LCDs

Nostradamus · Mon 13/04/2009 19:33:26

I'm thinking of buying an LCD for my PC but for someone like me and many of you guys who uses the PCs primarly for low resolution games - old games and AGS games, and I understand it's problematic to run such games on LCDs, especially widescreen LCDs which seems to be the only thing that's left selling atm. I understand the much higher resolution of those widescreen LCDs just doesn't allow 230x200, 640x480 etc resolution games to run on it and there's no option to run in 4x3 on it. I don't really have much interest in watching stuff on HDTV on my computer or new games with super graphics. The main reasons for buying an LCD are health (no rediation) and space.
What do you think? how is your experience with LCDs?

Mr Flibble · Mon 13/04/2009 19:45:37

Whilst I have had problems with AGS games (before using the 2x filter) I can run low-res games quite easily. They might get upscaled by the graphics card, I'm not sure. Sometimes they're positioned incorrectly but my monitor has a very handy auto-resize function to correct that if it happens. It's a ViewSonic, if that's of any consequence.

Wyz · Mon 13/04/2009 20:43:13

I was really affraid to be disapointed when switching to lcd, but it wasn't too bad. If you hate seeing pixels you can use filters and it will look almost the same. Well sometimes I miss the good ol' scanlines, but I don't miss the headache in the morning

Nostradamus · Mon 13/04/2009 21:00:29

what filters would those be and how would you use them?

Stee · Mon 13/04/2009 22:16:45

The only problem I ever had was getting vista to run 320x200, but I assume that's fixed now. Everything else looked the way it normally did.

I prefer LCD's, I got a 22" a couple of Xmas' back and haven't looked back since. I love the HD quality in films and TV too. Now I also have my shiny dell laptop to play with (an 8600m in it), and whilst not as good quality as my main rigs lcd (the viewing angles are poor which makes watching stuff in bed a tad tricky and the Ultra glossy seems to reflect the wifi and power lights in the dark) its brilliant for what I need.

Things I get with an LCD

1.Clearer Picture Quality
2. Higher Res and HD
3. Lots of Space

Things I dont get with an LCD

1. Headaches
2. Space
3. Decent Viewing Angle (dependant on the LCD however,I'm assuming most lappies have crappier lcds due to space restriction)

In my opinion LCD's are far superior and at the prices they are at now well worth upgrading to. If you fork out a tad extra you get HDMI inputs, meaning you can plug your ps3 and 360 into them meaning you can ditch the tv completely (thus saving more room). I would suggest however not getting an LCD TV/Monitor combo and just getting a monitor. If you want TV stick a tv card in the computer. Theyre quite cheap these days too.

In my student house, I rarely go into the living room now. A job last year, whilst effecting my studies (i messed up a whole year and had to resit and change course) meant I had the spare cash to spend on luxuries. I have a Logitech 5.1 sound system hooked up to a x-fi xtrememusic, a 22" Monitor and a DVBT (Freeview) TV card in my main rig. I got the old Logitech G15 keyboard (I preferred the old one and it had blue lights that match up to everything else) and a gaming mouse and I never looked back. Essentially my bedroom is everything.

Anyway back on topic. I would say get an LCD, preferably one with 1080p support (1920x1200), which is 24"+. If you have a 360 or ps3 get hdmi ports and a set of decent speakers. I buy things in stages as it can end up getting quite steep. I started off with the LCD, then the Speakers, tv card, then soundcard. I am a very happy bunny.

Of course as most peopleI'm never satisfied and when I hopefully move out at the end of the year into a new place, with hopefully a new job (my folks thinkI'm coming back home which would drive me insane if that happens) i intend on getting another monitor and having a dual setup.

Of course if you only play strictly ags games and other 2d/ low res stuff why bother? Im just a greedy bastard.

