Recommended Gaming/Movie LCD, 20"+

[matt546]

Ive been doing alot of research to get a new high quality LCD monitor. Ive heard that 19" monitors are just 17" monitors with larger pixels And to get 20" instead.
ive chosen two monitors and want to know if either is good for gaming.
Viewsonic VX2025WM http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1910938&sku=V18-2052
And
Acer AL2051W
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1962526&CatId=1410

Are either of those good for gaming and movie watching?
On the Viewsonic, it says 16ms white-black-white (typ) and 8ms gray-to-gray (avg.)
What exactly does that mean? Ive heard this monitor has a bit of ghosting in games.

If these two monitors are that great then any recommendations for me under 350(or so)$, 8ms or less, and a nice ratio (800:1+)

Speaking of ratios, whats a good ratio to have for movies? I currently have a 350:1 and it isnt that great for movies. Ive seen the 19" wide screen viewsonic (500:1) and the quality was like 10 times better. How much better is 800:1 ?

Thanks, Im a bit of an LCD noob
Matt

 

[jaylil]

They both look good to me. The Viewsonic one has lots of good reviews at newegg.

I have this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014105

I don't know about those two but mine has no ghosting as far as I can see and movies look great, it's only 600:1 though.

 

[travbomb]

Get the NEC 20WMGX2. Best 20 inch gaming LCD on the market.

 

[Gaigebacca]

I recently just bought the Dell 2007WFP 20" widescreen, and it is the best widescreen monitor I have ever seen, completely uniform backlighting with no bleeding, and the manufacturer specs rate it at a higher response time, but in all of the reviews I have read, the actual recorded response time was much lower than 8ms. The monitor has a very wide angle of view, and is crystal clear. Also the DVI-D input on it is HDCP compatible, which no other 20" on the market right now is, so it will work with ur HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drive later down the road. Only be sure to get the RevA02 or later, as the A00 has some banding issues when using the DVI, but even if you get the A00 Dell with replace it with the A02 free of charge, even free shipping both ways. I have yet to see any ghosting with this monitor and also the black levels are excelent, picture is just as good as my 32" Sony CRT in the living room.

 

[travbomb]

The NEC 20WMGX2 is HDCP compatible. Check those facts.

 

[Venomous21]

Trav, can you link a techsheet that shows the NEC has HDCP? I've looked and looked and can't find it anywhere. I really hope it does have HDCP as I think I'm about to go ahead and purchase this monitor.

 

[travbomb]

They are currently updating the tech documents so I could not get one but below is the response i got from one of our engineers.

"We have used HDCP through an HDMI to DVI cable on this monitor. "

Product Engineer
Product Development
NEC Display Solutions of America

 

[Venomous21]

Why would they hide a feature such as HDCP from their tech documents? It worries me as to whether or not this monitor truly has HDCP. I have a DVR box with a hdmi-hdcp protected output that I'll have to try this monitor on to see if it works. My TV has dvi-hdcp and I've been watching HDTV with a hdmi to dvi cable from that DVR for a while now.

Can anyone else conclusively verify whether or not this monitor has hdcp?

 

[travbomb]

The link below is to a review of the 20WMGX2 against the 215TW. It mentions how the 20W has HDCP.

http://www.lcdresource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=1

 

[lcdguy]

unless you plan on playing HD or BD hidef movies on the monitor hacing HDCP is irrelevant. I presonally love the viewsonic it's great for gaming, movie watching, etc. it also doesn't break the bank.

 

[urian]

There's a comparision of 13 20" LCDs at http://www.behardware.com/articles/619-1/updated-survey-13-lcd-20-5-6-8-16-ms.html
I'm torn between the NEC 20W(M)GX2 and the ViewSonic VP2030b. I'll go with the VP2030b since I can get it for 550€ and the price seems to be the main gripe in the above comparision.

 

[travbomb]

I would stick with the 20WMGX2 since it uses an AS-IPS panel and the viewsonic just uses a P-MVA.

 

[urian]

Crap, I just noticed I forgot to "I think..." in the beginning of the last sentence in my previous post. Not that it amtters anymore since I'm currently leaning towards waiting for the new BenQ 24", at least if I'll be able to get it reasonably cheap (=<1000€)

I've read alot about the NEC having problems with twinkling in movies, but it's still a possibility for a 20" (in which case I'll get a 30"+ LCD TV to watch movies )