Monitors LCD monitor- A few doubts

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superczar

superczar

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as some of you might be aware, I was palnning to pick up a LCD projector for my men's den, but now have decided against it :( (budgetary constraints ...ugh!!)
Anyway, have decided to plonk a LCD monitor bang next to the couch to get a quasi large screen effect by watching movies up close :bleh:
Coupla qstns:

1) Though DVDs will play back well, Would TV reception be okay for the odd cricket match if i hook it to an external VGA TV Tuner?

2) The big qstn...which LCD: 17" or 19"
Current consideration set
1) Samsung 713N: 13800/- 17" 1280x1024, 8ms, 600:1 contrast ratio, 300cd/m2
2) Sony HS75: 16200/- 17", 1280X1024,, 500:1 cntrast ratio 8ms, 250 cd/m2

Most delaers here have advised me not to go for 19" LCDs and they simply say they they are not good (As expected, they doidn't know any specifc reasons why)....First I thought they don't have it in stock, but a coupa dealers did have the Samsung 913 and Acer AL1916 in stock , yet they advised me agaainst it...Now am not too sure why....

Any idea why 19" iwill not make a decent buy...The Acer model is avlble for 20.5K and the Samsung for 24.5K...Any specific reason why I should not go for one of them?
I am a n00b when it comes to LCD monitors so any pointers welcome :hap2:
 
superczar said:
as some of you might be aware, I was palnning to pick up a LCD projector for my men's den, but now have decided against it :( (budgetary constraints ...ugh!!)
Anyway, have decided to plonk a LCD monitor bang next to the couch to get a quasi large screen effect by watching movies up close :bleh:
Coupla qstns:

1) Though DVDs will play back well, Would TV reception be okay for the odd cricket match if i hook it to an external VGA TV Tuner?

2) The big qstn...which LCD: 17" or 19"
Current consideration set
1) Samsung 713N: 13800/- 17" 1280x1024, 8ms, 600:1 contrast ratio, 300cd/m2
2) Sony HS75: 16200/- 17", 1280X1024,, 500:1 cntrast ratio 8ms, 250 cd/m2

Most delaers here have advised me not to go for 19" LCDs and they simply say they they are not good (As expected, they doidn't know any specifc reasons why)....First I thought they don't have it in stock, but a coupa dealers did have the Samsung 913 and Acer AL1916 in stock , yet they advised me agaainst it...Now am not too sure why....

Any idea why 19" iwill not make a decent buy...The Acer model is avlble for 20.5K and the Samsung for 24.5K...Any specific reason why I should not go for one of them?
I am a n00b when it comes to LCD monitors so any pointers welcome :hap2:
Click to expand...

Buy a Viewsonic VP930b 19 inch 8 ms HDTV 720p Ready LCD Monitor for Rs. 30700.
 
Any idea why these dealers are not too keen on promoting 19"?

Also, Availability (and post sales service ) of Viewsonic may be an issue

also, anyone tried an external tv tuner on a LCD?
 
Here are some tips on choosing LCDs :

  • Contrast is the ability for the monitor to vary brightness between the foreground and the backgound. Typically the higher the ratio, the better the image quality will be as the display will be able to show bright colors next to dark without washing out the black or dulling the colors

  • Display brightness is expressed in candela (cd). The greater this number, the brighter the display is capable of being. But there is a downside also. Too high a brightness and the monitor power consumption goes up as well as life of the monitor reduces. So choose wisely here.

  • Look for DVI interface in the monitor if you have a graphics card that supports it. The DVI sends a pure digital signal straight from the PC to the monitor with no conversion process to affect the quality of the image displayed on the screen.

  • Then. You got the response time. This is basically the time taken for the LCD cells to display the next colour. The lower the better it is for gaming and movies, reducing the ghosting effect that happens in fast fps games and fast action scenes.

  • Finally, select a monitor with a native resolution that meets your need. This is the resolution that the monitor is capable of displaying at default. Trying any other resolutions can reduce the clarity. That is to say, if your system can only play games at 800x600 then buying a 1600x1200 resolution LCD monitor is a big no no and is gonna reduce your gaming experience only.

