[Retired] The LCD Thread

[deadken]

Hi guys,

I still haven't bought a new LCD yet. I've been looking a little here and there. Then I got rather aggravated when I saw that I missed the HP ZR24w for $300. So, I was looking around again this morning and found this EQD EQ2668 26" Widescreen LCD :

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0334736

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

For $229 + tax (local pick-up) it has some Pros and Cons:
Pros
1) Price: $229 is pretty cheap.
2) Local Pick-up: Easier to return it if I don't like it (although, I'd have to check the return policy first).
3) Resolution: 1920 x 1200.
4) Response time: 5ms Response time (unknown whether it is GTG or not).


Cons
1) Brand name: I never heard of EQD before.
2) Limited configurations: No Height or 90* rotation adjustments.
3) TN Panel: I do game a lot, but have been considering the HP ZR24w. While I'd suffer with a worse Response time, I'd get better colors when not gaming.

The customer reviews at Newegg show 10 out of 12 people gave it 5 stars, and the other 2 out of 12 people gave it 4 stars. That's taken with a grain of salt, but it's promising.


To make matters worse, MacMall is again offering the HP ZR24w with a discount and a rebate. This time it comes out to $329.99 shipped. Now that opens up a dilemma. Let's go through the Pros and Cons again:

http://www.macmall.com/p/product~dpn...0433ADD0AF73A8

Pros
1) Price: $329 for this HP IPS monitor is good.
2) Name Brand: I'd feel better with an HP over an EQD (hoping it'd never matter).
3) Resolution: 1920 x 1200.
4) Configuration options: Height and 90* rotation adjustments.
5) IPS panel: Should have better colors then an TN panel (though, I've only used TN Panels so far)


Cons
1) Online Purchase: Not an easy return if I don't like it.
2) Response time: 12 ms (On/Off) + 7 ms (gray-to-gray), I don't know how this would affect my gaming.
3) Price: $100 more then the EQD monitor (around $80 more after I pay tax on the EQD)
4) Aggravation / Shame: Having to explain to everyone that the SmartBuy HP monitors aren't refurbs.

So, I turn to you guys. I am ready to pull the trigger (Cash and Paypal ready to go), but not sure what I might be overlooking. I could buy them both (providing they have decent return policies) and see which one I like best (then I'd really know if the IPS panels colors are worth it, or if the Response time makes gaming worse, etc..). I'd rather not buy both. I'd rather make an educated decision and lessen the chance of having a hassle returning one later on.

-Thanks in advance for any help / advice you can give, Ken

BTW: I know it was a long post, but I always try to be thorough.

 

[alkemyst]

4) Aggravation / Shame: Having to explain to everyone that the SmartBuy HP monitors aren't refurbs.

You serious? If so what's your real budget?

If it's around $250-300 then you won't do much better in an 'overall' good monitor buying new IMHO.

If you are a pure gamer then TN panels in this price range is the way to go.

I picked a 1920x1200 IPS NEC LCD2490WUXi for a bit over $500. I don't need to explain it's a refurb.

But it also had 0 hours on it.

 

[deadken]

You serious? If so what's your real budget?

If it's around $250-300 then you won't do much better in an 'overall' good monitor buying new IMHO.

Nahh, I wasn't being serious on that line. It does seem to be a popular misconception. I don't have to justify my purchases to other guys (the Wife, maybe, but not other guys).

Everything else I said was serious.

I don't have a set budget. But, I don't have a ton of money either. I also need to upgrade my Video card and O/S (8800 GTS + Win XP Pro). So, while I don't want to overspend, I don't want to get the EQD if the HP is worth much, much, more then the 'extra $100' it costs (over the EQD).

I could spend $400 on a monitor RIGHT NOW. I'd just have to wait longer to get the other upgrades. The rest of my System is about 6 months old (WD Caviar Black 640GB HD, Asus M4A79XTD EVO Mobo, Phenom II 955 BE (unlocked to 4 cores), 2 x 2GB OCZ PC DDR3-1600, OCZ 700W PSU).

I do game and surf on my PC. I am active in an old car forum and that is why I really don't want a 1080 monitor. I'd say that I use my PC for 1/3 gaming, 1/3 forums, + 1/3 surfing the net.

-Ken

 

[jackstar7]

Appreciate this thread so much.

Finally took the leap and picked up 3 U2410s for Eyefinity. It is a treat for my eyes and a wincing pain in my wallet (though I did go with refurbs for far less $).

 

[alkemyst]

Nahh, I wasn't being serious on that line. It does seem to be a popular misconception. I don't have to justify my purchases to other guys (the Wife, maybe, but not other guys).

