Recommendations for an LCD to replace my Acer?

A

andrewanimation

New Member
Hello,

I've had a 24" Acer AL2423W LCD monitor for a few months now, but my eyes have been very sore very often from its use.

I did everything people suggested to me, such as making sure the contrast is okay, decreasing the brightness to a comfortable level, making sure the room lighting is good, making sure it's at a low enough level, avoiding reflections, closing my eyes for 5 minutes every hour, etc., but then I read about refresh rates, learning that 60Hz is a low refresh rate, while 75-85Hz is recommended. I checked, and my monitor could only support 60Hz. I would sometimes notice the flickering, too. I e-mailed Acer, but they said, 'The native refresh that the monitor supports is 60Hz . This cannot be changed.'

I bought this monitor only because I really liked its size when I saw it at a friend's house, but I probably should've asked around on forums like this for recommendations before purchasing an LCD. I was wondering if I could get recommendations for which LCD to replace my Acer with. The only features I know of that I'd like after owning this one are:

At least 24"
Preferably capable of as high as 85Hz
A low level, or capable of raising and lowering to a low enough level
A good value, hopefully around $500-700

Thank you=)
 
For a look at the 24" lcds at newegg including one Acer model which I'm sure you will skip over while scrolling like I would here as well, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010190020+1309821328&name=24%22

The one thing about lcds and their main disadvantage is not being able to lower the contrast and brightness settings anywhere near the amount you could on a crt type. THe crystal clarity of what is displayed has always been the plus side while glare espeically late at night is where you have to walk away and see spots at times.

On the page seen at newegg on the link there scroll down to the bottom to see two Viewsonic models. Another to sort out the better models is to look at those with the fastest response times. Nec has a weidescreen model there if widescreen is preferred.
 
Hey there,

You should read this:

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/pcperipherals/0,39051168,39038800-2,00.htm

The fourth paragraph is about refresh rates. 60Hz isn't low for an LCD, but it would cause flicker in a CRT. Did you check what you were reading to verify that it was about LCD monitors?


Your Acer is 24 inches and has a brightness rating of 500 cd/m2 whereas the standard is 300 cd/m2. It also has a contrast ratio of 1000:1; contrast ratios range from about 500:1 to 3000:1 in LCDs. 3000:1 is best. I think any monitor that big would hurt my eyes, but everyone is different with that. Don't blame your refresh rate though.


edit: Here's another explanation that seems a little better to me:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate

"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. Pertaining to LCDs, see also response time and Input lag."


As for your stand, look into something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FLXW90/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_0/105-3291560-7329234

..instead of buying a 600 dollar piece of equipment based on its factory stand. That'd be like buying a processor based on its factory heat sink.

Hope that helps.
 
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Refresh rates also depends on what the video card itself supports. Lcds can often run with as low as a 45hz setting while crts are often set as high as 85-90 for gaming at the lower resolutions. XP or Vista will even set a 17" or 19" lcd to either 1024x 768 or even 1280x1024 when loading to the desktop for the first time with just the vga drivers they carry.

Many will avoid Acer altogether having seen their own problems with that brand. Out of the models seen there on the link NEC, LG, Viewsonic, and BenQ top the list over the others. NEC and Viewsonic are favored here.
 
I just looked at the 24" inch monitors and some of what I said in my first reply is apparently inaccurate:

I guess 500 cd/m2 is standard for the larger monitors. I prefer a 19" wide and almost all of those are 300 cd/m2 so I just figured it was universal.

However, what I said about refresh rates on LCDs is definitely true.

I have an LG - 3000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time, and 300 cd/m2 brightness and I love it, but I guess its specs aren't really comparable to a 24" because they have to be built differently (a 24" LG has similar specs to your Acer).

I've never owned an Acer monitor, but I haven't heard anything good about them.
 
A few here have argued about Acer being better then BenQ, Viewsonic, NEC, LG, and some others. But then you never see Acer in their sigs! :rolleyes:

For a 19" even BenQ has a 19" model with the low response time. Under 8ms is good for a gaming system. But you also have to look at other things as well.
 
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