IPS or 120hz (Gaming)

[Luciphear]

A short introduction - Hello.
Now to the topic!

I'm a virgin to this IPS and 120hz thing going around. I have no experience with CRT's or otherwise. Currently I'm on a Samsung SyncMaster 2053BW(20 inch, 60hz, 1680x1050). I have researched a bit and understand the differences between 120hz and IPS on paper, so it's not a debate what's better. More specifically, it's a question that I can't really figure out on my own, so I would like to know if you can help me with suggesting what would be more suitable for my sort of tasks.

First of all, I'm a gamer. I do photography and editing on Photoshop, however, that is not what I strive to use the monitor for. 80% of the time I sit in front of the computer, mainly playing games such as League of Legends, StarCraft 2 and soon Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and whenever it's released, Diablo 3.

I am not a competitive player by the way, as in striving to become one of the best. I am satisfied with my current skill, but there's room for improvement.

My current setup is an i5 750, 4gb of RAM and HD5850 crossfire. I will not lower any graphical settings below maximum, except for Anti-aliasing which is fine at 4x to me.
Now to the actual questions:

120hz:
How much will I benefit from 120hz when I'm not passively running the game at 120FPS? (Let's say 60-100FPS) Will it render the monitor rather pointless(ingame) or will I still notice a significant improvement from 60hz? Like I said, I am not striving to be the best, but if it would help me improve I'd welcome it.

I did try out Bad Company 2 just now. The biggest thing I noticed is that when I rotate my screen, quickly, not exaggerated ofcourse, it feels like things get blurred and my vision is not keeping up with me, which can make things easy to miss. It kind of makes your eyes feel "tired", if you know what I mean by that.

IPS:
I always sit in front of my monitor. I don't lie down on my bed to watch movies or lean to the sides, or look at it from above or below, so viewangles is not my main concern. I might sloash into my chair to watch a movie but not by much, it's nothing major.

Would I still benefit from IPS in games? I do value eyecandy alot. I like to admire the view, even if it's Battlefield. How much better is an IPS monitor 'head on' in front compared to a TN monitor, both calibrated. Will there actually be a great amount of difference or is it quite minimal unless I'm actually looking for it, or having two screens side by side and comparing them?


Thanks!

 

[elvn]

I didn't vote yet. Polls pigeon hole anyway, there is more than a yes/no answer usually
..
.. For watching a movie neither IPS nor TN are good in my opinion so for me I would throw that consideration right out. VA LCD's have much better blacklevels+detail-in-blacks. The only thing that compares is a crt or plasma. Blacklevels on IPS and TN monitors are so inferior compared to my pva tv that I would never watch a movie on one.
..
..IPS is more than viewing angles, though you don't have to be 'away' from a TN to get shading, especially a 27" TN will have shading staring right at it whether you care to notice or get used to it or not. IPS is *much* better color and overall imagery (have to see it to understand how much better) and in the case of the higher end panels a much higher resolution and pixel density (ppi) which all adds together to an awesome looking display.
..
..As for 120hz, I have questioned and replied about it in other threads. In a nutshell it can give a slightly smoother feel without necessarily showing anything newer than a 60hz user, and can reduce one type of blur slightly (and that reduction perhaps dependent on a lower fps range vs 120 updates/second). However overall there is no way imo that it can give any consistent advantage in online games due to the current natures of LCD tech and internet gaming.

..Compare that vs losing the beauty of a good ips panel's display in general to a TN, also losing the much higher rez of the higher end ips panels and the much higher ppi of the high end ips panels - especially on larger monitors like 27" , and I'm pretty sure that you'd have to turn down your game's graphics settings considerably in order to maintain 120fps+ if you were shooting for that too. So you'd lose more eye candy in that scenario on top of losing the ips panel type's much better looking display, rez, and ppi... There is no question for me.
..
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[serpretetsky]

Please don't pit "IPS" vs "120hz". They are not comparable, even though all IPS panels are less 120hz (im not even sure this is true).

You probably meant to ask "IPS" vs "TN", these are two competing and comparable technologies.

 

[Luciphear]

It wasn't meant to be a "versus" thread anyway. I wanted enlightenment of what would benefit me, personally, the most, based from what I wrote in the post. I realize both are very good, for certain people.

And yes, with 120hz I was refering to TN, since most monitors that benefits from 120hz are TN, but I get your point.

Thanks for your response by the way: I've made up my mind and decided to go for IPS, since I believe I'd benefit the most out of it. (Made threads on various forums, and then came to the conclusion that with a power-rig I want quality(colors) to match. 120FPS is nothing I will, and can't afford, to strive for.)

 

[heatlesssun]

If you need color accuracy then there's no contest, IPS all the way. I've been gaming on 120Hz monitors for 15 months now and for gaming I'm not going back.

 

[Sycraft]

For me, the answer is IPS, that's what I own and use. I'd love some 120Hz but I find that the good colour and viewing angles, combined with other features that aren't IPS things themselves you can't find on 120Hz monitors (like programmable LUTs) are worth it.

If I could have both, I would despite the expense. But being that I have to choose, I choose superior image quality. In part it is just personal preference but in part is because the place where you'd see the biggest 120Hz benefit are twitch shootie games and while I play those, I also play lots of other games like Civ and Total War and so on which benefit far more from a nice picture than fast motion.

In terms of your question as to head on, I find IPS to have a big benefit. I have a TN panel at work and it is fine, but there is a noticeable shift and contrast loss top to bottom. I can shift where it is by shifting how high or low I am in relation to it, but it is there no matter what. Part of the display is darker than it should be. It isn't an "OMG this is crap I can't take it!" kind of thing but I notice it, no problem. None of that on my IPS at home, despite it being a much larger screen.

Remember even when you are right in front of something, the edges are at an angle to you.

So not saying 120Hz is a bad choice or doesn't have advantages, just saying when it was my money, high end IPS (the NEC 2690 specifically) was what I chose, and I have not decided to replace it (which I could afford to do if I wished),

 

[Mr. Bluntman]

I'll take a much more uniform image over refresh rate any day.

 

[Whoisthisreally]

First of all, I'm a gamer. I do photography and editing on Photoshop, however, that is not what I strive to use the monitor for. 80% of the time I sit in front of the computer, mainly playing games such as League of Legends, StarCraft 2 and soon Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and whenever it's released, Diablo 3.

Based on your requirements, there is no reason to consider a narrow view, high colour shift monitor. If you want eye candy as you have stated, just choose an IPS monitor with sufficient performance photoshop-wise.

IPS and TN are not worth comparing as others may have lead you to believe. 120 Hz is an exception which I haven't seen myself.

 

[Luciphear]

I went for IPS. Ordered it and I think I'll be satisfied with my decision. I'm very used to 60hz, and I think colors would satisfy me more than 120hz. I'm a sucker for eyecandy like that.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[Ocardowin]

I've gamed on both in a very short time frame.

120 hz is nice. I don't miss it when I use my 27" ips.