T41p and LCD Monitor for gaming

[Happy]

Hi Forum

I am running a T41p and considering a Samsung LCD 19' monitor for adding to my pleasure playing Rise of Nations online. However the T41p is designed for 1400x1050 and most LCD monitors for 1280x1024.

The game itself max out at 1280x1024 so it seems okay but do you people have LCD experience to share before I go shopping?

[lfeagan]

Well, the Samsung LCD does 1280x1024, so you just set your Thinkpad (Using display director) to push the external video at 1280x1024 and you should be good to go. If you have it display on both the internal and external display simultaneously at that resolution, then your 1400x1050 display will shrink to 1280x1024 by putting a black border around it.

But, I would highly recommend reading through the entire article found at X-Bit Labs (and referenced in the T42 FAQ) about LCD panels.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/ ... guide.html

I found it really helped me out a lot in understanding the differences between PVA, MVA, TN+, and S-IPS. Once I had a clear understanding of the display technologies behind the various types of LCD panels, and their associated strengths and weaknesses, it made my decision very simple.

None of us can really decide for you, but I know that my reading made me decide to go with an S-IPS panel. The particular reasons I went with it are that it provides a nice view angle (+-178), has full 8-bit color per sub-pixel in general, and the newest generation S-IPS panels also have great response times (mine is 16ms). As a note, S-IPS is what is in the 15" UXGA Thinkpad, though it has a bit slow response time as it is an older S-IPS technology (around 30ms). It is also what is in the Apple Cinema displays. Theirs typically have around a 20ms response time.

Most displays out there are TN+, as it is cheaper to produce. TN+ displays are nearly always 6-bit color per subpixel, for an 18-bit display. And some of the fast TN+ ones don't even really do a legit 18-bit and in fact dither that somewhat. Displays such as the Apple Cinema displays, which are produced by LG in case you were interested, can actually do 8-bit x 3 subpixels = 24-bit color. Thus, they are quite good at reproducing a nice range of colors. The best out there for LCDs.

But, anyways, reading the article will shed a lot of light on many things. If you have questions feel free to PM me.

[Happy]

Thanks a lot mate for your comprehensive answer shedding light over the various techs hunting LCD buyers I will have to look into the S-IPS ones after your mail but will you agree with me that a 17' or 19' LCD panel will add considerable to my gaming experience heading for a response time < 16 ms?

And can I do without a port replicator having an external keyboard + mouse?

[lfeagan]

You are going to need to make sure it is a very fast LCD. Just getting any old LCD won't help. And as you get into 19" territory, the pixel refresh rates generally start falling, i.e. slower displays. That is the largest reason why I advised you to read that article. One of the major takeaways you should get is that PVA and MVA have a fast white-to-black transition speed, but they are slower and slower as you get closer and closer in color (i.e. from one shade of grey to another). This is a very important caveat and really is an absolute deal breaker.

For instance, here is the graph for the Samsung 910N display, which is like the 910T, only minus pivotting and DVI if I remember correctly.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/ ... de_26.html

255 is the maximum (full 8-bit) transition for a sub-pixel. The key thing to realize is that we don't generally have a lot of screens that transition straight from black to white. When doing many of our daily activities we experience slight transitions in color. Remember, this is at ~60Hz, so even if the color changes a lot in our human time frame of ~5-6Hz, it is generally a more gradual shift in colors, say only a value of +/- 30 at a time. So, PVA and MVA displays are to be avoided almost undoubtedly.

This leaves us with TN+ and S-IPS. Each of them has their pros and cons. And finding out which displays are of what type is not an easy task. The only relatively inexpensive S-IPS panel I know of at the moment that isn't gimped in some horrible way (i.e. lacking DVI) is the Dell 2005FPW. There are other alternatives out there though, largely made by LG. So, you basically are going to need to find a place that sells LG displays or someone who uses LG panels in their displays as they are the largest S-IPS manufacturer.

There is this Philips one, which is a really good choice if you don't care about DVI. In fact, other than lacking DVI its darned nice.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 147&depa=0

There is also a 17" Model
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 142&depa=0

I won't go into TN+ displays at all as they are ridiculously easy to find at good prices. They make up virtually all LCDs sold these days due entirely to their cost.

[Happy]

After following the advice of lfeagan and this forum I bought a ViewSonic 20" VP201s 16ms flatpanel. What a great monitor working perfect out of the box with my T41p and my beloved games. Not a ghosting problem nor any dead pixels to been seen yet

Native mode of the flatpanel is 1600x1200 and thats no match for the ATI driver of the T41p

Sweet, baby - and big thanks to Lfeagan