How Important is Response Times for non-FPS gaming?

[demetrius202]

Trying to decide on a monitor for my new gaming rig. I want to enjoy high resolution gaming on a 30" but hard to find a monitor with 2-3 ms response rates with resolution better than 1440p. However I don't play FPS games, I'm really just into RPG's (MMOs especially) and that's it. My plan is to be ready for ESO while currently playing SWTOR and Skyrim. Even with PvP, is Response times that important for rpgs, or even pvping on mmorpgs? Will I even notice a difference between a 6ms vs 2ms response time? I'm using a gtx690 if that helps

 

[zightbaoe]

In non-fps games it wont really matter that much. Even mlg uses five milisecond responce time and 2ms gtg time in starcraft 2 so it really doesnt matter doesnt even matter that

 

[jaguarskx]

You will not be able to find a 2560x1600 resolution monitor faster than 5ms or 6ms because they all use either S-IPS/H-IPS/P-ISP LCD panels. The short answer is that these types of panels cannot go below 5ms because of the number of colors they produce; 16.7 million.

Less expenses LCD panels (TN and e-IPS) do not "naturally" create that many colors which is why they have lower response times; especially TN panel monitors.

========= Long Explanation ==========

S-IPS/H-IPS/P-ISP LCD panels are known as 8-bit panels because each primary color (Red, Green, Blue) have 8-bits that are used to display colors. They are less often referred to a 24-bit monitors. All inexpensive monitors basically use 6-bit color panels (TN and e-IPS) panels; each primary color only uses 6-bits instead of 8-bits. They are far less expensive to manufacture.

What's the difference between 6-bits and 8-bits? It is beyond huge. Basically we are dealing with binary math here. The number of shades for each color is represent by either 2^6 or 2^8. That is 2 to the power of 6, or 2 to the power of 8. 2^6 means you multiply 2 by the number 2 six times. 2^8 means you multiply 2 by the number 2 eight times:

2^6 = 2*2*2*2*2*2 = 64 shades of color
2^8 = 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2 = 256 shades of color

Each primary color in a 6-bit panel monitor has 64 shades. That means a 6-bit monitor actually produces 64^3 = 64*64*64 = 262,144 colors on the screen.

Each primary color in an 8-bit panel monitor has 256 shades. That means a 6-bit monitor actually produces 256^3 = 256*256*256 = 16,777,216 colors on the screen. An 8-bit panel is capable of displaying 64x more actual colors than a 6-bit panel.

All 6-bit panels (TN and e-IPS) are advertised as capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors because they use a technique called temporal dithering. Say for example a TN panel cannot produce purple by itself; it is one of the 16.5 million colors that it cannot "naturally" produce on its own. This is solved by temporal dithering which means the pixels pulses extremely fast between two colors to create a third color. In this case Red and Blue creates purple, so the pixels pulses between those two colors so quickly that it appears to be solid purple on the screen.

 

[jaguarskx]

For the record, my primary monitor is a 25.6" H-IPS 1920x1200 monitor with 6ms response times. I have no problems playing 1st person shooters with it.

 

[fudoka711]

For the record, my primary monitor is a 25.6" H-IPS 1920x1200 monitor with 6ms response times. I have no problems playing 1st person shooters with it.

I have a 1200p monitor too that's ips with a 6ms response time. I don't see any lag or tearing when playing cs

 

[bystander]

This is a little bit of a complex answer. Let's just say that any 1st person game, where I control the view with my mouse, low response times with high refresh rate and FPS, results in feeling much more connected to the screen. Games feel much more responsive. I'm not certain how much more important each component is, but if all 3 are good, games just feel a lot better. I end up feeling nausea at 60hz, or less than 80 FPS after playing 30-60 mins.

 

[demetrius202]

Wow great feedback guys, thanks! This saves me a lot of trouble. I have less of a worry now about spending a lot for a 27" monitor capable of the high resolution I want but won't cause too much ghosting for my rpgs at 6ms response times. I've always liked ASUS, but I see Benq has some great monitors. I dont really like Dell. Any manufacturers you guys prefer, generally speaking?