* * * Monitor suggestions please - replacing a 21" Sony CRT

[g__day]

Guys & Gals,

I'm not up on monitors nowadays. My Sony G500 21" CRT has been a work horse - and simply terrific for games for over 5 years now, but its getting near its end of useful life. After one $400 repair for being too bright, it now sometimes de-focuses (get fuzzy) on the LHS (a vertical column 2 inches wide) of the screen if left on too long.

So I'm after a replacement. It cost me AUD $2,500, I'm hoping buying power has shifted alot now.

I want a monitor that is big, is excellent for playing games and looks great for everything else at resolutions of 1600 * 1200 @ 85 Hz (for a CRT). So 20 inch or larger is a minimum.

What suggestions can folks give me in say the $1K - 1.5K range or thereabouts?

Firstly if I want games to look great at very high resolutions and refresh rates must I forget all large LCDs because their refresh rates are crap? Are all large LCDs out or are some still an option? Does an LCD at 16ms respond look blurry after being used to a CRT at 85Hz?

Secondly what brands do folk love and why (Sony, Philips etc...)
DellTM 2405FPW 24" UltraSharpTM Wide Screen LCD Monitor
Super High-end Wide Screen Flat Panel monitor with DELL Wireless Keyboard and Optical Mouse included.
Height adjustable stand, pivot functionality and multimedia capability with the optional soundbar attachment

20% off on Award Winning 24" Widescreen Monitor!

Online Store Price*
AUD$1,469
Delivered.
Price inc. 20% OFF
Price valid to : 21/10/2005
USB Cable sold separately

 

[MPI]

If you're a CRT fan like me, I suggest picking up the Philips 202P40 22", but in that case, do it now! It's really the only high-end CRT there is these days AFAIK(maybe also the viewsonic 22") and unfortunately it seems it is being pulled from the market as we speak.

It was going at about $600US with 2048x1536@80Hz specs last I saw.

TFT's I can't speak of, I'm not looking forward to switching myself, it just seems like a damn hassle ATM. But soon enough we'll have no choice in the matter... :-/

 

[silence]

if you go CRT.... iiyama .... thats IMO THE name for CRTs. dunno about their LCDs, but i doubt they are any worse....

http://www.iiyama.co.uk/default.asp?SID=&NAV=236&DOC=0&PAGE=0&PARAMS=DATASHEET&PARAMS2=0&PCAT=1&PTUBE=&PROD=2310&SPCAREA=

2048 x 1536 / max. 88 Hz
1840 x 1440 / max. 94 Hz
1600 x 1280 / max. 106 Hz
1600 x 1200 / max. 113 Hz
1480 x 1024 / max. 133 Hz
1280 x 1024 / max. 133 Hz
1024 x 768 / max. 177 Hz
800 x 600 / max. 200 Hz
640 x 480 / max. 200 Hz

22'' CRT


21'' are prolly cheaper, but iiyama is really TEH name for CRTs

 

[Vadi]

Or maybe get a 24" widescreen CRT at ebay.

 

[Guden Oden]

Firstly if I want games to look great at very high resolutions and refresh rates must I forget all large LCDs because their refresh rates are crap?

Refresh rate is pretty much irrelevant with LCDs as you may know, since they don't refresh in the same way CRTs do and hence don't suffer from the dreaded flicker problem at low refresh rates. Single-link DVI LCDs top out at 60Hz refresh at higher resolutions (some very high LCDs have even lower refresh I believe I've seen, but those screens don't seem to be consumer devices), but VGA connection generally allows for faster refreshes of the screen in most monitors (pixel clock is max 165MHz for single-link DVI IIRC). Of course, VGA is slightly lower quality, so you'll have to decide what is more important to you.

I'd say, 60Hz is plenty good as it is. Few new games will run faster than 60Hz on the monster resolution of the Dell 2105FPW anyway, unless you invest in a superduper SLI rig that'll cost you nearly as much as the monitor did.

Does an LCD at 16ms respond look blurry after being used to a CRT at 85Hz?

Hmmm. Tough one. My screen is 20ms, and it's noticeably blurry in some games. Typically though, it looks worse in older games where there are large surfaces of the same, or same-ish colors. Half-Life blurs a lot more than Half-Life 2 does, with its increased detail level and generally fewer sharp color/contrast changes.

I guess you'll just have to see for yourself. I think though that you'd get used to it pretty quick. I did, despite the fairly slow response time of my screen. LCDs are so much nicer overall than CRTs that it's worth it.

Secondly what brands do folk love and why (Sony, Philips etc...)

I love my Dell 1905FP; it looks great, it's got awesome adjustments, it's got a nice bright and colorful screen (if a bit laggy in updates as I said before), built-in USB2 hub, internal PSU, built-in cable management system, high build quality (the support stand is made of die-cast aluminium and steel and is spring-loaded for height adjustment) and the case design is beautiful. There are also no dead subpixels in it.

 

[hey69]

i have a 19' tft from BENQ. 12ms reaction time. i see absolutely no blurring!
i have it connected with my ati card trough dvi and its wonderfull. much better then my dead 17' crt (nokia tube inside) who lasted me 7 years

you really should check out somewhere an lcd screen! try before you buy

 

[The_Wolf_Who_Cried_Boy]

If you're a CRT fan like me, I suggest picking up the Philips 202P40 22", but in that case, do it now! It's really the only high-end CRT there is these days AFAIK(maybe also the viewsonic 22") and unfortunately it seems it is being pulled from the market as we speak.:-/

Quoted For Truth.

AusPC Market sells them for a grand.
Not much else decent available Down Under unfortunately.

Personally I wouldn't switch to an LCD at the moment.

PS Shouldn't this be in the Hardware forum?

 

[Moloch]

I just want to add I agree about lcds atm.
Unless you're blind or dont care about quality, lcds are not worth the money.
Backlights= low contrast ratios and the gamma curves on lcds are usally quite poor (see nite-hawks 7800 aa vs X1800 as it touches a bit on lcds).