PLS/IPS monitors

[Crowcore]

Greetings.

I'm looking for an 24" PLS/IPS display with a 1920x1200 resolution. I don't care about integrated USB ports. Any suggestions besides the S24A850 by Samsung & the PA246Q by Asus ? I don't have a particular budget.

[Metallurgico]

The PA246Q is great if you use the extra features like Adobe RGB color reproduction, QuickFit and Picture in Picture. Otherwise you could buy something less pricey.

Here's the written review I wrote for the PA246Q (it's in Italian, but the images may are worth a quick look): http://www.hwlegend.com/recensioni/articoli/periferiche/1718.html

[MiracleMan]

If money doesn't matter that much, Eizo EV2436W.

Eizo produces high quality monitors mostly for professional use. I haven't seen the Samsung but the Eizo is way better than the DELL ultrasharp U2412 and U2713.

[Dragon_Cannon]

Below is a link to newegg with all their 24" monitors and based on the response time and view angles they all appear to be IPS or PLS panels.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007617+600416634+600030619+600255029+600012663&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=20&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

[GoodBytes]

Best for your money in consumer market:

- Dell U2412 if you are on a budget (6-bit eIPS panel)

- Dell U2410 if you have the budget. I have this one. (8-bit H-IPS panel)

Both are 24inch, and 16:10 aspect ratio (1920x1200), making ideal for work. Both monitor are fully adjustable as well. Both panels are made by LG.

They have 0 glossy parts so that you can focus on your work. The U2410 comes with 2 pre-color calibrated profiles with report: Adobe RGB and sRGB for stunning visuals. Nothing of sorts with the U2412, sadly, but its price is lower, naturally. The U2410 uses high-grade CFL backlight for stunning white, and as the U2412 is more on a budget side, the build quality, while still really good, is not as good as the U2410, and uses the standard white LED backlight. Both monitor has a really easy to use menu system.

Inputs & Features:

- U2410 is pretty much a TV in terms of inputs, you have: HDMI, DisplayPort 1.1, VGA (D-SUB), 2x DVI, Component and Composite. So you can plug anything you want. It also feature aspect ratio lock when scaling a lower resolution content, and support 1:1 pixel mapping on the digital ports. It has a 12-bit color processor, and 10-bit Look Up Table for stunning colors, and has a media card reader. It also support Picture-in-Picture and Side-by-Side Picture-in-Picture. Also for color adjustment, you have way more than the standard limited: Red, Green, and Blue values.. you have:

- Gain: Red, Green and Blue

- Offset: Red, Green and Blue

- Hue: Red, green, blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow

- Saturation: Red, green, blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow

So you have much more control on adjusting your custom color profile to your liking, if you don't like the provided or calibrated ones.

- U2412 has no color processor or Look Up Table (they usually go together), so the input lag is a bit reduced and also the price (input lag is only an issue if you are a hard core FPS player... if you play anything else, or FPS games just for fun, you won't notice anything. The U2410 also has a game mode which turns off the color processor for reduce input lag, but won't be as low as the U2412). It has your standard monitor features, nothing really special, but it is pretty much all there. As inputs you have: DVI, DisplayPort 1.1 and VGA (D-Sub).

The above Dell monitors, has a 0 bright or stuck pixel warranty. And a 6 or more dead pixel anywhere on the screen, close or not coverage. And another reason why I like Dell monitors (well the Ultrasharp series), is If you call Dell for a replacement monitor due to anything wrong with it covered under warranty, you get to keep your monitor while Dell ships you the replacement one. And in the box you received the replacemenet monitor, you'll find the return shipping label for you. So all you have to do, is put the broken one in the box that you should received, and stick the label on the box over the old one, and call the corresponding mail carrier to come and pick it up. You pay nothing, and you get to keep your monitor while you are waiting for a working one.

[GoodBytes]

Oh, if you are interested in the Dell monitor, be sure to CALL Dell to place your order. You can negotiate a price.

Back in the days when the U2410 was released, it was 750$ Canadian, I price negotiated down to 500$ :D

[Crowcore]

Ok, I'm happy to see that there is a decent number alternatives available. I do play a few FPS but not on a hardcore level and rarely online. I'm mainly into action/adventure titles (Arkham City, Assassin's Creed, GTA...). Image quality is more important to me, I can live with a 10ms lag or whatever. I probably wouldn't notice any lag inferior to 100ms anyway.

Have you heard about the U2413 (also 16:10) coming out in February ? Will it be the new U2412 or the new U2410 ? It will have a AH-IPS panel; what's that ? A special kind of H-IPS ?

