Dell 2209WA vs U2311H vs Samsung XL2370HD (and help Choose TV-Box)

energydream2007 · 14 Jan 2011 at 12:05

Hallo. im trying to pick a good monitor - iv already ordered the U2311H but iv came across some reviews that talking about some issues it have in tinting / uniformity / response time.
I dont sure if to cancel my order and take another monitor.
Also wanted to ask about revisions - iv saw some icc profiles of U2311H that matching the rev A00. (if my order will turn out to be A01 ,and il use that icc profile (A00) on it, will i get nice results or what?

The XL2370HD looks very good but its a TN panel and im not sure about it.
About 2209WA iv read that it doesnt have some the problems of U2311H (but have its own cons)

*Im also searching for a good HD TV-Box (in case that i dont choose LCD-TV)

if u can recommend one of those:

AVerMedia AVerTV BoxW9
AVerMedia AVerTV BoxW9 Plus
AVerMedia AVerTV BoxW7 Plus
AVerMedia AVerTV DVI Box 1080i
AVerMedia AVerTV Box Gennie I
ItemsTech ITV904 Global TV Box 1920
Compro VideoMate W800F
Compro Video Mate V300
VideoHome - ViewTV-Pro
Sedna - SE-VC-VHS-351

Any pro recommendations will be very welcome.

Razor-BladE · 14 Jan 2011 at 14:43

I have the U2311H and it isn't near as bad as some reviews say they are. I guess it's luck of the draw.
I only noticed slight uneven uniformity when the room was pitch black and the monitor was outputting a black screen; where in this case the top right was slightly brighter than the top left, but it wasn't that noticable.
No problems with response time at all.

energydream2007 · 14 Jan 2011 at 16:57

Razor-BladE said:
I have the U2311H and it isn't near as bad as some reviews say they are. I guess it's luck of the draw.
I only noticed slight uneven uniformity when the room was pitch black and the monitor was outputting a black screen; where in this case the top right was slightly brighter than the top left, but it wasn't that noticable.
No problems with response time at all.

So do you think i should stick with my order man? im very confused from the reviewers (and if so - will it be preferred to call the store and verify that its A00?)

*Can you recommend a TV-Box?

TheCenturion · 14 Jan 2011 at 17:05

Stick with the order. Amazing monitor, absolutely top notch! I would recommend. I've not suffered any bleeding/tinting or any problems whatsoever.

Marvin · 14 Jan 2011 at 17:25

I'd also vouch for the U2311H, excellent monitor - the whites are so much better than the TN panels for starters! Mine is also lovely and even, the stand is outstanding (sorry...) and in built USB ports are useful. For the money it's brilliant.

Razor-BladE · 14 Jan 2011 at 18:55

Stick with it

Brilliant monitor. Expensive relative to other 24" monitors but you get what you pay for, it's a very nice step up from TN panels.
No idea about TV boxes though sorry.

energydream2007 · 14 Jan 2011 at 19:37

Razor-BladE said:
Stick with it Brilliant monitor. Expensive relative to other 24" monitors but you get what you pay for, it's a very nice step up from TN panels.
No idea about TV boxes though sorry.

Tnx man - ok so il go for the u2311h, regarding the REVs - can you recommend one of them (A00/A01) to verify with the store (mainly to apply some icc profile to enhance the quality, although iv wanted to buy some calibration tool like Spyder3 Pro but iv never used one so dont know if its worth the extra bucks.

P.S - does anybody here know something about TV-Boxes? (can you recommend a forum/community that knows about those stuff? much appreciated

crackerbear · 14 Jan 2011 at 20:13

energydream2007 said:
Tnx man - ok so il go for the u2311h, regarding the REVs - can you recommend one of them (A00/A01) to verify with the store (mainly to apply some icc profile to enhance the quality, although iv wanted to buy some calibration tool like Spyder3 Pro but iv never used one so dont know if its worth the extra bucks.

