Help me get the right one...

mrbios

mrbios

mrbios

Soldato
Joined
7 Jun 2003
Posts
16,190
Location
Gloucestershire
Over the past 7 months, i've gone from a Hyundai W240D+ > 2 x benq 2420HDBL > Dell U2410 > Hanns.G HZ281

Loved the Hyundai but wanted a change at the time....wish i hadn't! Hated the BenQs, the quality was awful even compared to my years old hyundai. Loved the Dell but financial needs came first which is what meant getting rid of it.

No longer happy with a TN screen as the colours feel crap, so now i want to make sure my next move is the right one BUT the added twist in that getting a 28" screen in the form of the hanns.g means i'd quite like to stay 27-30" though the right 24" for the right reasons may sway me back ...

I want nice colours, but i play fast paced FPS games a lot (my primary game type). One minute im looking at 120hz monitors, the next im looking at IPS monitors, i can never decide on what i want to go for, at one point i was set on the Dell U2710 but the imminent release of a 27" hazro has changed that... but im starting to think maybe IPS isn't the panel type for me?

I need some advice on a middle ground (in price, colour and response time/input lag), hopefully someone can give me some difinitive advice.

Help please? :D
 
Well there isn't really a budget, i was considering the U2710 and Hazro 30" so less then £800 preferably i guess. Obviously the cheaper the better but within the means of requirement.

That benQ was one of my temptations actually, though i was unsure if i would gain any of the image quality benefits over a standard 60hz TN screen?
 
Cheers PCM, When are the samsung ones due?

Also any non TN screens you would recommend? (i did game previously on a Dell U2410 and found no issues with FPS gaming, even in a competitive CSS game so unless 120hz adds a benefit i can't see TN screens suiting me any more)
 
UK release date hasn't been confirmed yet but Samsung's PR team have hinted at some time around March. You are quite fortunate in that you've used a range of different panels with three distinct different panel types (assuming the Hyundai was the PVA varient). How did you find the responsiveness of your Hyundai? The BenQ EW2420 uses a similar panel type but should offer improvements in responsiveness (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=18294642&postcount=8) and contrast in particular. The biggest problem with the EW2420 is that, like the XL2410T (but to an even greater extent), there is a large amount of inter-unit variability. The EW2430 and a 27 inch version (EW2730V) are due to be launched soon which may or may not improve on the variability issue - http://www.pcmonitors.org/reviews/benq-ew2420-an-example-of-inter-unit-variability.

Thinking back to the U2410. Did you find the depth and range of colours particularly appealing? Was there anything in particular you didn't like about this image? Perhaps you felt the colours were 'too intense' or you would prefer better contrast - think about how you found the blacks, for example.
 
Yea the depth of the colours was it's most appealing feature, white was white, black was black, and everything in between blended together. Unlike the BenQs etc where if you were looking at an image that transitioned between light and dark there was a sort of ripplied effect, the colours jumped at points where the monitor couldn't display the full range of colours required by the image....

I've no idea if i explained that right, but hopefully you get the idea of what im getting at. I don't NEED perfect colours, as i don't do anything that's actually important for me to have them, but it would be nice to find a middle ground between responsiveness and the colour range supplied by IPS.

The Hyundai was actually the TN model, surprising as that may be, it was one of the best monitors i've ever owned! (infact if i could find one today i would probably take that over anything else right now, but sadly no one sells them anymore)
 
The BenQ G2420HDBL is certainly not the best showcase of TN panel technology, by a long stretch. What kind of system do you have and what will you be doing with the monitor? I ask because this may help determine whether the resolution of the U2711H or illusive Hazro could be an advantage to you. Likewise if you have some idea of an average framerate in games it could help determine whether 120Hz would offer any real advantage. I think the Samsungs should be good because of their aesthetic appeal and the 'Ultra Clear Panel' coating which should help make things look pretty vibrant. Like most new LCD monitors they are making use of WLED backlights. This restricts the colour gamut to roughly sRGB (your Dell U2410 had a broad colour gamut so a very impressive range of colours). The 'Ultra Clear Panel' coating is basically partially glossy and is something Samsung use on some of their new TVs and I've seen on some of their OLED prototypes. The screen coating can certainly help bring out a bit of extra vibrancy even if the colour gamut is a bit restricted.
 
i7 860, 8GB ram, ATi 5870, 80GB SSD boot drive

Will likely be upgrading to an i5 2500K, and possibly either a second 5870 or a move to next gen.

Probably worth pointing out that while im sat at work at the moment im sat infront of 2 x Samsung P2450s, which are an improvement over the benqs and my hanns.g one but still not perfect.
 
I haven't used any TN panel monitors recently which are worlds away from the P2450 - the XL2370 is probably the best TN panel monitor I've ued relatively recently and even that suffered from the usual flaws associated with the technology. If you are planning on upgrading your GPU and you really do fancy a change I think your 27" high resolution IPS route could be the most rewarding. Based on what you have said I think you appreciate the broad colour gamut and provided your system can deliver decent framerates at those resolutions (which it should be able to after the GPU upgrade - would recommend waiting for next gen over Crossfire for this) this would be a good path. I think the Samsung 3D monitors will be pretty good as far as TN panels go but it still won't compare to the Ultrasharps in areas such as colour reproduction.
 
On the flipside to this, what in your professional opinion is the best non-120hz TN panel monitor currently? I'm tempted to go back down the route of dual monitors as i quite liked having two in the past. Trying to give myself some options :p
 
time for a GH thread on my new computer as i think i now need advice on everything, and i still can't decide on a damn monitor :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom