Looking for an LCD monitor with the following.

[Elixir]

Hey guys. I'm looking to replace my 20" BenQ LCD (FP202W) with something a little more updated. Current monitor can't be rotated which is why I want to replace it. Looking for one with:

- 21" or around that area
- Rotatable
- HDMI and DVI (VGA is also welcome)
- $200 USD max (before shipping)

Brand is not important, color and all that shit isn't important either. Just so long as it has the above I'll be happy with it. Anyone have any suggestions here? Thanks,

[undamned]

Save resolution, I can't recommend Dell's xx08 FP series enough. Check out this thread where I rave about them
-ud

[brentsg]

What about input lag Elixir, wouldn't that be pretty important for your uses?

[Gwyrgyn Blood]

All TN panels look like shit rotated so you're going to have to get an IPS or PVA panel. The monitor stand doesn't matter much as long as it has a standard mounting bracket, you can always stick on a new stand that rotates.

But yeah, unfortunately IPS/PVA panels tend to have a little more input lag usually.

You might try a Dell 2209WA: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... tedata.com

It's an IPS panel, and it only has around 1-2F of input lag which is quite good.

[antron]

I think you would be better off with VGA+HDMI as HDMI displays are more likely to accept HDCP. Then if you need DVI you just get an adapter.

[Elixir]

What about input lag Elixir, wouldn't that be pretty important for your uses?

Low lag is always a bonus which I totally forgot about until very recently. I guess resolution isn't that much of an issue to me as what some of the other requirements are. VGA is irrelevant as I have both HDMI compatibility for PS3 and 360, I could just switch whenever I wanted. Ideally two HDMI slots and one DVI would be good but I don't think they make those.

All TN panels look like shit rotated so you're going to have to get an IPS or PVA panel. The monitor stand doesn't matter much as long as it has a standard mounting bracket, you can always stick on a new stand that rotates.

But yeah, unfortunately IPS/PVA panels tend to have a little more input lag usually.

You might try a Dell 2209WA: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... tedata.com

It's an IPS panel, and it only has around 1-2F of input lag which is quite good.

I guess I should have mentioned a price range. I'm looking at paying $130-200 USD max, while this is at $382 ($550 NZD) on the Dell website.

[Gwyrgyn Blood]

You aren't going to find anything good at that price range. The best you can probably do for $200USD is a solid TN panel.

And that Dell monitor is only about $289 USD so you must be getting royally screwed by Dell on a conversion rate there.

[Necronopticous]

I bought the 20" version of this Acer a few months ago, and I love it.

[brentsg]

The Dell 2209WA is far and away the best bargain at that price range in the USA. With online coupons and such it can regularly be had for ~$210 USD shipped. Almost everything else at that price point is a TN panel.

One thing to consider is scaling. I haven't used an LCD with consoles, but if you plan to hand it 640x480 or some other limited resolution from an XRGB-2 or something, make sure you are aware of (and ok with) what the display will do with that signal.

ie... will it scale to the panel's native resolution (with or without additional lag)
..... will it ignore scaling and display the signal with black borders around it
..... will it just fail to sync and display the signal at all

[Elixir]

The main issue is shipping. Shipping to NZ is pretty expensive. $210 shipped would be ideal but it isn't realistic. Newegg won't ship internationally and eBay sellers will always charge out the ass. I don't know where else to look.

Well I guess this isn't going anywhere then. I'm happy with my current monitor, but ideally I'd like to get one which I can rotate. What is the cheapest, 20" LCD with the lowest amount of lag on the market?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I broke down and headed on down to my local Staples office supply store. They sell this 3M branded computer stand that has proper tate option + the ability to raise and lower the LCD monitor + swivel up & down and to the left or to the right. It is priced at $49.99 USD though. Very nice just for the tate option alone if you do plan to use an XRGB-2 with an PC-based LCD monitor setup. It can support up to a 24" widescreen PC LCD monitor with a bit of room if it is tated. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Elixir]

Out of curiosity, why do people use XRGB2's with LCDs? I tried it earlier for the first time and the image was pretty poor. In comparison, PS3 on a CRT via XRGB2+ looks really good.

