Contemplating a new monitor for gaming. Worth it?

VGA only supports a max refresh rate of 70Hz, but depending on the cable, it can be lower. If your video card supports DVI, upgrade it! That is an HD monitor, and VGA cannot give HD screen sizes.

the max resolution of a standard VGA cable is 800x600, so you will see a huge performance is quality.

My VGA cable goes up to 1920x1200, dunno what you're talking about.

In the great words of Linus (From LinusTechTips), every Pixel on a TN panel is a bad one.

Your display properties may be reporting that resolution, but that is impossible. Check this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Graphics_Array#Output_capabilities

Heh. Love that quote.

However, there are some bloody amazing TN panels out there, the XL2420T included. It's got great color, and quality, and, of course, the 120Hz refresh rate.

You are wrong, that link you supplied is for a VGA video card. The VGA cable itself can do resolutions up to and including 2048×1536@85 Hz (388 MHz).

Over standard resolutions (1080p), frequencies (60hz), and standard distances (6'/2m or so) there will be no detectable difference between a VGA cable and a DVI.

The link I provided is for the computer display standard known as VGA, also known as Video Graphics Array. It is not for a specific graphics card.

The VGA cable was only designed for 640x480. While yes, you can send higher resolution through this cable, understand that this is an analog signal. With an analog signal, you start to run into signal loss, artifacts, etc.

With DVI, it offersa digital signal. Which means, you will either get 100% signal or 0% signal. With VGA, you can still get a signal, but it may be fuzzy or blurred.

The point is, anything above 640x480, go with DVI or HDMI.

VGA should be able to be used for 1920x1080...if that is what you meant by HD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector
The secret is the combination what kind of refresh rate with what kind of resolution.

VGA interface has also its limitation regarding resolution and refresh rate but
I think your monitor can only go up to 60Hz for the resolution you need/want. Usually, monitor limitation comes much earlier or is lower than cable/adapter limitation.
You can not go pass this unless you replace your monitor with something faster and upgrade to DVI or HDMI.

Your GPU should have those HDMI/DVI output

Yes, all you need is only another cable and a new +better monitor.

as for IPS or TN also regarding BenqXL2420T,

BenQ XL2420T is a TN panel and will theoretically better gaming experience since it is fast...real fast...with 120Hz refresh rate...but like all TN panels...color and contrast reproduction quality is secondary

IPS panels such my current U2412M are theoretically slower but have a lot better color and reproduction quality. So...quite opposite charateristics to TN panels...

The new IPS panels are not that slow anymore and can be used for gaming and the new TN panels are not that bad anymore like in the past. Both progresses really good these days.
You will like the new TN and IPS panels.

For me, I prefer the IPS for its color and contrast reproduction. I use my U2412M also for shooter games such as Mass Effect 2+3 and I do not recognize any ghosting effects.
I play also currently Tropico 4, Starcraft 2+ HoS, Skyrim and Torchlight 2.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2011/review-dell-u2412m.html

Subjectively, I can not really tell the smoothness difference from IPS to TN panels. (I ain't aiming for 3D so I left this option out)
I can only tell directly the color and contrast quality differences between IPS and TN.
I did compare the Benq XL2420T and Dell U2412M before buying.

Why don't you just go to a shop where you can take a look at them physically then decide.

My candidates for IPS panels were Dell U2412M and ASUS MX239H
My TN candidate was only the Benq XL2420T


Edit:
Before U2412M, I was using ASUS VW198T with a VGA cable @1680x1050 60Hz

After going IPS 1440p, I went to 1080P TN for a little while I switched GPU's, and the colour was so bad to me. Like my eyes hurt after a while.

Of course, this is because I'm used to IPS, not TN but you know what I mean.

I haven't personally seen the XL2420T, but from the praise it gets, I would assume its a good monitor.

And AzCompTech VGA does support further than 800x600.. I have a 1080p monitor running off VGA perfectly fine. And for me, there is no difference from VGA cables and DVI cables up to 1080p... I have used both, and to avoid using an adapter, I just used a straight VGA cable.

For people who confused VGA connector with the original VGA,
More infos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Video_Graphics_Array

Basically, on our current VGA connector or cable, there are several standards VGA, SVGA, etc.
You can go to HD using one of those standards.
VGA with low resolution is only one of them and it is the oldest standard.
So, the statement about VGA cable not being able to do HD topic needs to be corrected.

honestly the only monitors worth moving to if you already have a panel are S-IPS, P-IPS, H-IPS or 120hz TN.

the ips panels listed are physically capable of displaying more colors making them more accurate. what this means for the average user is that such things as gradients appear smooth while on other panels appear blotchy. the high viewing angle is also a plus.

