Hyundai ImageQuest L90D+

...took the plunge with the Hyundai Imagequest 19" L90D+.

Why this model? Another online gamer friend had been recommending the L90D+ after having had some very interesting and educational experiences with other models. When you're making an expensive buying cholce like this it's good to know such things. Let me tell you his experience, therefore, as there are a few vital tips to be learned.

Gamers are those likeliest ...
...So my friend bought a Hyundai monitor advertised at Overclockers.co.uk as being capable of blur free gaming with a 12ms refresh rate. Only when he went on Quake 3 there was blur aplenty and he was very disappointed. A lot of more modern games, perhaps tweaked to work well with LCDs, were much better, but Quake 3 - a favourite for many of us gamers - was blurred.

Overclockers were unhelpful as was the customer support for Hyundai in ... more

My first review on Ciao was on my big Iiama CRT monitor: http://www.ciao.co.uk/Iiyama_Vision_Master_Pro_513__Review_5448758 and, basically, I said there that it was fantastic but had a huge footprint. In other words, it had a big clear picture but also took up enough deskspace to build a small city.

After a couple of years, I sold the 22" Iiayma to online Quake 3 buddies who are delighted with it, and took the plunge with the Hyundai Imagequest 19" L90D+.

Why this model? Another online gamer friend had been recommending the L90D+ after having had some very interesting and educational experiences with other models. When you're making an expensive buying cholce like this it's good to know such things. Let me tell you his experience, therefore, as there are a few vital tips to be learned.

Gamers are those likeliest to suffer the problem of ghosting. Fast movement on LCD monitors has traditionally produced blurring. Spin round in a room to acquire a target and there is motion blur. You've seen it in photographs of moving objects, I'm sure. It's the last thing you want in a game!

This problem doesn't occur on CRT monitors like the Iiyama I mentioned, above. The refresh rate of the picture is just too fast for the eye to detect so the pictures stay sharp even if you're diving off a ledge with a plasmagun blazing.

However, with LCD monitors the technology is different and the refresh rate is slower. On some monitors a 25ms or more will guarantee lots of motion blur. If you go into a big store to choose your monitor, annoyingly, this refresh rate will not be displayed on the info and price card. Amazing and quite dreadful considering how vital this is for gamers.

What you need is a fast refresh rate. So my friend bought a Hyundai monitor advertised at Overclockers.co.uk as being capable of blur free gaming with a 12ms refresh rate. Only when he went on Quake 3 there was blur aplenty and he was very disappointed. A lot of more modern games, perhaps tweaked to work well with LCDs, were much better, but Quake 3 - a favourite for many of us gamers - was blurred.

Overclockers were unhelpful as was the customer support for Hyundai in the UK. However, after some stiff letters to the German distributors, my friend was sent an apology and a nice new Hyundai Imagequest L90D+. Now - this is important, because whereas his original model which was incorrectly advertised as being 'blur free' when it evidently wasn't, was a 12ms refresh rate model, the L90D+ was an 8ms model.

Faster is better with refresh rates and the performance of the L90D+ proved to be much better. Is it completely blur free? No - not really, but on most games it is, and it is really only on a game with a Quake 3 engine that it is even possible to detect any ghosting, and having seen it on my friend's, I was only too happy to buy one myself.

Viewsonic are producing a 4ms model intended to ship in the UK in August, I believe, but as they ignored two emails I sent to their sales support departments, I decided not to wait to see if this was the case. Clearly, if the refresh rate is 4ms then the gamer should experience even more clarity from this monitor. However, looking at reviews and tests on Tomshardware, I read that, in fact, manufacturers' reported refresh rates often lie, A monitor might claim to be 8ms and actually be closer to 20! Not comforting news, I'm sure you'll agree.

So, faced with all this information I had to make a decision. I chose to buy the L90D+ because I had tried it on my machine, and found that Novatech were a fairly quick and reliable supplier. I ordered online and it arrived in four days.

One other serious concern I'd had about this - or any LCD - monitor was about dead pixels. There is a general policy of only replacing monitors if they have three (and with some companies more) dead pixels. Although common sense might dictate that we, as consumers, should be within our rights to expect products to be perfect, it appears that with LCD monitors this is not the case. Read the small print from the manufacturers and you'll see that this is so. Then the risk is yours to take or not. Reviews of the Hyundai Imagequest L90D+ that I had read, and also one or two of the Benq equvalent 8ms product, mentioned dead pixels. I have to admit, I was worried. Maybe you are more laid back and would be able to ignore a couple of black or green dots on your new screen, but I know I'd have been staring at them, mortified, for months to come. Fortunately, I could see straight away that I'd been fortunate with the one I had. There are no dead pixels at all.

(This is a later insert. In fact, there is a dead pixel. Very small indeed but a bit irritating).

The Hyundai Imagequest L09D+ has speakers built in though I've had no cause to test them, having floor standing Eltax hi-fi speakers and a big amplifier. A vital consideration is that it is light enough to pick up and manipulate with one hand. This is a fantastic plus. Moving my Iiyama 22" CRT was like trying to lug a giant televsion around. I had to have the desk a foot away from the wall just to fit it on so that a keyboard and mouse had room to accompany it. The Hyundai has a stand with a rounded base no more than 18cm from front to back, and could even be wall mounted.

The screen size is slightly less than my old CRT though that only had about 20" viewable whereas LCD screens go right to the edge making the actual picture bigger than a CRT with the same screen-size specification. I think I lost about a centimetre or so on the overall picture size that I can actually see. Given the gain in desk real estate, this is not a problem at all.

This model has a DVI direct digital connection to link it to the graphics card although the older type RGB is also supplied. Some LCDs as you shop around may seem cheaper and otherwise the same. Check that this isn't because they're a model which doesn't have the DVI socket. A monitor with DVI will operate at 60mhz whereas you may have to go up to 75mhz with an RGB connection. The maximum resolution is 1280x1024. That's the one I was using before I changed to LCD.

The colours look great to me and the whole picture seems bright and responsive. I've read reviews about comparative DVD performance between monitors but all I can say is that I find myself engrossed in movies on it, not trying to find anything wrong with the quality.

Photographs look clear and detailed, and obviously, anyone only needing to use a monitor for the internet and a home office is going to find this monitor wonderful. Nit-picking about refresh rates won't even be an issue for them.

I think that with monitors of this quality available at a little over 300 pounds online, the CRT's days are numbered. The better CRTs will still outperform LCDs but the gap is closing very quickly and given the aesthetic improvement to my deskspace - and indeed my whole computer room - I'm pleased overall with this very carefully considered buying decision.

The Hyundai Imagequest L90D+ comes with a three years onsite guarantee. I bought mine from Novatech where - as I write - they are selling it for £292.57 inc vat. Allow for the cost of delivery and you're looking at around the £300 mark for a very nice piece of equipment. 

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