what is the best 17" LCD out there?

Hitachi CML174 has the shortest response time and should be fine for gaming. However, it can't compete with Samsung 172T or Eizo L565 in terms of color and sharpness. Personally, I would go for the 172T which looks good too.

BTW, have a look at the flat panels forum where you can find more discussions on the topic.

and there are several version of samsung 172 series, like 172T, 172S, 172B, 172W, and there is quite a difference in price, do you know if they use the same panel?

Come over and ask this on the flat panels section. 172t is no good- although it has a 25 black to white, white to black response time, it uses PVA tech which is essentially a version of MVA and exibits really bad response time when going to intermediary colors (so anything not 255 or 0 on the color scale). Thus, there is quite a bit of ghosting, had many complaints about this (it can go up to 52ms one way!!!). CML174 is best monitor in terms of response time (with many other monitors coming out using that panel, choose which one has the features/price u want). However, the issue is that that panel has poor viewing angles (140º horizontal and vertical, unlike the stated 160º by hitachi) so that's kinda bad on a 17" since the top of the screen will appear darker than bottom. Also don't have the best colors. Can u wait a bit?

Hilbert space is a big place.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by flamethrower205 on 02/23/03 09:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Flame:
you asked if I can wait for a while, do you mean you know there are great panels coming out?

Samsung LCD looks great. But if you're into gaming, I recommend LCD NOT!

I'm for the UNDERDOGS!

yeah, there's some new stuff just around the corner. Other companies are developing new tech, like samsung is focusing on 12ms right now. Basically with the newer tech it should have better quality/ features (and perhaps lower price). LG philips is also releasing some pretty sick stuff, like 20.1" LCD w. 176º viewing angle and 16ms response time!

Hilbert space is a big place.

actually an lcd that can have response of less than 30ms at all times (that means its worst case scenario grey shift) will do for gaming. 16ms is fine for example.

Hilbert space is a big place.