What characteristics are most important in a monitor?

[oboe]

Response time?   Refresh rate?  IPS or TN?  Resoluion at 1920x1080, or higher?   Brightness of 250 or 300+?

I see TN monitors with 1-2 ms response times and an IPS with 5ms, which seems good for an IPS but just wondering how playable it would be...

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Response time?   Refresh rate?  IPS or TN?  Resoluion at 1920x1080, or higher?   Brightness of 250 or 300+?

I see TN monitors with 1-2 ms response times and an IPS with 5ms, which seems good for an IPS but just wondering how playable it would be...

For games, input lag. That's the first thing to check for. Other than that it's a combination of all.

You want good color reproduction, good contrast, good black levels (evenly lit background), good geometry, small enough pixel pitch not to bother you at your viewing distance etc.

It's very tricky to pick a good monitor actually. One thing to look out for is if the screen uses Pulse Width Modulation on its backlight. If it does, the backlight does not dim, it flickers in order to achieve a brightness level. Some persons (like me) are extremely sensitive to screen flicker. I get very uncomfortable working on a flickering screen.

The latest VA panels seem to be a good compromise between TN level speeds and IPS level image quality.

[oboe]

Thanks, MrRipley.   I'm not sure I recall ever seeing a spec called "input lag".   Is this something retailers would not include in their spec sheet for the product?   Must go to the manufacturer's site for that?

Does ASUS have a good reputation for color reproduction?

[ebfd11]

I am sitting in front of an ASUS 27 inch IPS screen and I have had zero problems with it and with the 1.5 mil colors .. I cant go wrong there.

Lawndart

[oboe]

I am sitting in front of an ASUS 27 inch IPS screen and I have had zero problems with it and with the 1.5 mil colors .. I cant go wrong there.

Lawndart

Best Buy currently has this one on sale:  Asus - 27" IPS LED HD Monitor - Silver  Model: MX279H   for $270.  I have some reward certificates I can use there to offset the cost.

The specs are: 5ms response rate, 60Hz refresh rate, 250 cd/m brightness, 80,000,000 to 1 contrast (whatever that means - I feel like there lots of fudging by manufacturer on this term- ).  Best Buys' specs gives no information on input lag, or PWM on the backlighting.  Do IPS monitors still use backlighting?

I'm currently using an Acer x223w LCD monitor with same 5ms response time, 60Hz refresh rate, and 250 cd/m brightness, and have felt it seems a little dark compared to a 24" HP monitor I had for a while.   Also I recall a little ghosting or motion blur in certain situations when playing AH, but it was never a deal-breaker.   Just wondering if a 1-2 ms response time would solve that, or getting one with a higher refresh rate, like 144 Hz would be necessary?

[ebfd11]

Whoops I am sorry I have an ASUS monitor... thats what happens when you try to read with no glasses on in a semi dark room.. The one I have is the ASUS 27 IPS monitor.

http://www.amazon.com/MX279H-27-Inch-Screen-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B00B17C5KO





    27" AH IPS Full HD display for vivid image clarity and 178-degree viewing angle
    Frameless and ultra-slim profile minimizes desk space requirements
    Extensive connectivity options with dual HDMI ports for complete connectivity with various devices
    80,000,000:1 ASUS Smart Contrast ratio results in sharper and brighter visuals
    SonicMaster sound with two 3-watt speakers and built-in Bang & Olufsen ICEpower amplifier for high-quality audio playback that is true to source

Lawndart

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Thanks, MrRipley.   I'm not sure I recall ever seeing a spec called "input lag".   Is this something retailers would not include in their spec sheet for the product?   Must go to the manufacturer's site for that?

Does ASUS have a good reputation for color reproduction?

Input lag is something most monitor makers choose to keep very silent about. Only the gaming oriented models even mention it because it's a total non-issue on daily office use.

What I always do is Google for 'monitor make and model review' and 'monitor model input lag' to find reviews where reviewers have measured the input lag. Some monitors are completely unsuitable for fast games and some are excellent (like the Iiyama I just bought).

