TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

[ST Dragon]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

I want to buy a TFT monitor.

I’ll be using it mainly for games, 3D PC games & 2D emulators.

At the moment I’m using a 17” EIZO CRT F55S.

When I play 2D Emu games, MAME, NEOGEO, Capcom, SNES, genesis, etc…which are at 60FPS, I have to set the display at 120HZ or else the video will appear dithering & there will be jerky, tearing effects in horizontal scrolling. (Example: the Intro in Super Contra III, the horizontal scrolling letters “Alien Wars” are jerky at 75HZ)

But at 120HZ everything is smooth.

I noticed that most TFT monitor’s refresh rate don’t go over 75HZ so is there going to be dithering & tearing in the video display when I play games in MAME & other 2D games at 60FPS?

Also the response time in TFTs is considerably larger than CRT monitors (12-25ms)

Will that also degrade 2D & 3D gaming experience?

How about this:

EIZO 17'' L550

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l550/index.asp#

Specs:

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l550/spec.asp

I found this at a shop for 399 Euros / 534$ is this price ok?

Or this:

EIZO 17'' L551

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l551/index.asp#

Specs:

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l557/spec.asp

Thanks in advance.

 

[it290]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

You don't really have to worry about tearing per se, as LCD monitors don't refresh in the same way CRTs do. If the monitor has a slower refresh time, you might get some trails in fast action games, although LCDs have improved dramatically in this regard over the last few years.

The big thing that makes LCDs somewhat unsuitable for 2d games is the fact that they can only run in one resolution. So unless the game you're playing runs in the same res as your monitor's native resolution, you're going to get nasty scaling effects. These bother some people more than others, but personally I can't stand them. If you're emulating, you're pretty much going to be okay as long as you can scale the image to an integer multiple of the original resolution, but you likely won't get a fullscreen display that way. Also keep in mind that scaling the image is going to be slow compared to running a game at its native res. On my machine, for example, Psikyo games start dropping frames if I scale them more than 2x.

 

[M3d10n]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

Just use your vid card drivers to forcr 60Hz under 640x480 and use that resolution for all your old-school emulators.

Those machines are meant to run at 60Hz, you know.

 

[ST Dragon]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

What do you mean TFTs can only run in one resolution? I've seen TFT monitors that support 640, 800 & 1024 resolutions at 60 - 75HZ no problem!

One feature I would like in a TFT monitor, is being able to to tilt the screen 90 degrees verticaly.

I would like to play Ikaruga vertical & some other shmups in Mame without having to strecth the display.

Can you do that with this 21" Samsung monitor?

Which one can?

Thanks.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

yes they run in all those resolutions, but all LCD monitors have a native resolution. When using a resolution other than the native res, lcd's look like ass.

 

[ExCyber]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

When I play 2D Emu games, MAME, NEOGEO, Capcom, SNES, genesis, etc…which are at 60FPS, I have to set the display at 120HZ or else the video will appear dithering & there will be jerky, tearing effects in horizontal scrolling. (Example: the Intro in Super Contra III, the horizontal scrolling letters “Alien Wars” are jerky at 75HZ)

But at 120HZ everything is smooth.

There will probably always be some tearing unless you run the monitor at a multiple of the native refresh rate and/or turn on vsync in the emulator...

Also the response time in TFTs is considerably larger than CRT monitors

LCDs have a response time; CRTs have a refresh rate. The two can't really be compared directly, as they put different constraints on the image, but many people find that 16ms is usable for gaming. My recommendation is to find a local store with the monitor you are considering and actually see it in action. Anything else is just a guess.

Oh, and speaking of native resolutions, if you're wanting to use it for emulation it would probably be a good idea to stay away from 1280x1024 LCDs, since they have an unusual aspect ratio (5:4 instead of 4:3).

 

[MasterAkumaMatata]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

Originally posted by Scared0o0Rabbit+Mon, 2005-03-14 @ 09:54 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Scared0o0Rabbit @ Mon, 2005-03-14 @ 09:54 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>yes they run in all those resolutions, but all LCD monitors have a native resolution. When using a resolution other than the native res, lcd's look like ass.

[post=131562]Quoted post[/post]​

[/b]

:agree

Native resolution gives you the best picture quality: clearest and sharpest. Non-native resolutions look so blurred that I can't stand it.

<!--QuoteBegin-ExCyber@Tue, 2005-03-15 @ 06:06 AM

Oh, and speaking of native resolutions, if you're wanting to use it for emulation it would probably be a good idea to stay away from 1280x1024 LCDs, since they have an unusual aspect ratio (5:4 instead of 4:3).

[post=131602]Quoted post[/post]​

[/quote]

Besides weird aspect ratios, it's also a good idea to make sure you are comfortable with the native resolution relative to the actual physical monitor size. You want to get the clearest and sharpest picture at the most comfortable resolution. For example, some 15.0-inch TFT monitors (e.g., certain HP notebook computers) have a native resolution of 1400x1050. Although 1400x1050 is 4:3 aspect ratio, I think the resulting picture is too freaking small/compact on a 15.0-inch monitor. I can't stand it!!!

I have a 21-inch CRT monitor, and I think that 1600x1200 resolution is a bit too compact for me, although I think I could probably get used to it if I'd just stick to it for a while. However, I find myself a lot more comfortable at 1280x1024 than any of the other available resolutions. Yes, I know it's one of those unusual 5:4 aspect ratios that ExCyber warned you about, but that only applies to LCDs/TFTs and not CRTs, so it's all good (I think ).

 

[ST Dragon]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

In that case these EIZO TFTs I posted are not suitable for emulation since their native resolution is 1280x1024 thus being 5:4 instead of 4:3.

EIZO 17'' L550

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l550/index.asp#

Specs:

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l550/spec.asp

I found this at a shop for 399 Euros / 534$ is this price ok?

Or this:

EIZO 17'' L551

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l551/index.asp#

Specs:

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l557/spec.asp

What resolutions over 1280x1024 are 4:3 ?

 

[it290]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

Well, 1600x1200 for one. But keep in mind, like I said above, you're going to lose some speed when emulating more powerful machines if you have to scale up the display that much. IMO you're better off sticking with CRT and getting a secondary monitor for tate if you need that capability.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

TFT/LCD monitors & 2D Games...

keep in mind if the native res makes looking at text uncomfortable for normal use, atleast in windows, you can bump up the text size of everything.