19-20" TFT monitors

mouthscradle

I currently have a 17" CRT monitor which has suited me well, but I'm planning on treating myself to a new TFT monitor, around 19" or 20" if my budget can stretch to it. I am looking to spend between £120-140.

I've been looking on some websites like ebuyer, but there are so many specs and I don't know what is better.

I'm guessing that 5ms is better than 8ms, and 300 cd is better than 280? Then they say things like 700:1, 2000:1, 3000:1. Is this a case of the bigger the better, and are the differences really noticable?

Also, if I get one that is much better than my CRT, do I need to worry about whether my graphics card can handle it? I can't really afford to upgrade that too, I've recently bought a new case and hard drive.

I use my PC mostly for uni work and some games like WoW etc. Are there any minimum levels of those specs that I should be looking for?

stan747

you would have to spend a lot for a tft/lcd to match a good quality crt, a fairly good, affordable tft is a hannsg 19". i have one have myself and it's ok for a monitor but not really up to movies or stuff, crt is best for that within your budget.
here is the hansg, £117.48
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4S4R&CategorySelectedId=11109&NavigationKey=11109,4294958111,49690000,42940000,50368

evilgoose

I finally converted from my sony 15" CRT to a 19" TFT last xmas.

the 5ms refers to response times - the lower is generally the better, especially if you are going to watch video or play games. (otherwise you'll get a 'ghosted image' effect.

Check what the maximum resolution your graphics card will support and then check what the Native Resolution of the screens which you are deciding between is. TFT's work best at a set resolution (native resolution) they will work at other settings, but the image quality will not be as good.

If the natvie resolution of the screen is higher than the max resolution of your graphics card then I would suggest looking at a different screen. hope that helps.

The other figures you mention are the brightness, (the higher this number the better - especially if film/games)
and finally the 700:1 etc is the contrast ratio, again the higher the better.

I bought an LG flattron and its quite impressed me - and I was (and still am slightly) a CRT fan.

sleep2much

Your lucky to be buying today, when I bought my Sony sdm-hs94p 19" it was £500, I admit it's a first class monitor but you should be able to get an equal spec one now at half the price, that one above looks good for £117, just put a post-it note over the name and your friends will never who made it, mind you saying that seeing the name means nothing to me...hanns who?