Affordable 19" LCD Monitors

Games

This monitor is alright in 1280x1024, and very bad in all the other interpolated resolutions.

Unreal Tournament 2003

Unreal in 1280x1024 is perfectly playable. Though the afterglow is definitely there, it is bearable and offset by the high level of detail in the images. But you can forget the other resolutions. Even more than afterglow, you will be put right off by the lack of clearness. Everything is blurred to the point of being intolerable. The worst is in 640x480, where you get coarse outlines in addition to the blurring and afterglow. So this is a monitor strictly for use in its native resolution. And it's best to have a big, fat video card.

Return To Castle Wolfenstein

No special problems here. There is still afterglow but the colors are good. Occasional players could well be happy with this monitor. Hardcore ones will not.

GTA: Vice City

Afterglow here shows in the form of little jerks when the player turns. Luckily, this is not too noticeable, and is better than the other monitors.

Command & Conquer: Generals

Not brilliant. The 1280x1024 resolution is again absent, so you have to make do with 800x600, 1024x1024, or 1152x864. We also noticed that interpolation is not this monitor's strong point. Everything is degraded and the afterglow is very noticeable. C&C lovers, choose another monitor!

Videos

Movies are quite watchable but, here again, smoothness has nothing to compare with a CRT, nor even with that of the best 17" LCDs in 17" LCD Part IV: Six Panels With 16 And 20 ms . You notice a slight flickering and the ghosting of characters on the screen cannot be ignored in fast movements.