using external monitor, how do i avoid input lag?

I'm in the market for a 24" 1920x1080 monitor but am having a hard time sifting through the options. Does anyone have a recommendation for a 24" monitor that is known to NOT have input lag? Is this even an issue anymore with modern displays?

 

What do you mean by input lag? There is no lag (well maybe in picoseconds) due to a display.

 

As long as your external monitor is hooked up via a cable (and not somehow wirelessly, if that's even possible), then input lag is a non-issue. Think of it this way - every desktop uses a monitor "externally", and there is no issue with input lag there.

 

In some of my searches I've come across concerns from people saying larger displays experience "input lag" where there's a slight delay in response from input to what's translated onscreen. I'd never heard of it before but have been out of the hardware loop for awhile. People who experience it liken it to adding 40-50ms ping response delay when playing a FPS, for example.

Assuming this is a non-issue, anyone have a recommendation for a quality 24" display for <$400? Are the cheap sub-$200 TN panel 24" displays decent for gaming if I'm not viewing from off angles?

 

No lag. I've never heard that before. There can be input lag due to vsync where the video card syncs frames with your monitor, which is an issue with 3D games. But nothing to do with the monitor. There is also response time, which much older LCD's could suffer from some blur due to slow response times, which may seem like lag, but anything 16ms or faster is fine for gaming. I have a Dell 24" 2407WFP which is a Samsung PVA panel, has 16ms response, but absolutely no issues with gaming, and PVA panels apparently are the worse culprits for ghosting or blurring, and I don't notice anything.

TN panels are fine. No they aren't top of the line, but for general purpose use they are pefectly fine. It all depends on how picky you are.

 

Maybe they mean the millisecond rating. Like 2ms as opposed to 5ms on some monitors. Just make sure its at least 2ms. The less the better.

 

Pretty sure they weren't talking about response times. But, sounds like it's a non-issue. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't an issue with current displays. Maybe I'll start a separate thread for 24" monitor recommendations.

 

there is onput lag on monitors. check here. read some of the reviews and look at the data in the FACE-OFF section. tells you a lot. i went with an acer H243hx after months of review hunting due to its good contrast ratio, full HD, 24inch, good colour accuracy (other than standard TN panel problems, obviously) low lag times, and low input lag.

seems a bit strange people measure response times of a monitor and winge about a panel being 5ms instead of 2ms when most peoples internet ping is up at 30-60....

 

Ok, that's due to response time, that's what's meant by lag.

Most TN panels have low response times <5ms usually.

Like I said I have a Samsung VA panel with 16ms response, but it hasn't affected my gameplay. Or maybe that's why I'm so bad with Bad Company 2. LOL.

Edit: Just did a quick search on my monitor and seems it has 6ms grey-to-grey, but 16ms black-white. Isn't the grey response time typically what is listed in a monitor's specs?

 

One thing to note is to stay away from converters. Gaming on a CRT for years with twitch-skill games like Q3 and CS has made me very susceptible to even the tiniest of lag and have reason to believe my current DVI-to-VGA converter is responsible for this.

 

Yes, they usually list the response time as something like "5 ms GTG", GTG being gray-to-gray.

 

I mean, many specs only list just "response time", and don't specify. I'm assuming it'd be GTG because a 6ms BWB would be phenomenally fast.

I'm using a DVI KVM too between two PC's and that hasn't had any adverse effect either.