24" Gaming/Work Monitor

Seany84

Seany84

Seany84

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15 Dec 2010
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117
Hi all,

I currently have a Samsung 226BW which has served me well for the last ~3 years.

I am looking at buying a new monitor, ideally 24" which will be used for gaming and software development (nothing too graphic intensive on that end).

What do you think of this monitor:


Around the £200-300 price mark would be ideal, unfortunately the Dell U2410 is out of the price range.


Thanks in advance
 
The Samsung BX2450 is an alternative to the B2430H. It can be found for under £200, and has an LED backlight. I had the opportunity to use one at the weekend, and I was surprised by the quality of colour reproduction (I was expecting far less from a TN panel).

That said, the Dell U2311 should be a fair step up in quality (even though the screen size is a little smaller). It uses an IPS panel (the "best" panel type), which will give you great viewing angles with virtually no shift in colour or brightness. It's smaller and a little more expensive, but it's the same resolution as the other 24" screens (1080p), and should be noticeable better quality. Worth considering...
 
Just to throw another into the mix mate: Samsung P2450H. It's quite close to the B2430H in a lot of ways, but the styling in the end threw me. I, like you, had a Samsung 226BW before that.

Here's what I said about it after a day or so of usage:

I got my P2450H yesterday. I'm planning to write a more detailed review, not long, but also with pictures when I'm ready. I'll give my first impressions though:

Pros:

Great looking monitor. Very nice.
Good size, ideal with Aero Snap.
Contrast is good, better than my old monitor for sure.
Quite good amount of customisation available on the OSD.
Scaling of non-native resolutions to full panel size is much, much better than my old Samsung 226BW. Shame I won't be using that feature.
Response initially looks great, no trails or artifacts observed yet. Conversely, my old monitor at 2ms used overdrive and produced white trails. This appears to be much more a true 2ms panel rather than an overdriven 5ms. That or the overdrive is miles and miles better. Samsung call this 'overdrive' RTA (Response Time acceleration) I believe.

Cons:

Stand is rubbish. No weight to it and as such the thing wobbles everywhere. Will probably need a desk mount.
Touch buttons take a little getting used to, not a major issue but may annoy some.
Settings out of the box are pretty far off perfect. Brightness wayyy too high like most new monitors really. Seems to have a slight dominance in green, though my old one was the same with blue before some tweaking. I think this one will need more thorough calibration.
Vertical viewing angle is quite poor. This is probably eccentuated because of the size of the panel (at the same distance from my face as the 22"). However, this is expected with any TN panel. I think a more adjustable stand will help alleviate this for me somewhat.

Overall, not the large jump in IQ I was expecting from my last panel. I think rather than a bad thing about the P2450H, this is more of really high praise for the 226BW. It was leaps and leaps ahead the Hanns G I had before that. The P2450H is a good picture with potential to be absolutely cracking once it's set up right. The only big let down is the stand, but it doesn't offer less than most in this price range anyway.

Very pleased with my purchase, the extra real estate will come in handy. Without seeing in the flesh the competition, IQ is hard to place within all new monitors.
Click to expand...
 
So is the jump from 226bw to P2450H worth it in retrospect?
I ask this as I'm in the same predicament, got a 226BW and looking to upgrade to a 24".
I'm just not sure if its worth doing, it will be mainly for gaming.
 
Depends on what you want. I really wanted a 24" panel as I'd had the 226BW for almost 3 years and the warranty was running out. I paid £210 for it when it was new. I paid £170 for the P2450H and got about £95 for the 226BW second hand, so it wasn't that expensive an upgrade.

I thought it would improve gaming, and indeed, the extra real estate is nice (on the sides, remember this is 16:9 so it's not really taller!) and the image quality is better (colours are more vivid, response has none of that white ghosting seen on the 226BW) but where it really shines is tv and movies. I watch a lot on it and have a blu-ray drive, so being able to do so without black bars, and on the bigger panel is very nice, especially as I often watch from bed! That makes me really glad of my decision, but even for gaming alone, if you've got the small amount of cash ready (as I had) to upgrade, I'd say it was worth it, even for just having another 3 year warranty and peace of mind, as well as the above.

The only thing that's a lot worse is the stand. Maybe factor in some money for a wall or desk mount if you can as it wobbles all over, even when I type.
 
Ok, thanks for that. Food for thought.
So, is a 16:9 more the 'norm' now and games are designed to be played at that size?
Maybe thats why I'm crap at BFBC2, or at least its a good excuse!!
 
Yeah that one might work!

You're right, 16:9 has become the norm (over 16:10 as you're used to). This way you get 1080p resolution, which is good for movies, TV and so on, but almost every game produced in the last 3 years, maybe more, will support the res with no black bars and so on, which you may have noticed in some titles on the 226BW, particularly console ports. It also helps keep prices down, hence a decent quality Samsung panel now being significantly cheaper, even for a larger size.
 
Thanks for the info.
Just ordered a P2450H as it was a deal of the week and used the 5% Christmas day deal as well, winner!!
Only hope its not cheaper in any other sale. ;)
 
Thanks for the replies lads. I've been really tempted by the Dell 2311. Would this be a good choice on the gaming end of the decision process do yous think?
 
Seany84 said:
Thanks for the replies lads. I've been really tempted by the Dell 2311. Would this be a good choice on the gaming end of the decision process do yous think?
Click to expand...

patch58 said:
have a look at the iiyama e2409hds good reviews and has hdmi all for £140 with 3 years warranty and delivered
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Are either of these PVA/IPS? I'm pretty sure the Samsung is a TN.

The P2450H and the BenQ G2420HDBL both have glowing reviews, but aren't the viewing angles going to be horrific? Coming from a PVA down to a TN is generally going to be a system shock, I would have thought.
 
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the only below £300 priced VA and IPS panel screens are the Dell U22 and U23 and the BenQ EW2420

the first two are fine other than only having a 72% colour gamut (compared to 102% of the u2410) and you can't really game on the BenQ
 
I'm using the Dell U2311, I've played lots of games on it and they look perfect, to my non expert eyes.

Playing Batman and Just Cause 2, no ghosting or any problems at all except for the booting thats since been solved. Its a brilliant monitor, there is no way I'm going back to a tn monitor after using this.
 
Lysander said:
Are either of these PVA/IPS? I'm pretty sure the Samsung is a TN.

The P2450H and the BenQ G2420HDBL both have glowing reviews, but aren't the viewing angles going to be horrific? Coming from a PVA down to a TN is generally going to be a system shock, I would have thought.
Click to expand...

The Dell's are IPS.


HW91 said:
the only below £300 priced VA and IPS panel screens are the Dell U22 and U23 and the BenQ EW2420

the first two are fine other than only having a 72% colour gamut (compared to 102% of the u2410) and you can't really game on the BenQ
Click to expand...

I would love to go for the Dell U2410 but the price is just too much for me.

Viewing angles would not be a major factor for me as I will be viewing the monitor head on.

I only play FPS's like the new Call of Duty and Quake when I'm not developing. So I suppose my decision should be based on FPS games only.

TFTCentral are recommending:
  • Dell 2209WA
  • Dell SP2309W
  • Dell U2311H
  • HP LP2275W
  • Samsung SM2233RZ
  • ViewSonic VX2268wm

Based on the following:
Price range: Below £300
Size of monitor: 22 - 23 inch (Widescreen = either)
Panel technology preference: No preference
Colour Space preference: No preference
Primary use will be: Gaming
Secondary use will be: Office / Internet
Are wide viewing angles important?: no
Functions specifically needed: not bothered


Thanks for the patience people :)
 
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