Confusion over 19" LCD monitors

WolfShade

Ex-Xperiance Member
Joined
23 Jun 2004
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47
Hi Guys

I need some help in determining what LCD monitor to get. I have been looking at LCD monitors for 3 days every time I think I have found "the one” I find some user or hardware guide review that makes me think twice about my decision. I really want to be confident it will perform well all round because I will be purchasing 3 “yup that’s right 3”. 1 for me an experienced gamer and computer user, 1 for my girlfriend and one for my 55 year old father who is just now really learning how to use computers. I want to get them good monitors that will perform up to expectation the more advanced they get. I need one that will not only show video and web pages well but performs excellent in game and although not that important wall mountable but mount-ability is low on the list of priorities.

I have come across a couple that look pretty good but in the end I wind up confused by the overall performance spec’s. Here are two I have really looked at I was almost sold on the VX922 then I saw the review of the VP930 and it looked pretty good as well. I have a budget of 300-400$Can per monitor which also narrows down the search. Any help, suggestions and information that would clear my head of this confusing situation would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want to make a decision I will regret since I could be spending 1,200$ which for me is a lot right now.
ViewSonic VX922 (Shown Here), ViewSonic VP930 (Shown Here)

[FONT=&quot]Thanks again,

P.S
I am posting away from home so I wont get back till tonight or tomorrow sometime
[/FONT]
 
I'd recommned then that you look into the dell 2007FP or 2407FPW then.
 
The Viewsonic VP930 is the better of the 2 monitors. I went through the same sort of decision factors about 8 months ago. The VX922 is a 6bit monitor which gives it less color ranges than the 8bit VP930. The 2ms and 8ms response times are not even noticeable to gamers. Anything below 16ms is great for gaming.

You will see that the dell 2007FP has a 16ms response time which is good enough for most gamers. It's pricerange does fall within the range you were looking for WITH coupons. It's a good monitor, but if you don't want the 1600x1200 resolution range, then don't go with it.

There is also the Samsung 204B 20.1" 5ms 800:1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001226

Personally, I really liked this Viewsonic: the VP2030 with 8ms and 1000:1 contrast ratio
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116371
 
Well I myself own a VX924. But from what I have read I would go with the VX922. It seems that the VP930 is not a true 8bit monitor.

Argh. Well now on ViewSonic Germany's site it says 6-bit + 2-bit FRC and on ViewSonic UK it says 8-bit. I don't know what to believe.

I didn't know which to believe either, I've just been so pissed about this thing for a while.

So I decided to call local ViewSonic Contact Center and they were quite surprised to hear someone asking about this, but after little waiting a really helpful guy in the customer service did some research for me (called to some tech guy in Germany) and confirmed to me that the VP930 is really a 6bit+2bit FRC monitor. After that even he didn't recommend that monitor for me.

They told me that the reason they are calling it 8-bit monitor, is that in most of the countries (atleast here in europe) the legislative rules don't require ViewSonic/manufacturer to tell the customers that the 8-bit in the VP930 is actually a 6bit+2bit FRC. So they can market as a 8 bit monitor.

2-bit FRC doesn't make it true 8-bit, just the fake 8-bit they love to advertise. It generates the colors artificially (by flickering).

All this quoted from the forums at AnandTech.



Although this PDF (http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/data/60/RangeOverviewLCD.pdf) states otherwise (under the 19' monitors).

Makes it hard to really be sure.
 
So there's some new interesting information. I didn't know that either.
 
"There are three kinds of lies -
Lies
Damn lies
and statistics" Sam Clemens

The only way to choose a monitor is to sit down in front of it and use it.

Color quality, blurring, granularity can't be determined from the spec's since spec's fall under the "Statistics" kind of lies..

If you are buying 3 - 19 inch monitors make damn sure you use the one you pick. Returns are frowned on without an obvious defect.

That said the general trend in this forum is for people to rave about the Dell monitors. Personally I don't like LCDs, they cause me excessive eye strain.
 
Both the ViewSonic VP2030b and the Samsung 204b look pretty sweet, has anyone seen these monitors perform or own one? Of the 2 which do you think is best without this becoming a "amd vs Intel" like issue lol. What I intend to do is job it out to some local tech stores and see who can come up with the best price for me. 3 monitors and 3 mounting brackets. Let them fight over my business theres about 10 in my city so I'll have lots of choice. And Lee I wanna be sure we get the right ones we will use them all the time thats why I came here ;-)

Thanks for all the replies so far...
 
