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Monitor awesomeness discussion.
azith28
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi all,
about 8 years ago I picked up this monitor:
the Dell 2405FPW
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/2405fpw/en/about.htm#Specifioications
It is an amazing monitor, and still working fine after all this time. 1920x1200 native resolution was incredible back then. At one time i had my ps3, 2 computers, TV signal and a wii going to the 5 different available 'channels' (I used my computers sound card to provide sound jacks for these since it didnt have speakers) Soon after i got it, Dell stepped down the features on its 24" monitors, removing the composite, component, card readers, multiple channels, and started selling a very basic model with a hdmi and dvi with a lower native resolution. I snubbed my nose at these knockoffs for a long time, but ive been pondering moving to a 27", and while its doing great now, 8 years is a fairly long time for a monitor, and I fear the day i turn it on and it doesnt respond.
I know dell has a few different 27" monitors but im not up to date on what i should be expecting. 2560 x 1440 ,one of the models says this is its native resolution, but what is the 'baseline standard' that i should be comparing other 27" monitors to?
I've seen some of dell and samsungs more recent monitors in stores and they have a very glossy front, which i find annoying as it seems like it would have serious glare problems. The one mentioned above never did, is the glossy front more of an LED thing (instead of LCD) ?
Whats the difference between these two monitors (Besides 300 bucks):
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=soho&cs=ussoho1&sku=225-4015&~ck=dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=1
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=soho&cs=ussoho1&sku=225-4148&~ck=dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=2
The tech specs seem identical except for a few additional connection options in the back...is that all thats different?
Who's currently at the top of the quality heap for monitors? I see alot of samsung in stores along side dells and its really hit or miss for me which one looks better. I really wish places like best buy would display something in high def instead of a crappy low def tv show to really show quality.
Any other brands and models i should be looking closely at?
Thanks for the input.
about 8 years ago I picked up this monitor:
the Dell 2405FPW
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/2405fpw/en/about.htm#Specifioications
It is an amazing monitor, and still working fine after all this time. 1920x1200 native resolution was incredible back then. At one time i had my ps3, 2 computers, TV signal and a wii going to the 5 different available 'channels' (I used my computers sound card to provide sound jacks for these since it didnt have speakers) Soon after i got it, Dell stepped down the features on its 24" monitors, removing the composite, component, card readers, multiple channels, and started selling a very basic model with a hdmi and dvi with a lower native resolution. I snubbed my nose at these knockoffs for a long time, but ive been pondering moving to a 27", and while its doing great now, 8 years is a fairly long time for a monitor, and I fear the day i turn it on and it doesnt respond.
I know dell has a few different 27" monitors but im not up to date on what i should be expecting. 2560 x 1440 ,one of the models says this is its native resolution, but what is the 'baseline standard' that i should be comparing other 27" monitors to?
I've seen some of dell and samsungs more recent monitors in stores and they have a very glossy front, which i find annoying as it seems like it would have serious glare problems. The one mentioned above never did, is the glossy front more of an LED thing (instead of LCD) ?
Whats the difference between these two monitors (Besides 300 bucks):
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=soho&cs=ussoho1&sku=225-4015&~ck=dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=1
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=soho&cs=ussoho1&sku=225-4148&~ck=dellSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=2
The tech specs seem identical except for a few additional connection options in the back...is that all thats different?
Who's currently at the top of the quality heap for monitors? I see alot of samsung in stores along side dells and its really hit or miss for me which one looks better. I really wish places like best buy would display something in high def instead of a crappy low def tv show to really show quality.
Any other brands and models i should be looking closely at?
Thanks for the input.
Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
0
Posts
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=9579&seq=1&format=6#faq
The big difference between the 2 Dells is color accuracy. If you're editing photos for print it might be worth the extra, but for most people it's not.
They're all 1080p no matter the size, so as you go bigger, your DPI gets worse and you basically get nothing out of it.
The only displays that legitimately go above 60 hz have TN panels that drastically distort colors as the viewing angle changes. Drastically enough so that being directly aligned with the center of the display means that the gamma curve at the top and bottom of the screen are noticeably different.
