Hazro series - HZ30Wi, HZ30WiQ, HZ27WA, HZ27WB & HZ27WC

derv · 26 Apr 2012 at 22:59

Well... I've now got my HZ30Wie running in front of me. I've spent a few hours on it and have come to the conclusion that I've actually been given a HZ30Wif but badged as a HZ30Wie. Not only does the NVidia control panel say it's a HZ30Wif model (which is 8 bit instead of 10 bit) but it will not accept HDCP. The one benefit of the HZ30Wie over the HZ30Wif is that it has HDCP support.

Not really sure what to do now. Hopefully I'll get a response from OCUK tomorrow and all being well it will be returned for a refund or replaced with the U3011. Knew I should have gone with my gut feeling and not be swayed by the cheap price!!!

Oh well, I knew it was a risk from the start

djxput · 26 Apr 2012 at 23:31

derv said:
Well... I've now got my HZ30Wie running in front of me. I've spent a few hours on it and have come to the conclusion that I've actually been given a HZ30Wif but badged as a HZ30Wie. Not only does the NVidia control panel say it's a HZ30Wif model (which is 8 bit instead of 10 bit) but it will not accept HDCP. The one benefit of the HZ30Wie over the HZ30Wif is that it has HDCP support.

Not really sure what to do now. Hopefully I'll get a response from OCUK tomorrow and all being well it will be returned for a refund or replaced with the U3011. Knew I should have gone with my gut feeling and not be swayed by the cheap price!!!

Oh well, I knew it was a risk from the start

damn that blows - what did it say on the box? or was it just a general hz30wie/f thing?
what if it lists this as a wif because you need a special vid card to run it with 10bit? be interested in what you hear.

derv · 26 Apr 2012 at 23:47

The box says HZ30Wie and the serial sticker on the back of the screen says the same.

The 8bit/10but thing isn't a huge issue for me because I'm never going to run a professional GPU that would make use of it.. Lack of HDCP is an issue though, part of the reason I wanted a high res 30" was to watch blu-rays. That is a deal breaker for me and is the reason it will be going back.

Other than the lack of HDCP it's actually a very nice monitor. Excellent image quality and the AV coating doesn't bother me in the slightest.

djxput · 27 Apr 2012 at 00:51

derv said:
The box says HZ30Wie and the serial sticker on the back of the screen says the same.

The 8bit/10but thing isn't a huge issue for me because I'm never going to run a professional GPU that would make use of it.. Lack of HDCP is an issue though, part of the reason I wanted a high res 30" was to watch blu-rays. That is a deal breaker for me and is the reason it will be going back.

Other than the lack of HDCP it's actually a very nice monitor. Excellent image quality and the AV coating doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I guess Im a little noobish when it comes to this - but how can you tell the difference between the f and the i version of this monitor? was it just by your nvda control panel or something visual? (want to know so when mine comes tomorrow I know what to look for).

derv · 27 Apr 2012 at 06:31

The only difference between the screens is HDCP support and 8bit/10bit colours. The supplied manual is clear that the e version has HDCP support and the f version doesn't. I have used three different pieces of software and all say that the screen is not supported by HDCP.

djxput · 27 Apr 2012 at 08:22

derv said:
The only difference between the screens is HDCP support and 8bit/10bit colours. The supplied manual is clear that the e version has HDCP support and the f version doesn't. I have used three different pieces of software and all say that the screen is not supported by HDCP.

I assume you have seen this link
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hazro_hz30wie.htm

Im still not understanding about the whole hdcp; I didnt read how the wie has support for that and the f doesnt? (I did not read this at all - but again I dont know much about it). What was listed at this review was they are 2 different panels but the same case.

Do you think it is something on your end that the HDCP wont work? - maybe check with overclockers before you outrightly send it back

derv · 27 Apr 2012 at 09:25

I did see the TFTCentral review. That also says that the screen has HDCP (under specifications and features - Dual-link DVI (HDCP))

The HZ30Wie/f offers a very basic and no-frills set of connections and features really. There is only a single dual-link DVI interface available to connect to your PC. This is HDCP certified for encrypted content.

