Preferably widescreen. Also would prefer to not spend more than $200. I'm not entirely up to date on what the 'good' specs are, but this looks pretty good:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6052506&CatId=12

Confirm / Deny?

Oh Christ here it comes, the repeat LCD thread... I hope you're prepared for the floodgates.

How much do you care about color accuracy? If you're doing color sensitive work you pretty much can not buy a cheap TN film panel like that. You'll want an IPS panel which will run 300-400, unless you get a refurb of an older model.

AoEJedi: In this case mb does graphic design for a living so the discussion about panel type and color accuracy and the things most people don't care about actually matter.

Hey, is there an easy way to tell if the screen on my Laptop is a TN or IPS? It's a Dell XPS M1710 from 2006.

There's also PVA and MVA.

Most panels are TN unless you paid a lot of money. TN is better for gaming, however, due to the faster response time.

It's probably not. There are very few laptops that ever had IPS panels. Some Thinkpads a few years back did, and apparently some Asus laptops did. That's about it. Almost all laptop panels are TN.

Thanks!

I guess I only sort of care about color accuracy. When I'm doing print stuff I can just use pantone guidelines... or the cheap way of guess and check. For web colors tend to display differently on everyones monitors. The only time I get really nitpicky is when I'm in photoshop.

So I guess decent accuracy works. I'm not looking for top of the line.

Hrm. You could try to get a Dell 2007WFP used. Depending on how much you trust these sellers, anyway. I'd look around to see if you can find a refurb or a reputable dealer that can gaurantee zero dead pixels.

Great screen, I've got one. Everytime I use it (which isn't often, as I use the laptop most) I notice how much better the color is... (Sadly, I notice this most in TF2 lol)

The only thing I'd be wary about with getting a used IPS monitor is that over time the CCFLs do start to lose brightness and that also affects the color quality. But I'd still take a used IPS over a new TN anyway.

I'm shopping for a new monitor myself. I'm looking for a 24" widescreen, mainly for gaming and a bit of graphic design. But god damn it, I've no clue what to look for. I've really fallen out of the technological loop these last few years. >.<

While I notice the color shift, it doesn't bother me all that much. As for color accuracy, anyone who relies solely on their screen's accuracy for prints is a moron anyways, unless they print it on their own printers for which they have a calibrated ICC profile. So, in short, I don't really give a flak about that. Even someone who does photo editing on a professional level, you can get by with TN screen because you should be looking at CMYK recipes and neutralizing your images via the color curves and info tab, not doing it by eye alone.

I just cannot justify paying 400$+ for a good screen.

On the other hand, I want a fairly sharp image, vibrant colors and little to no ghosting.

I'm currently looking at Asus and Samsung models on newegg.ca.

Oh christ, here goes.

I don't suppose you're going to be doing full time professional photo editing on this thing? Because unless every single monitor you've ever looked at has made you say "Got that looks like complete ****" then forget about this stupid debate and buy the biggest, cheapest monitor you can find. I got an Acer 24" at Costco for $169 and I love it. I recommend those big warehouse stores because they usually take *EVERYTHING* back for any reason and even extend the manufactures warranty at no charge. The security FAR outweighs the loss of choice because you're so protected with whatever you get and it's much less of a hassle than shipping something back should a pixel die on your or something, or if you decide you don't like it.

I've brought this up like 3 times already but I'll say it again. I'm extremely happy with my I-INC 28" purchase for $250 or whatever it was from tiger direct.

How does it hold up in terms of gaming? Nothing too bad with the ghosting and whatnot?

Yes and no. I work from home and do editing here, but not to the point where perfect colors are required. Plus once I get to that point, I'll be working in an office with the nicer monitors.


I'm still planning on going for a big monitor, but maybe not the cheapest. I still want the images quality to be good

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-72270-3884471-4194577.html

Read the thread, smartass. He's a designer and needs at least SOME color accuracy, which is to say more than the biggest, cheapest LCD.

You could always try the dell auction.

http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/hp-w2207-lcd-monitor/4505-3174_7-32391039.html

I enjoy this monitor. The colors are rich and fantastic, albeit exaggerated so yes, for photo editing this wouldn't work so well. However, for gaming/movie watching is it a real treat. They sell them de-branded for $125-150 range.

Yeah it looks great. I have my XBox connected to it as well and it's perfect.

I've decided to go with this Samsung baby.

Samsung has always served me right and always offer great visual quality. I'm just waiting for my techie to get one in his store to check it out first hand before I buy it. Right now the only thing I'm uncertain about is the backlight clouding that is supposedly very apparent on these models. My eyes tend to be sensitive to these sort of things so I better preview the monitor first.

Smartass? He said he "sort of" cares about color accuracy, and he gave a sub $200 budget. Doesn't sound like somebody who needs internet elitists telling him to spend more money than he needs to be spending. It's not like TN panels show green as red and blue as poop.

If you'll notice, I was giving him actual, good advice based on what I know about him and his work. He wants something reasonably color accurate and has stated he's willing to spend a little more. You told him to buy a $160 TN film panel, which WILL make red and green look like **** by his standards.

I'm not advocating he spend $1508569128 on the best LCD ever like you seem to be suggesting. I specifically made a sub $200 suggestion.

I know its $250, but I've been very happy with this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/LG+-+23%22+Widescreen+Flat-Panel+LED+Monitor/9750954.p?id=1218167169110&skuId=9750954

You might be able to find a similar model < 23" that is $200 or less.

yea i havent completely ruled out the IPS monitors, but I'd like to do some reading first.

Plus, 23/24 inch monitors are way cheaper than I was expecting them to be.

Funny this thread popped up, cause I just took the plunge and decided to buy an IPS monitor yesterday. It's the $300 Viewsonic one, and I've heard great things about it... kind of worried about the response time and dimness, but I'm hoping that's hyperbole on the reviewer's part. I use my computer for freelance work where color accuracy is slightly important, but I just hope it excels with video. Anybody have experience with this monitor? I think it's the VP2365wb model.

Whelly, I don't know about that one by my Dell 2007FPs are rated at 16ms and it's not an issue. 16ms is about the max you want for gaming, and it's fine. Yes, there is ghosting, and you CAN see it compared to a good CRT or LCD. But I got used to it within an hour. Now, I don't notice it at all anymore. The image quality more than makes up for it.

Also, I don't have any good information on this but I've heard that IPS/VA panels' ghosting is better for a given response time. I assume that, due to how the panels work, the color changes are more consistent. Compared to a TN film that may have different response times based on the type of change (color to color, gray to gray etc), it makes it less noticeable. This is complete unsubstantiated, however. It's just what I've heard.

Don't know about that specific model, but the response time on a good IPS panel is fast enough that even if you do notice a slight ghosting, you'll be so used to it after using it for a few minutes that it won't matter to you.

Yeah, that's what I found. I don't know what it is, but ghosting on TN panels always bothered me more. I'd really have to do a side by side.

Yeah my bigass HP monitor I just got isn't really noticeable at all. Anandtech reviewed it and said they weren't able to notice any ghosting on it at all. It seems even faster than my old Dell 2005FPW (which was also perfectly usable for gaming).

Alright, thanks for the responses. Interesting. I'll post my thoughts once I get my monitor.

Without wanting to derail the current conversation, I just wanted to drop in and say that I'm really REALLY liking the Samsung BX2450. The colors are pretty sharp and the viewing angles are pretty decent (and adjustable with their special MagicAngle feature). Compared to my old Viewsonic, the colors are pretty damn respectable for a TN panel. Skin tones are a little washed out, but otherwise, I'm impressed.

My biggest complaint is the touch buttons are kind of lame, but otherwise, 9/10 on this baby. I still need to test dark videos to see how bad the Backlight clouding actually is. Only one review mentioned it as an issue and on the BX2350 at that.

It might be a decent option for you, mb, if you only 'sorta' care about the color accuracy. This might be a great inbetween. Its a recent model so you should find it previewed in various stores if you want to check it out.

I picked it up for 329$ CAN at Future Shop. Most other sellers were selling it for 450$ CAN though. :s

Yeah, there are some good TN film monitors out there that close the gap. At least with low end IPS displays. I'd recommend bit-tech for LCD reviews. They are pretty comprehensive and measure things like color accuracy, backlight evenness, viewing angles, etc. There are some more botique LCD sites out there that do real hardcore analysis, but they're not usually updated that often. Compared to the average "real bright super crisp A+++!!" reviews on the internet, bit-tech is amazing.

Sweet, thanks for that link Emon. Too bad they don't have reviews for the BX2450.

I've read my share of reviews like you described. Thankfully I've stumbled upon so good, cohesive ones too.

I'm trying to figure out how the RGBLED TN panel on the Dell M6400 has such good viewing angles. They're not quite IPS quality, but they're close.

*edit*

Ahh, did some more research and I guess the consensus is that it's PVA. I read some stuff a while back that said it was TN and I was kinda surprised because it's a damn good laptop display.

Thanks for pointing it out! I know you do artsy fartsy things as well, so it's good to hear you like it! Going to do some reading, but hopefully I'll be able to place an order tonight or tomorrow.

After further testing, I've decided to return the BX2450 to the store.

The colors and overall picture were great, and sharp, but I've come to notice a very, very significant problem due to the Backlight LED.

This problem did not appear at first, but after about an hour with the screen on, the edges of the screen appeared lighter than the center. After creating a fullscreen black image in photoshop, I confirmed that indeed the edges were suddenly much lighter. I've done some research and this seems to be a big problem attributed to backlight LED screens, and referred to as Backlight Clouds or bleeding.

Needless to say, its just not good for me. Tried some games to see if it would bother me. Whenever its dark or night, its EXTREMELY apparent. I can't see anyone liking this monitor when they come across this problem.

Sorry if my previous posts were misleading, I'm suddenly sorely disappointed. Its back to shopping for me, and I'm going to see what I can find in the 300-400$ CAN range that has a nice sharp image.

Going to make use of Emon's website afterall!

Jep, the 2007FP or WFP is REALLY great if you don't mind a refurbished product. They are either IPS or PVA, and both are excellent for the price. In 2008 I managed to get two of them for $200 each, which is an amazing deal.

I'm not too keen on the idea of buying a refurbished screen unless it was from someone I knew, who could offer a minimum of guarantee.

I've been reading on backlight bleed and it seems to be a common problem on any Backlight LED LCD screens, though the effect varies from one screen to another and may be much better on another screen of the same brand.

I'll first see about trying another BX2450 if they still have some stock, and if that's no better, I'll get a refund and move on. I'm just not sure what to look at anymore. It really needs to be in the 200-400$ range and I need to get my hands on it rather quickly, while I have a buyer for my 21.5" viewsonic. >.<