Hope this is helpful. Btw, check out the LCD's from Viewsonic. They are pretty good and have very low response times. But i gotta warn you, they cost a bomb!
Also, go for a 17" if you are into gaming, unless you got a real power graphics card capable of high resolution gaming!

Happy shopping!:)

 
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I won't begaming on this LCD...Need it primarily for watching Movies and occasional TV through an external tuner....

BTW anyone has had any experience with using external tuners on a LCD,,,,Are they any good?
 
superczar said:
I won't begaming on this LCD...Need it primarily for watching Movies and occasional TV through an external tuner....
BTW anyone has had any experience with using external tuners on a LCD,,,,Are they any good?
Click to expand...

Buy the one I said.
 
:ohyeah: Dad & Mom refuse to be my ATM any longer :S

:hap5:

Anyway, am too old to be living off their money and they live too faraway from Chennai in any case :(

I owuldn't mind spending 30K, but for a bigger than 19" monitor....

I am not gng to game on that monitor so response time is not a big issue for me....

For the extra price, I'd rather go for a bigger screen....

Unfortunately, it seems only 19" LCDs are avlable for <30K, and for GOK what reason, the retailers here are advising me to go for them....

Just to reiterate...the idea behind buying the LCD is this....

I want to put this LCD in my living room bang next to the couch and use it for watching DVD movies (off the PC) , one-off TV programs and of course cricket matches (off an external tuner) ...Basically a Boys' den where me & frnds can watch the LCD from real close (which you can't do on a TV) while sipping our poison (or manna from heaven depending on the way u look at it) :hap2:

Now a 19" LCD seems to be suited well (Not that I wouldnt have wanted a bigger one, but the prices rise exponentially after 19")

which one is the qstn...

and qstn 2 is would the quality of reception off a external tuner on a LCD be decent enough?
 
superczar said:
:ohyeah: Dad & Mom refuse to be my ATM any longer :S
:hap5:
Anyway, am too old to be living off their money :(

I owuldn't mind spending 30K, but for a bigger than 19" monitor....
I am not gng to game on that monitor so response time is not a big issue for me....
For the extra price, I'd rather go for a bigger screen....
Unfortunately, it seems only 19" LCDs are avlable for <30K, and for GOK what reason, the retailers here are advising me to go for them....
Click to expand...

Don't take a LCD with response time higher than 16ms.
 
superczar said:
:ohyeah: Dad & Mom refuse to be my ATM any longer :S

:hap5:

Anyway, am too old to be living off their money and they live too faraway from Chennai in any case :(

I owuldn't mind spending 30K, but for a bigger than 19" monitor....

I am not gng to game on that monitor so response time is not a big issue for me....

For the extra price, I'd rather go for a bigger screen....

Unfortunately, it seems only 19" LCDs are avlable for <30K, and for GOK what reason, the retailers here are advising me to go for them....

Just to reiterate...the idea behind buying the LCD is this....

I want to put this LCD in my living room bang next to the couch and use it for watching DVD movies (off the PC) , one-off TV programs and of course cricket matches (off an external tuner) ...Basically a Boys' den where me & frnds can watch the LCD from real close (which you can't do on a TV) while sipping our poison (or manna from heaven depending on the way u look at it) :hap2:

Now a 19" LCD seems to be suited well (Not that I wouldnt have wanted a bigger one, but the prices rise exponentially after 19")

which one is the qstn...

and qstn 2 is would the quality of reception off a external tuner on a LCD be decent enough?
Click to expand...

Response time is as important for watching movies as it is for gaming. A slow response will kill fast action cuts, quick pans, zooms etc. Basically anything that happens quickly whether in a game or in a movie will cause trailing/ghosting on the screen. And if your main purpose for the TFT is films then you need a fast response time.

if you were looking at a home PC mostly used for surfing the net and working with MS Word, Excel etc. then response time doesn't make the slightest difference. Otherwise, it bloody does!

