Gaming Monitor Best Buy

I recently found myself needing another monitor for my sons computer and decided to upgrade from my 17", very heavy CRT, to a light weight LCD. I wanted one that would display games well with a fast response time and had good reviews. I went to Newegg.com and found that this monitor had a 12ms response time and very good reviews, in addition to a $446.50 pricetag. After checking around, all the other LCD monitors in this price range with a 12ms response time were 17".

I got the monitor in two days and set it up on my computer. I never realized how much I would appreciate the space saved with an LCD. This model only comes with a VGA hookup, unlike most LCDs that have a DVI. I set up my resolution setting and refresh rate. The recommended, and max, resolution is 1280x1024 pixels with the refresh rate recommended to be set at 60Hz. Unlike a CRT Philips states that there is no visible difference in the refresh rates 60-80, but you can select from 56Hz-75Hz. I used the Flat Panel Adjustment software included, which ensures that your settings are correct, and they seem to be just fine. I played around with the resolution settings just to see what would happen and when I did the text at lower resolution became distorted so I would stick with the recommended 1280x1024. I have played games and watched movies on this monitor and they look great, no problems at all. Another advantage with this LCD is that I dot have to keep resizing my screen to fit as with a CRT.

The menu on the monitor is in several languages and has many options for adjustment but I have yet to need them, the monitor is very stable. Philips claims that the viewing angle is 160 degrees horizontal and vertical and that seems true but the picture darkens when not looking at it from the front, which is typical of LCDs. This would really only matter if you were watching a movie on it. The monitor is wall mountable and it tilts on its base 5-25 degrees. It also has a 500:1 contrast ratio. On a downside to LCDs they do sometimes come with dead pixels leaving a dot on the screen. Mine came with one dead pixel that is not very noticeable unless on a black background. Many other reviews I read stated they had no dead pixels so it may not be very common.

Philips provides this monitor with a 1-year replacement/3 year free parts and labor warranty but they do have a detailed dead pixel policy. For this monitor they state that for bight dots, 3 or fewer dead pixels is acceptable and 1 two dead pixels adjacent to each other. For dark dots 5 or less is listed and 2 or less for two dots adjacent to each other, with a total of no more than five defective dots. I read this from the Phillips online manual concerning this family of monitors, if you want to double check you can visit the Philips web site.

So if you want an LCD that has fast response times, looks great, and is competitively priced, this is a great buy.