Suggestions and tips on finding a new Monitor

[Ahiga]

As a belated birthday Gift, I'll be getting a monitor as soon as I can track down what I should be getting. I have a general idea of the sort of attributes I should be looking for, but I don't really know enough of the monitor market to make a decision on my own.

I've been told the things I should look for are:
"*low response time measured in ms (milliseconds) anything from 8 and below is fine

*contrast ratio higher the better for example 700:1, 1400:1, 2000:1

and possible (native resolution)

Low pixel pitch, high resolution, low response time, high brightness.

Resolution, low response time and visual quality. Also make sure it's 24bit and not one of those gimped 18bit color monitors."

And as for other specifications, I'd be going for a flatscreen LCD. I don't know if it should be widescreen (I don't think I have the space, with my desk's shefl close to where my monitor is), what company I should be buying it from, and if there's a certain cuttoff point in how big of a monitor do I really need [I'd say at least 20 inch and probably stop around 23 Inches].

Does anyone have any advice, or suggestions for a monitor company or monitor to buy? Financially I'd not want to go above 400.

[Lord Boris]

I'm getting a new montitor soon also. Going for this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MO-006-BE

Unfortunatley i'm not that knowledgable about monitors so cant really advise, but the one above is going for a good price - by united kingdom standards at least.

[Ahiga]

Yeah, I had seen another good monitor being sold over in Europe: http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...4906&InMerch=1

it's 19 inch though. I'll give the one you mentioned a thought, since it sounds pretty good.

[Hadrian]

@Ahiga,

For gaming the most important aspects of a monitor are:

Size
ms Response time (2ms is optimal for gaming but as high as 8ms is acceptable)
Max/Optimal resolution
Contrast ratio
Brightness
Color in Millions (nothing less than 14 million will do, 17 million is optimal)

Name brand isn't the most important aspect of monitors as there are alot of inexspensive, quality, OEM products on the market. The Belinea Lord Boris shows above is a good example. That monitor has some seriously good numbers and isn't too terribly expensive. Put another name on it, and it would be another 100 Pds more....

[severdhope]

Samsung Syncmaster 731BF This is the new monitor I just got for $250 a few months ago, I did a little research and this baby stood out lie a sore thumb:

17" (19" is available)
2ms response time ()
max resolution 1280x1024
contrast ratio 2000:1
brightness up to 300 cd/m2
up to 16.2 million colors

Did I mention it's flatscreen?
I love it and I mostly got it for its wide angle of view and amazing response rate and contrast ratio.

I hope this helps you some. Good luck in your search!

[infierno]

i was wonderring if its worth it a 22' monitor? even being more expensive, are good for gaming? i heard even a good 1 is not recommended for gaming, only for movie watching...

[Ahiga]

I suppose 22 inch is rather extreme. It does seem that most are within the 19-20 range, and I think I'd be fine with that. I tried visiting Best buy but their monitor selection was very poor and I had a feeling that a lot of the monitors on display were bleeding through or generally faded because of their continual use.

I am wondering, should I go with LCD or the other, if that's even an option? I recall hearing that Plasma can 'burn'.


Thanks for your help guys.

[belson]

One thing to remember is that the tests for the most of those 'stats' are not standardized. This means that not every company's test are the same, so the only real comparison that you can do is within the company. (i.e. you can compare the stats of a Samsung to another Samsung, but comparing a Samsung to a Viewpoint won't give you an accurate picture.)

This means that the best way to buy is to actually see the monitor. That doesn't always work out, so the second best way to buy is by looking at the brand name and the price. For the most part, you'll pay more for an Apple monitor, and part of that is because of the brand name, but part is because they are superior products. To put it another way, a Viewpoint monitor that costs $200 (American) will not be as good as an Apple that costs $300. There is nothing wrong with the Viewpoint; you just get what you pay for. Thus the way I buy a monitor is to look for a deal that makes that same Apple only cost $200 (instead of $300 normally.)

By the way, I know for sure that Apple, Dell, and Samsung monitors are very very good. I guess that’s just my humble opinion, which you should highly value.

And I don't think they make plasma computer monitors(they would ghost a LOT), so go with LCD.