Here's the review of it: http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-monitor/iiyama-prolite-gb2488hsu-p19788/test.html or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw5saJtfLMk note the article part on 'input lag'

My monitor has a 'direct drive' setting that bypasses most image processing in order to give maximum responsiveness. Some other monitors are responsive at default settings like some Benq models. Do your research, Google helps.

[oboe]

That's the very monitor, ebfd11.

Rip, thanks for the link to that site.  Here's what they say about input lag on the MX279H:

But those of you who do want to use the MX279H for a spot of gaming will be pleased to hear that the average input lag of 22 ms is too low to be penalising in online multiplayer games or in LAN set-ups. 

Would you concur about 22 ms being sufficient for AH?

That's a great site - gonna read a couple more reviews of monitors I had my eye on.   But I am really considering an IPS display this time...

[MrRiplEy[H]]

That's the very monitor, ebfd11.

Rip, thanks for the link to that site.  Here's what they say about input lag on the MX279H:

Would you concur about 22 ms being sufficient for AH?

That's a great site - gonna read a couple more reviews of monitors I had my eye on.   But I am really considering an IPS display this time...

For AH in general input lag is not a big issue. 22ms is a good result. My monitor with direct drive gets around 10ms but I don't think you can even spot the difference anymore.

[olds442]

Rule of thumb is if its 5ms or less latency then its fine for gaming. Also if you're doing a multimonitor setup then viewing angles are important, I suggest readin.g about TN  vs IPS panels. But in short:

TN: Low latency, cheap, terrible viewing angles (gotten better over the years, still not close to IPS)
IPS: Sightly higher latency, more expensive, great viewing angles.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Rule of thumb is if its 5ms or less latency then its fine for gaming. Also if you're doing a multimonitor setup then viewing angles are important, I suggest readin.g about TN  vs IPS panels. But in short:

TN: Low latency, cheap, terrible viewing angles (gotten better over the years, still not close to IPS)
IPS: Sightly higher latency, more expensive, great viewing angles.

The only problem is that there are to my knowledge no monitors that manage that 5ms latency let alone less. For example my Iiyama has an advertised GTG latency of 1ms. Panel latency, signal processing etc. later the overall latency is 10ms.

The Eizo Foris monitors are special designed to have super low input lag. Especially the 240hz model is probably the fastest gaming screen you can get. But you pay for the speed. Mostly in dollars with Eizo though.

[oboe]

Another question - is 1920x1080 to grainular on a 27" monitor?    if you go as big as 27" for a desktop, should you be also looking at a higher resolution?

What does AH look like at 2560x1440 for example?   

[ebfd11]

oboe

I do not see any granular look to the game and i am running at 1920 X 1080 .. and i sit approx 30 inches away from my monitor.

But also I do have a decent video card which helps.

LawnDart

[Bizman]

Another question - is 1920x1080 to grainular on a 27" monitor?    if you go as big as 27" for a desktop, should you be also looking at a higher resolution?

What does AH look like at 2560x1440 for example?

Whether it looks too granular or not depends on your eyesight. I know a couple of guys who use those and they're very happy. I've flown on them and they look just fine to me. It is not comparable to the 4:3 17" crt monitors, where a larger dot pitch gave a significantly rougher image quality. Actually, I can't tell the difference between a 24" (which I use at Lan parties) and a 27" if I can't see them side by side.

My current main monitor is a 30" 2560x1600 one. If I put my +1.00 reading glasses on I can barely see the grid. It allows to view larger landscapes, or more details on a distant plane, but it doesn't make me a better pilot by any measure. You'll get better frame rates with a 1920x1080 one, though. Some people also say that a higher refresh rate (120 or even 144 Hz) is worth more than a large pixel count.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Some people also say that a higher refresh rate (120 or even 144 Hz) is worth more than a large pixel count.

For first person shooters this is true. It makes the picture very fluid and you can track fast moving enemies easier. AH however practically never has that fast moving objects so you can get away with playing with a regular TV set even. Even on TVs you can get surprisingly fast results though. The new Sony 65" lags only 22ms which is playable even on quake!