Everything else I said was serious.

I don't have a set budget. But, I don't have a ton of money either. I also need to upgrade my Video card and O/S (8800 GTS + Win XP Pro). So, while I don't want to overspend, I don't want to get the EQD if the HP is worth much, much, more then the 'extra $100' it costs (over the EQD).

I could spend $400 on a monitor RIGHT NOW. I'd just have to wait longer to get the other upgrades. The rest of my System is about 6 months old (WD Caviar Black 640GB HD, Asus M4A79XTD EVO Mobo, Phenom II 955 BE (unlocked to 4 cores), 2 x 2GB OCZ PC DDR3-1600, OCZ 700W PSU).

I do game and surf on my PC. I am active in an old car forum and that is why I really don't want a 1080 monitor. I'd say that I use my PC for 1/3 gaming, 1/3 forums, + 1/3 surfing the net.

-Ken

If quality and new are a concern at $400 or less U2410 or w2475. Those are the heavy hitters.

IMHO most really don't notice the quality difference from a great TN panel though.

I have color-shade blindness so don't know it it really factors in...but I really notice right away when colors are "off". I wish my budget was bigger myself as I always gravitate to the screens I see (without knowing brand/make/model) that I can't afford (I could always buy them if I wanted though, which is a big difference than "afford").

I also notice ghosting...

I debated going to a really old Sony FW900 vs my NEC. I am glad I made the LCD change. I am no way an uber gamer, but I love to fire one up. I have a 3' deep desk, I don't see how many are slapping down the FW900 on less than that and truly having a workable solution.

I also do calibrate my displays.

 

[GTaudiophile]

So, at the moment, I think I am considering...

NEC PA241W-BK (circa. $950)

or

DELL U2711 (circa. $1000)

 

[deadken]

Ok, I bit... I just bought the HP ZR24w from MacMall. It seems that they have an accounting staff in NY, so they charged me $32.77 sales tax. All said and done, it should come out to $362.77 (if I get the $50 rebate). They use UPS for shipping and have a free shipping on orders over $49 policy / promo. The shipping estimate is 3-7 days. I asked and found out that they have a 15 day return policy for any reason on Non-Apple products. I specifically asked if there was a greenish or pinkish tint or if there was one stuck or dead pixel and was told that I could return it for any reason including a tint or a dead or stuck pixel. Of course, I pay for return shipping and won't get reimbursed until the item is back in their warehouse.

BTW: I also found out that MacMall, PCMall, and Onsale are the same company.

-Ken

 

[Winterpool]

So it's quality v quantity. That's not to say the Dell U2711 isn't a fine display; I'm sure it is. But it won't be in the same league as the NEC. But of course you'll have something like 60 per cent more pixels on the giant Dell.

On the other hand you could use a secondary monitor of lesser quality for menus, side information, etc, and keep the primary image you're editing on the nice NEC. If you like side-by-side comparisons, the Dell's 2560 pixels would be invaluable.

 

[Winterpool]

Good luck, Ken; I hope you get a qualite sample. My own HP ZR24w is very good and hasn't shown any significant problems. Of course, I was also quite pleased to pay only $300 (after rebate). I still have to figure out how to get it from my parents' house to my flat, however...

 

[deadken]

Good luck, Ken; I hope you get a qualite sample. My own HP ZR24w is very good and hasn't shown any significant problems. Of course, I was also quite pleased to pay only $300 (after rebate). ...

Thanks. I also hope that I get a 'good one'. I also hope that there are now fewer instances of green / pink edges then there used to be. I wanted to ask if anyone here has calibrated a ZR24w? Could they post their numbers so that I could get pretty close without having to spend another $100? In one of the reviews I read the person said that the green / pink tinge went away after calibrating, I don't know if that makes sense though. Any ideas on that?

Thanks for pointing out the MacMall price. While it isn't $300 AMIR anymore, it is now $330 AMIR. Still much better then other places. Of course, being in NY, I get to pay another $32 for tax, but most others outside of TN, CA, and NY shouldn't have that problem.

-Ken

 

[craftech]

If quality and new are a concern at $400 or less U2410 or w2475. Those are the heavy hitters.
=================
Where can you find either one for that price? They appear to be easily $100 more than that everywhere I checked.

John

 

[mariuolo]

Hello,
I'm planning to replace my cheap Philips 22" TN monitor with a 24" of sorts.
Unfortunately I don't have the possibility of seeing what other types of panels are like, so pardon my vagueness.
Basically, my priorities are colour vividness, contrast and whatever makes film-watching experiences worthwhile without spending an arm and a leg. I've eyed a Benq EW2420 (led-backlit PVA) and Dell U2311H (CCFL IPS).

