anyone using an LCD screen to play FFXI?

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Sculli

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I am considering to buy an LCD screen just to save some desk space. Been reading up on it for quite some time, and it seems like the 17" Hercules ProView has the fastest real world (which is different from stated) response times around.

My current CRT has 19", and I would really like to stay with 19", but it doesn't seem like there is a fast LCD out there that can handle gaming without ghosting.

Discuss.
 
Welcome to the ambiguity of "response time", reminds me of old days when hard disk drives were still measured in megabyte, and it depended on the definition of megabyte how much space a drive really had, because it really did make a HUGE difference whether you had a 25MB or 27MB drive.

Anyway, that monitors actual response time is 25 ms, 15 ms rise and 10 ms fall. 25 ms is too slow for gaming, unless one can handle significant ghosting.
 
havent learned all the stuff bout monitors, but im running a ViewSonic VA520. Its, what...like a small 13 or 15 incher, not sure....but i run Counter-Strike on it no problem. No ghosting, cuz that sure as hell would kill my game. Its runs smooth, just as well as my old CRT. Didnt cost all that much either....what? 300$? (a while ago tho)
 
I have a Samsung SyncMaster 191T (19" TFT).
I have never, ever, ever experienced ghosting on it. Never. I don't have any stats handy, but I can tell you that I've done just about everything one might want to do with a monitor, and it's never failed me. Movies, games, everything - works flawlessly.
On top of that, it was the cheapest and prettiest 19" TFT monitor on the market when I bought it. Imagine that. It took a whole month's paycheck, but hey, it was worth it.
 
Interesting, that Samsung is 25 ms as well (15 rise, 10 fall). Have you played any first person shooters on it? No matter where I go online, most all sites say that 25 ms is too slow for fast motion games or movies (not that I would ever watch a movie on a 19" anyway).

I think ultimately I will just have to drag my computer down to the local hardware store and hook it up to one of their LCDs and see if I am happy with what I see.
 
Sculli said:
Interesting, that Samsung is 25 ms as well (15 rise, 10 fall). Have you played any first person shooters on it? No matter where I go online, most all sites say that 25 ms is too slow for fast motion games or movies (not that I would ever watch a movie on a 19" anyway).

I think ultimately I will just have to drag my computer down to the local hardware store and hook it up to one of their LCDs and see if I am happy with what I see.

I'm not a big FPS fan, so I haven't played all of the newest games, but I have played Quake 3, Tribes 2, Counter Strike, and a few others. All ran perfectly, with no noticable ghosting.

Note that I have my monitor hooked up to a DVI-out port. I bought a new graphics card after my monitor specifically for that. A TFT monitor does not come close to what it can be, if you run on an analog connection. I was severely disappointed until I got DVI.
Also, as you probably know, TFT monitors are intended to run in one specific resolution (1280x1024 in my case). While they can run in other resolutions just fine, it does not look very good. If your computer can't handle running whatever games you're planning to play in that resolution, you might want to reconsider.
 
Not only do I use an LCD to play FF most of the time, its my prefered screen for it. I have two systems, a desktop and a laptop, and while the laptop has a lower end graphics card, I feel I get superior image quality with the same settings on it. There is a slight blurring effect, primarily on names while you are moving, but not so much as to be unreadable.
LCD's are great, just dont use them to play FPS.
 
I meanwhile bought a NEC 1760V (17") with 16ms response time. Overall I am happy with this unit, my CRT was 19" with 18" viewable, the one inch less on the LCD is hardly noticable. Native resolution is 1280x1024 and I can play anything just find with this resolution.

There is no ghosting at all in FFXI, or FarCry, or Splinter Cell, or any other games. There is, however, an effect that I can only describe as image tearing every now and then. Think of a vertical edge of sorts (corner or a building or a pole), when moving the view left to right, this effect happens. Essentially that vertical edge becomes jagged for as long as the camera is in motion.

It's not enough of a problem to annoy the heck out of me and go back to CRT, but it is definitely noticable.
 
I purchased a Sony 17" LCD monitor a while back, and I can tell you that it is the best damned screen I have ever used. The picture is so clear, the colors are vibrant, and the refresh is actually faster (thus no ghosting) than my old CRT.

Unfortunately, now I've seen better. I recently hooked my PC up to my 52" rear-projection Sony TV to play some FFXI... and let me tell you how awesome that is. It's definately much nicer to plug the PC in, since the PS2 has a lowered resolution that takes a hit on the big TV.

That's all for now.
 
I am confused, NTSC (TV) resolution is something like 700-some by 400-some pixels, how can that possibly look any good stretched across a big screen TV?
 
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