Looking for 22"+ lcd for my needs

Hi everyone!

My first post here. I've been very impressed with Tom's Hardware in it's product comparisons, so I thought I'd pose my question here. I'm looking to replace my semi-old LCD monitor. It's kind of the center of a multimedia system, so there are quite a few requirements for the replacement.

First, my old one is a Gateway FPD2275W. The problems I have with it are backlight bleeding on the top and bottom of the screen. It's very noticeable whenever there are dark images on the screen. Second, anytime there are deep blues or greens on the screen, or certain other colors, I get a wash of green or blinking pixels on the screen. Third, the built-in usb hub just died on me. Not really a problem, but kind of disappointing. Otherwise, the monitor's been treating me right, and I'm going to be sorry to replace it, since it took me so long to calibrate it correctly.

Now, I'm looking for something under the $350 price range, though I can stretch it to $400. Speakers are optional, I have a good pair - but my amp is out of commission for now. Anyways, I'll need something with good response time, something under 5ms. Here's the kicker, something with Component video interface. Not a lot of monitors have those, and those that do tend to have complaints about their color quality. Since my old monitor is a 22" widescreen, I'm looking for the same size, though I wouldn't mind going bigger if that was all that was available.

I saw the Asus PG221H on Newegg.com, and it seemed like a good deal, but there were some complaints about bad color reproduction, so I'd also be interested in hearing if anyone has good things to say about that.

Otherwise, I'm at my wits end on this, and I hope someone can shed some light on this for me!

Thanks all,
Sam

Thank you for your educated reply. Though I wish I could afford a monitor for graphics professionals (I do a lot of image postprocessing), I'm going to have to stick with something that has an acceptable image quality, and won't be susceptible to backlight bleeding, since I at least want my blacks to come out black. As far as the balance goes between response times and color reproduction quality, I'd have to lean heavier towards response time.

If nearly all 22" LCD monitors use TN technology, should I be considering other sizes? I'm sorry if this question has been posted before. If a smaller or larger monitor would suit my needs, I'd be more than happy to hear about it. And just to reiterate, the component connection is a must. Quite a few devices (DVD, Blu-Ray, etc) are hooked up to this monitor.

Thanks,
Sam

Dont mean to steal away the thread but I'm in the same boat as the OT and I'm currently looking for a "mostly" gaming oriented monitor.

I've looked at a couple models, prices vary a lot depending on brand.
I currently own a 19" GX2 from NEC, and coming from a NEC Multisync 19" CRT the quality was similar (to me anyway).

Unfortunatly the 24 inch version that seems to be along the same lines (LCD2470WNX) is'nt designed for games, or so they say, but more fit for graphic design.

Earlier today I came accross the Samsung 226UX, which is a 22" monitor with a 2ms response time. Is it a TN panel as well? I could'nt find wether it had 16.7mil. colors or only 256K. The BENQ is listed at a similar price with similar spec, good ratings for game, poorer performances in terms of image editing. Both the BenQ and the 226UX(226BW) have good review for gaming applications at PRAD.

I gotta admit some of those high end monitors are way too expensive for me (Eizo and Nec are 800$+), I dont think I would dish out more than 500-600$ for a 22-24" monitor but at the moment I just cant seem to find the right one.

I need help...!

First of all, thanks a lot for all the inputs. What I need to know (altough I might have to check on my own at the store) is how different in terms of image quality is a TN panel compared to a non-TN(IPS, S-PVA) panel.

My computer uses are limited to:
games
watching movies
browsing the internet
I am not a graphist or image profesionnal, so subtle differences will probably go unnoticed by me.


I'd concede a 22" over a 24" if the price difference was too big. From what I understand a majority of the 22"(most are 5ms and-) are TN panels?

Ideally I would like to go for a display (22 or 24" ) with the same overall quality as my 19" GX²

Dell ultrasharp appears as a solid candidate, same with the 2465 from HP you've mentionned. Altough they might be a bit pricy considering the 24" market is not as much a bargain as 22" are.