# Quality gaming monitor on the cheap



## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

I'm looking for a monitor and I'm willing to pay up to $300. I'm short on cash, so I'm looking for something "the cheaper the better."

I want it to be at least 22" or 23". Since my main activity will be gaming (and I'm picky/have good observational skills), I want it to be with the least visible ghosting. Since I'm also going to play competitive FPS games (CS, CoD, etc.), I also need a good response time. And of course good color quality and contrast as I occasionally work with Photoshop, watch movies and read. 120Hz isn't necessary, as I'm already overstepping with that price range here.


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## Fourstaff (Nov 7, 2012)

I don't play competitive shooters, but I can survive on competitive Starcraft II using any monitor. Would get IPS, unless you are very fussy with ghosting and whatnot. LG IPS224/234 is my pick if you are over this side of the pond (cheap as chips, reasonable colour reproduction, reasonably good screen performance), not sure what you will get in US.


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## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> I don't play competitive shooters, but I can survive on competitive Starcraft II using any monitor. Would get IPS, unless you are very fussy with ghosting and whatnot. LG IPS224/234 is my pick if you are over this side of the pond (cheap as chips, reasonable colour reproduction, reasonably good screen performance), not sure what you will get in US.



As I've mentioned, I am picky because I notice small details easily.

I'm also not from the US.


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## AlienIsGOD (Nov 7, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> LG IPS224/234 is my pick if you are over this side of the pond (cheap as chips, reasonable colour reproduction, reasonably good screen performance), not sure what you will get in US.



IPS 226 user here and couldn't be happier for the $ I paid


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## SaltyFish (Nov 7, 2012)

Find an old CRT? Never had input lag, ghosting, or color reproduction issues with good old CRT. All these "issues" you hear about such are from LCDs.

A high quality CRT can get you a resolution of 2048x1536@60Hz. Some can even go up to 75Hz. The ViewSonic P97F+SB, NEC MultiSync FP2141SB, and Sony GDM-F520/Dell P1130/IBM P275 are good examples. If you must have a widescreen version, there's the famous Sony GDM-FW900... but good luck finding a deal on that.

If you don't want a CRT and can extend your budget a bit, there's the Yamakasi Catleap. It's around 360 USD or so I think.


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## Fourstaff (Nov 7, 2012)

uptech said:


> As I've mentioned, I am picky because I notice small details easily.



I am afraid we will be of limited help here, since that the amount of compromises we see varies a lot from person to person.


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## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

AlienIsGOD said:


> IPS 226 user here and couldn't be happier for the $ I paid



I can't get 226 here, and the 236 has horrible ghosting issues and pretty bad colors.



SaltyFish said:


> Find an old CRT? Never had input lag, ghosting, or color reproduction issues with good old CRT. All these "issues" you hear about such are from LCDs.
> 
> A high quality CRT can get you a resolution of 2048x1536@60Hz. Some can even go up to 75Hz. The ViewSonic P97F+SB, NEC MultiSync FP2141SB, and Sony GDM-F520/Dell P1130/IBM P275 are good examples. If you must have a widescreen version, there's the famous Sony GDM-FW900... but good luck finding a deal on that.
> 
> If you don't want a CRT and can extend your budget a bit, there's the Yamakasi Catleap. It's around 360 USD or so I think.



Which Yamakasi Catleap are we talking about here? And how's the quality? I see it's Asian, and in my experience, parts come of poor quality from there. No offense anyone, just had a lot of bad experiences with that.



Fourstaff said:


> I am afraid we will be of limited help here, since that the amount of compromises we see varies a lot from person to person.



That basically can be applied to any "request help" thread.


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## mrw1986 (Nov 7, 2012)

Dell U2312HM...hands down the best sub-$300 you can get. It's IPS with the FASTEST input lag.


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## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

mrw1986 said:


> Dell U2312HM...hands down the best sub-$300 you can get. It's IPS with the FASTEST input lag.



Heard it has some quite bold color and ghosting issues.


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## mrw1986 (Nov 7, 2012)

uptech said:


> Heard it has some quite bold color and ghosting issues.



You must be thinking of the wrong monitor. Bold color? You mean accurate color? If you like washed out/crappy colors go with a non-IPS. Ghosting? I play BF3, TF2, and tons of other high action games and watch movies on it and have never seen ghosting. I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of U2312HM owners could testify to that. 

Read some reviews on it before making such outlandish claims.

