hi i have a dual core amd 2gigs and 7950gt 512mb. im looking for a monitor to play games with but mostly just stuff like oblivion and warcraft3. i play in a dark room and want around a 20-22 inch monitor willing to spend 300-400. any help would be appreciated i dont really have a preference between widescreen or not just want would work in war3 the best and the highest resolution in that game is 1280x1024 i believe. i also watch movies alot on the computer.
skyguy
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Well, a 20-22" LCD will be higher than 1280 resolution, that's the first thing. Second, your budget of $300-$400 is very good and can get you a very nice monitor, definitely bigger than 19". Lastly, since you do gaming and movies, you'll need a monitor that will perform well on both. Often LCDs do good on one, but not the other. There are a few exceptions though.
Dollar for dollar, your best bet is a Samsung 226 (22"). Absolutely top shelf. I've used alot of different monitors, and Samsung is by far one of the best. Very fast response time so it's good for gaming, and no ghosting on DVDs. The backbleed isn't too bad, so black colors are quite black. Very sexy LCD, excellent color calibration software, very good color rendition, a nice big widescreen that runs 1680x1050 resolution.
Samsung 226 will fit into your budget no problem and is excellent. I highly recommend it. I have 2 225's and they are gorgeous. The 226 is even better.
Dollar for dollar, your best bet is a Samsung 226 (22"). Absolutely top shelf. I've used alot of different monitors, and Samsung is by far one of the best. Very fast response time so it's good for gaming, and no ghosting on DVDs. The backbleed isn't too bad, so black colors are quite black. Very sexy LCD, excellent color calibration software, very good color rendition, a nice big widescreen that runs 1680x1050 resolution.
Samsung 226 will fit into your budget no problem and is excellent. I highly recommend it. I have 2 225's and they are gorgeous. The 226 is even better.
skyguy
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Not positive why that is, but I can only think of 2 possibilities:
1) the brightness and contrast of the LCD in a dark room is hard on your eyes. Almost all LCD monitors have this issue. It's mostly (I think) because of the way LCD's are designed, built, and the technology of them. I know if I sit in front of the screen with the lights out, it'll bother my eyes. I need some ambient light on.
2) When a monitor is black, there is some "backbleed" from the panel itself, which causes black colors to appear as a faint glow. The more backbleed, the more glow, the worse the color is, the more annoying. But all LCD's have a bit of backbleed to some degree. This doesn't hurt your eyes though, it's just a little annoying with cheap LCDs because the black doens't appear too dark....it looks like a bit of a black "glow" if that makes sense.
My guess is #1. Dark room and an LCD can bother your eyes. So consider turning down the brightness and/or contrast if you'll be using it in a dark room. Otherwise, use a dimmer switch and leave a bit of light on in the room and you'll be fine. But it's not a problem with Samsung only......it's the nature of LCD screens overall.
1) the brightness and contrast of the LCD in a dark room is hard on your eyes. Almost all LCD monitors have this issue. It's mostly (I think) because of the way LCD's are designed, built, and the technology of them. I know if I sit in front of the screen with the lights out, it'll bother my eyes. I need some ambient light on.
2) When a monitor is black, there is some "backbleed" from the panel itself, which causes black colors to appear as a faint glow. The more backbleed, the more glow, the worse the color is, the more annoying. But all LCD's have a bit of backbleed to some degree. This doesn't hurt your eyes though, it's just a little annoying with cheap LCDs because the black doens't appear too dark....it looks like a bit of a black "glow" if that makes sense.
My guess is #1. Dark room and an LCD can bother your eyes. So consider turning down the brightness and/or contrast if you'll be using it in a dark room. Otherwise, use a dimmer switch and leave a bit of light on in the room and you'll be fine. But it's not a problem with Samsung only......it's the nature of LCD screens overall.
Another vote for the Samsung 226BW, I just purchased one last week and I'm very happy with it. Looked at many, many monitors during my deliberation and although the cheaper ones ($50 - $80 less) were actually surprisingly good I went with the Samsung regardless (and I'm cheap, cheap).
I have not looked at the 226BW so I don't know how close it is in price but I would recommend the Samsung 206BW or, if you don't mind not having VESA capabilities, this Acer AL2051W. These are both 20" monitors and the reason I would recommend them over the 22" models is simply that they have the same max res as 22" monitors and as a result the picture quality will actually be better on the 20" models (all other things being equal).
I am ordering the Samsung 206BW this weekend. I would have gone with the Acer because, as long as they haven't changed it (and I would have no reason to believe they have), the panel in the Acer is a better quality panel. But I wanted to at least have the option of wall mounting my monitor so I decided on the Samsung.
From what I have read, the Samsung is a 6-bit TN panel where as the Acer is a true 8-bit panel (I believe a P-MVA if I remember correctly). What this means is that the Acer will have superior viewing angles and true 16.7 million color reproduction. The Samsung has more limited viewing angles and 16.2 million color reproduction (though it does supposedly produce 16.7 with "dithering").
This might have been more info than you were looking for but IMHO I would go with a 20" model. Less money and better picture without much loss of screen real estate. None of this applies to 19" models btw. Their max res is much weaker.
If you really want to read up on LCD monitors I would recommend the Widescreen Gaming Forum.
Oh and btw, Oblivion will play (and play well depending on your video card) on a widescreen format. Click here to check it out. As for Warcraft III it appears you can hack the registry to play it on widescreen. Link for the Warcraft III report.
Good luck.
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