Looking for a New Monitor

[Jamdude]

So I want a new monitor but can't seem to find one with the specs I want, hopefully there is one somewhere though.

 

I'm looking for:

1440p resolution

IPS panel

27" screen size

>120Hz refresh rate

<6ms response time

Reliable brand

 

If anyone knows of a monitor with these specs please let me know, thanks.

 

[Coombzy]

1440P is not really known for being 120Hz I don't think there are any they tend to be 60.

[Rekhyt]

You won't find a 2K monitor with a 120Hz refresh rate sadly. That aside though, you can look at the Asus PB278Q, the Samsung S27B970D, and Dell makes one too but I can't remember its name. Maybe try Viewsonic too.

[GoodBytes]

Looking for a New Monitor

Damn... we only have old monitors here.

ha ha ha... ok boring joke :)

Sadly you have to choose, 1440p or 120Hz. Beside you'll be limiting by your GPU in big games, unless you don't mind playing them at much reduce graphics.

Remember, that your games need to run at a solid 120fps, to enjoy 120Hz monitor. 1440p is quite intensive as it is.

You COULD get these certified/reject panel Korean monitor off eBay, where some of them can POTENTIALLY, MAYBE, if you are lucky, IPS panels overclock up to 120Hz. Many were able too, but also many failed. Of course, you wont' get true 120Hz... the IPS panel itself is not fast enough, you'll get some blur effect going, which might seam like more frame, but side by side a true 120Hz, you'll see something is strange with the IPS panel.

That monitor aside, you have to pick which is more important. Color reproduction, wide view angle, (IPS) or speed (TN).

For 1440p monitors, IPS, you have:

-> Dell U2713HM which features a true 8-bit panel, and manufacture pre-color calibrated sRGB profile with report. A profile ready to be selected once you plug in the monitor. If you wonder, Dell uses LG IPS panels in this monitor.

-> ViewSonic 2770, which is similar to the Dell one above, but no pre-color calibrated profile, but the default colors are pretty good.

-> ASUS PB278Q, as mentioned above, which is worth a look.

All 3 monitors are very well reviewed by in-depth monitor review sites.

They are better monitors, but I would need to know your budget, as they are not cheap (see the U2713H  as an example).

[Jamdude]

Thanks for the help, I think the Asus PB278Q is the monitor closest to what I want.  1440p, 5ms response and good colour reproduction.  My budget is about £500 and the Asus is £470 from Amazon so I think I'll go with that if there is nothing better.  I'll be using the monitor mostly for gaming also.

[GoodBytes]

Excellent, let us know what you think, when you get it :)

[Jamdude]

Will do, I've seen quite a few people in this forum that have it and I've only heard good things about it :)

[Jamdude]

I'm starting to consider the Dell Ultrasharp U2713H now over the PB278Q and the U2713HM.  It seems to have better colour reproductivity, response is only 1ms slower than the Asus, I think the U2713H has an 8-bit panel and the PB278Q only has 6-bit, the Dell has 1.07 billion colours whereas the Asus has only 16.7 million.

 

The U2713H has better reviews online also, if these are correct then I'm leaning towards the Dell U2713H, it's only a little more expensive as well, what do you think?

[GoodBytes]

The Dell U2713HM and the U2713 both uses true 8-bit panel yes.

Response time, is a B.S measurement. I explain it here why it is the case: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/27813-acer-s235hlbbmii/?p=357440

More colors is always awesome to have... but in reality useless if you don't need it.

100% of content most people interact here on this forum is encoded in 8-bit colors. So, 16.7 million colors. Therefore, you don't get to enjoy 10-bit colors.

The U2713 is more focused on "color work" or if you prefer: photo editors, illustrator, artists, and so on, that can't afford or don't need a true professional grade monitor. It's fine for gaming, but it overshoots sometimes, which might be annoying on strongly contrasted colors, like a plane in black passing through a light blue sky. The other monitor doesn't have this problem. The backlight of the U2713H is better. It uses GB-LED backlighht, which is green and blue LED's put very close together with a layer of red phosphor to output a white light. The result is a nice white light, on the wide gamut spectrum, much like hig-grade CFL back light monitor, another costly backlight technology.

Each backlight technology in a nut shell:

-> Low grade/Standard CFL: Yellow/red'ish white to a warm white, depending on the grade. Consumes too much power, and cost more than White LED.

-> High-grade CFL: Near perfect white -> costly

-> White-LED: inexpensive, outputs a cold white or blu'ish white depending on the grade of the LEDs.

-> GB-LED: Costly. Outputs a hint green'ish white light.

-> RGB-LED: Very costly -> perfect white, where the backlight Red, Green, and Blue color intensity are adjustable.

[Jamdude]

Thanks for all the extra info.  I guess I don't need more than 16.7 million colours as I don't do photo editing or anything like that.  From reading the reviews of each of the monitors on TFT Central I think the Asus PB278Q seems like the monitor for me, it also has the lowest input lag.  My only concern is if new monitors will be released soon with similar and slightly better specs than the PB278Q but from what I've read, the PB278Q was released in Q4 last year so that shouldn't be much of a problem.  

[GoodBytes]

I don't think they will. Usually monitors models are refresh every 3 years... at least for Dell and ASUS high-end consumer grade monitor range.

So it could happen that next year you'll have a new one, but I doubt it. Monitor technology moves too slow to justify a new model replacement.