LCD monitors

[Kratt]

unfortunately a need to buy a new LCD monitor. Are started to look around, and I'm probably going to go for 19 on 20 inch possibly widescreen because I need the desktop real estate. Actually I wanted to go for 17 inch bu frankly the 1280 x 1024was not enough

but what really surprised me was that in many reviews they would, and how good monitor was, and that it could produce 16.7M Colors.
I would say that in the past 8 years probably close to 100% of CRT monitors have been at 32-bit colour. What's the deal here? Is LCD technology so bad that 16 million colours is something that is extraordinary? That mean that if I'm not careful I could end up with a monitor that is not even capable of displaying true colour?

and what's the deal with refresh rate? 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
does it make a difference? Most of the things I've seen 60 Hz, some monitors give a range 60 to 75 Hz.

[Bruce]

but what really surprised me was that in many reviews they would, and how good monitor was, and that it could produce 16.7M Colors.
I would say that in the past 8 years probably close to 100% of CRT monitors have been at 32-bit colour. What's the deal here? Is LCD technology so bad that 16 million colours is something that is extraordinary? That mean that if I'm not careful I could end up with a monitor that is not even capable of displaying true colour?24-bit (truecolor) and 32-bit color both produce 16.7 million distinct colors. There are 8 bits for each color channel (reg, green, blue). The only difference between 24 and 32 is the additional 8 bits that are used for an alpha channel.

Be aware though that some monitors marketed at gamers, that is those having extremely low pixel response (<=5ms) are generally TN panels. TN panels suffer from poor viewing angles and generally don't have the ability to dispay the full 16.7 million colors since they are 6-bit panels (rather than having the full 8-bit channel, colors are dithered. It allows for faster respnse time, but the colors suffer.)


and what's the deal with refresh rate? 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
does it make a difference? Most of the things I've seen 60 Hz, some monitors give a range 60 to 75 Hz.LCDs don't really "refresh", well not in the sense that CRTs do anyway. If you have a CRT monitor at 60Hz, the screen is being redrawn 60 times per second all the time, even if the image isn't changing. With LCDs, the pixels don't update unless they need too. The number isn't important at all with LCDs. What you do want to look at though, is the pixel response time.

[Kratt]

I see, I'm going to need the resolution and colours for photography and documents. I don't play games, but I do watch videos. What kind of response rate should I be looking for to avoid blurring in movies? Is 20 enough?

[Keagle]

3 M/S for the win. I think it's 3, or 8. Well, mine is anyway xD

[fireshark]

LCD's should always be set at 60Hz, that's how they're designed (even though there's no such thing as a refresh rate in LCDs

[Decker]

LCD's should always be set at 60Hz, that's how they're designed (even though there's no such thing as a refresh rate in LCDs

EH! TFT's don't use it it's a default under windows (legacy back to the good old days) that was the minimum you could stand without having a turn due to flicker.

Most TFT's now are 9 or 10ms which is fine, for best vid/dvd widescreen look for the 'magic' number on ratio of 8x5 that's the screen width/height size for HD displays.

[Wynonna Judd]

You all have lost me, I think I'll stick with my new CRt monitor, lmfao.

[fireshark]

Mine's set at default at 60hz and no other option.

The flicker you talk about is from CRT's

[Amaresh]

I'm running 1280x1024 on a BenQ LCD with 8ms response time @ 76Hz.

[Kratt]

OK. I'm going to go for 19" wide, or 20" wide/normal
Some makers only do 6-bit panels! It's ridiculous.

BenQ has this 1680 x 1050 16.7 million col 8ms (!)
http://www.benq.com.au/products/LCD/?product=594&page=specifications

Bit surprising seeing other 8-bit panels have a Response Time of about 16-20.
What do you make of it?

By the way, I read a review saying 'make sure' your card supports 1680 x 1050 for windows before buying a display. How? I'm using a Radeon 9250 based cheapo, my CRT isn't wide so 1680 x 1050 isn't listed. I got 1600x1200 and all the way up to 2048x1536, but no WS info

[Bruce]

Your Radeon 9250 will support 1680x1050 fine.

[Kratt]

Confirm Radeon 9250 supports 1680x1050 in VGA and DVI!
Despite reports elsewhere to the contrary re: dvi.

What good freebies are there to test for dead pixels? And how do I calibrate the colors etc properly? Reviews say this LCD isn't accurate outta-box.