Which Monitor for Christmas :o

DStruct

DStruct

DStruct

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9 Dec 2008
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Hey guys
Currently using a Hannspree 22" Xm-S monitor, its alright but whenever Im watching dark scenes in games or movies, it doesnt show any details. Im not sure what it is that my monitor lacks of, that makes it does this.

Either way I am looking for a new one.

I dont know whats what out there these days, I think I would like a full HD one, 2ms response time but then the brightness 300cd/m² thing confuses me. Most have 300cd/m² but I see a small few have 400cd/m². Whats the difference, would I be best paying for a 400?
And the contrast ratios vary greatly, some from 1000:1 and others like 60000:1 heh. What should I be aiming for? I would also like a nice refresh rate one.

Can anyone head me in the right direction for some good ones out there? 22"-24" would be fine.

Any help appreciated
Thanks!
 
How much are you willing to pay?
The Dell Ultrasharp series monitors are so good it's unbelievable, so my vote goes to one of them
 
For your budget the only monitor I can think of recommending is this (I notice it's out of stock at the moment).

Something which you have to bear in mind when purchasing a monitor is the panel technology as this the main cause of quality (and price) differences.

Generally there are 3 different types of panel to consider when it comes to the household monitor: Twisted Nematic (TN), Vertical Alignment (VA) and In-Plane Switching (IPS),

Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages which I'll try to briefly outline:

TN
-Cheaper (by far)
-Limited Viewing Angles
-Faster response time G2G
-Generally colour reproduction is poor, dithering + FRC often used.

TNs are by far the cheapest panel type, but offer the best response times. The only reasons I can think for using one is if you are on a limited budget or you are a gamer who wants as quick a response time as possible.

Vertical Alignment
-More expensive
-Good viewing angles
-More Accurate colour reproduction
-Cheaper VA panels may use FRC and Dithering (bad)

Kinda like the midground between TN and IPS however some VA panels are very good and there are some professional grade monitors with VA panels in them (surpassing IPS panels in the opinions of some.)

IPS
-Generally offer the best colour reproduction
-Slower reponse times + processing latency => ghosting
-Most expensive by far
-Excellent Viewing angles
-Generally considered as a premium product

Used by professionals who require the colour accuracy. Some people may not recommend to gamers on the grounds of the input lag and response times, but personally I haven't really noticed any ghosting.

Pretty much a general overview. VA and IPS can be subdivided into different types. If you are interested you can read more here.

In terms of contrast ratio monitors rarely reach the specified contrast ratio when properly calibrated, also the most important thing to look out for is the static contrast ratio. The dynamic contrast ratio (easy to spot generally stupidly high values) is gimmicky rubbish in my opinion. They generally involve the monitor changing the backlight intensity according to the scene in an attempt to make colours look more vivid (and less accurate).

Apart from that there are also other things to consider like connectivity, HDCP, warranty, footprint, stand adjustment, aspect ratio, refresh rate, native resolution, dead pixel policy, matte or gloss, backlight leak, banding, panel uniformity, wall mounting etc.

Thats probably given you more to think about than you really want to, but in the end it should lead to you getting something you'd be happier with.

Best of luck with the hunt.

P.s I believe both of the monitors you posted above are TN. The more expensive one has a higher resolution and a higher dynamic contrast ratio, but I can't really see anything that justifies the large price difference (aesthetics perhaps?).
 
Last edited:
yep, either the viewsonic or the 2209WA from somewhere else.

I have the 2209 and its a great screen. Excellent build quality compaired to my samsung and great colours and viewing angles
 
I do a lot of gaming though, its the main thing I do on my pc so yeah I would probably need one more suitable for gaming with lesser response times
 
Yeah thanks killari aswel :)
All I will add is that the monitor goes on my desk and I sit infront of the desk, no ifs no buts :p so I really dont care about viewing angles and stuff, nor what ports are on the monitor, aslong as there is a HDMI its all I need.

I want good resolution, low response time, high refresh rate, and I want a high contrast ratio because the most important thing I need is for the colours to be excellent! Most importantly the blacks have to be great, my current blacks on this monitor are bad you cant tell the differences between different shades of black!
 
Well from my point of view after reading this thread. You are pretty much tell us all that you want a TN panel, then at the bottom of your 2nd last thread you start going on about wanting great colours so you are there looking a a VA or IPS.

On that budget you cant have the fastest reponse times with best colours. I would seriously look at the Dell 2209 or viewsonic mentioned before. Unless you are superman you most likely won't notice the difference between 2ms and something like 12ms.

However if you want to be very picky and don't NEED a new monitor go on ebay and check out something like a second hand 2407WFP.
 
Isnt the 2209WA supposed to be inbetween, i.e its e-ips so has a reasonable response time (5ms if im correct) mixed with the good angles and colours ips.

Go second hand as suggested or dont be a tight wad if you want amazing everything. That or be extra tight and get a free CRT and shove it into a wall. Or maybe you could paint the back of it the same as your walls to it doesnt look as bad!
 
For gaming there nothing wrong with a TN, there have been vast improvments with TN displays in recent years.

I have a Samsung SM2333HD 5ms TN panel and a Dell UltraSharp U2410 IPS Panel (work). And while the U2410 does have the edge on colour reproduction and much better viewing angles the Samsung is still good and ideal for gaming/general use.
 
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