Two very reputable sources:
http://flatpanelshd.com/review.php?subaction=showfull&id=1317112577
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2312hm.htm


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## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

mrw1986 said:


> You must be thinking of the wrong monitor. Bold color? You mean accurate color? If you like washed out/crappy colors go with a non-IPS. Ghosting? I play BF3, TF2, and tons of other high action games and watch movies on it and have never seen ghosting. I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of U2312HM owners could testify to that.
> 
> Read some reviews on it before making such outlandish claims.



I mean bold as in serious. As in serious color/contrast and ghosting issues.

And I did read reviews, that's why I've made that claim in the first place. On what else could I base my claims?


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## erocker (Nov 7, 2012)

uptech said:


> I see it's Asian, and in my experience, parts come of poor quality from there. No offense anyone, just had a lot of bad experiences with that.



FYI all of the parts in most monitors come from Asia.


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## mrw1986 (Nov 7, 2012)

uptech said:


> I mean bold as in serious. As in serious color/contrast and ghosting issues.
> 
> And I did read reviews, that's why I've made that claim in the first place. On what else could I base my claims?



People who dislike Dell, because there are a lot of them.

Also, again, I have yet to see any complaint about ghosting. I personally know 5 other people with this monitor and they all have zero complaints. One of them even plays competitive CS:S.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Nov 7, 2012)

I have an Acer S200HL and it's amazing! It's only around $100 and it's 1600x900 with beautiful colors and a decent response time. If I were you I would get three of these monitors for some eyefinity!


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## SaltyFish (Nov 7, 2012)

uptech said:


> Which Yamakasi Catleap are we talking about here? And how's the quality? I see it's Asian, and in my experience, parts come of poor quality from there. No offense anyone, just had a lot of bad experiences with that.


It's supposed to be pretty good... borderline legendary. It even has its own thread here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162310

Read up on it. It's quite informative. There are similar such threads on other tech forums as well. Regardless, your constraints make it somewhat difficult and that's probably the best option short of hunting down a higher-end CRT.


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## uptech (Nov 7, 2012)

erocker said:


> FYI all of the parts in most monitors come from Asia.



I meant stuff invented/created by an Asian company. In most cases, in my experience, it comes poorly made.



mrw1986 said:


> People who dislike Dell, because there are a lot of them.
> 
> Also, again, I have yet to see any complaint about ghosting. I personally know 5 other people with this monitor and they all have zero complaints. One of them even plays competitive CS:S.



Well that's an easy argument to use. 

Interesting. More than one review said it has ghosting issues - it leaves a visible trail, and I saw pictures proving that. Input lag, however, is perfect. That I definitely agree with.



TacoTown said:


> I have an Acer S200HL and it's amazing! It's only around $100 and it's 1600x900 with beautiful colors and a decent response time. If I were you I would get three of these monitors for some eyefinity!



It's not available for purchase here. :/ If it was though, I'm looking for a 1080p one. 


SaltyFish said:


> It's supposed to be pretty good... borderline legendary. It even has its own thread here:
> http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162310
> 
> Read up on it. It's quite informative. There are similar such threads on other tech forums as well. Regardless, your constraints make it somewhat difficult and that's probably the best option short of hunting down a higher-end CRT.



Thanks, I will check the thread out.

I'm definitely not going for CRT. I hate CRTs, they make my eyes sore even at 120Hz. I had to use one again for a while, couldn't stand it.


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## Jetster (Nov 8, 2012)

List your hardware, were you buy from

Can you get a Dell UltraSharp U2312HM IPS-Panel Black 23"

Samsung has some great reviews also


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

Jetster said:


> List your hardware, were you buy from
> 
> Can you get a Dell UltraSharp U2312HM IPS-Panel Black 23"
> 
> Samsung has some great reviews also



ATI 7970 and Intel 3570K is my hardware.

I buy from a site not in English, so you won't understand it anyway.

Yea, we've discussed about it with mrw1986. Your input would be appreciated, just read a few posts up of mine and his.


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## Fourstaff (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> I buy from a site not in English, so you won't understand it anyway.



Google Translate is our friend  Give it a shot anyways, we have a few people here who can do Chinese, Tamil, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Malay.


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## cdawall (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> Which Yamakasi Catleap are we talking about here? And how's the quality? I see it's Asian, and in my experience, parts come of poor quality from there. No offense anyone, just had a lot of bad experiences with that.



Plenty of different versions of that monitor. Would be the best bang for your buck high end S-IPS panel out there.


