Review: 20" LCD S-IPS Panels

Philips 200P4: Games & Movies

Some people hoped that the 200P4 would be the coming of the messiah. Well, they're just going to have to hang on for a few more months, because the answer is NO, this isn't the monitor the gamers need to be able to play with perfectly fluid image movement. It's a lot better than on the Eizo L885, but any TN + Film using a Hydis, AU Optronics or even the LG-Philips 16ms panel will do better. The most important point, when compared to the L885, is that instead of a lag, which blurs images in games, here you get jerks, as if the image flow had been artificially reduced. To reassure you, this has nothing to do with the graphics card or the processor, we tried it in many configurations, from basic to very powerful, but nothing helped.

At 1600x1200, you can play if you stick to a straight line and don't jump. That way, yes, it's fine. But, the least movement will spoil it all. The lag comes over as a blur with the impression of low image output and the sequences are jerky.

At 1280x1024 and 1024x768, the interpolations are fine. Games are also playable at 1600x1200. Only the 800x600 resolution has to be avoided.

This is barely more playable than Unreal. The lag is clearly visible. If you were using a CRT before, you'll find it hard to make the switch. Of course, if you a fan of this type of game, you could stay glued to the screen for hours on end, but it's hard to admit that the images would be much better on monitors that cost only half as much.

By day or by night, the images are clearly visible. You may notice a slight lag, but at least the games are playable.