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Are LCD Displays Ready For Gaming?
Player issues this query: "Since the holiday season is rolling around, I've been contemplating shelling out the big bucks for a nice LCD display. I'm a die-hard gamer, with several choices of monitors in the market today, it can get a little confusing. Ghosting seemed to be a problem with intense games, but with displays reaching 8ms-16ms response time, is it really an issue anymore? Is it time for this gamer to move on to greener pastures, or stay the course with my trusty CRT?"
I'm not a die-hard gamer, but I play the latest RTS games with regularity and go on the occasional FPS binge. I have a Dell 2001FP 20" 16ms( or was it 20?) response time LCD. Doesn't bother me any while gameing and I don't notice any tearing or screen door effects. I think they can be had for about 620$ shipped.
1000/60 = 16.66666
Therefore 16ms response time ~= 60 frames/second is the maximum framerate you can expect to acheive without seeing the effects of the LCD lag. That's too close for comfort in my book, especially since that 16ms number might've be kinda whacked (like, taken at a very warm temperature or some crap).
If they advertised 8ms max, and the manufacturer was reputable, I would consider it.
11*43+456^2
Just keep in mind that 16ms is 60Hz refresh (i.e. 1/60 = 0.016). If you're a hard core gamer with whom frames matter, you'd probably want an LCD a 12ms (~75Hz) refresh.
Slightly off topic, is Apple the only ones producing cheap widescreen standalone LCDs these days? I'm thinking of upgrading my CRT, but after getting used the PowerBook's 15" widescreen, that's the kind of aspect ratio I would want. Minimum 1600 pixels horizontal resolution. Any recommendations?
I'm one of these people that get severe headaches from 60Hz...not sure what it is, but used to get headaches all the time, until I tried 100Hz+...was in heaven! Have a Viewsonic P95F+B and run it at 1024x768 w/ 120Hz. Found that my eyes don't hurt if viewing an LCD (60Hz) however...go figure :D
Actually, 16ms is old news, they passed 12ms, and ar e now two levels down at 8ms.
Everybody has 16ms now.
That said, I have a 25ms LCD on my laptop. Is there ghosting? Yes. Is it so bad I can't play? No. I get used to it. The only place I really notice it is in Counter-Strike Source in de:dust, it has some rather high contrast points, the eges of those very well lit areas blurs a bit. Looks kind of cool, however, and I've grown use to it all.