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Is this a good LCD monitor?

KungFuKungFu Registered User regular
edited June 2008 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support 300 cd/m2 700:1 - Retail
24-009-094-02.jpg

$229.99


It looks good, has lots of (almost entirely) positive reviews and won the customers' choice award on Newegg about 4 times. So, it seems good.


My problem is that I have been using CRT monitors all my life and the only thing I know about LCD monitors is that they work differently (refresh rates) and bad ones can lag (or ghost?) on games not giving you a good display.

Another thing is that I have not experienced a widescreen display and I wonder how that works with most applications (does it look alright or will I be playing lots of games on the normal, more square-like ratio resulting in black space on the sides of the picture?).

If it helps, here is my video card:

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Theft 4 Bread
KungFu on

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    DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    The monitor is find, you will find practically no 'ghosting' on it as the refresh rate is pretty minimal. Most games no a days to support widescreen so no problem there and an LCD monitor is so much more bright and the colors more rich so I'd go for it. The only games I know of that don't support widescreen are some EA titles, like the battlefield games but there are ways around that so no problems

    Dixon on
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    zanetheinsanezanetheinsane Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    When you play games that don't support widescreen it just applies the 4:3 resolution over the 16:10 area, so it looks a little stretched horizontally.

    zanetheinsane on
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    Dunadan019Dunadan019 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    you should be able to change your monitor resolution to a 4:3 making black bands on the side and then run any non conforming game fine.

    Dunadan019 on
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    bloodrbloodr Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    If you can, I strongly recommend seeing your next display in person just to make sure it's everything you want. Considering your previous display was a CRT, an LCD might be a bit of a letdown. There's all kind of little "annoyances" that LCDs have, like viewing angle, color reproduction and backlighting. So it's important that you see your LCD first hand so you know what to expect.

    bloodr on
    b1oodrose.png
    b1oodrose.png
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    ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    That's my monitor.

    Yes, it's great.

    Thanatos on
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    Capncrunch7Capncrunch7 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I am using this monitor at the very moment, and I have loved it since I got it. Three thumbs way up.

    Capncrunch7 on
    XBLA: gogogadgetchris
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    KungFuKungFu Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Well then, for Thanatos and Capn:

    Hows this monitor look colorwise and hows the backlight? In the 2 or 3 negative comments people mentioned an annoying backlight / viewing angle / washed colors that has prevented me from purchasing so far.

    KungFu on
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    Capncrunch7Capncrunch7 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    If the screen is pitch black with no image on it I can see a tiny bit of backlight bleeding around the middle of the top and bottom edges, but even with dark movies like Alien I have never noticed it with an image on the screen. The colors I cannot speak highly enough of. I play a lot of City of Heroes and TF2 and those games were an entirely new experience when I switched to this monitor.

    The viewing angle isn't spectacular, but I comfortably watch Dexter and Lost on it from a couch 1.5 feet below it with 3 people watching with me, and nobody has ever complained that the image was hard to see. I don't imagine you would often find yourself in a situation where the viewing angle was a problem.

    Capncrunch7 on
    XBLA: gogogadgetchris
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