TFT/LCD Contrast: 700:1, good enough for games & Anime (Doom3)?

[retroborg]

I’m thinking about buying this TFT/LCD EIZO S1911SH:
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/s1911_01/spec.asp

Brightness / Contrast 300 cd/m2 / 700:1
On/Off Response Time: 6 ms (typical)
Midtone Response Time: 2 ms (typical)

It will be used for games (Doom3) and for watching Anime. (DVD/DivX/Xvid)

The specs & quality look good, but I’m rather skeptical about the low contrast: 700:1. It seems a bit low, as I’ve seen other monitors with higher contrast, 1000:1 – 2000:1. (LG)

Will Doom3 look too dark on this monitor?

Or should I go for this EIZO S1931 instead:
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/s1931_21/spec.asp

It has a higher contrast 1000:1, but lower brightness 280 cd/m2 and worse response times: On/Off Response Time: 16 ms, Midtone Response Time: 8 ms

Any opinions will be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[CWR03]

You may find a problem with LCD screens that aren't part of the specs: tearing of the video. Any game that can't be run at a locked-in framerate of 60 HZ will suffer tearing in the video when you're "looking" left and right, and I know from experience Doom³ is one of them. You might try Fraps, which is a video benchmarking software, and try to lock the framerate in at 60 HZ. The framerate counter will stay steady at 60 if your video card can lock in consistently at that framerate. More games are being released with selectable framerate presets to counter this problem, such as Battlefield 2.

[Malow]

Brightness / Contrast 300 cd/m2 / 700:1
On/Off Response Time: 6 ms (typical)
Midtone Response Time: 2 ms (typical)

It will be used for games (Doom3) and for watching Anime. (DVD/DivX/Xvid)

300cd/m2 is enought, i just got an lcd with 450cd, and have to put in half brightness to not burn my retina.. ;) brighter monitors are good for tv and movie watching. (especially large monitors)

my brother has an 17" 400cd monitor, and its very bright. if you compare with CRT, 300cd will look more than twice as bright.

to me, one more important thing about a LCD is the black level (how "gray" will be a black screen, CRT are good, lcd not so good). wold be good you find a review about this monitor, so you can know this value. mine got 0.3~0.4cd, and is very good. higher than 0.6, you will have a "washed" darks.

the EIZO S1911SH have a TN panel, it means, fast responses, not so good blacks, and lower viewing angles. if you move your head in front of the monitor, color and lightness will vary. this is not good for movies, but 2ms is good for games.

The specs & quality look good, but I’m rather skeptical about the low contrast: 700:1. It seems a bit low, as I’ve seen other monitors with higher contrast, 1000:1 – 2000:1. (LG)

as contrast ratio is based in the darkest to brightest level, 450cd monitor will have a higher contrast( ex. 1000:1) than a 300cd (about 700:1) so this i not a "problem", its just the way it is calculated.

also, do not rely on monitors specs, the LIE to you. a lot.

for example, 2000:1 its not a "real" contrast, they do this: when showing a darker image, the LCD reduce the light of backlight, so this "fake" a higher contrast. cool, hu???? :devil:

Will Doom3 look too dark on this monitor?

no, and you have the gamma adjustment on your video card. you can "brighter" things... ;)

Or should I go for this EIZO S1931 instead:
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/s1931_21/spec.asp

this one has a PVA panel, it mean beter color, better viewing angles, better for movies but a little worst for games.

It has a higher contrast 1000:1, but lower brightness 280 cd/m2 and worse response times: On/Off Response Time: 16 ms, Midtone Response Time: 8 ms


*VA panels have better dark tones (because of this, the contrast is higher), but lower reaction times. 280cd is still "go", lower than 250cd i will not recommend.

my monitor is 16ms on/off, ans 6ms g2g. it has a liiiiiittle "blurring" on movies and games, but this is something that "you will only see if you look for it" ;)

here you will find a great info about LCD, panels and technologies behind them ;)
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1745344

and here you will find the panel of an LCD:
http://tftcentral.co.uk/

[retroborg]

Excellent!
Thanks for the tips!
Very informative indeed!

After reading the info provided here:

Great info about LCD, panels and technologies behind them
http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=1745344

Panels of a LCD:
http://tftcentral.co.uk/

However, since I want a TFT for both playing games & watching Anime (DVD,DivX,Xvid,etc...), none of these two monitors are perfect for my needs!

Like you said,
the EIZO S1931 has a PVA panel, with better color, better viewing angles, better for movies but a little worse for games.
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/s1931_21/spec.asp

And the EIZO S1911SH has a TN panel. It means, fast responses, not so good blacks, and lower viewing angles. if you move your head in front of the monitor, color and lightness will vary. this is not good for movies, but 2ms is good for games.
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/s1911_01/spec.asp

I should mention that the cost at my local vendor is:
EIZO S1911: 379Euro
EIZO S1931: 499Euro
They have an excellent return policy too.

Hhmm... Now I'm in a delima as both Anime & Games are very important in my book and wouldn't want degraded performance in either of the two fields.

[Malow]

Hhmm... Now I'm in a delima as both Anime & Games are very important in my book and wouldn't want degraded performance in either of the two fields.


so, IMHO, the best thing you can do, is see an PVA / S-PVA / S-IPS the panel working in front of you, and look is its good or games. because TN panels are crap to movies im my opinion (i have 3 different TN LCD's at work, they are really bad)so, these 3 types of panels are good for movies, and look for one that satisfies you in game department... ;)

forget TN LCD's....

[retroborg]

A friend of mine has an LG L1932P 4ms (GTG) midtone response time; I guess it’s a TN panel.
http://www.ciao.co.uk/LG_L1932P__6479426#productdetail
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-LG-L1932P

The quality of black is terrible, looks more like grey or blue. Also, when the screen was all black I noticed some very irritating backlight bleeding all around the edges of the screen, as if there were extra spot lights around the frame of the LCD.

If this EIZO S1911 TN panel TFT, has the same problems, then I won’t be very satisfied. But then again, EIZO is known of making better quality products, so the equivalent EIZO S1911 probably won’t be as bad if at all?

Then again, I might go for the EIZO S1931 PVA panel TFT. 8ms GTG isn't that bad for games, but I'm a bit concerned about the 16ms On/Off Response Time?!

[Malow]

A friend of mine has an LG L1932P 4ms (GTG) midtone response time; I guess it’s a TN panel.

The quality of black is terrible, looks more like grey or blue. Also, when the screen was all black I noticed some very irritating backlight bleeding all around the edges of the screen, as if there were extra spot lights around the frame of the LCD.

just as i said... ;) backlight bleeding does not come from panel type, but from LCD maker. some have it, other don't

If this EIZO S1911 TN panel TFT, has the same problems, then I won’t be very satisfied. But then again, EIZO is known of making better quality products, so the equivalent EIZO S1911 probably won’t be as bad if at all?

the EIZO probably has no bleeding , but, the "blacks" will look almost like he one you saw. is TN technology.


Then again, I might go for the EIZO S1931 PVA panel TFT. 8ms GTG isn't that bad for games, but I'm a bit concerned about the 16ms On/Off Response Time?!

one rule ive lurned: DONT TRUST MANUFACTURERS!!!!

tests reveal that a 8ms G2G TN panel sometime can go to 32ms!!!!!

another thing to consider: a 16ms on/off TN is worst than a 16ms pva/s-pva/s-ips. this i read all the time on reviews...