Look at 12ms or lower I'd say. And one more thing no one has mentioned here (although Alias wrote about everything else very well) is the viewing angle. Again, if it's your personal machine and no one else is going to share it then a wide viewing angle doesn't matter. Otherwise make sure the LCD you pick has a good viewing angle - about 140-150 degrees.

for Contrast ratios, look at at least 700:1. CRT monitors have a much higher contrast ratio than TFTs for the record. Even a 1000:1 contrast ratio doesn't match up to the best CRT monitors.
 
Yeah, like TracerBullet mentioned response times are important too if you are into watching movies, especially for those quick action times. Basically you should look at least a minimum of 8-12 ms response time.

Also , viewing angle is also important if you are gonna watch those movies with friends.. Yeah, i missed that one out.

I didnt think this was gonna be a home entertainment system then..:P

Btw, Tracer, a contrast ration of 700:1 is pretty high isnt it.
I mean wont it be difficult to get that kinda specification LCDs in the indian market? Cuts the choice much i think..

Finally, looking at requirements and such, is this gonna be settled with a CRT?? :P
 
so bottomline is ishouldn't opt for a LCD with a Resp time of 12ms +

1 more complication that arises is apparently response times are measured using two methods....ythe older method used the tiome taken for a pixel to change state from Black to white, the current method uses gray-to-gray with an intermediary white (Not sure) and it seems 25ms on the old method ~12ms using the new method...so given the current state of knowlege of hardwareresellers, it may be difficult to judge a lcd on this parameter :(
 
well, when it comes to performance then a CRT rules. Viewing angle (at least for FFSTs) and response time don't exist on a CRT. And contrast ratios are much higher. LCDs on the other hand are better for text clarity, brightness and footprint. I love the way antialiased fonts look on a TFT. So much that I would use XP's cleartype even on my normal, CRT monitor, before I changed over!

And Alias, I think 500:1 is pretty much a default these days. if you go to Samsung's India website, the 713N has a contrast ratio of 600:1.

go here
 
Alrightie....I finally picked up the sony hs95 (27K).....heart over the mind as somw would say...but the display is a stunner...16ms response time and ultra vibrant colors...Viewsonic wasn't available andI am not a believer in Samsung's QC

also picked a techcom external tv tuner which supports 1280x1024 resolution...(generic for CRT-1K, this one came for 2.1K) am setting it up right now...think i'll also need a kvm switch...will buy it tomorrow or over the weekend ...will update once done!

Thanks for all the inputs...
 
The setup works fine....The TV tuner can be switched to the LCDs native resolution of 1280X1024 and TV channels are coming pretty clear & Nice....Can post pics if any1 is interested...

The Tuner also allows has a VGA in port but when I connected my PCs VGA output to it and switched the display to use the VGA in, the PC picture got blurry....Guess some interefernce within the tuner ...

What I need to do is this:

Scenario I: PCs VGA out goes to old CRT, Tuner's VGA out goes to new LCD

Scenario II: PCs VGA out is switched to LCD

Are there any equivalent for DPDT switches available for VGA?

What is the most effective way to handle this switching?
 
ya post some pics. i want to see the monitor & the looks etc.

btw isnt the viewsonic 1 which is for 30k that udit posted better? i think it had hdtv 720p & also 8ms. 930b i think.
 
btw isnt the viewsonic 1 which is for 30k that udit posted better? i think it had hdtv 720p & also 8ms. 930b i think
Click to expand...

Typically, I buy my hardware from one store from one store called supreme computers in Ritchie street and he in return gives me nice deals :)

The guy doesn't deal in viewsonic....Before gng to him, I tired enquiring about the Viewsonic in other shops, but the availability was a dog which also perhaps means that Viewsonic ASS might be a pin in the A$# :D

Also, I flipped over the looks of the Sony + the sony HS95 has got fairly decent reviews ....

The color vibrancy, image sharpness and the backlight of the Sony are also pretty good....

HDTV is a long way off in India by which time I would most probably have shifted to another monitor ...

Am in office right now so will post the pictures of the screen from home tonight..For now, here isa shot off the net





BTW any ideas on a good VGA swap solution?

Also, any idea about the cost anad availability of a good VESA wall mount in India?
 
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