LCDs and Vsync question + gaming

W

Wedge

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
245
I want to upgrade my 19'' CRT to a widescreen LCD. I play Quake 3 a bit, and when I do, I have the monitor refresh rate set to 75Hz with Vsync turned on and tripple buffering enabled via the video card settings. The creates an ultra smooth experience at a resolution of 1024 x 768 on the CRT.

My confusion has to do with the 60Hz refresh of most LCDs. I have tried a refresh rate of 60Hz on my CRT for playing Quake 3, and it just doesn't cut it. Not sure how to explain it really, but the image is unbearable. It seems too slow or something.

Now, I understand that CRTs and LCDs refresh rates are not apples to apples comparisons. I could not explain the difference, but I do understand that they are not the same, and where vsync falls into this equation is lost on me.

Understand that my perception (via experience with a CRT monitor) is that the refresh of the monitor is "locked" in or "sync'ed" with the frame rate of the video card. That makes good sense to me and provides the framework for understanding why vsync makes games (like Quake 3) play so smoothly.

If I upgrade to an LCD, will I be able to turn on vsync, raise the refresh rate to 75Hz, and see the kind of performance with Quake that I am currently seeing on my CRT (ghosting issues and lag aside)? Or is there something else that I am missing.

Also, something else I haven't addressed........will a game like Quake 3 have to run with a black box around it on a widescreen LCD? I don't think any of it's settings allow for widescreen display.
 
When it comes to Hz, an LCD is completely different from CRT. It's not even an apples to bananas comparison.

A CRT has a single gun that draws each pixel onto a glass during each Hz. If the CRT isn't drawing the pixel, it isn't there. Crank the Hz down far enough and it will appear to flicker; even slower, and you will see a line moving across the screen.

An LCD has a light at each pixel which stays on during the entire Hz. It changes color during each Hz, but always emits the light. Crank down the Hz, and you will see a slideshow, but a picture will still always be there.

Almost all LCDs are 60Hz. There are a few 72 or 75Hz models but they are uncommon enough that I don't even know what they are.

120Hz LCD TVs and monitors are going to start appearing next year because they are better for viewing TV (which displays at 30 FPS) and film (which displays at 24 FPS); notice that 120 is the first number into which both 30 and 24 divides evenly. That means they won't drop frames; to display a 30 FPS TV signal, a 60Hz monitor will simply display each frame twice, but to display a 24 FPS film signal, a 60Hz monitor will have to drop the third frame. As a nice side effect, 120Hz monitors will be very nice for gaming. I'm sure these monitors will be very expensive.
 
So....per my gaming question: if vsync is on an LCD during Quake, will this remove the "tearing" issue, as it is commonly referred to?
 
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