Dell 23 and 24 inch monitors.

Converge

Converge

Converge

Soldato
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Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy a new monitor in a month or two, and I've slowly been reading up on what's what. I posted a while back enquiring about 120hz panels, and though there are some available, they seem to be in the early stages of their life and as such, aren't really up to a decent standard to splash the cash on in my opinion.

So instead I was looking at buying one of the DELL Ultrasharp monitors.

However, I'm put off by the price of the 24 inch compared to the 23 inch one. Why such a difference in price for 1 inch?

The other thing that get's me is that I'm not interested in any of the USB hub gubbins and such. All i want is an excellent image quality IPS monitor with low response time and a DVI socket!

Anyone care to elaborate on the differences, or even something that might suit my needs more?

PCM2 I'm looking at you! ;)

So in summary, monitor requirements are...

  1. 24 inch ideally
  2. IPS
  3. Excellent image quality
  4. Low response time
  5. 120hz (alright, this one's unlikely, but i can dream!)

Cheers :)
 
Hi there,

Have you had a look at this in-depth review of the Dell Ultrasharp U2311H? It compares it to the 24in Dell U2410 - so it will be of much use to you.

Unfortunately you aren't going to get a 120Hz IPS any time soon, the panels just aren't responsive enough. However, for the majority of gaming uses a good 60Hz IPS monitor like the U2311H or U2410 are perfectly fine.

The main difference between the the U2410 and the U2311H are:

- Physical size - It is not just that the U2410 is 1inch bigger as this is just 1 dimentional size. The U2410 is less wide (more square) so for a given diagonal size it will have a larger area than a comparable 16:9 monitor. Hence if you look at this the U2410 is actually 14.5% larger in terms of viewable area.

- Resolution - The U2410 uses a 1920x1200 res, while the U2311H uses 1920x1080. Not a massive difference, but the extra 120 vertical pixels are useful for webpages, word processing, most applications and games, but in widescreen video it doesn't really matter as you will just get black bars.

- Colour Gamut - as discussed by the review the U2311H has a smaller gamut than the very wide one used in the U2410. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing and unless you use applications that can harness this extra range of colours then it isn't a massive bonus.

Panel Technology - The U2410 uses H-IPS tech, while the U2311H uses a cheaper E-IPS panel. More information can be found here.

Features - The U2410 has a scaling engine that allows 1:1 pixel mapping - very useful if you want to connect a console or Blu-Ray player, the U2311H does not feature this.

Responsiveness - Generally the U2311H is slightly more responsive and has slightly lower input lag. However, gaming on either is a pleasure.

Hope that is of some help.
 
cmndr_andi said:
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Ok, I see, thanks Cmndr. But getting the 24 inch version isn't a great idea unless you can calibrate it to a decent standard, am i correct?

If so, what would I use for this, as I have literally no experience in such things!

Thanks for the responses so far, and Vorticalspace, I have been looking at that monitor too, but I'm not too keen so far. Plus, I have a distinct hatred for all things HP... :D
 
Oh it seems I've missed the boat - Andi has pointed out some good differences between the U2410 and U2311H. I also have a few things to add:

- In our 'real world' testing the U2410 was noticeably more responsive than the U2211H. According to the TFT Central reviews the U2211H is less responsive than the U2311H based on observations and recorded values. I won't go into any kind of figures that are being thrown about here but we found in our review that the U2410 was a superior gaming monitor compared to the U2211H in FPS titles and Colin McRae: Dirt 2. The U2211H has been observed to be less responsive than the U2311H, however, so it could well be U2311H > U2410 > U2211H.

I am guessing from your requirements that you are after a monitor for gaming? The U2311H is undoubtedly excellent value but the difference between it and the U2410 certainly extend well beyond the extra inch and better resolution that the U2410 has to offer. If you have time you can compare the U2211H with the U2410, based on our reviews, written from an entertainment perspective - but do bear in mind the above paragraph (U2211H vs. U2311H). Also consider that games will ignore any ICC profiles (things that you create when you calibrate a monitor) and neither screen has hardware calibration in the form of a programmable LUT (look-up-table) so for this purpose calibration will not be essential. And lastly - most applications and games in particular are not designed around the broad gamut of the U2410 so if you are looking for pinpoint accuracy here then forget it. As our review explains, however, there are advantages to having a broad gamut for games.
 
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Ok excellent, thanks PCM2 :)

Another quick question i guess...

Is the U2410 likely to be 'overtaken' by a new release from DELL or a competitor any time soon? Because as i mentioned, i'm literally going to start saving for the next month or two for the monitor and would hate to find that a better one comes out a month later! :(
 
I don't know of any comparable monitors on the horizon so it probably won't happen in the near future. A lot of focus at the moment is on LED-backlit panels and 120Hz '3D' monitors rather than broad-gamut IPS screens. The U2410 really is a great all-around monitor and is one of our favourite IPS panels for gaming we've used so far.
 
Mmmm, there is an outside chance that I would go for 120hz over IPS. I'm currently using a Samsung 226BW, so I imagine that both the Acer GD245HQ and the Dell U2410 would be an upgrade in image quality over that!