120hz tn panels are only capable of 6 bit color however with double the fps and refresh rate quite a few people claim the video feed appears smoother. viewing angles have improved on some tn panels most likely due to a screen coating however they are not anywhere close to ips.

i would upgrade to a dvi cable or hdmi cable over a vga cable for a few reasons.

-hdmi or dvi are standard on just about any monitor you will buy. vga may or may not be supported.

-hdmi and dvi are a digital signal, vga is analog. if you use a conversion cable it will need a box translating the signal back and forth which makes the cable cost more than it needs to.

-hdmi and dvi are capable of carrying sound. only usefull if you hook up to a tv or if your monitor has speakers though.

-vga is much more succeptible to crosstalk and MAY make the signal appear more blurry than dvi. this could be due to such common factors as quality of cable, cable length and other devices in the area. it was mentioned on hardforums that monitor electronics could also have an effect. read these two quotes.

"It's impossible to address each and every pixel with a VGA signal. DVI uses a clock signal to apply a binary value to each pixel on the screen. VGA has no such clock and the panel has to rely on periodic horizontal and vertical syncing to "guess" which pixel is being addressed. Being able to see each pixel on a panel where pixels are discrete object doesn't mean that the value of the previous pixel didn't bleed over to the next one."

"And some panels are not very good at guessing... (It can vary from a subtle difference to looking blurry...)"

-i've heard that vga can limit some monitors functions such as pixel scaling.

-------------------------------------------------

in short:

either an 8bit or 10bit ips panel or 6bit 120hz tn panel could be considered an upgrade.

120hz tn requires a dual-link dvi cable.

ips panels often come standard with hdmi or dvi, they may not support vga.

i would ugrade to dvi or hdmi, but if things look good to you now you can just continue using the cable and monitor you already have in front of you.

Will spending that kind of money give you a better picture? Yes it will. Will you give you 400 pounds worth , probably not. Just a little better picture with more screen real estate. I like the fact it is a 16:10 not a 16:9 and it looks like a decent monitor but I would like to see it in person and calibrated before I spent that kind of money on a monitor.

It comes down to you if you want a bigger monitor with a better picture for the money. Then again you could have a dual monitor setup!

Happy gaming, the Prisoner

PS:link for vga resolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector
PSS:Link for a crt monitor I still use. http://www.docs.sony.com/release/GDMFW900.PDF Among other LED monitors.

I upgraded from a 900p monitor to a 1080p monitor, and could tell a huge difference, and then upgraded to a 120Hz monitor... it's similar to what you said about pollution, but with lag - to me there is absolutely nothing that compares to a 120Hz monitor when it comes to gaming, although yes, IPS monitors to look very very good. (Though my BenQ rivals the lower-end IPS panels.)

Of course, it's all going to be a moot point in 6 years when we can find 1600p, OLED, 120Hz monitors. *wishful thinking.*

honestly the jump from 1680x1050 to 1920x1080 is definitely going to be noticible but it is not going to be so great it is worth spending quite a bit of money doing unless of course you make an upgrade to 120hz or 8/10bit ips at the same time.

Some words for 6 or 8 bit IPS panels:
6 or 8 bit IPS panels will effect the color precision (also color gradient) of the monitor.
8 bit IPS is better since it has more color range than the 6 bit IPS.
6 bit IPS has the color precision more or less just like a TN panel.
6 bit IPS however are usually faster than the 8 bit variant, which this IPS panel more suitable to games than the 8 bit one.
All IPS panels, regardless of 6 or 8 bit, are still better than TN in contrast and color saturation point of view.

Some words on 120Hz TN:
120Hz TN panels are still faster than any IPS but you can not expect much from color precision, contrast and saturation from any TN.
In games, 120Hz will give you ultra smoothness in movements for example if you play ego shooter.

Solution recommendations:
1. Go best on one side, smoothness or image quality
So...if you jump from your current LG to another 60Hz TN panels...well...that is not really worth it...
You have to jump either to 120Hz TN for smoothness or jump to 8-bit IPS for image quality.
Here you have plenty of monitor choices e.g. BenQ XL2420T for going 120Hz TN

2. Go IPS allrounder (somewhere between speed and image quality)
If you would like to have something in between...something like...
a fast monitor but definitely still not as fast as a 120Hz TN, very useable for gaming but not really the highlight... but also..
an IPS panel with better contrast and saturation than any 120Hz TN but not very precise in color like a high value IPS.
My recommendations are: Dell U2412M, ASUS MX239H