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Until recently, owning an LCD monitor was not something a hard-core gamer or movie buff would ever admit to in public. The colours were poor, the viewing angles atrocious and the blur was so bad characters streaked past like ghosts. They weren't exactly the perfect conditions for running down dark corridors with 'the Big Frickin Gun' and a swarm of trigger-happy bad guys.
But, after years of playing 'mine's bigger than yours', LCD makers started bragging about how fast their monitors were. Talk of inches gave way to talk of milliseconds, measuring the time it takes for a screen pixel to change from white to black and back again. With the release of 8ms monitors even uber-gamers began to wonder if it was worth lugging their trusty CRT monitor to LAN parties anymore.
Back in March we saw the first crop of 8ms displays. They were pricey, and few existed. But now that prices have dropped and 4ms panels have hit the market too, even the most strident CRT fans must be tempted. But is it still a case of display quality being bypassed as monitor builders head remorselessly towards a need for speed? We threw open the Lab doors, calling on LCD monitor builders to put forward their champion 8ms or less monitor to take on all comers. Of the nine that entered the area, only one would leave victorious - and the results were at times surprising. Does size matter? Is bigger always better? And does a hefty price tag reflect performance? Read on to find out.
| Products in this Lab |
Rating |
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105
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99 |
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|
99 |
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103 |
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95 |
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94 |
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105 |
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105 |
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99 |
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