I would consider getting a HD Box Pro but I'm not sure if it's really necessary, since my XRGB2+ already caters to my Supergun and PS2 (and PS3 in the future). Thing is, PS3 games look weird on CRTs, while with my XRGB they look fine. So I was hoping to find a solution PS3 games specifically without having to swap cables around every time.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Although the XRGB-2 was primarily designed to be used on a CRT-based SVGA monitor setup, it works just fine on an LCD-based HDTV monitor or PC based LCD monitor. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on what LCD monitor is being used at the time. ^_~

I used my supergun with an XRGB-2 on a LCD HDTV setup and it came out super crisp and clear -- turned on the fake scanlines and that completed the low-res aestethics. Of course, using an CRT-based one is even better.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jonny5]

if you are happy with your current monitor why not get a new swivel mount?

as long as its got VESA standard mounts on the back of the screen its a snap to mount it on a new stand....

just find one that suits your needs that allows rotation from landscape to portrait and you are set

i got a really nice one for like $50

have a look around....id bet you could find something for way less than you are looking to spend

[Elixir]

Did some reading for about an hour and came across the BenQ E2200HD. I trust them since it's what I'm currently using now. And well, right now what I'm seeing is a 21.5" LCD with VGA, HDMI and DVI, which is exactly what I need. 2ms lag.

http://www.benq.com.au/products/LCD/?product=1403

What do you guys think? I can probably get a rotatable stand for it. If not, I could just ghetto it and have it rotated manually.

[brentsg]

That's a TN panel so you'll have problems with color shift and it won't look so hot in TATE.

[Elixir]

Well this is going nowhere fast. Also frustrating as hell. 2209WA is $550 NZD and I can't find anywhere else that's selling it apart from the dell website. Thankfully that's shipped but I wasn't expecting it to be so expensive.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the Japanese PS3s and its PS2 hardware emulation lag/delay? Some people have told me that there's a noticeable delay with fighting games, so the same should apply to shooters as well. Factoring this in with a monitor's additional lag should churn out all kinds of mess.

[brentsg]

Well this is going nowhere basically because the 2209WA is $550 NZD and I can't find anywhere else that's selling it apart from the dell website. Thankfully that's shipped but I wasn't expecting it to be so expensive.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the Japanese PS3s and its PS2 hardware emulation lag/delay? Some people have told me that there's a noticeable delay with fighting games, so the same should apply to shooters as well. Factoring this in with a monitor's additional lag should churn out all kinds of mess.

I don't mean to discourage you, but if you do end up considering a TN panel display, make sure you try out one TATE'd before you do so. That's a crazy price for the 2209WA but even $200 is too much if the end result is poor. Maybe you can locate a display that uses PVA technology as they are more common than the IPS displays.

I've heard that as well with the PS3 b/c delay but I have not tried it. Also distressing is that in addition to an LCD's advertised latency (ie the 2ms you mentioned earlier) you have to figure in latency for the internal image processing. You wouldn't notice this with normal PC usage but for twitch games it can be bad. The unfortunate part is that it can be as bad as 50ms to process the image before it's displayed. So now you add the PS3 latency, the LCD image processing delay, and the actual lag induced by the panel... and there's your mess.

Anandtech seems pretty good about examining the total latency for LCD panels. If I can locate a review that does this I will provide a link.

Protip: This is why I am still using CRT's.

Anandtech article on PC gaming input lag (not totally irrelevant): http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3601
Anandtech article reviewing several LCDs and hitting lag well... but I think these are bigger/higher resolution than you want: http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showd ... i=3449&p=8

I would poke around the Anantech Display section and read review to see if something looks good. That site reviews displays with gaming in mind and is careful to check out both image quality and latency (but not TATE )