To 3D, or not to 3D - That is the question

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thesecond

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So my beloved dell 2408wfp died on monday. Inverter blew, and I do not have the technology to repair it for at least a month. So in this case, i have considered buying a new 24-ish inch screen, and i cannot decide if i want to go with a 3d capable screen or not.

My most important use for my screen is gaming, specifically Battlefield BC2, so i need something with a good response time. Now reviews say the 2408WFP had a bad response time, but i had the A02 firmware version, and it I managed to do very well in battlefield, without any deaths being noticeably blamable on screen-lag.

As for the rest of the uses, i like watching movies, and i enjoyed the colour and wide viewing angles of my dell.

So. Price range approx $300-400 cdn. Size, MOST preferably 24" (dont want to downsize). Also i prefer a 16:10 aspect ratio for 2-d, i realize 3-d only comes 16:9.
And well, it sucks venturing away from the cute adjustable stand, usb hub and card readers all over my dell, but if i have to do it, i can.

Thanks for any suggestions. All help is welcome. I have read the 3-d thread and the panel type thread, so i have a basic understanding, but could not find any advice that i could apply specifically to myself.
Thanks! :)
 
I'm not sure that they even make a 24" 3D-capable monitor. You might have to step down to a 23", and you're right; any 3D-capable monitor is probably going to be 16:9 :(
 
thesecond said:
As for the rest of the uses, i like watching movies, and i enjoyed the colour and wide viewing angles of my dell.
Click to expand...

Then no 3D for you. Currently only TNs come in 120hz - which means bad viewing angles and mediocre colors.
 
thesecond said:
So my beloved dell 2408wfp died on monday. Inverter blew, and I do not have the technology to repair it for at least a month. So in this case, i have considered buying a new 24-ish inch screen, and i cannot decide if i want to go with a 3d capable screen or not.

My most important use for my screen is gaming, specifically Battlefield BC2, so i need something with a good response time. Now reviews say the 2408WFP had a bad response time, but i had the A02 firmware version, and it I managed to do very well in battlefield, without any deaths being noticeably blamable on screen-lag.

As for the rest of the uses, i like watching movies, and i enjoyed the colour and wide viewing angles of my dell.

So. Price range approx $300-400 cdn. Size, MOST preferably 24" (dont want to downsize). Also i prefer a 16:10 aspect ratio for 2-d, i realize 3-d only comes 16:9.
And well, it sucks venturing away from the cute adjustable stand, usb hub and card readers all over my dell, but if i have to do it, i can.

Thanks for any suggestions. All help is welcome. I have read the 3-d thread and the panel type thread, so i have a basic understanding, but could not find any advice that i could apply specifically to myself.
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

This should help you, use the pull down tabs to compare your Dell 2408 A02 to the

120hz Acer GD245HZ (GD235HZ in N/A)
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=590&p1=6590&ma2=38&mo2=631&p2=7352&ph=1

and the 120hz Asus VG236H
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=590&p1=6590&ma2=150&ph=1

Ignore post #3, that individual thinks a 600:1 contrast ratio (Dell U2410) is excellent because of the viewing angles:rolleyes:

The largest 3D monitor is 23.6" and 16:9 so you will be loosing some size, however the motion fluidity 120hz panels offer is unrivalved and they also have good color presets and some of the highest contrast ratios amongst monitors. Too bad your Dell died as the A02 version is one of the best monitors made in recent years. You are going to have to sacrifice viewing angles and there is no way around this if you want a 120hz monitor. It may be worth it to wait and get the 2408 fixed.
 
If you really want 3D and not just 120hz you'll really need a fast machine to take advantage of it. e.g. if your machine can't run at close to 120hz with reasonable settings in 2D chances are you won't play it 3D because it'll be too slow. If you've got the requirements it's a lot of fun however.

In 2D there's a huge difference between a no lag 120hz monitor (i.e. not the acer) and a slighly laggy 60hz one like your dell for fast paced fps. As to whether you get one depends on how obsessed you are with the benefits of nice colours, viewing angles, etc vs how much you game.
 
Ignore anyone who relies on digitalversus to support their anti-IPS bias. :rolleyes:

See the 120Hz info thread:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1496801

The dilemma now is that the 120Hz monitors are indeed superior for gaming, but since they are all TNs, they lack the viewing angles you prefer. There is still no perfect multi-purpose LCD monitor.
 
