LCD Monitors

[11bravo]

I bought a 19" LCD monitor this past Sunday; it's a Mag Innovision LT982s.
IT'S HUGE!!!
I've had a 17" Mag CRT for about 7 years that has/had been a great monitor.
I just had decided that I wanted an LCD.
The monitor is OK (pretty good actually) for a lower end one.
The Best Buy ad on Sunday said it was $349.99 - $50 mail in rebate; it rang up at $299.99 AND I still got the rebate slip so if I get the rebate it will be $249.99.
The speakers are crappy, verrrry tinny, but I will have to just hook up my old speakers.
I have three minor issues with the video performance:
~there is distinctive ghosting around the mouse cursor that I cannot seem to get rid of. It is not present with anything but the cursor.
~the manual does not give any clue as to what the native resolution is. I kind of like the 1280*1024, 32 bit true color and 75mHz refresh (highest settings). Just curious what it is designed to work best at. (I know, I could contact the manufacturer, but that's no fun)
~it is SOOO bright that it kind of washes out colors and causes eye strain. I've adjusted the brightness but if I go down past about where I'm at some images start degrading seriously. I've heard tell that there are tinted screens to put over the screens that will help with the brightness; anyone have experience with these?
All in all, none of these issues are enough to make me return it, just things to get used to, and for the price......
Anyone have LCD stories to relate?

Greg

 

[bobkrech]

Greg

Looks like you got a bargin.

It gets good reviews at this website.

https://www.epinions.com/pr-MAG_19_TFT_LCD_Flat_Panel_Monitor_LT982s/display_~reviews

The specs are also listed at

https://www.epinions.com/pr-MAG_19_TFT_LCD_Flat_Panel_Monitor_LT982s/display_~full_specs

https://www.maginnovision.com/product/products-lcd-ma-982.htm#spec

Contrast Ratio 600:1
Brightness 250 cd/m
Response Time 25 ms
Dot Pitch .294 mm
Max. Resolution 1280 x 1024
Color Depth 24-bit (16.7M Colors)
Viewable Picture Size 19 in.
Synchronization Range - Vertical 60 - 75 Hz
Synchronization Range - Horizontal 31 - 80 kHz
Max. Viewing Angle - Horizontal 170
Max. Viewing Angle - Vertical 170
Native (Recommended) Resolution 1280 x 1024

Try setting the color to 24 bit. That is likely to improve the view.

Also try the auto-adjustment feature.

Bob Krech

 

[11bravo]

Thanks Bob.
I had seen the info at the Mag site but not the other.
I'll have to do some looking for drivers, no software came with the monitor at all and through Windows I can only choose 16 or 32 bit color; I'll try the 16 bit for a while. I do think that I'll be happy with it.

Greg

 

[dr wogz]

I'm still a CRT man.

Not quite sure about these LCD ones.

Being a CAD guy, I've had a 19" for as long as I can remeber, (like, when they cost $1200!! - Viewsonics at work)

I have recently purchaced a Sony Trinitron 21" CRT for about $300! for home use.

It may take up A LOT of desk space, and can moore a small boat.. But shooting bad guys is now a lot more fun!!

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

nice monitor. Good price too. Yeah get one of those tinted windows is what they call them. About $20 and they just attach to the top of the monitor. They work nice for REALLY high resolution/brightness montiors.

 

[adrian]

Note that CRT monitor size is measured across the whole screen, of which a couple of inches is lost behind the frame. LCD monitor size is measured across the viewing area. So that 19" LCD is about the equivalent of a 21" CRT, which is why it is huge compared to the old 17" CRT. It also means 11bravo has about the same screen size as Dr Wogz plus a lot more desk space, although he can not moor a small boat to it.

Refresh rate is not so critical with LCD monitors. But if you have a CRT, make sure you set the refresh rate to at least 70Hz, preferably more. The standard 60Hz refresh rate can cause eye strain with a CRT monitor. Especially if it's a big monitor and you're spending a lot of time in front of it shooting bad guys or designing rockets.

 

[11bravo]

7 months on with this monitor and I've decided to keep it.
I'm actually really happy with it.
Still have the ghost image around the cursor arrow, but have learned to ignore it.
My retinas have long ago burned out so it doesn't seem so bright anymore.

If you're in the market for a LCD, be willing to give the MAGinnovisions a look.
I was happy with the CRT I had and am happy with the LCD.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Greg

 

[highrolla7]

yeah, I just upgraded my whole pc system to an HP w/ all the bells and whistles, and had the option of upgrading the crappy crt monitor that came with it for 75 dollars more to a nice MAG Lcd screen 17 inch i believe. I can imagine what a 19 looks like! I know this one is huge compared to my crt, not only that, its flat so takes no room and now have room for my 13 inch tv on the desk. Nothing like watching football and checking the stats online at the same time yeah, stick with the MAG, I have had a couple of friends say you cant wrong. Take care....

