Shopping for a new LCD monitor

About a month ago, my aging Dell LCD monitor (2001FP) finally died after about 5 great years of use.  It was time to buy a new LCD.  I thought this task would be a simple one because there were so many cheap LCDs out there to choose from.  One night, I was doing my product research on what LCDs were good and what were bad.  I originally thought that most all LCDs were created equal.  It turns out that I was very mistaken.  To my surprise, I found out that there are actually several major LCD technologies for LCD panels.

These are the 4 main technologies:

• TN + film
• IPS
• MVA
• PVA

The most common is TN or (twisted nematic).  TN panels are the most common among consumer panels, due to their low production cost and wide development.  They boast the fastest pixel response time (down to 2ms), and are thus mostly geared toward gamers.  They have poor performance in most other areas however.  They typically have very poor viewing angles and sub par color reproduction.  TN panels are the only panels that produce a color spectrum of only 6-bit (262,114 colors).  Whereas the rest of the panel technologies can produce at least 8-bit (16,777,216 colors).

At the high end of the panels sits the IPS or (in-plane switching).  IPS panels boast much wider viewing angles and highly increased color reproduction.  This accurate color reproduction is almost always necessary for digital artists.  Their shortcoming falls in their slow response time.  Many of the fastest IPS panels are only 16ms or 8ms at best with a few exceptions such as the 20” NEC MultiSync 20WMGX2, which has a 6ms pixel response time.  Most gamers are turned off by this fact alone.

The other two technologies of MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment), and PVA (patterned vertical alignment) generally sit somewhere in between the TN and IPS panels in terms of performance.  They both can produce 8-bits color but may not have the accuracy of IPS.  There are not many panels with this technology, and those that are can be very expensive or are just too slow for the average gamer.

After I had done this research, I came to find out that my previous Dell was indeed an IPS panel.  I never really gave it much thought, but this fact made it very hard to find a suitable replacement monitor that would look and perform to my old standards.  My only option really came down to the NEC MultiSync 20WMGX2.  The cheapest that this monitor can be found is about $550.  For a 20” monitor, this was a big turnoff.  I decided that I had to go with a TN panel.  And being that I am a somewhat “hardcore gamer” and have no need for real color accuracy, I decided that the shear speed of a TN panel would suite me the best.  The only turnoff now was the decreased viewing angles of a TN panel.

After more sifting though TN panel reviews, I found one that I liked.  The Samsung SyncMaster 206BW.  It retails for about $250, has a 2ms pixel response, and a 3000:1 contrast ratio.  It has been a great monitor so far, and you can read my review here.  If you are looking for some good LCD review and comparison resources you may find these sites useful.

AnandTech – The LCD thread

Digital Versus: Monitor Comparison