[GoodBytes]

The U2413 will replace the U2410, like the U2713H (not U2713HM),

I speculate:

It will feature USB 3.0 plugs, possibly no more component and composite and only 1 x DVI port. It will still be wide gamut, possibly RGB LED to achieve that, or some coating to the white LED. There is currently no information on this back light. The anti-glare coating agreesiveness will be a diminished a bit. It will have the same new look as newer monitor (personally, I am not a fan of the new design, I much prefer the old one). And as you said, AH-IPS panel.

My research ended up inconclusive at the moment on AH-IPS. All I know is that "A" is for "Advance". My guess, is that it means the less aggressive coating, and that's about it. But it's difficult to know, as it's not something that LG advertises officially, and the lack of in depth review makes it hard to know about the panel. These in depth review take some time to appear, ass they take a long time to do.

Yea, we play the same games, you won't notice any input lag even if you try and find it. I play my games with the Dell U2410, using Adobe RGB color profile, where the color processor of the monitor is completely at work, so you have a nice input lag of 30ms, and I really can't see anything, and its been several years I have this monitor.

[Crowcore]

The U2413 will replace the U2410, like the U2713H (not U2713HM),

I speculate:

It will feature USB 3.0 plugs, possibly no more component and composite and only 1 x DVI port. It will still be wide gamut, possibly RGB LED to achieve that, or some coating to the white LED. There is currently no information on this back light. The anti-glare coating agreesiveness will be a diminished a bit. It will have the same new look as newer monitor (personally, I am not a fan of the new design, I much prefer the old one). And as you said, AH-IPS panel.

My research ended up inconclusive at the moment on AH-IPS. All I know is that "A" is for "Advance". My guess, is that it means the less aggressive coating, and that's about it. But it's difficult to know, as it's not something that LG advertises officially, and the lack of in depth review makes it hard to know about the panel. These in depth review take some time to appear, ass they take a long time to do.

Yea, we play the same games, you won't notice any input lag even if you try and find it. I play my games with the Dell U2410, using Adobe RGB color profile, where the color processor of the monitor is completely at work, so you have a nice input lag of 30ms, and I really can't see anything, and its been several years I have this monitor.

What is a Look Up Table ?

[GoodBytes]

In brief, it is a hardware level, setup via firmware, color modification table. It used by a color processor. By itself, it's just a table. Its task, is used to transform a color to another color to compensate for the monitor inability to display colors perfectly (so far, we have 0 technology that can do this even if you have several millions dollar in your pocket ready to invest on a monitor).

Let say you have a monitor that sucks at doing greens. After calibration some greens are perfectly adjusted, other not so much.. or really bad. A Look Up Table will allow the color processor to modify the color that it receives from your computer, with the help of your monitor settings, to adjust it to the shades of greens that have problems being displayed. As a monitor manufacture you know out of the 16.7 million colors (or 1.07 billion colors, or 16 trillion colors, etc. depending on what your monitor supports), which one have problem being displayed to the sRGB or Adobe RGB color standards, they can program the Look Up Table to adjust them. This is in brief. It does NOT mean that if you have a Look UP Table that your monitor will display pin point color accurate image. You have to note that there is no monitor that will display everything perfectly at 100%,l where it looks like real life, even after calibration, Look UP Table and color processor, even if you go on professional grade monitor, also sRGB and Adobe RGB considers technology limitations. Hence why Adobe made it's own standard, and expect new standard over many years to appear to reflect better things, or the current ones updated. Right now the standard or the standard.. if you will is 1998 sRGB standard. Adobe RGB had hope to gain the market, but the average consumer jump on this "white LED" craze, so instead of jumping a new wider gamut of colors (Adoeb RGB), we are nicely stuck for many many years to sRGB. Maybe, OLED screen will finally be wide gamut and we can enjoy better and nicer colors, than what sRGB provides.

Another task the Look Up Table can do is help doing Frame Rate Control (FRC). It's a detering process, where when you are displaying a color that the monitor panel can't produce it will analyse and pick 2 colors that it can produce and switch between them up to the speed of the monitor refresh rate. While you don't need a Look Up Table for this.. it will show better results if you have one.

All TN panels are 6-bit panel (so it can only natively produce 262 144 colors). In order to display 16.7 million colors it uses Frame Rate Control deterring technique. Same for eIPS panels.

All Dell U series monitors, except for the U2412, U2312, U2212 and the long discontinued U2311H, are all 8-bit panels. So they can nativelly display 16 777 216 colors. However, they support 10-bit colors via DisplayPort (1 073 741 824 colors). To produce the color it can't display, it uses Frame Rate Control, with the help of the color processor and Look Up Table.

Some professional grade monitors, and I believe (might be wrong) the Dell U2713H feature programmable Look Up Table, where a supported (usually very pricey) color calibrators can modify the Look Up Table. This is great feature to compensate with the normal wear of the LCD panel over the years.