 

[11bravo]

Have a good one TJ.
Eat too much trukey and watch football.

Greg

 

[cjl]

I have a 17" LCD (dell) and am VERY happy with it. No ghosting at all, very sharp, and tremendous viewing angle (heard that is a problem with some). The contrast is great, and the brightness, well, you get used to it Colors seem so much more vivid than they do on the CRT in the basement. OK, I'm spoiled

 

[WiK]

I've got the 17" Dell LCD too, and it rocks! I can play Civ3 on it all day long without my eyes hurting, like they did with CRT monitors. They're alot heavier than they look, though.

Phil

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Speaking of LCD monitoer, I just replaced my 7 year old system with a new Gateway. It includes their fanciest display, a 21" 1680 x 1050 wide screen:
https://www.gateway.com/programs/lcd/?cmpid=index*home*products*21LCD*programs/21LCD/index~~shtml
This is my first LCD monitor besides laptops, previously had a 19" CRT.
Love it!

 

[andysrockets]

One thing to bear in mind when buying an LCD monitor... apart from Sony, LG and Sharp, all LCD screens are made by either AU Optronics (the majority) or Hyundai (the best). So when you are in the shop looking to see which one looks best, just remember that the only differences are the default colour temperature settings and the batch no. etc.

To me, 19" LCD seems totally pointless, unless you are half blind. The screen resolution is identical to 17" display, the pixel response time is worse, and they bill you an extra $100 for the privilege. Oh and it takes a bit more desk space.

For games and video, you still can't beat CRT, and won't for a long time, hence I keep the trusty 1600x1200 100Hz CRT on that machine, and only use LCD for office type stuff.

 

[highrolla7]

Originally posted by 11Bravo
Have a good one TJ.
Eat too much trukey and watch football.

Greg

yeah, greg, you too!! done and done!! Im going to go roll over to the fridge for more!

 

[m85476585]

Dell LCDs are great. With my newest computer I got a CRT instead of an LCD because I hated the screen on my laptop (also dell, but cheap) and because I would rather have a faster processor than an LCD. It looks much better, especially side-by-side. I haven't compared the new CRT to the good LCD.

 

[edwardw]

My wife just got 3 of the 30" Apple cinema displays for her graphics work. She has them in a row on her desk. I think you can see forever on those things...one for tools, one for work, and one for more tools...


Edward

 

[kelltym88]

Originally posted by edwardw
My wife just got 3 of the 30" Apple cinema displays for her graphics work. She has them in a row on her desk. I think you can see forever on those things...one for tools, one for work, and one for more tools...


Edward

Can they all be tied in together as one?(I've seen it done with 2 monitors) Imagine playing Empire at War on a 90" screen...SWEET.


I have a REALsync 17" LCD monitor. I love it. I build my own computers and recently upgraded to a Gigabyte MB with an AMD Athlon 3000 chip and 1gig of RAM. It flies. I can play anygame, download, surf the web all basically w/o waiting. I don't have any problems, I love it. And I love the LCD monitor.

 

[cjl]

Originally posted by WiK
I've got the 17" Dell LCD too, and it rocks! I can play Civ3 on it all day long without my eyes hurting, like they did with CRT monitors. They're alot heavier than they look, though.

Phil

Civ III?
That's old school man. I play civ IV all day (still without hurting my eyes )

 

[edwardw]

Kelty- yes they are all tied together...she just has one setup for her desktop and the other two for graphics work. She won't let me play with them...


Edward

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Originally posted by andysrockets
For games and video, you still can't beat CRT...

Why is that?

 

[melvyn]

Originally posted by Ray Dunakin
Why is that?

It used to be the case that LCD monitors had a slow pixel response - the time taken for the pixels to change from off to on and back to off was too slow (40-50ms), causing blurring on fast moving images. Newer LCD monitors have much faster pixel response - less than 15ms - so there is much less blurring on fast moving images.

Personally, I'm a big fan of LCD monitors. I have one on my desk at home, and sit in front of a pair of them at work. No more CRT's for me.

 

[rabidsheeep]

Slow refresh rates or something. I've tried, cant stand lcd's, they're just so glitchy when I play my games. Frame rates drop, cant stand that either.

I'll stick to my big ol crt.

 

[cjl]

Modern LCD's don't have any of those problems. My LCD has quick response times, high frame rates, smooth motion, and in addition to all that, is sharper and has better contrast than a CRT. LCD's all the way (as far as gaming goes - they have already bested CRT's).