EDIT: If your UK this is a brilliant monitor, although no hdmi inputs http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAM-SM2433

If your rich, I'd love to have one of these. Send one my way if you found my post useful: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?DLL-3008

GarageGothic · Tue 14/04/2009 00:03:47

Another huge benefit of LCDs is that they save electricity compared to CRT monitors of the same size. After my laptop died in the fall of 2007, I went back to using my old desktop computer with its very nice 19" CRT screen. It still worked fine, and I didn't really feel any need to buy a new laptop anytime soon. But I got a nasty surprise when I discovered that my power bill for 2008 had actually DOUBLED compared to the two previous years - in fact, the extra electricity expense I ended up paying for a single year with the CRT could easily have bought me a quality LCD screen (though obviously part of the increase was due to the 200-something watts used by the PC) . Damn! Lesson learned, now I've got a brand new laptop.

Nostradamus · Tue 14/04/2009 05:31:05

I'm not gonna need HDMI and I'm not gonna be using the LCD to watch stuff on it. I have a 29 inch tv that's hooked to the computer. My computer is 5 or 6 years old. I don't have any game consol. HD broadcast \ Blu-Ray are in their diapers here and very expensive. It would be a couple of years before their widespread and cost normally here. So I would definitely only get a LCD for computer purposes. Space, health and electricity are nice bonuses but I'm mainly concerned about being able to play low res games. IS that possible? without too much work to get it done? especially with the wide screens...

Haddas · Tue 14/04/2009 09:32:27

I've got 3 CRTs and no money. A 21" in the middle running 1920x1440 and the ones on the 17" ones on the sides at 1360x1280. I have good eye-sight so I like the extra space, even though everyone else seems completely incapable of reading stuff on the monitor. They need to get their eyes checked.

Al_Ninio · Tue 14/04/2009 18:08:43

Hey Nos, I got a 23" Samsung 2333sw, I've had no problem running low res games on it and overall I am very pleased with it.
You can get it at Bug for 1,079 shekels, I got it at KSP though for about the same price (teeny bit less), don't know if you live near one but they're pretty widespread.

InCreator · Tue 14/04/2009 22:00:11

I don't know if this applies to all or only some of LCD's but problem is in blur.

My monitor, Samsung Syncmaster 740BF, for example, has crisp picture at 640x480 and 1280x1024.

Other resolutions, such as 800x600 or 1024x768 are blurry as hell.
It kind of antialiases everything is really headache-inducing way...

Luckily, I don't need those blurry resolutions, since machine is fairly powerful, but with weak setup, it might be a problem (to play some resource-eating 3D games where you have to crank everything down for decent fps).

Low resolution problems were kind of terrifying at the start, but you gotta learn how your monitor works, what it likes and what not. I can play anything old at 640x480. I also force this resolution in dosbox. Non-letterbox resolutions are blurry, but AGS luckily has "letterbox mode" to fix the aspect.

Filters are selectable in newer AGS games, via winsetup exe. I - for example, play 320x200 games in letterbox - making them 320x240 and double that with 2x filter up to 640x480. And it's just fine.
Most of the emulators use filters too. I haven't met graphics filters anywhere else...

I'm quite used to LCD now, but must admit that I loved my old tiny 14" CRT more.

LCD monitors have kind of weird contrast/brightness issues (all of them, not only mine) and I always have to crank brightness too up to see anything. That wasn't a problem with CRT.

I'm not going back though. Simply hoping that LCD technology gets better someday.

LimpingFish · Tue 14/04/2009 23:25:47

I have a 19'' Dell 2008WFP. 1680X1050, 2ms response. I have had zero problems with it, at any resolution.

I also had no problem with my previous monitor, a 100hz 19'' Dell CRT.

Samsung do usually make good 20" LCD monitors for around the 300-400 euro mark, though.

Layabout · Wed 15/04/2009 10:00:59

And if you need to play a game fullscreen, I've never had a problem with either of my laptops or my 23" screen. Just make sure you set the graphics settings to adjust aspect ratio, should come up with black bars at the side in 4:3 ratio.