Any suggestion will be appreciated!

 

[deadken]

Since I haven't heard from any HP ZR24w owners on what their settings are (after calibrating their monitors), I used these settings that I found on the web:
Brightness: 0
Contrast: 80
RGB: Custom
• R: 247
• G: 220
• B: 239

Perhaps someone can tell me if those numbers are way off from what they ended up with (after calibration).

-Thanks, Ken

Hello,
I'm planning to replace my cheap Philips 22" TN monitor ....

Any suggestion will be appreciated!

I've found that giving a price range is very helpful when looking for suggestions.

 

[C1]

Looks like you went with the Flatpanel site recommendations. Another guy (wenhan21) ended up with:
Brightness: 5
Contrast: 100
Red: 123
Green: 99
Blue: 125

What ever you do, make sure that your monitor displays correctly a complex black & white PIX (ie, has various shades of gray).

In any event, how do you like the monitor? Any bad pixels (check with white, red, green, blue rasters), uniformity issues, backlight bleed or tint issues? Any scaling issues?

http://www.testfreaks.com/monitors/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slQEobY3WJw

 

[mariuolo]

I've found that giving a price range is very helpful when looking for suggestions.

Right.
The two models I mentioned are quoted at €230 and €300 respectively.

 

[DoctorM]

I still have my VX2435WM (recommended by the forum here) and still love it.

My question is: VX2739wm, anyone give this a spin yet? They're claiming 1ms response and 76hz refresh rate.
I did see a post on the forums that someone tested the lag and found it to be very low.

 

[realjetavenger]

Since I haven't heard from any HP ZR24w owners on what their settings are (after calibrating their monitors), I used these settings that I found on the web:
Brightness: 0
Contrast: 80
RGB: Custom
• R: 247
• G: 220
• B: 239

Perhaps someone can tell me if those numbers are way off from what they ended up with (after calibration).

-Thanks, Ken

I've tried the settings on tftcentral and flatpanelshd. None looked quite right to my eye (and using a colorimeter showed they were off). Using an eyeone display2 colorimeter and their software to calibrate the monitor the settings on my ZR24W look like this:

Brightness: 5
Contrast: 100
RGB: Custom
• R: 144
• G: 92
• B: 105

The color temperature reads right at 6500K with these settings. The black level is very good, almost inky black. However, to my eye it lost the finer details in those blacks. So I changed the brightness up to 24. The black levels are not quite as deep, however the detail in those darker colors is there (again, at least to my eye).

I would recommend getting a colorimeter. No two monitors will be the same. So the settings that work on one monitor may not work on another. Video card and how the monitor is connected will have an impact as well. I'm running reference GTX460's in sli using a dvi cable to get to the monitor.

AVS has an informative thread on calibrating monitors: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=852536

Good luck.

 

[Borealis7]

Viewsonic just announced a new 120Hz 24" 1080p LED, with immediate availability. looks sweet!

http://www.techpowerup.com/132952/V...4%E2%80%9D-AMD-certified-LED-Monitor.html

an alternative to the ACER/Alienware 120Hz debate.
my Samsung is dying after 4 years, i'd really like my next monitor to be 120Hz.

 

[xtknight]

Hey,

I'm glad to see the thread still going despite my hiatus! I still look here but have been busier than ever with college. I'm definitely a little behind on LCD innovations. But next time I'm in market for an LCD I'll have to catch up with things.

 

[frombauer]

Any 120Hz IPS panels on the horizon? I'm pretty happy with my Dell 2209WA so far, but I will only get rid of it if something better comes up.

 

[Highmodulus]

FWIW the Dell 2410 IPS panel is $60 off today. I was able to combine it with the current 10% code by talking to a Dell phone rep. Free shipping too.

Wasn't able to combine on the website though.

 

[Shmee]

I am considering getting a high res monitor for gaming (30", 2560x1600)
and was wondering about this one. http://www.2020pc.com/ssproduct.asp?pf_id=1017141414

It is an HP, and comes with both DVI and displayport. Also, which would be better to use, DP or DVI?

 

[alkemyst]

Your 5870 only has DVI.

 

[Shmee]

huh? It has 2 DVI, HDMI, and DP. Though believe it can only use 2 out of 3 of the DVI/HDMI.

 

[alkemyst]

ahh didn't know they had DP now. The reality of it is you need to test them...there have been tons of threads about 'what connection is best' out there.