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> Google Translate is our friend  Give it a shot anyways, we have a few people here who can do Chinese, Tamil, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Malay.



Instead, I looked through the list of available monitors, here's what I came up with to add to the list: Samsung S23A700D and Dell U2412M.


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## newconroer (Nov 8, 2012)

erocker said:


> FYI all of the parts in most monitors come from Asia.




I did snicker...and then I thought..wait that's a good point.
Are there any American/NA manufactured monitors? I want to help boost the economy.


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## RCoon (Nov 8, 2012)

BenQ G2420HD - 24"
That's what i use, 24" 5ms 1920x1080, decent response time, and its around $190-200 for you guys.


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

RCoon said:


> BenQ G2420HD - 24"
> That's what i use, 24" 5ms 1920x1080, decent response time, and its around $190-200 for you guys.



Read some pretty bad reviews about it, in all departments.


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## Bo$$ (Nov 8, 2012)

Asus VE276Q brilliant while gaming  blacks aren't amazing but it's fine for 90% of the time


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## Radical_Edward (Nov 8, 2012)

TacoTown said:


> I have an Acer S200HL and it's amazing! It's only around $100 and it's 1600x900 with beautiful colors and a decent response time. If I were you I would get three of these monitors for some eyefinity!



I'm very happy with my Acer S231HL monitors. Best screens I've had yet. 

I had a older Dell 20" IPS at one point, It was a nice screen. I just ended up moving away from it since it was old and had some small issues. (It was used.)


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## RCoon (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> Read some pretty bad reviews about it, in all departments.



unlucky reviews! I've had it for 2 years+ and couldn't be more satisfied (unless I went 120hz)


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## Widjaja (Nov 8, 2012)

This is the monitor I am considering.
LG IPS234V-PN 23"

Apparently this model and the 24" version of it runs at 5ms.
The other models before it ran at 14ms.


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## SaltyFish (Nov 8, 2012)

erocker said:


> FYI all of the parts in most monitors come from Asia.





uptech said:


> I meant stuff invented/created by an Asian company. In most cases, in my experience, it comes poorly made.



Westerners really need to stop lumping all of Asia together. :shadedshu

Japan ---> Great; "Japanese Capacitors" is now something advertised. That alone says a lot.
ROK (South Korea) ---> Great; Samsung is probably the most prominent Korean manufacturer and makes quite a lot of their stuff domestically. I think Zalman also makes their coolers domestically.
ROC (Taiwan) ---> Great. As a note, computer companies are more often Taiwanese than not (Gigabyte, Cooler Master, ASUS, AsRock, ABIT, MSi, Thermalright, Thermaltake, Lian Li, Sea Sonic, etc.); some located outside of Asia have manufacturing plants in Taiwan (Corsair Memory and Patriot Memory).
Mainland China ---> This is where we run into issues; lots of consumer electronics are made here due to cost reasons. As a result of such numerous and diverse manufacturing plants, quality varies greatly but is generally perceived to be of lower quality. Audio Technica, a Japanese headphone manufacturer, is releasing a new line of headphones (The X refresh for their AD line, for those interested). The top two models will be made domestically while the others will be made in China.
Thailand/Malaysia/etc. ---> Lots of stuff made in these countries (hard drives, DVDs, CPUs, etc.), but they're the kind of stuff where people seem to pay less attention to place of manufacture.



newconroer said:


> I did snicker...and then I thought..wait that's a good point.
> Are there any American/NA manufactured monitors? I want to help boost the economy.



You want to pay European prices for mainland Chinese quality?


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

Bo$$ said:


> Asus VE276Q brilliant while gaming  blacks aren't amazing but it's fine for 90% of the time



For $500 I'd expect to get a very high quality monitor, not something that renders black poorly.  And anyway, that's not my budget.



Radical_Edward said:


> I'm very happy with my Acer S231HL monitors. Best screens I've had yet.
> 
> I had a older Dell 20" IPS at one point, It was a nice screen. I just ended up moving away from it since it was old and had some small issues. (It was used.)



It's not available here.



RCoon said:


> unlucky reviews! I've had it for 2 years+ and couldn't be more satisfied (unless I went 120hz)



Uncluky means many faulty monitors, which means chances are that I'll get a faulty one too. 



Widjaja said:


> This is the monitor I am considering.
> LG IPS234V-PN 23"
> 
> Apparently this model and the 24" version of it runs at 5ms.
> The other models before it ran at 14ms.