BF:BC2 is nice on a 120Hz screen for 2d. Have you tried 3d games yet? I thought the initial effect was cool but it quickly wore off. 3d has a ton of detractors. BF:BC2 I thought was also done fairly poorly in 3d. Going 3d, your effectively kicking the monitor back down to 60Hz and your relative skill level will always be higher in 2d versus 3d with current technology.

Remember, 120Hz is nice, but a lot of the other aspects of the screen suffer pretty bad over an IPS panel.
 
NCX said:
This should help you, use the pull down tabs to compare your Dell 2408 A02 to the

120hz Acer GD245HZ (GD235HZ in N/A)
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=590&p1=6590&ma2=38&mo2=631&p2=7352&ph=1

and the 120hz Asus VG236H
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=88&mo1=590&p1=6590&ma2=150&ph=1

Ignore post #3, that individual thinks a 600:1 contrast ratio (Dell U2410) is excellent because of the viewing angles:rolleyes:

The largest 3D monitor is 23.6" and 16:9 so you will be loosing some size, however the motion fluidity 120hz panels offer is unrivalved and they also have good color presets and some of the highest contrast ratios amongst monitors. Too bad your Dell died as the A02 version is one of the best monitors made in recent years. You are going to have to sacrifice viewing angles and there is no way around this if you want a 120hz monitor. It may be worth it to wait and get the 2408 fixed.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. I'm going to get this fixed no matter what. I'm a tinkerer of sorts, and I love the challenge. Thanks for the info though. I shall scour that site for comparisons.

sbuckler said:
If you really want 3D and not just 120hz you'll really need a fast machine to take advantage of it. e.g. if your machine can't run at close to 120hz with reasonable settings in 2D chances are you won't play it 3D because it'll be too slow. If you've got the requirements it's a lot of fun however.

In 2D there's a huge difference between a no lag 120hz monitor (i.e. not the acer) and a slighly laggy 60hz one like your dell for fast paced fps. As to whether you get one depends on how obsessed you are with the benefits of nice colours, viewing angles, etc vs how much you game.
Click to expand...
eh an i7 930 and a gtx480 should take care of it eh? :p

But yeah, i understand what you're saying. My biggest pet peeve would be the viewing angles, because when you have a 24"+ screen, and you sit as close to it as 24-36 inches, the corners get dark if the viewing angles are crap.


evilsofa said:
Ignore anyone who relies on digitalversus to support their anti-IPS bias. :rolleyes:

See the 120Hz info thread:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1496801

The dilemma now is that the 120Hz monitors are indeed superior for gaming, but since they are all TNs, they lack the viewing angles you prefer. There is still no perfect multi-purpose LCD monitor.
Click to expand...
Pewps.






In response to these responses, as well as some deeper research, it looks like i will be going for a 2-D system, but maybe with a 3d monitor. I simply cannot afford the screen PLUS goggles at this point in my life, and well... i sit close to my monitor and dark corners scare me :p

So, anybody like benq monitors? I see they are selling like hotcaeks at NCIX :D
Slash, any good gaming monitor with decent angles on it, and no ghosting. I was noticing the new LG that has a "gamer" setting in it to reduce input lag.
 
NCX said:
Ignore post #3, that individual thinks a 600:1 contrast ratio (Dell U2410) is excellent because of the viewing angles:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

1) I don't think a 600:1 contrast ratio is excellent :rolleyes:

2) He specifically said he liked the colors and viewing angles on his current monitor. Any TN is going to be a *huge* downgrade on the viewing angles, and a downgrade on the colors. So congrats on feeding him FUD by downplaying that.

Might as well tell the OP to ignore you.
 
Published manufacturer contrast ratio's are worthless anyways, just like pixel response time. Only way to compare is to test them. My favorite are the huge numbers generated by "dynamic" contrast ratio's which are virtually worthless under most scenarios.
 
OP, like others have said... you're going to have to live with poor viewing angles (and some light bleed) if you want a 120hz display. There is absolutly no way around that.

With that said, I would suggest going to check one out at a store if you can. Color accuracy has been fine in my experience (way too many people blow that out of proportion, it's not something anyone should be worried about enless they do photo/image work professionally or they're suffering from OCD).

My biggest gripe has been the contrast ratio... however, I was able to correct it for the most part via the nVidia CP by adjusting the gamma, contrast, brightness and saturation. It's acceptable for gaming but it's certainly no were near a professional workstation monitor... but then again, a professional workstation monitor is no where near a 120hz when it comes to fast paced games.

