Top 4 Gaming Monitors

A gamer spends a lot of money on building his monstrous rig with heavy graphic cards and state of the art mice and keyboard. But the monitor is actually the most important link in the chain, as that’s where one sees all the action. A good gaming monitor is still very much any high quality LCD monitor, but it needs to have certain features like lower response time and very good detail in minute parts. In fact, the response rate is perhaps the single most important factor to consider. Of course also it needs to be bright, and have checker board contrast, as games these days have some serious gradients in light and dark, with most of the action happening in dark. Thus lets a look at some good LCD monitors that can be used for gaming on a PC, or also connected to a console.

BenQ V2200 LED backlit monitor.
Rs.14,999

This new monitor has impressed us so much; it surely deserves a mention for a gaming setup. There is a 24 inch version also available that too can be used. Basic features include full HD 1920 x 1080 panel, thus 16:9 ratio. Brightness is 250 nits, but don’t go by rating. Response time is low at 5 ms. The panel is a TN, thus viewing angles are not the best. But the one thing that is superb is the brightness. Albeit it’s overwhelming most times, if carefully reigned in through calibration, one can get really good contrasting image, with quite deep blacks. Our settings include brightness at about 29, and contrast way up at 85. The sharpness too is very good, our Displaymate’s single pixel line’s test were pin point clear.

Viewsonic VX2233wm LCD
Rs. 12,500

This Viewsonic is good for those on a budget, but there is a 2433 version that’s 24 inches. It’s not the best performer in terms of contrast, but we clearly remember while reviewing, that the motion and sharpness performance was brilliant. Very clean and also not much backlight bleed around the corners. As for rated specs we have 21.5 inch diagonal size, while the native res is 1920 x 1080, 16:9 aspect ratio.  Response time is 5 ms (on-off), while brightness is rated at 300 cd/m2. The contrast is rated at 1000:1 static, and 18,000:1 dynamic. The panel, we are assuming, is a TN panel judging by price, viewing angles etc.

Alienware OptX  AW2210
Rs. 16,500

This one is for the hardcore gamer, and those guys know Alienware for sure. A part of Dell, this 21.5-inch monitor has dual HDMI ports, the only one in this list to have it; which is really useful to plug in both console and PC. The response time is also 2 ms gray to gray, a very healthy rating. Another good point is the Tilt, Swivel and Height Adjustable Stand. It’s a TN panel, with a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, and 300 nit brightness with 80,000:1 dynamic contrast. It's a little expensive for a 21 incher, but the brand always commanded a premium.

Samsung Syncmaster 2033SW LCD Monitor
Rs. 7,550

This is a smaller screen at 20 inches wide. The back panel is fancier than the front. We have little flowers etched out, or rather magnified snowflake patterns all around.  The resolution is 1600 x 900, so no full HD here. The brightness is 300 cd/m2, while contrast is rated at 15,000:1 dynamic and 1000:1 native. Response time is at 5 ms (gray to gray). There are quite a few presets available in the brightness/contrast section, for Movie, text, Game etc. Speaking of contrast and brightness, this monitor definitely is bright enough to impress, and moreover we had a nice response to color as there was a good amount of neutrality in all 3 primary shades. Again the best part is the high quality detail rendering. This monitor has no input lag problems or any of the sort.