Apparently reviews say that it has color issues and some ghosting issues. Also the colors are very unequal throughout the screen (as in closer to the corners, colors differ).


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## RCoon (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> For $500 I'd expect to get a very high quality monitor, not something that renders black poorly.  And anyway, that's not my budget.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Then i would suggest, you go find your own monitor.


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

RCoon said:


> Then i would suggest, you go find your own monitor.



I don't understand why some people get insulted, offended, think something odd about situations when one is simply trying to find the best choice...


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## SaltyFish (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> I don't understand why some people get insulted, offended, think something odd about situations when one is simply trying to find the best choice...





uptech said:


> I'm looking for a monitor and I'm willing to pay up to $300. I'm short on cash, so I'm looking for something "the cheaper the better."
> 
> I want it to be at least 22" or 23". Since my main activity will be gaming (and I'm picky/have good observational skills), I want it to be with the least visible ghosting. Since I'm also going to play competitive FPS games (CS, CoD, etc.), I also need a good response time. And of course good color quality and contrast as I occasionally work with Photoshop, watch movies and read. 120Hz isn't necessary, *as I'm already overstepping with that price range here.*



And that would be why you're having such a difficult time. You're basically asking for a top-of-the-line LCD monitor at 300 USD. I don't know how much 300 USD is in your country, but 300 USD isn't what most top-of-the-line LCD monitors cost. Find a good LCD you'd like to have and see if you can get it used for a low price. Or maybe consider that Yamakasi Catleap. Otherwise, you will need to loosen some of your constraints.


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## Protagonist (Nov 8, 2012)

I pick Dell SX2210 (1920 x1080, Response 2ms gray to gray, 22Inch 21.5 Visible Area, HDMI, DVI & VGA, Color Gamut 85%, Brightness 300 cd/m2) among other features has webcam that i don't use, elegant design. Vouch for it.


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## Bo$$ (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> $500



where is it $500??? i paid £190 
Black isn't poor, it's not ideal ALL the time 
Other than that you'll be hard pressed to get a better screen


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

SaltyFish said:


> And that would be why you're having such a difficult time. You're basically asking for a top-of-the-line LCD monitor at 300 USD. I don't know how much 300 USD is in your country, but 300 USD isn't what most top-of-the-line LCD monitors cost. Find a good LCD you'd like to have and see if you can get it used for a low price. Or maybe consider that Yamakasi Catleap. Otherwise, you will need to loosen some of your constraints.



Well I definitely can't loosen the "no ghosting" and "low response time" constraints, as well as 23" one. So the only one that I can loosen *a bit* is color quality. I still want high color quality though...

And $300 is a lot over here, for some it's more than a month's pay. 



st.bone said:


> I pick Dell SX2210 (1920 x1080, Response 2ms gray to gray, 22Inch 21.5 Visible Area, HDMI, DVI & VGA, Color Gamut 85%, Brightness 300 cd/m2) among other features has webcam that i don't use, elegant design. Vouch for it.



Unfortunately it's only 21.5". :/



Bo$$ said:


> where is it $500??? i paid £190
> Black isn't poor, it's not ideal ALL the time
> Other than that you'll be hard pressed to get a better screen



Apparently not in the UK.


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## Bo$$ (Nov 8, 2012)

LG IPS235V-BN 
It's IPS, Full HD, LED, £150~$300 should be fast and brilliant color


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## Protagonist (Nov 8, 2012)

uptech said:


> Unfortunately it's only 21.5". :/




21.5Inch visible area works fine for me, in fact it would be better if one day monitors will be made 21.5Inch 4096 x 2304 that would be great pixel pitch for me, but for now 21.5 1920 x 1080 does a good pixel pitch for me i don't like seeing pixels


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## uptech (Nov 8, 2012)

Bo$$ said:


> LG IPS235V-BN
> It's IPS, Full HD, LED, £150~$300 should be fast and brilliant color



Couldn't find a single review of that one... :/



st.bone said:


> 21.5Inch visible area works fine for me, in fact it would be better if one day monitors will be made 21.5Inch 4096 x 2304 that would be great pixel pitch for me, but for now 21.5 1920 x 1080 does a good pixel pitch for me i don't like seeing pixels



I can see pixels on my current 1440x900 LCD, even from  further distance... :/

The reason I want a 23" monitor is because when I game and do photo-work, I prefer seeing a bigger picture to not squint. And 21.5" on 1920x1080 is likely to make me squint. Just a guess though.


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