Best quality monitor ~ 27 inches and £400

oxf77

oxf77

oxf77

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I currently have a 24 inch Dell 2405w (from 2005). I know its not great, when I watch films on my Lenovo x230 IPS screen I can see the difference.

Not being an expert on monitors could somebody recommend me a monitor, around 27-30 inch and £400-£500, which would be the best for watching films on? I am not going to be doing any photoshop nor the latest video games. I just want pure screen quality for film/TV-watching.

I am used to Dell, so I found:

U2713HM
U2714

I have heard about "4K" monitors- would these suit me best?
 
Would be my recommendation as well!

Only thing is the res., it is a bit too low for that size, imo anyway.... will be fine for films though.

You will WANT a monitor with 21.9 aspect ratio monitor for films, 16.9/16.10 displays just don't compare now.

VA panel would be better than IPS for purely film watching (much better blacks, contrast ratio) but to get one similar to that LG will probably cost more + there is currently none on the market either... Samsung have got an alternative to the 34UM95 coming in the next year or so, similar specs but with a VA panel, will probably cost £900 at the very least though.
 
If you are happy to pay that much then go for it.

Personally there is no way I would spend more than £600 at the very most on a monitor especially if it is just for films, rather put a bit extra towards a TV that will be far better.
 
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Nexus18 said:
If you are happy to pay that much then go for it.

Personally there is no way I would spend more than £600 at the very most on a monitor especially if it is just for films, rather put a bit extra towards a TV that will be far better.
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Or a decent projector and have a massive screen :)
 
silvagti said:
I'm not sure how it would specifically handle movies but everyone on OCUK seems to suggest the AOC Q2770PQU 27" Widescreen LED Monitor whenever the question "which 1440p" monitor for £300-400 is asked.

Edit: Actually might not be great for movies as most will be 1080p which will could cause scaling issues.
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Upscaling of 1080p content to the native 2560 x 1440 resolution as done if you are using movie software on a PC is absolutely fine. Very subtle softening of the image but nothing particularly noticeable. Interpolation (running 1920 x 1080 on the monitor) is surprisingly good on the AOC as well.
 
That AOC does seem to be a fantastic monitor but trust me, if this is purely for film watching, you will want a 21.9 aspect ratio monitor :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26331690&postcount=719

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=26327621#post26327621


Also, what PCM2 said regarding upscaling, use MPC + madvr and you shall have the best quality player there is!

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1357375-advanced-mpc-hc-setup-guide.html

MatsyLR said:
Or a decent projector and have a massive screen :)
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Or that!
 
snips86x said:
34" LG?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-107-LG&groupid=17&catid=1120
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+1

Although again as Nexus18 said you are taking a res hit with it. I have the 34UM65 and although my other monitor is a Samsung 1440p 27 inch I love the LG and find myself using it slightly more and more each day as my main monitor! Despite the lower res.
For movies it is the best screen I've ever used (besides my LG 50inch Plasma lol) so for purely movies I highly recommend. Also outsanding for gaming in the super wide format.
 
Nexus18 said:
That AOC does seem to be a fantastic monitor but trust me, if this is purely for film watching, you will want a 21.9 aspect ratio monitor :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26331690&postcount=719

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=26327621#post26327621


Also, what PCM2 said regarding upscaling, use MPC + madvr and you shall have the best quality player there is!

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1357375-advanced-mpc-hc-setup-guide.html



Or that!
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I presume when you guys talk about resolution, you are just saying there is less screen real-estate? To be honest, I am more-concerned about image quality. With this in mind, would you recommend the LG or the AOC?
 
If you really want to know what the 34" LG is like, as MRK. He has one and seems to swear by it, despite having issues with their Customer Service.
 
PCM2 said:
Upscaling of 1080p content to the native 2560 x 1440 resolution as done if you are using movie software on a PC is absolutely fine. Very subtle softening of the image but nothing particularly noticeable. Interpolation (running 1920 x 1080 on the monitor) is surprisingly good on the AOC as well.
Click to expand...
My current monitor is 1920 x 1200, yet I just use VLC to watch my movies- nothing fancy, i'm not really a resolution buff- I just have automatic resolution settings which keep the film at its correct proportions (I HATE watching stretched films).

With the above in mind would you say the AOC is going to be better image quality for watching films/streamed TV (iplayer, windows media player etc)?
 
oxf77 said:
I presume when you guys talk about resolution, you are just saying there is less screen real-estate? To be honest, I am more-concerned about image quality. With this in mind, would you recommend the LG or the AOC?
Click to expand...

That and it won't be anywhere as sharp as the 34UM95. 2560x1080 is great for the 29" LG monitor but for 34", I think it might be lacking sharpness and screen real estate by just a bit, that is my opinion anyway.

In terms of the panels, iirc PLS is pretty much the same as IPS except it is made by Samsung instead of LG. Of course there will be differences but both should be plenty good.

One thing which I will say about these LG screens is that the anti glare/matte coating is by far the best I have seen on a monitor and that alone makes quite a bit of a difference overall i.e. sharpness/clarity (mostly noticeable with whites and black text), the look of the image floating i.e. it sticks out more and of course less glare/reflections.

No idea what the AOC is like for its anti glare finish.
 
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similar issue i'm facing, do i get a 4k monitor as i game a lot, but only have a 280x GPU, or get the screen estate in the 34" wide LG. i will be doing lots of office work though so may get a 34. can you return them if you're not happy with them?
 
silent said:
similar issue i'm facing, do i get a 4k monitor as i game a lot, but only have a 280x GPU, or get the screen estate in the 34" wide LG. i will be doing lots of office work though so may get a 34. can you return them if you're not happy with them?
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Yes, you have 14 days to change your mind!
 
With the 34UM65 there will certainly be a lack of sharpness on the desktop and viewing text etc. However the way I see it is since Blu rays are only 1080p max anyway (apart from the small number of 4k remastered ones) the 1080 vertical resolution is fine for me - you won't notice any difference in movie watching unless you're employing some sort of 1440p upscaling which isn't my bag.
With gaming I honestly notice no appreciable difference between my Samsung at 1440p with AA turned down slightly and the LG with AA turned on full. There are people that do notice this but my eyesight is not 20-20 and I tend to sit about 4-5 feet away when gaming and even 6-7 feet when viewing movies so the 2560x1080 is good for me.

Overall the difference between 1080 and 1440 in vertical real estate is noticeable and the sharpness is certainly less but since my PC is mainly a gaming and movie machine I'd rather have fewer pixels to drive and have a quicker and better gaming experience than a sharp but slightly slower 1440. And when using my Samsung I have to have the Windows DPI thing turned up to see the text without squinting which in real estate terms negates the 1440 res.
 
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