But, I'm sure you'll impress upon me that the U2410 is the way to go? ;)
 
To be honest I have used a couple of 120Hz panels and I've never really seen the fascination. In the game titles we test (which includes Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Colin McRae: Dirt 2) the experience has always been improved by the superior colour reproduction of the IPS panels. The superior responsiveness of the 120Hz panels is of course nice, but the low input lag of modern IPS panels and a constant 60fps (v-sync and triple buffering enabled) gives a very responsive feeling to the game that isn't that far off the '120 Hz experience'. If you play something like Counterstrike a lot then maybe 120Hz would be advantageous but we hardly consider Bad Company 2 'slow paced' ourselves.

Once OLED monitors are mainstream then 120Hz LCD panels will simply be laughable as OLED panels will be several orders of magnitude more responsive. For the most part is a numbers game and placebo effect rather than a huge and real difference - the same can not be said for TN vs. IPS.
 
Converge said:
Thanks for the responses so far, and Vorticalspace, I have been looking at that monitor too, but I'm not too keen so far. Plus, I have a distinct hatred for all things HP... :D
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Hi
Out of curiosity and as i'm so keen on ZR24W (based upon spec/price), other than your hatred of HP, what other aspects of this monitor aren't you keen on.

Thanks:)
 
OH NOES :o

P.S. HP ZR24w - lack of broad gamut is perhaps one of the things.
 
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PCM2 said:
OH NOES :o

P.S. HP ZR24w - lack of broad gamut is perhaps one of the things.
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OH NOES??

PCM2, dont get me wrong, I am trying to find every reason possible not to buy a U2410.:)
The ZR24W has broadly similar capabilities for a saving of approx £150.00 which is 3/4 of Nvidia GTX470:)

That said, I am prepared to pay more for a better product and am firmly in the "you get what you pay for camp"

With the U2410 & ZR24W in mind, in your opinion, are we comparing apples with apples or is the U2410 simply a premium product at a good price?

Thanks:)
 
Haha - the Oh Noes was directed at Converge's last comment about his bank balance ;). The HP ZR24w is a fantastic screen at a very tempting price. I think we may be comparing red apples with green apples due to the colour gamut differences, but broadly speaking they are both apples ;).
 
PCM2 said:
Haha - the Oh Noes was directed at Converge's last comment about his bank balance ;). The HP ZR24w is a fantastic screen at a very tempting price. I think we may be comparing red apples with green apples due to the colour gamut differences, but broadly speaking they are both apples ;).
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Ok
So I guess the 24 million dollar question is this:-
If you had £650 to spend on a new monitor & GPU and no real reason or need to reduce your potential spend, would you(in no particular order)
a)Buy the Dell U2410 & GPU spending all your money
b)Buy the HP ZR24W & GPU saving approx £150.00(because you can)
c) Die of indecision meltdown:D

Honest answers only please:)
 
Go the whole hog, you'll only end up regretting it for the sake of a few quid! :)

I have to say, I'm almost reversing my decision and going for the *cough* HP *cough* because I've read varying reports about Wide/Broad Gamut.
 
Converge said:
Go the whole hog, you'll only end up regretting it for the sake of a few quid! :)

I have to say, I'm almost reversing my decision and going for the *cough* HP *cough* because I've read varying reports about Wide/Broad Gamut.
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Thats my dilemma, The HP ZR24W is everything I want in a monitor with the possible exceptions of wide gamut/HDMI

I know that PCM2/Duff-Man sing the praises of a wide gamut for gaming and if I go down the HP route, i will always be wondering how good it could have been.

I suppose the reality is that my current monitor is a 19" NEC 90GX2 at 1280 x 1024 so any 1920 IPS screen will be a massive improvement in terms of image quality/game immersion etc.

Choices, choices:confused:
I'm pretty sure i'd never hang myself:)
 
Well honestly it depends what you'll be using it for. The sRGB emulation mode is excellent on the U2410 - but the extra vibrancy and range of colours that broad gamut offers in games is truly lovely and in my opinion adds greatly to the experience (reading our U2410 review will reinforce this point). It does not oversaturate colours in most situations and is a lot more balanced than you may be thinking from some of the things you may have read - but honestly it's something you have to experience rather than just read about. The problem is that the potential of broad gamut has not been fully realised yet because the technology is so narrowly spread at the moment and the software is aimed at the lowest common denominator. Maybe when OLEDs are mainstream things will catch up a bit though.

As for your question vorticalspace - I'd go for C I imagine ;).
 
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Sorry to hijack the thread but what are HP's customer care like? If anything goes wrong with their monitors do you get a brand new one or do you get a refurb like Dell? Also is there any tinting issues like there is with the U2410?
 
PCM2 said:
As for your question vorticalspace - I'd go for C I imagine ;).
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Nothing like sitting on the fence;)

It is so difficult trying to understand/rationalise the buying process:mad:

As ever, knowledge is a double edged sword and I am pretty sure that if I bought the HP ZR24W, I would be absolutely delighted with my purchase & have £150 left in the kitty towards my new GPU.:)
 
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