You shouldn't really worry about what Rev you'll receive as from what I've read, both can be near perfect, however I'm pretty sure if you buy new you're almost certainly going to get a Rev A01 - although there are some people in Canada getting A02.

Whilst ICC profiles are good, they're calibration settings that someone made for that particular unit they own. Despite you having the same monitor model, it doesn't mean using someone else's profile or settings will make your monitor perfectly calibrated. This is down to variances in build quality and even the ambient light at the time the ICC profile was made.

That said, here's a post I made a while back with some settings and profiles others have used for the U2311H, give them a go and see if you notice any difference. At the end of the day, if the display looks right to you, then that's all you need.

I also use Lagom to calibrate my monitor by eye as well as these 2 images (amongst others):

Calibrating by eye will never get you the perfect calibration, but it's certainly cheaper than buying a hardware calibrator. However if you need perfect colours for professional photo work for example, then a colorimeter is a nice investment.

energydream2007 said:
P.S - does anybody here know something about TV-Boxes? (can you recommend a forum/community that knows about those stuff? much appreciated

Probably AVForums if you're in UK, AVSForum if you're in USA.

energydream2007 · 14 Jan 2011 at 22:15

Wow tnx man very informative indeed, il sure to use those sources as soon as il get my monitor in couple days.

I know that there is tool called Dead Pixel Buddy to check for dead pixels - is that good or i better look for other tool? (from what i know Dell as policy of replacing the monitor if il found more then 5 dead pixels - is this policy is also applying to the first 7 days? - cause i think the first week is different - i.e - that i can replace the monitor even if i found 1 dead pixel (cause offcoruse i want it be perfect from defects like this)
can you enlightened me regarding this warranty stuff?

P.s- tnx to all the members here at OcUK helping :]

crackerbear · 14 Jan 2011 at 22:31

Dead Pixel Buddy or what I've used, Dead Pixel Locator, are fine as they essentially do the same thing. All you need is something that can make your entire display a single colour, so really even images of solid colours will do, but those programs make it simpler. The all you do is have a look at the screen for any dead or stuck pixels.

Dell offers a Premium Panel Guarantee on their UltraSharp range which the U2311H is in. Basically this means if you have any stuck/hot pixels, even just 1, they'll replace the monitor.

I don't think that panel guarantee covers dead pixels unfortunately as Dell don't consider them as "distracting", but some other members here and on other forums have still managed to get replacement monitors regardless. The first 7 day thing is likely just DSR (Distance Selling Regulations) which all e-retailers must adhere to. It's basically a consumer right to return a purchase, for whatever the reason, as long as you notify the seller within the first 7 days.

Razor-BladE · 14 Jan 2011 at 22:39

Basically repeating what he said above but each monitor isn't exactly the same so using a colour profile someone else made may not suit. Although it may be better than default.

I didn't use the Lagom to calibrate but used the Lagom black and white point pages to compare monitors. I have the Spyder3Express as I do some photo work.

If you don't need very high accuracy, if you don't do any photo/video work, etc, I don't think you need to get a calibrator because there's not a big a difference out of the box, than compared to TN panels.

crackerbear · 14 Jan 2011 at 22:55

Razor-BladE said:
If you don't need very high accuracy, if you don't do any photo/video work, etc, I don't think you need to get a calibrator because there's not a big a difference out of the box, than compared to TN panels.

Yeah, the average Delta E out of the box is very good on these monitors, so minimal tweaking is needed. TFTCentral measured an average of 2.4, ExtraHardware got 2.4 and PCPro got 2.2

For those who don't know: "Delta E is a figure that represents the difference between the desired colour and the colour displayed onscreen". Basically a Delta E of 3 or below is very good, below 1 and the colour difference is indistinguishable to the human eye. So really the U2311H is perfectly usable for most users straight out of the box, if you calibrate with a colorimeter you can get the Delta E down to around 0.2.