What do I need to understand about monitors for gaming?

[hythos]

** Note - since I'm required to use a sub-category and one doesn't exist for "Displays", I'll set it to Graphcis instead.

I've been using a 19" LCD @ 1600x900x75hz. It doesn't look too bad (though I don't know the GTG value of it).

I intend to play some games that would require higher framerates (preferrably 60+), and do need high resolution for CAD/CAM work. So, I picked up an http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor (mostly because I've been thining about it for a long time, and I happened to be driving right past the store...)

While the display is what I need for CAD/CAM work, it's not what I had expected for gaming. Quickly rotating or fast moving objects may draw with several inches between frames (even at 40+FPS). I'd expect this is an issue with the screen-size vs smaller screens at the same resolution/framerate because of the over-all distance between points on the screen (related to the pixel-pitch, I guess?)...
however, is the result I'm seeing a difference in GPU capability - or something just purely related to the display.

With regards to CRT's, I still have a few average resolution, but they always have better framerates than the LCD's I've owned.
Since I've started buying LCD's, I've disregarded CRT's as being a viable solution, because, well, that's what the market and mfg's would have us do. Although, I've only just realized that some CRT's DO have far higher resolution than 1080...
and easily so.
SO, without describing any of the other hardware of my system, would I expect to see a better quality image on a flat-screen CRT with the same approximate dimensions and resolution to that of an LCD? (IE, 24" Sony CRT @ 2304 x 1440 / 80.0 Hz vs a 24" LCD @ 2560 x 1440@60hz / or 1920 x 1200?).

I don't need an incredibly large screen, but do need higher resolution - and framerate is important, regardless of the form-factor or type.

 

[alvine]

with gaming you want a display with a fast response time. thats the time pixel turns from white to black and back to white. you are experiencing ghosting when trying to see fast moving stuff in games as your display can't keep up with changes happening

 

[toyftw]

** Note - since I'm required to use a sub-category and one doesn't exist for "Displays", I'll set it to Graphcis instead.

I've been using a 19" LCD @ 1600x900x75hz. It doesn't look too bad (though I don't know the GTG value of it).

I intend to play some games that would require higher framerates (preferrably 60+), and do need high resolution for CAD/CAM work. So, I picked up an http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor (mostly because I've been thining about it for a long time, and I happened to be driving right past the store...)

While the display is what I need for CAD/CAM work, it's not what I had expected for gaming. Quickly rotating or fast moving objects may draw with several inches between frames (even at 40+FPS). I'd expect this is an issue with the screen-size vs smaller screens at the same resolution/framerate because of the over-all distance between points on the screen (related to the pixel-pitch, I guess?)...
however, is the result I'm seeing a difference in GPU capability - or something just purely related to the display.

With regards to CRT's, I still have a few average resolution, but they always have better framerates than the LCD's I've owned.
Since I've started buying LCD's, I've disregarded CRT's as being a viable solution, because, well, that's what the market and mfg's would have us do. Although, I've only just realized that some CRT's DO have far higher resolution than 1080...
and easily so.
SO, without describing any of the other hardware of my system, would I expect to see a better quality image on a flat-screen CRT with the same approximate dimensions and resolution to that of an LCD? (IE, 24" Sony CRT @ 2304 x 1440 / 80.0 Hz vs a 24" LCD @ 2560 x 1440@60hz / or 1920 x 1200?).

I don't need an incredibly large screen, but do need higher resolution - and framerate is important, regardless of the form-factor or type.

Hi - almost certainly the results are gpu related. Going from 1600x900 to 2560x1440 is a
huge jump and requires a lot more gpu performance.

 

[ittimjones]

an average response time is about 5ms. Anything lower is fast. 5ms will still serve you just fine, unless you are REALLY picky.

 

[random stalker]

read this> http://bootstrike.com/Articles/LCDvsCRT/
it should help a little bit.

as for my five cents - CRT's image quality is vastly superior to LCD, but you have to have enough place to put it in. also you'll need a stronger pc table, as it is heavy as a cow

also, as stated above, you'll need a fast gpu to feed that resolution

 

[random stalker]

an average response time is about 5ms. Anything lower is fast. 5ms will still serve you just fine, unless you are REALLY picky.

for na rpg or mmo.
if you play a lot of FPS, racing games and Beat'em'ups /and other stuff where screen flickers and everything is moving at a rapid speed/, you'll want to consider 2 ms /which comes only with TN panels and we all know the image quality sucks pretty hard on most of those /

 

[hythos]

The current set-up will do 40FPS (i7-3770k + MSI TwinFrozrII 6950-2GB) with the 27" LCD.
IF, a CRT *would* be better (I hadn't considered one because I've simply not thought about them for so long), I do have the space for it - and I can survive with a 24", so as long as it's ~2k x 1440 res...

 

[random stalker]

you know, the best advice can give you is to go to a store and compare various monitors side by side. pick the one which has the best image. also, if you plan on gaming fast moving games and set your eyes on LCD be sure it has the lowest response time possible. /which is not applicable for CRT/

that's all the magic there is to it. no guide can really help you find something that is heavily influenced by your personal feel.
a good guide can tell you what is worth to watch for and what not, but that's all there is to it

 

[DarkSable]

for na rpg or mmo.
if you play a lot of FPS, racing games and Beat'em'ups /and other stuff where screen flickers and everything is moving at a rapid speed/, you'll want to consider 2 ms /which comes only with TN panels and we all know the image quality sucks pretty hard on most of those /

Really common mistake. Pretty much every monitor out there which claims to have a 2ms response rate is measuring Gray-to-Gray, not white to black. That means that they pretty much always have a 5ms response time anyways.

The few monitors that do have lower response rates are 120Hz monitors, which are pretty much the end-all-be-all for competitive gaming... but suck when it comes to image quality.

 

[Bejusek]

Let me add my two cents.

If you have the Sony FW900 CRT (24" from your example) you can feel like a lottery winner. IMO it's the best display in the world and I'd rather spend $300 on calibrating and fixing it to new-like state than buy any LCD.

For CAD/CAM work it would be optimal to buy a 27" 2560x1440 or 30" 2560x1600, depending on your preferences (16:9 vs 16:10) and viewing distance. However such a good IPS display (the only choice for color=critical work) costs $700 and more. You guessed right - such displays refresh at 60Hz and are not really suitable for competitive FPS gaming because of their input lag (internal signal processing time - from getting the signal to displaying it) which is about 2-3 frames. Pixel response time is no longer a significant problem. Most of the high end displays have fast enough transition times for FPS gaming.

Better framerate is a matter of good graphics card. If the CRT is refreshing itself more frequently than a LCD doesn't mean it's going to provide more fluid picture. It all comes down to your GPU delivering a stable framerate of over 30FPS to perceive the motion as fluid. Surely getting 100FPS all the time with refresh rate of 100Hz will prove more fluid to the sensitive eye than 100FPS @ 60Hz, but it isn't really that important.

You won't find a high resolution LCD with precise colors completely suitable for gaming. You can get either a display for work with colors or one for gaming. Old good CRT will combine those two. The only downside, apart from its size, is that at least for me 100Hz refresh rate is minimum. Any lower and my eyes hurt.

If precise color reproduction isn't of utter importance to you, consider getting a TN LCD with Lightboost like Asus VG248QE or Benq XL2411T. They can be set to 120Hz refresh rate with strobed backlight giving you the CRT-like feel.