What is the magic Response time for gaming on LCD's?
Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 4:26 pm
I found this good article on the subject:<br>-----------------------------------------<br>Video-Friendly LCDs?<br> <br>Displays with fast response times still can't match CRTs for games, movies.<br><br>Sean Captain<br>From the February 2003 issue of PC World magazine<br><br>Dedicated game fanatics will eagerly spring for the latest technology in every part of their PCs save one: the monitor. They scoff at LCDs because CRTs are superior for displaying movement in action-intensive games. But BenQ, Hitachi, LG.Philips LCD, Planar, Sony, ViewSonic, and others are bringing out faster LCDs designed to narrow the gap with CRT displays on games, videos, and other action apps. <br><br>Most current LCDs (including those in our roundup on page 109) have a response time--the length of time it takes to turn their pixels on and off--of 25 milliseconds, or roughly 40 frames per second. Newer LCDs boast a 16-millisecond response, which translates into slightly more than 60 fps--the magic number for producing fluid movement in video games. Response time on CRT monitors, however, is several orders of magnitude faster than on even the fastest LCDs.<br><br> <br>To test the new technology, we viewed the fast-action CD-ROM game Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the DVD of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones on two shipping 17-inch, 1280-by-1024 LCDs with a rated response time of 16 milliseconds: a $680 Hitachi CML174 and a $610 ViewSonic VG170m. We ran the same tests on a Sony CRT and a Planar LCD with a standard 25-millisecond response time.<br><br>Under casual observation, all four monitors did a good job. But after scrutinizing Attack of the Clones, we noticed that when Obi-Wan Kenobi quickly turned his head from side to side in one scene, his face blurred ever so slightly on the 25-millisecond LCD, a bit less on the Hitachi and the ViewSonic, and not at all on the CRT. In Return to Castle Wolfenstein, fine textures on stone walls and in smoke looked more distinct on the CRT than on either LCD, but the differences were slight. Blurring was a more pronounced problem when we tried to scroll through a Web page. On all three LCDs, text streaked and pictures flickered, though slightly less on the Hitachi and ViewSonic. The CRT handled the task almost flawlessly.<br><br>Fuzzy Numbers<br>One problem may be the way response times are reported. The 16-millisecond response refers to the time required to turn a pixel all the way on and all the way off. To produce fine color shadings, however, a pixel is only partially turned on. Switching between these so-called gray states can take two to three times longer than turning pixels on or off.<br><br>Another caveat: These first fast LCDs use relatively simple twisted nematic (TN) pixel technology, which does not match the color quality and viewing angles of in-plane switching (IPS) and multidomain vertical alignment. So if speed isn't a concern, you might want to spend your display dollars on a slower but better quality LCD.<br><br>LG.Philips has announced that it will offer a 16-inch IPS LCD module in 2003, and NEC-Mitsubishi has technology for 12-millisecond LCDs. Sweta Dash of display research firm ISuppli/Stanford Resources anticipates that LCD response times should drop below 7 milliseconds in two or three years. Stay tuned.<br><br> <p><table border=0><tr><td><embed align=left src=http://www.thzclan.com/avatars/ezice.swf menu=false quality=high bgcolor=#000000 width=217 height=166 type=application/x-shockwave-flash pluginspage=http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/dow ... <td><table border=0 style='Filter: Shadow(Color=#BB1403,Direction=255)'><tr><td><span class='usertitle'>XMEN Iceman [DTM]<br>Founder and Leader of the Base Tribes XMEN Clan<br>Proud member of the Dragon Talon Mercenaries teamplayers Guild<br>Citizen of New Fenecia<br><br>You weren't much of a challenge - T2 bot after killing Iceman<br><br>- click on avatar for links - no, not sausage links!</span></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub141.ezboard.com/bxmenclan.sho ... ceman>XMEN Iceman</A> at: 3/17/04 4:27 pm<br></i>
