monitors. what do we look for?

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D1craig

Enthusiast
what do we want from a monitor?

1ms - the bigger the number the better or the smaller the better? im thinking the smaller

10000000;1 wtf is all that about? i have no idea with this one lol.

light bleed? what is this and how do we see it or notice it?

seen a few mentions of certain monitor types while i was looking at reviews for 4k monitors. what are the different types and what do they offer different from the others? ie. IPS, TN(i think i saw TN lol).
 
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TheGeeza

Guest
TN panels are normally used for gaming monitors due to there fast response times.
IPS, PLS panels usually come with a longer response time but offer significantly better picture quality, colour reproduction etc.

To answer your first 3 questions.
1. The smaller the better
2.That is the contrast ratio
3.That is backlight bleed.
Backlight bleed is the amount of light that escapes from the led backlighting and glows around the screen.
For example:
This is a very severe case of uneven backlight bleeding.
46c25e38_vg278h072.jpeg


Back light bleed is a normal occurrence among higher end and high res monitors. In most cases it is not anywhere near as bad as the picture above. It is generally acceptable as long as it is even and is not noticeable during normal use.
 
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TheGeeza

Guest
Constrast ratio is basically a measurement of the difference between two image components on the screen. Darkest black and whitest white.
Generally,the higher the contrast ratio, the better the image. Many companies rely heavily on contrast ratio to sell their products which is not really fair as most of the claimed ratios are no where close to real world results.

Might be worth giving this a watch if you are interested :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5_1UwySrmQ
 
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mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Manufacturers claims need to be taken with a pinch of salt, much like TV makers are claiming 600Hz its all marketing trickery. So 2 monitors claiming identical specs may be vastly different in the real world. My advice is find some you like the look of, read in depth reviews and if at all possible try and see some 'live' or at least buy from a company with a generous returns policy...
 
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PokerFace

Banned
TheGeeza said:
Constrast ratio is basically a measurement of the difference between two image components on the screen. Darkest black and whitest white.
Generally,the higher the contrast ratio, the better the image. Many companies rely heavily on contrast ratio to sell their products which is not really fair as most of the claimed ratios are no where close to real world results.

Might be worth giving this a watch if you are interested :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5_1UwySrmQ
Click to expand...

They should make these companies all use the same system for describing contrast etc.

Can't decide if I loved or hated that guys voice :confused:

I ended up watching another Youtube video on "white balance". The last time I started selecting random links on the side panel of Youtube, I ended up watching a Canadian taxidermist removing a skull from a bear skin :eek: and after half an hour, thinking "how the hell did I end up here?!" Talk about six degrees of separation!
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
PokerFace said:
The last time I started selecting random links on the side panel of Youtube, I ended up watching a Canadian taxidermist removing a skull from a bear skin :eek: and after half an hour, thinking "how the hell did I end up here?!" Talk about six degrees of separation!
Click to expand...

We have all been in that side of youtube, I once found myself watching how to remove an ingrown toe nail from watching pranks.
 
Grimezy

Grimezy

Prolific Poster
Try not to spend too much time reading over the details of monitors, I did it myself and it was all unnecessary in my opinion.

Main things to consider are:

1) 60hz or 120hz? - 120hz is a lot smoother to use so you will find fast-paced online gaming easier especially when tracking a moving target, etc. However, most 120hz monitors only come as a TN panel which leads me onto my next point..

2) TN or IPS panel? - TN panels used to be the norm for gaming as IPS had notoriously slow response times. Nowadays, the difference is much less obvious and both can be used for gaming. Colours are much more vivid on an IPS panel so is more suited towards single player gaming where response times don't matter so much. Even £100 IPS panels shouldn't have any issues with general ghosting nowadays.

So ultimately what it comes down to is what kind of person you are...

Do you play things like BF4 online 24/7? Go for a 120/144hz TN panel.
Do you play general games with a mix of story and online? It's up to you what you go for but I think the colour quality of an IPS outweighs the smoothness of a 120hz panel in most cases.
Do you like to also use your monitor for productivity tasks and media? Go for an IPS panel.

I don't even think 60hz TN panels should be brought into the mix nowadays unless you're planning on buying 3 reasonably priced monitors for a triple-setup. A decent IPS monitor can be had for £100 and it'll look a lot nicer than the equivalent TN panel and the difference in responsiveness will be difficult to distinguish.
 
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D1craig

Enthusiast
This is some great info guys and it a lot easier to read than most of the stuff I looked at lol.

I was wandering what all the abbreviations where ie. tn, ips. I know led and LCD but I'm guessing they are a totally different thing meaning you can have a ips led monitor.
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Try not to spend too much time reading over the details of monitors, I did it myself and it was all unnecessary in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Everyone is different though, some people really do have an eye for a good screen. I know exactly what you're saying though, no point going to the nth degree on ever single aspect.

As far as the abbreviations, TN is Twisted Nematic and IPS is In Plane Switching. An LCD is an LED screen, TV's advertised as LED are just LED backlights to a LCD display. The LED's provide light for the LCD to filter to show you the image.
 
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