The only way to choose a monitor is to sit down in front of it and use it.
I totally agree with LeeJan . . . my personal preference is NEC with Samsung a close second. I really don't care for the Dell's but some of them are nice too . . . be wary of the ones with glass over them - they look great in the strore but they can be hard to use in some lighting conditions due to glare.
 
I usually try things out before I buy them, I wanted a good base start of what to look at and so far I have gotten some good ideas. I will be able to see the Samsung 204b in action later this week but sadly for some retaded reason non of the small tech stores or big ones seem to carry ViewSonic moniters which seems a little odd to me but what do I know.
 
Ewww, competition for your business from local vendors. Hog heaven!

Get it down to 1 or 2 choices and make part of the terms and conditions of the sale that you be able to look at and drive the final contestants before paying out any cash. Spend at least 15 minutes in front of each. Take an action adventure DVD with you with some fast moving scenes.
 
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Yeah LeeJend I'm with you all the way and that's just good policy, it's just getting them 1 or 2 choices thats the hard part I think one will be the Samsung just looking for other options thanks for the help everyone
 
"There are three kinds of lies -
Lies
Damn lies
and statistics" Sam Clemens

The only way to choose a monitor is to sit down in front of it and use it.

Color quality, blurring, granularity can't be determined from the spec's since spec's fall under the "Statistics" kind of lies..

If you are buying 3 - 19 inch monitors make damn sure you use the one you pick. Returns are frowned on without an obvious defect.

That said the general trend in this forum is for people to rave about the Dell monitors. Personally I don't like LCDs, they cause me excessive eye strain.

I agree, and I disagree. I only use ViewSonic monitors. Be it LCD or CRT. I know people that own Dell monitors and I have used them. I will still take ViewSonic over Dell. But that's my preference. I type this on a VX924 and GS790 and my next monitor will be a ViewSonic.

One that I have heard good thing about are Samsung LCDs. I have read many good reviews as to this brand. I have yet to use one except at a computer store/shop.
 
I retract the bad things I have said about LCD monitors.

I was at Best Buy today and swung by the 19 inch LCDs. Yes, many of them still suck BUT!

There were two Samsungs that looked good. (Models 950 & 920 I think)
-- Viewing angle was excellent.
-- Color quality was good.
-- There was minimal blurring on fast motion.
-- No noticeable glare/reflection.
-- CONTRAST was way better than other monitors!!!
-- The graininess that kept me away from earlier models was not evident.

Note: Color rendition still does not match a CRT but unless you are a graphics artists I'd say they're good enough.

I could not find any dead pixels either (I looked) but that's no guarantee you won't get some.

PS The Viewsonics sitting side by side with the Samsungs were lacking. Still grainy, color temperature was off and contrast was too low. Not enough dynamic range to properly render bright areas.
 
wow Lee thanks for the update I have yet to get down and look at the samsungs at my local shops been so busy as of late. We are not professional photo editors so we don’t have to worry about that I do use Photoshop but only for fun and not work plus I'm part color blind so shading is not an issue for me because I don't tend to see off whites or shades of colors that are close together.... No Poker I have not seen any of the NEC monitors do you have one your particular about?
 
Here's one that looks similar to the 21.3" I just picked up from NEC, I'm really happy with it, very bright crisp colors, excellent response time. The 21.3" had 1600X1200 native resolution which I needed, and the 19" were (all) 1280X1024 which I don't find very appealing.
 
Personally I would recommend a widescreen. Some games don't support them, which may be a problem for you, but for anything else I've found they feel much more natural than 4:3 monitors and are much easier to work with. I always have trouble switching to older monitors now when I'm on other machines. I'm using a Dell 2405FPW that i'm extremely happy with. I know the 2005 is great too.
 
Well guys
I went with 3 NEC 90GX2's and wow all three of them are awesome. No dead pix in any of the monitors and they can handle anything you throw at them. 0 ghosting, great color, I can't find a single thing wrong with any of them. My buddy just bought a UltraSharp 2407FPW 24.0-inch Wide Flat Panel LCD Monitor from Dell and quite honestly for the 5 extra inches you get, it doesn't compare to the NEC in color, response or clarity. In games or anything else you might use it for.(Personal opinion) In fact the first thing he said was "wow it is so clear and responsive compared to mine” (true story). Anyways, thanks for the help and I highly recommend this monitor having seen 3 of them in action.
 
Good to hear. As long as you're happy and they perform as you wanted them to is all that counts. :D
 

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