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A Guide to Choosing the Right 19" LCD Monitor - 7 Models Reviewed
A Guide to Choosing the Right 19
Date: November 30th, 2004
Topic: Display
Manufacturer: Various
Author: Kristopher Kubicki
 
 


Introduction

For those of you who follow our LCD reviews, you've probably noticed that we haven't looked at many models within the last few months. To make up for that, we decided to look at seven 19" LCDs, just in time for the holiday season.

19" and higher LCDs are the current sweet spot for LCD substrates. Recall that 19" LCDs have roughly the same viewing area as 21" CRT monitors, and that 17" LCDs have about the same viewing area as 19" CRTs. Production costs of LCDs have dropped dramatically over the last 2 years, but CRTs still beat LCDs in the cost versus size debate in the mid-size arena. The 19" and 20" LCD categories slightly differ, however.

Although the viewing area on a 19" LCD is roughly equivalent to the viewing area on a 21" CRT, LCDs use less power, use digital signal, don't have linear convergence issues, weigh considerably less, and put less strain on your eyes in a well lit environment. The issue of cost that used to deter people away from LCDs has also disappeared. A reasonably cheap, new 21" CRT runs for about $350; a reasonably cheap, new 19" LCD runs for about $330. Granted, you get what you pay for, and buying a low end 19" LCD or a 21" CRT generally is not what we would recommend. Today, we are going to focus on LCDs that run anywhere from $400 and higher - which is generally the price that you will pay if you wanted a quality CRT monitor.

With the exception of the NuTech L921G, all of our LCDs today were store bought. We tried to bring a balanced look at LCDs from all across the spectrum - low response time AUO panels, vivid Samsung panels and every a mix of both with some of the SIPS LG.Philips LCD panels. Most of our models today are within the $400 to $500 price range.

We plan on looking at them subjectively and quantitatively measuring the performance of each monitor against our industry standard Dell 2001FP. Almost all of our reviews over the last year have used the Dell 2001FP as a benchmark comparison. So, translating some of the performance that we see today with the performance of past monitors should not be very difficult. Feel free to view our past LCD reviews here.

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97 Comments - Last by xann, 757 days ago
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No Subject by KingofFah, 1897 days ago
I think there have to be gamers here, and I do not think LCDs are there yet when it comes to refresh rates; it would have been nice to see the refresh rates on the monitors at 1024, 1280, and 1600.

I still haven't found a monitor better than a high quality, high res trinitron.

Reply
No Subject by skunkbuster, 1897 days ago
just out of curiosity, what happens to all these lcds after they are reviewed?

Reply
No Subject by D0rkIRL, 1897 days ago
Why does the Dell 2001FP have a 25ms typical response time while on your older review you state it as having a 16ms typical response time?
The pixel pitch changed from .255mm to .55mm.

Any reason behind these?

Reply
No Subject by Jeff7181, 1897 days ago
Man... I guess ignorance is bliss... I'm perfectly happy with the image quality of my $80 17 inch CRT... I can't imagine paying over $500 for a monitor unless you're doing graphics work as a profession.

Reply
No Subject by screech, 1897 days ago
#4 true.....i have also heard that working at a CRT monitor for 8 or more hours a day doubles the chances of glaucoma.....so it might be safer going LCD (for the eyes)........anyway.....

Reply
No Subject by UlricT, 1897 days ago
umm... page #4
"The time that it takes the LCD to go from black to white may be 15ms while the time that it takes the LCD to go from black back to white may be 10ms"

could be kinda confusing for the noob there. You guys really need an editorial staff :D

Reply
No Subject by soki, 1897 days ago
We want to see some reviews of the new wave of 19'' LCDs. Like the sony HS-94P/B with x-black technology, viewsonic VP912b or some 10 bit eizo monitors.. When?

Reply
No Subject by klah, 1897 days ago
"The TrTf response time is normally a pretty useless measurement - but it makes for an easy specification in which to market LCDs. "

Why not provide us with a graphs of response times across the entire spectrum? There are at least 2 sites that do so now: X-bit and Tom's.





Reply
No Subject by Googer, 1897 days ago
You will have to pry MY CRT from my cold dead hands before I let an LCD connect to my Graphics Card.


Reply
No Subject by carlivar, 1897 days ago
OK so the tips at the beginning say to get a monitor with the correct aspect ratio such as 1280x960 resolution. I agree. Then all of the monitors reviewed (other than the Dell) have 1280x1024, which they specifically warn against.

I know that most 19" LCDs are 1280x1024 but couldn't they at least have explained why this is?

And actually, why is this?! I don't understand the popularity of 1280x1024 instead of 1280x960! IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE.

Reply
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