it from? is 350 a good deal from aria?

I got mine from Aria and yes despite being an A01, it does leak light under a black environment (i.e. movie borders and Windows startup) and has a piece of dirt trapped between the glass and substrate. I think I'll call it in to Dell and get it fixed cos it's annoying me now. Despite that though, I still highly recommend it if only for the viewing angles, high-resolution and widescreen; build is pretty decent too.

2005fpw highly recommended, i got mine from RDC 2nd hand in original box and all original parts for £311, they will also make sure you dont get any dead pixels or back light bleeding. mine was brand new really, cancelled order or something. get it you wont regret it.