My brand new monitor

I purchased me a Viewsonic VX924 19" flat panel display. This is my first flat panel and its awesome! Not only have I maxed out my graphic card for the first time ever (1280 x 1024) but its got a great response rate, good enough for gaming!

You may or may know this, but the CRT (Cathod Ray Tube) has long been a superior monitor for games, only very very recently have the LCD reached this height.

There are alot of different criteria to be sure but the refresh\response rate is really key to a smooth image with the modern 3D games.

The magic number being 8ms average. The refresh rate or "vertical refresh rate" is the number of times in a second that a display is illuminated. Much of the discussion of refresh rate does not apply to LCD monitors. This is because while a phosphor on a CRT will begin to dim as soon as the electron beam passes it, LCD cells open to pass a continuous stream of light, and do not dim until instructed to produce a darker color. So instead we look at response time.

This means in the heat of a battle with polygons all over the place I get a smooth scrolling image (a lot like real life) instead of a stuttering one. Older monitors with long response times would create a smear or blur pattern around moving objects

Response time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from active (black) to inactive (white) and back to active (black) again. It is measured in milliseconds (ms). Now my monitor is advertised as a 3ms monitor, this is due to a lack of standards in testing. the 2ms and 3ms advertised are for grey to grey times. or changing from one color to another. While thats important, I think its more advertising then something to base your decision on.

Oh and if you are thinking of older flat panel monitors and how the image winks out if you get past a 45 degree angle. Those days are long behind us. 160 degree viewing angle on mine!

I am loving this!