Is This a good PC Gaming Monitor ?

[umanfly]

Hello,
I am about to purchase this HP LD4200 42-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor for my PC , and i want some feedback please on the Pros and Cons of the Idea . I do regular browsing on the PC as well as watch TV and do gaming too . The Monitor has a 9ms response time and is rated at 60HZ . The Specs are here ( http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13210_na/13210_na.pdf ) Any further input is welcome

 

[joerge]

@ 1920 x 1080 native resolution your looking at a good option, 120hz over 60hz would be a target feature if you looking into 3d gaming down the road,

42 might be a bit big for my taste but then again you might be sitting far away etc etc,

overall if it floats your boat go for it, 9ms is decent on a screen of that size but most common is 5 and under for monitors targeted for gaming, imho you have to be really picky about that sort of stuff to even notice though, cheers.

 

[hang-the-9]

That's actually an LCD TV, not really a "Monitor". I'd see it in person before spending the money on it as a gaming platform to make sure there is no ghosting in games and there is no responce lag. TVs use hardware to make movies play better, but the same thing will not always work for all type of inputs.

 

[umanfly]

And Just what is the difference between a HDTV and a monitor?
While it is true that the line between the two is narrowing there is a difference. There are two main differences, a tuner and the resolutions. In order to be considered a HDTV or a TV for that matter the display must include a tuner, traditionally this meant a NTSC tuner, but today ATSC tuners are also required on most TVs and soon all TVs will require a ATSC tuner to get the name TV.

Tuners aside there is still a distinct difference, between a computer display and a HDTV. When the PC just got started (or an Apple) you could use a TV as a monitor, but they quickly learned that interlaced tubes are terrible for reading text, so progressive scan displays became the norm, so along came VGA which has the same resolution as an SDTV; 640x480, but progressive. This obviously wasn't enough and NEC released the first multiscan display that supported multiple resolutions. (I am drastically simplifying this time line) Next came flat panel displays that were fixed pixels so they used scallers to emulate the multiscan functionality (this is why LCD monitors almost never look great unless they are set to their native resolution). Early CRT based HDTVs were also multiscan; supporting 480i, 480p and 1080i (yes all natively). Before the days of widescreen, both TVs and computer monitors had a 4:3 aspect ratio, but what many don't realize is that HDTV and widescreen computer monitors are not both 16:9, while HDTVs are 16:9 most widescreen computer monitors are 16:10 and HDTVs are usually either 1280x720 or 1920x1080 -- widescreen computer monitors are usually 1440x990 or 1680x1050, but of course there are many more 16:10 resolutions supported and some aren't really 16:10 because the pixels are not always square.

Almost all fixed pixel HDTVs have scallers in them, which allows them to support multiple input resolutions so in addition to the normal HDTV or native resolutions they also support many computer resolutions, but unlike computer monitors they are 16:9 and as mentioned earlier they include a tuner.

So does the HP LD4200 42-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor have a Tuner ?
Check the specs . No ! Because its a Monitor !

 

[jaguarskx]

The HP LD4200 is a large format monitor.

Be aware, I do not believe this monitor comes with a stand because large format monitors are generally meant to be mounted on walls. Therefore, you will need to purchase a stand if you do not intend on mounting it to the wall.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm still going to be picky with wording 🙂 Monitor = http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=20&name=LCD-Monitors, 32" or less, high resolution.

Large Format Display = http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=633&name=Large-Format-Display, just at or over "Monitor" size, lower resolution, many missing a Tuner.

Large Foramt Display, more things in common with a TV than a Monitor (resolution, size, screen technology, don't know if they make a large display with ISP pannels, but I'm guessing it would be very very pricy, but most have inputs same as a high-end Monitor, mounting methods, usage.)

It's like people when they say Hub or Switch. Many people, especialy non-network people, use them interchangably, yet they are very different.

To me, that pannel is not a "Monitor" but a "Large Format Display" which I lazely called a TV, which is what it basically is minus the tuner.

But I still don't know how good it is for gaming hehe, so I guess aside from picking on your word use, you can ignore my posts 🙂

 

[jaguarskx]

It's like people when they say Hub or Switch. Many people, especialy non-network people, use them interchangably, yet they are very different.

I prefer using words like "thingy", "whatchamacallit", "do-dad", "that POS" for those things.

 

[anomaly1964]

I purchased on Saturday and am LOVING it!

I say it's a monitor because...the font looked great right out of the box for web browsing at native resolution, no tweaking was necessary at all...

I tried MANY TVS, set aspect to 1:1, to JUST, to GAME, web browsing never looked right, well on the LD4200 it does!

And gaming...SICK COOL!

I DID have to order a stand for it, on its way!

 

[umanfly]

Thanks Anomaly1964 for your reply ,

Its been several weeks since your purchase , so how about an update .....

What i want to know is how is the quality of a bluray dvd as you may be used to on this monitor ?

Your pics pretty much have me convinced , but for hi res dvds , the answer is where my final clincher will be .

 

[umanfly]

Ok i had a time line in which to decide ...and that i did .

I bought my hp LD4200 from Tiger direct 2 weeks ago .....i had it shipped 2 day by fed ex .....Damn if the thing didnt show up by UPS 2ND Day ....The packaging was enough to get it here , but i was amazed it wasnt damaged . In any case it looks great and plays as a normal as my Dell Widescreen digital monitor would .

I use the wordpad in windows normally with no distortion , amd use all my text editing software as i did on my dell 32 inch monitor . Gees what can i say.....I have mine located in the Living Room with my computer on the side of the TV Stand . My PS3 is hidden in the cabinet and connected to my sony hdmi reciever . The Resolution for all is 1920 x 1080 . Windows 7 64 found the drivers right off ...and then the update a week later revised them .

Clarity with both my VELOCITY 64 BIT windows 7 unit , and the PS3 is Top notch with no distortion especially gaming with Steam Games . I couldnt be happier....

Well then again i could if i had chosen the 47 inch unit for 300 bucks more....i might be ,but maybe in a year or 2 ill get a 55 inch to boot .

I highly reccomend this unit for Gaming . Im running the following games on Steam and through the HP LD4200 ( Silent Hunter 3 , MLB2K11 , NBA2K10 AND 11 , Metro 2033 , Stalker Shadow of Chernoble wih many mods , Grid , Blur , Grand Theft Auto 3 , F1 2010 , DIRT , DIRT 2 , DOOM 3 ,DEAD SPACE , BORDERLANDS , Battlefield Cmany 2 , and Finally ....Batman Arkham Asylum Goty Edition .

Its Top Notch Dudes !

 

[trog69]

That's some nice graphics. I've never seen gaming on a large screen before, although we have a WII/55" setup for the kids/grandkids, there's no Fallout3/Borderlands examples to compare with my personal rig with a 24" monitor. So, this is the kind of info I need to learn about before I decide on an upgrade; larger-screen vs multiple screens.

I won't have to go as large as your new screen, but now I know that I can definitely live with one if the opportunity presents itself, and although I have a nice AMD card(after x-fire) to run multiple mons. I'm leaning towards a good 32" instead.