Refresh rates on LCD monitors

[Stare At The Sun]

What is a good refresh rate for gaming, and overall really, i dont want my eyes to be bugging out all the time.(but im kinda clueless about this whole topic, so give me lots of info) I'm looking at a Sony 15'' LCD.

I think this is the right thing:

Horizontal Scan Range: 28-64 kHz
Vertical Scan Range: 48-75 Hz

Is that good/bad? Im getting a pretty decent computer for college, but desk space is very limited, so id REALLY like to avoid getting a CRT. Anyone got any suggestions etc etc?

I'm buying the computer from this site:

http://www.abspc.com/app/Config.asp?mono=1621&view=2

[charliex]

LCDs dont really have refresh rates the same way as a CRT since theres is no refresh. The scan ranges are something completely different and are mainly to do with supported resolutions. the higher the range, the higher the range of resolutions it'll support.

there is a refresh rate of how quickly a pixel will change, this is the persistance of the LCD pixels, a faster rate will cause less smearing of moving images, the higher the better, not all manufacturers tell you, so the best thing to do is go see them at the local store, and see what you like.

Incidently i noticed that site has a policy of 8 dead pixels or more for a return, thats quite a lot, usually 3-4 is normal, i'm not sure i'd be happy with that policy.

Look for 'response time' the faster the better, typically 30ms or better, pro lcds are generally 25ms or better.

[syquestrd270]

I believe there are some new 15ms response time LCD's. Try checking out the hardware sites like anandtech.com or tomshardware.com for reviews of "gaming LCDs"

[Vanquish]

Yeah there are some new 16ms response time LCDs however those are a fake representation, in testing it has shown that it can only give you 16ms response with around 8bit color. Much less then most things you would be using it for. in fact if you up the Color to 32bit that response time hightens to around 25-30ms. If your looking for a half decient one, look at one of the new 20ms LCDs by samsung, there expensive, but well worth the price. The 20ms ones give true 20ms response times. You can see a few very good reviews here

http://www4.tomshardware.com/display...626/index.html

[wasapeas]

Listen to ^^^, most important is a quick response time. I've seen some LCD's at lan parties with fairly high response times, and there is VERY noticable ghosting playing games, particularly in FPS's like quake 3 and counterstrike. No fun. I prefer my Iiyama 17inch CRT, except that it kills my fucking back :O

[mustang91]

Looking into gaming LCD's the three I've heard give the best gaming performance are the Hyundai Q17, and the NEC 1760V and the 1760NX.

All are 20ms screens, and come highly recommended for Tomshardware. Granted they run $400-450.