Digital DL-DVI interface supports HDCP for any encrypted and protected content

It's possible that I have a bad cable or something else is disabling it on my system. After work tonight I shall be trying the Blu-Ray drive and monitor on a different PC and see if that makes any difference.

Hopefully OCUK can suggest something that will fix it, I would really prefer not to go through a returns process.

derv · 27 Apr 2012 at 13:38

The Hazro is going back under DSR.

According to OCUK neither Hazro monitors have HDCP support chips despite what I have read elsewhere.

So a word of warning for anyone buying a Hazro screen from OCUK, be aware that you will be unable to play Blu-Ray. If you want this you'll need an 8bit which OCUK do not sell currently.

I have now ordered the U3011 which is being delivered tomorrow. Wish I had followed my instinct and done that in the first place! It will be interesting to see both screens running next to each other for a proper comparison. The Hazro is being collected on Monday.

djxput · 27 Apr 2012 at 14:02

derv said:
The Hazro is going back under DSR.

According to OCUK neither Hazro monitors have HDCP support chips despite what I have read elsewhere.

So a word of warning for anyone buying a Hazro screen from OCUK, be aware that you will be unable to play Blu-Ray. If you want this you'll need an 8bit which OCUK do not sell currently.

I have now ordered the U3011 which is being delivered tomorrow. Wish I had followed my instinct and done that in the first place! It will be interesting to see both screens running next to each other for a proper comparison. The Hazro is being collected on Monday.

oh really? so even thou that review says it will run hdcp; in reality it wont? - ahh thats too bad. btw how does the screen look? any dead pixels etc? ... yes please do a comparrison once you get your dell ...

I wont be getting my hazro till tuesday now (shipping problems

btw how does it with with the DSR you must pay for shipping or?

derv · 27 Apr 2012 at 14:23

The screen isn't bad at all, probably a 4/5. The anti glare coating is noticable on a white background but it's not something that bothers me. It's solidly built and looks good.

One small niggle was the height adjustment. Even at its lowest setting the screen was quite high off the desk so I found myself looking up quite a lot. The colours were darker at the bottom of the screen which I think was viewing angle. It mostly went away if I made the screen even higher but it just wasn't practical to use at that height.

The top of the screen gets very hot to the touch, almost enough to burn, but the screen is absolutely silent.

You need to set the brightness quite high. At lower levels I got a strobing effect. It's set a bit higher than I would have preferred but I got used to it extremely quickly. The colours are vibrant so no complaints there.

There was one dead pixel slightly off centre of the screen which was bright red when on a white background. The pixels are so small I wouldn't have noticed it during general use, but because I knew it was there it did stand out. The dead pixel wouldn't have been enough for me to return the screen despite me saying otherwise yesterday

If I didn't need HDCP I would have been happy with the price I paid (£594), even with the dead pixel and height problems. The Dell has cost me an extra £216 but for the HDCP, extra connectivity and decent warranty is worth the money in my opinion.

I'll try and post up a comparison with the Dell tomorrow evening. Here's hoping the Dell doesn't have any problems so I can enjoy my weekend!

edit: Yes I do have to pay for the return shipping even though I think I was mis-sold. OCUK have always been very good to me in the past so I'm letting this one slip without a fuss

djxput · 27 Apr 2012 at 18:41

derv said:
The screen isn't bad at all, probably a 4/5. The anti glare coating is noticable on a white background but it's not something that bothers me. It's solidly built and looks good.

One small niggle was the height adjustment. Even at its lowest setting the screen was quite high off the desk so I found myself looking up quite a lot. The colours were darker at the bottom of the screen which I think was viewing angle. It mostly went away if I made the screen even higher but it just wasn't practical to use at that height.

The top of the screen gets very hot to the touch, almost enough to burn, but the screen is absolutely silent.

You need to set the brightness quite high. At lower levels I got a strobing effect. It's set a bit higher than I would have preferred but I got used to it extremely quickly. The colours are vibrant so no complaints there.

