The right screen for the need

[Bianconeri]

Hi guys,

I am looking for a 24 inch screen to be use for internet, gaming from both PC and my 360 as well as watching movie and TV. After considerable amount of research I found that the NEC LCD2490WUXI seems to fit my needs due to its high quality panel, relatively low input lag and its high viewing angle. However due to its high price tag several questions arises to justfy if its worth paying the extra.
1. I found this review http://www.behardware.com/articles/648-6/nec-multisync-lcd2690wuxi-the-first-26-inch.html
suggesting the average quality of movie playback and gaming performance ,what are you guys take on that.

2. I am wondering of how the performance of the 360 over VGA (my 360 don't have HDMI) compare to other 24 inch monitor or 30 inch Television.

3. Since I am after a quality display is there anything else out there that would match or surpass the NEC or if the NEC is worth the 3 to $400 extra over other monitor for my usage.

Thank you for any comment and appreciate any input or suggestions.

 

[10e]

I'm not sure about high performance multiplayer FPS requiring less than 16ms input lag, but for all the other uses you mention the LCD2490WuXi-BK is perfect. I have used it with 360 over VGA and HDMI flawlessly, and PS3 as well without issue.

The only issue is that it does not support any interlaced resolutions (ie. from a cable box).

Otherwise it will handle any resolution from any of its connectors perfectly whether it's VGA, DVI-D or DVI-I.

Here are a few highlights:

1) Custom scaling - Allows you to expand or contract the image. Check out this video from Albovin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INBI8zV66bA

You can also set to Aspect, Fill, or none (1:1 pixel mapping). You can even change the brightness of the borders for 1080p or 720p display.

2) Available hardware calibration - Allows the monitor's internal hardware to be color calibrated directly to give perfect colors. This requires the SpectraView II kit which can be purchased with the monitor or separately. This allows the monitor to be calibrated to an amazingly accurate level.

3) Incredible OSD allowing customization down to the most granular level without being overly comples. You can even change the brightness and color of the power LED from blue to green.

4) Auto luminance - Allows the monitor to be set to a specific brightness level in cd/m2 as opposed to just levels from 0 to 100 percent. Also has a large brightness range which many monitors lack.

5) Usable sharpness control over all inputs - unlike some competitors.

6) A-TW polarizer, give excellent viewing angles and minimal color shifts when viewed from angles, as well as good off-angle blacks (something PVA panels can't do as well).

7) Four year warranty and excellent customer service. NEC is second-to-none in customer service.

I'm not sure if the monitor is overkill for your needs, but I can guarantee it will look as good as any TV or monitor you can buy, and in most cases, much better.

Alternatively if you want to save some money, and none of the above makes any sense for your needs there is the Doublesight DS-263N. I just don't know if it does Xbox 360 over VGA as well as the NEC.

Regards,

10e

 

[ToastyX]

The NEC 2490 definitely has the best image quality and viewing angles I've ever seen, but I wouldn't call the input lag low. It's more like medium (33 ms), which makes it average for gaming, but a lot of HDTVs also have that much lag, if not more. If the lag is not a concern, I highly recommend the NEC 2490. VGA works well and supports 1080p. I don't know why BeHardware rated movie playback so low. It's excellent for movies, especially 1080p Blu-ray movies. The only issue is it won't take 1080i, only 1080p, so you'd have to use 720p with cable boxes.

You might also want to consider the DoubleSight DS-263N. It has the same panel as the NEC 2690, and it has almost no lag. It has a wider gamut though, which makes colors more saturated, but a lot of HDTVs are heading in that direction as well. The DoubleSight has a crappy auto-adjust function for VGA, but it can be manually adjusted. Another issue is people haven't been able to get it to work with cable boxes, and the black bars can't be set to fully black. Still, for PC use and game consoles, the DoubleSight is 90% of the quality of the NEC 2690 at 60% of the price. I still think the NEC 2490 is the better monitor, but the DoubleSight is the best bang for the buck, and it doesn't lag like the NEC monitors.