Pros & cons of TFT monitors in flightsims?

[Alan Cameron]

About to buy a new PC system to to used mainly for Flightsims, do these
perform as well at CRT monitors etc.... i.e. are frame rates & suchlike
effected. What advantage does a DVI input provide?

[Peter Duniho]

"Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
...
> About to buy a new PC system to to used mainly for Flightsims, do these
> perform as well at CRT monitors etc.... i.e. are frame rates & suchlike
> effected. What advantage does a DVI input provide?

You'd have to define "perform".

Refresh rate isn't anywhere near that available in CRTs, but the response
time of a LCD monitors is approaching 60 Hz. Refresh rate for all LCD
monitors I'm aware of is 60 Hz, and the response time is close enough to the
refresh rate that for most displayed graphics (including those in a flight
sim), you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference.

There are extreme situations where you'll notice blurring, or even seeing
scrolling text become almost invisible. But in those cases, you're not
really losing that much information. You wouldn't be able to read text
scrolling that fast anyway, and a little bit of blur in animation isn't
necessarily a bad thing.

Color reproduction is another area where LCD monitors lag behind. But as
with the refresh rates and response times, one may or may not actually
notice it. I know that I don't, not when I'm playing games (it's more
noticeable when doing image editing, but even there doesn't typically
interfere with getting good results if you know it's happening).

IMHO, you should not buy an LCD monitor without a DVI input, and should not
use an LCD monitor without a video card that has a DVI output. The LCD
display technology is inherently digital, and it makes no sense today (given
the availability) to convert a digital video signal to analog and then back
to digital at the other end. The image quality using a DVI input is MUCH
better.

Likewise, expect to run the LCD monitor in its "native" resolution most of
the time. I've run into a few games that don't support the native
resolution of my LCD monitor, and obviously for programs like that you don't
have a choice. But otherwise, the image is so much better when the graphics
are not being stretched to fit the LCD pixels. CRTs do a much better job of
handling a variety of resolutions, but the image displayed on an LCD monitor
at its native resolution will be much sharper than anything even the best
CRT can achieve.

There have been several other threads on LCD monitors in this newsgroup, and
probably many others. Google will help you fill in the blanks if the above
is not satisfactory.

Pete

[Alan Cameron]

Thanks Pete,
that answers my main concerns.


"Peter Duniho" > wrote in message
...
> "Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
> ...
> > About to buy a new PC system to to used mainly for Flightsims, do these
> > perform as well at CRT monitors etc.... i.e. are frame rates & suchlike
> > effected. What advantage does a DVI input provide?
>
> You'd have to define "perform".
>
> Refresh rate isn't anywhere near that available in CRTs, but the response
> time of a LCD monitors is approaching 60 Hz. Refresh rate for all LCD
> monitors I'm aware of is 60 Hz, and the response time is close enough to
the
> refresh rate that for most displayed graphics (including those in a flight
> sim), you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference.
>
>snip

[FG Phil]

The only downside to a TFT monitor is the resolution limitations. A 15" will
limit at 1024x768 & a 17" or 18" will give you 1280x1024 max. I run my Sony
"18 TFT at 1280x1024x16 in FS2004 with pleasing results.
However someone once told me that you cannot compare this difference
directly with CRT monitors as they both opperate slightly different.
"Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks Pete,
> that answers my main concerns.
>
>
> "Peter Duniho" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > About to buy a new PC system to to used mainly for Flightsims, do
these
> > > perform as well at CRT monitors etc.... i.e. are frame rates &
suchlike
> > > effected. What advantage does a DVI input provide?
> >
> > You'd have to define "perform".
> >
> > Refresh rate isn't anywhere near that available in CRTs, but the
response
> > time of a LCD monitors is approaching 60 Hz. Refresh rate for all LCD
> > monitors I'm aware of is 60 Hz, and the response time is close enough to
> the
> > refresh rate that for most displayed graphics (including those in a
flight
> > sim), you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference.
> >
> >snip
>
>

[[email protected]]

I have been running FS200* on a Viewsonic VG175 at 1280x1024x32 for the
last couple years - as well as some FPS games - and I am totally happy.
I cannot see any reason to buy a CRT/Space Heater ever again.

Dave Blevins

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 23:17:24 -0000, "FG Phil" >>
wrote:

>The only downside to a TFT monitor is the resolution limitations. A 15" will
>limit at 1024x768 & a 17" or 18" will give you 1280x1024 max. I run my Sony
>"18 TFT at 1280x1024x16 in FS2004 with pleasing results.
>However someone once told me that you cannot compare this difference
>directly with CRT monitors as they both opperate slightly different.
>"Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
...
>> Thanks Pete,
>> that answers my main concerns.
>>
>>
>> "Peter Duniho" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > "Alan Cameron" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> > > About to buy a new PC system to to used mainly for Flightsims, do
>these
>> > > perform as well at CRT monitors etc.... i.e. are frame rates &
>suchlike
>> > > effected. What advantage does a DVI input provide?
>> >
>> > You'd have to define "perform".
>> >
>> > Refresh rate isn't anywhere near that available in CRTs, but the
>response
>> > time of a LCD monitors is approaching 60 Hz. Refresh rate for all LCD
>> > monitors I'm aware of is 60 Hz, and the response time is close enough to
>> the
>> > refresh rate that for most displayed graphics (including those in a
>flight
>> > sim), you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference.
>> >
>> >snip
>>
>>
>

[John Penta]

Sorry for not quoting, but's early in the morning and my coordination
isn't such that I can selectively delete.

Anyhow, on this topic...How do I find out the "native" resolution of
my monitor?

John

[Angus Lepper]

It's normally specified with the monitor.

A point, I have come across an expensive TFT (sorry, can't remember where)
with a refresh of 85Hz specified
"John Penta" > wrote in message
...
> Sorry for not quoting, but's early in the morning and my coordination
> isn't such that I can selectively delete.
>
> Anyhow, on this topic...How do I find out the "native" resolution of
> my monitor?
>
> John

[Ed Medlin]

"Angus Lepper" > wrote in message
...
> It's normally specified with the monitor.
>
> A point, I have come across an expensive TFT (sorry, can't remember where)
> with a refresh of 85Hz specified

Response time is more important than refresh rates on TFTs. Right now, the
Hitachi CML 174SXW has a 12ms response vs. most 17" TFTs' 26+ response
times. Larger TFTs have response times in excess of 32ms. The way TFTs
operate, refresh rates between 60 and 85hz are not that much different. I
bought the Hitachi myself and replaced a 19" CRT with it and am not looking
back. The 75HZ refresh rate is plenty with the fast response time. Check out
the many reviews on the Hitachi 174SX on Google. I think it is the one of
the most highly recommended TFT for gaming of all kinds. Got mine from
www.newegg.com in the US $400.00 range if I remember correctly. For old
eyes, the text quality is just fantastic too....:-)


Ed


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