Then there's some panels only taking 6-bit color input. On it's own it's no big deal, but with the gamma curve changes from looking at your display off-center it becomes easy to see dithering patterns emerge.
There's a big marketing aspect to what they advertise as "response time", which hasn't been an issue for over 10 years now.
There's a wide range of shady 27-inch 2560x1440 korean monitors that can be bought for relatively cheap ($400-ish), as long as you don't mind not having any warranty at all and buying from some stranger on e-bay. But hey, they all have the same decent IPS panel manufactured by LG, which technically goes up to 120hz even though the rest of the monitor hardware only goes up to 60hz (at least officially). If I had the space in my room as well as a good enough desktop PC, that's what I would go with. It's by far the cheapest option to get past the 1080p barrier without having to spend $800+ (I would've said "least expensive", but in this case the word cheapest fully applies).
Basically, for desktop displays you have to pick between 120hz (which I find to be drastically better than 60hz for certain games), or IPS for color reproduction / gamma that is much better for professional graphic artist work.
These days with windows 8 offering a touch interface, touchscreen displays are becoming the new gimmick in tech conventions. But there's a positive side to it. If you touch a TN monitor, the colors go out of whack. As such, practically every touch screen device has an IPS screen (which means better color and true 8-bit).
At the moment, I'm using a laptop with a 17" 1080p display, which I've "overclocked" to run at 100hz through the NVidia control panel. The funny thing is, you could notice that USB mouse run at 125hz since for every four step your mouse pointer would make, it would leave a gap / move twice as much on the next frame. Even though it's got a higher DPI than any widely available desktop display (I think it's at 160 dpi if I'm not mistaken), text feels somewhat blocky and isn't nearly as nice to read as text on my smartphone. And of course it's a 6-bit TN display with a noticeable fixed dithering pattern. Dark scenes in netflix movies with the room's lights off look horrible. When a game goes into full-screen mode and drops down to 60 hz, I immediately notice it within one second of moving my mouse pointer around.
I'm strongly considering getting a Microsoft Surface Pro computer so that I can get what's basically the best possible DPI on an x86-compatible PC. It's 1080p like everything else, but in a 10.6" form factor. Plus, it's IPS, so it'll have significantly better color reproduction than my current laptop and smartphone do. That, and it has a stylus. I love drawing, even if I'm terrible at it. I'm worried that the touch keyboard and the pen might have some input lag, but there's no way to tell until I get the thing. Being limited to 60hz on a stylus device doesn't matter as much as on a desktop PC, since the physical thing essentially replaces your mouse pointer, and that thing doesn't have a refresh rate.
That being said, I'm very happy with my ASUS VH238, given the very reasonable price I paid. Colors are suitably vivid, no reflection problems, etc. It's base is terrifically simplistic, with one point of rotation, but hey. Perhaps the most convenient aspect is that, with my PC connected via a long DVI cable to my HDTV, I can duplicate screens perfectly.
Anybody have any suggestions on where to start research on what to get next? I've basically ignored all monitor news for the last five years. Argh.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=9579&seq=1&format=1#largeimage&ref=cj
IMO it's worth the gamble since you could buy 4 of them for the price of one 1440p 27" apple display, or 3 of them for the price of the ultrasharp.
The catch is that Amazon doesn't have it in stock. So if I want it any time soon, I have to pay a 10% premium.
Or just suck it up and get the Asus 16:9.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
I have the BenQ xl2420t as the monitor in mind for a new build, wondered if 120Hz was worth the money. Looked into IPS but the viewing angle thing really doesn't bother me.
Look at the colours displayed
Color Support:
Color Depth: 1.07 billion colors
Color Gamut (typical): Adobe RGB 99%, sRGB 100% and 120% (CIE 1976)5
vs
Color Support:
Color Gamut (typical): sRGB >99%, 82% (CIE 1976)5
Color Depth: 16.7 million colors
so one is probably a 6 bit panel +AFRC, and the other 8-bit +AFRC.
I think the main thing to look out for now is the colour depth. There's lots of monitors with IPS panels that are very cheap, most of these have 6-bit panels. Not that they're terrible or anything, but if you're ultra picky, then you will know.