Hi I currently have a view sonic 17 inch that ive had for about the last three years.... Well Lately ive been wanting to get a new nice flat panel LCD. I also mainly play the RTS game starcraft but would like to play perhaps newer games like Halflife 2. Any way i was telling my freind about this and he said unless i got a very highend Flat pannel LCD (400+ dollars) I would have bad what he called Ghosting effects while playing new fps's? what is this ? is it true and how much would it happpen?

Your friend is right about needing a quality LCD flat panel for fast gaming.

Response time is the important feature. It's measured in milliseconds (ms) and the smaller the value the better the response time. For gaming or watching videos you really need a resonse time of 16ms or better.

Ghosting happens with fast moving objects and it's like an instant repeat of the object like a ghost shadow.

Overall though, LCD's are far superior to CRT monitors. They're much easier on the eyes, they take up a lot less room and use much less power.

You'll definitly have a problem with ghosting if the screen is dark with one bright object thats moving fast. I have a sub $300 19" LCD right now and when the screen is dark it ghosts. Personaly, I don't mind the ghosting because I am not much of a gamer myself, but it might annoy you. I actually like the ghosting (yes I know, I'm wierd...) .

Even if you have the newest monitors doesn't mean you had the latest one. Ghosting effects happens on older monitors where their FPS are alot slower, as there is latency in the monitor itself. Lastest monitors now gives 8ms responds time, which is perfect for gaming.

Another problem about older LCD monitors is that they imprints an image on the monitor itself. You can see those imprints/enbossments on the screen even when the monitors are turned off. I forgot the cause of this problem but I've encountered it on my notebook after I played a game called Command and Conquer Generals.

You can find more about the monitors at this site...
You won't know so much about monitors after visiting...
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/monitor.htm

Well thanks guys. I learned alot. However I was at school the other day and noticed that a bunch of the teachers had brand new 19 flat panel LCDs I noticed they were princetons i think and they said they paid 300 for them at costco and i was wondering would there be ghosting on those? because they looked really nice but then again they werent running halflife 2 eather. Because that sounds like a really good price for a 19 inch. ANd if that monitor will ghost can u direct me to some that wont?

No..
i think now technologies have solved the ghosting effects or shadows.

and the lcd 's price is not so expensive..one good lcd's price just as the same as a good 19'inch CRT..

i mean the good Lcd,if you wanna play the fps or 3d game just buy the lag time is "2mms" or " 8mms" but not "12mms"

Does this "ghoesting effect" only occur on TFT's..

because my CRT monitor is around 4-5 years old ..which is pretty outdated ? right ?
and i have not expeirienced ghosting ever on it.
About the images staying on the screen....i belive this is when you have a still screen..and the edges or somthing get burned onto the panel..or at least thats what ive heard..and thats why screensavers were invented .

Razor, these "ghosting effects" and "screen embossment" only affect the older versions of flat screen monitors, LCD screens and plasma screens. The latest screens have improved and these problems were already eliminated.

You can already buy these monitors with peace..

I had the same problem , and I solved it with a new video card.
My old card was a Geforce MX 440 (pretty old).

With a CRT no problems.
With a 17" LCD there was a ghost image on it.

Try to plug it in on an other (more recent) computer.