You can get a few 22" 16:10 120hz displays still, I believe, but you'd have to downgrade the size if you want to keep the 16:10 ratio. Other than that, good luck on your purchase. If you have any questions, just ask. Most IPS panels are great, but once you use the 120hz inside a game, you're going to wonder how you lived without it. :)
 
thesecond said:
So my beloved dell 2408wfp died on monday. Inverter blew, and I do not have the technology to repair it for at least a month. So in this case, i have considered buying a new 24-ish inch screen, and i cannot decide if i want to go with a 3d capable screen or not.

My most important use for my screen is gaming, specifically Battlefield BC2, so i need something with a good response time. Now reviews say the 2408WFP had a bad response time, but i had the A02 firmware version, and it I managed to do very well in battlefield, without any deaths being noticeably blamable on screen-lag.

As for the rest of the uses, i like watching movies, and i enjoyed the colour and wide viewing angles of my dell.

So. Price range approx $300-400 cdn. Size, MOST preferably 24" (dont want to downsize). Also i prefer a 16:10 aspect ratio for 2-d, i realize 3-d only comes 16:9.
And well, it sucks venturing away from the cute adjustable stand, usb hub and card readers all over my dell, but if i have to do it, i can.

Thanks for any suggestions. All help is welcome. I have read the 3-d thread and the panel type thread, so i have a basic understanding, but could not find any advice that i could apply specifically to myself.
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Here are my thoughts on 3D. Got my 3D setup on Friday and have been playing BC2 all weekend.

My current rig is 980X 6GB DDR3- 2000Mhz, SLIx2 480 GTX Dell 3008FPW LCD

I swapped the Dell LCD for Acer GD245HQ for 3D.

3D on BC2 is ok but not great.3D effects dont really pop out. Maybe my depth was too low. I did put it at 50% but still it was ok..not jaw dropping. My biggest gripe is that the screen is now much darker, so its much harder to see the enemy. Even with my rig BC2 dips to 30fps in 3D mode when there are 32 players. Reaction time is slower in 3D.
The Acer is a decent monitor and input lag in NOT really noticeable.

In 2D the Acer is superb, the 120Hz really makes playing BC2 smooth compared to my DELL. Only gripe is that fps varies between 50-120 where as on my DELL it was 60 all the time. To my surprise going from 30" to 23.6" didnt really bother me. I sit about 2 ft away.

In conclusion. I spent more time playing in 2D than 3D. 3D hurt my eyes after while because it was so dark and I was not happy with the frame rate.

Still debating whether to go back to my DELL because normal web browsing looks much better but BC2 looks great in 2D on the Acer.

Like people have said, there is no perfect LCD. For now I will be staying away from 3D.
 
3D is more of gimmick to me. I will never be interested in 3D unless it is a Holodeck. :)
 
3d will lower your skill in any game. Tried 3d for a few days, returned glasses to the store. Myth that 3d is the next big thing: Busted!
 
3D has 2 problems with online shooters:
1) it effectively halves the monitors 120hz refresh rate to 60hz.
2) it pretty well halves fps - the more fps you have the easier it is too shoot stuff.

On the plus side it improves depth perception - which is great for projectile weapons. Playing ut2004 in 3D (which is a good test because even in 3d I get lots of fps) hitscan is harder (2D 120hz ftw) but shooting people with rockets or flak or goop is easier. Unfortunately for 3D in that game hitscan > all.

Perhaps the solution is to have 240hz monitor and even faster card so I can play in 3D at 120hz :)

So is 3D bad? Well the same argument can be made for eye-infinity or even just having a big monitor. In these games you'd be better of throwing away your fancy monitors and buying a relatively small CRT and playing at 300fps then anything else, but as we all know there's more to gaming then that.

There are plenty of games that aren't online shooters and in those assuming you can get the fps, and the game is designed to work with 3D then they are just better in 3D imo.
 
I will get a 3D monitor when I can get a 2560x1440 IPS or OLED. At that point I will probably be living in the floating city of New Chicago. The bandwidth issue should be resolved with DisplayPort 1.2 but god knows when that will be adopted widely. nVidia needs to start putting DP ports on their cards already. I'm not sure if it is at all possible to have a 3D IPS panel. There aren't any right now obviously, but maybe they'll figure it out, or we can just wait for OLED, which has negligible refresh times.

Honestly, at this point 3D gaming is kind of a gimmick, movies are cool, but wearing the nVidia glasses for hours, I don't know... I would much rather go with quality, like the U2711
 
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