There was one dead pixel slightly off centre of the screen which was bright red when on a white background. The pixels are so small I wouldn't have noticed it during general use, but because I knew it was there it did stand out. The dead pixel wouldn't have been enough for me to return the screen despite me saying otherwise yesterday

If I didn't need HDCP I would have been happy with the price I paid (£594), even with the dead pixel and height problems. The Dell has cost me an extra £216 but for the HDCP, extra connectivity and decent warranty is worth the money in my opinion.

I'll try and post up a comparison with the Dell tomorrow evening. Here's hoping the Dell doesn't have any problems so I can enjoy my weekend!

edit: Yes I do have to pay for the return shipping even though I think I was mis-sold. OCUK have always been very good to me in the past so I'm letting this one slip without a fuss

thanks for that nice review - be interesting to see how the dell compares; least screen wise (anti glare, quality) - and anything else.

derv · 29 Apr 2012 at 00:43

I'm going to try and get a review up over the next few days comparing the Hazro and Dell 30". For now I'll say that I'm a very happy person right now

djxput · 29 Apr 2012 at 08:33

derv said:
I'm going to try and get a review up over the next few days comparing the Hazro and Dell 30". For now I'll say that I'm a very happy person right now

thats quite interesting you can compare them side by side like that. Curious to see how you compare them; least subjectively (we already know the dell has more inputs etc).

Mysterae_ · 29 Apr 2012 at 10:54

I've heard the Dell can be a pain to switch between inputs, how have you found it? I like to switch between my main rig and work laptop. My work laptop won't drive the native resolution so would need to scale, would be interested in that too

derv · 29 Apr 2012 at 22:23

No problem whatsoever switching inputs. I'm currently running three machines off the screen (two on DVI and one on VGA) and it's four button presses to switch. There isn't much delay changing output, probably a second or so.

Axeia · 30 Apr 2012 at 00:34

derv said:
and it's four button presses to switch

I could see how someone used to a Samsung would find that be not-all-that-great. Samsungs usually have a "source" button to switch to another input, I'm guessing this is via the normal OSD?

djxput · 30 Apr 2012 at 08:06

derv said:
No problem whatsoever switching inputs. I'm currently running three machines off the screen (two on DVI and one on VGA) and it's four button presses to switch. There isn't much delay changing output, probably a second or so.

when you get a chance derv; can you post your thoughts comparing the dell to the hazro ... realize they are probably the same screen but just curious could be differences.

derv · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:00

I will get my thoughts up soon when I have some spare time. Hopefully this evening or tomorrow evening. The screens are very different to each other. If you are thinking about getting one or the other then absolutely go for the Dell, no contest. It's a fair bit more expensive but worth every penny.

In terms of switching output you need to remember that the Dell has so many of them (I think 6 in total, 2 DVI, 2 HDMI, VGA and DP). It would be very difficult to reduce the number of button presses unless you filled half the bezel with addional buttons. My old 22" dell had a source button to move between DVI/VGA/Auto so was either 2 or 3 button presses to switch.

StAnToN · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:14

Derv

Either you have a bad cable with the 30" hazro or you are right they had sent you the wrong monitor i have 3 of Hazro Hz30wie and they clearly state in my nvidia control panel that they support HDCP

djxput · 30 Apr 2012 at 10:16

derv said:
I will get my thoughts up soon when I have some spare time. Hopefully this evening or tomorrow evening. The screens are very different to each other. If you are thinking about getting one or the other then absolutely go for the Dell, no contest. It's a fair bit more expensive but worth every penny.

In terms of switching output you need to remember that the Dell has so many of them (I think 6 in total, 2 DVI, 2 HDMI, VGA and DP). It would be very difficult to reduce the number of button presses unless you filled half the bezel with addional buttons. My old 22" dell had a source button to move between DVI/VGA/Auto so was either 2 or 3 button presses to switch.

screens very different ya? - well my monitor should be with me tomorrow morn - ordered thurs. So looks like I need to see what its like; 30wie. Guess well see what it looks like etc ... I have a catleap here to compare it too; decided I didnt like the glossy screen so hence matte 30inch hazro instead.