I dunno... this mayn't be a popular opinion, but I'd rather IPS display prices restrain themselves from dropping if lower prices translate into more crappy panels from LG.Display. I'm not the sort of punter who enjoys returning half a dozen displays before finding one I can tolerate. I'd rather pay $50 - $100 more to avoid a cycle of returns.
Interesting that HP lists the ZR24w as a 24-inch S-IPS display. Have we ever seen 24-inch S-IPS panels before (Apple had the 23-inch Cinema Display...)? On the other hand, I seem to recall HP initially listed the LP2475w as 'S-IPS' even though it turned out to be an H-IPS panel. Also, is the 'ZR' series a new display nomenclature for HP?
T2k, one can't of course necessarily tell from online anecdotes whether a certain display line suffers worse QA than others. Only the manufacturer has the real statistical data. However, it certainly seems that complaints about panel uniformity are all over the threads for affordable IPS displays (I don't single out the Dell U2410, we see this also for the HP LP2475w, NEC EA231WMi).
As to the warranty, Dell and NEC are both declining to replace some displays with uniformity issues because they feel the panels are within spec. This suggests the quality distribution is what LG.Display and these manufacturers agreed to at this price level. They (and we the end-users) would have to pay more to get better panels from LG.Display. This is why I have some doubts regarding even more 'affordable' IPS displays in the pipeline.