Planar SA2311W

Not really that new, it's been out since December and I have not seen any reviews or comments about it. Unless someone on the forum buys and reviews it, probably will not see anything about it since it's been pretty much unheard of.
 
As an owner of two Planar monitors, I can say that their monitors are good at least on the high-end scale. My 1st was the 19" Planar PX191 (S-PVA) from 2002 and my 2nd is the 25.5" Planar PX2611w (H-IPS).

It is sad to see that Planar is now using TN panels in their premium PX series.

I really doubt your will find a professional review of Planar monitors since they are a small player in the consumer market.
 
I am planning on getting this monitor, probably within the next month. There is one review I found, here: http://3dvision-blog.com/tag/planar-sa2311w/ . From what I have read this seems to be the best 3D Vision display available, maybe the best 120Hz monitor on the market. For me, I am mainly looking for a 3D display and this fits the bill. But I'd also like to use the 120Hz for 2D applications. Seen the high refresh rates at stores and it looks really good. You can find this Planar monitor w/ the Nvidia glasses bundle for around $600, which seems reasonable (for the 3D market). I will make sure to come back here and write a review once I get it.
 
Does anyone have experience with the SA2311W?

My Dell 2209WA just died, and I'm looking to move to 120Hz without losing too much picture quality. Every 120Hz monitor has mixed reviews, but I can't find much on the Planar.
 
The VG236HE is very likely the best 120hz monitor at the moment.

It's only 23.0" though it seems.

IMO that (or in other words the dot pitch, 0.265) is a bit too small. Won't matter in games though, in fact they'll look better because of the smaller size.
 
Hate to bump an old thread but does anyone know if this monitor uses glare or matte coating? I purchased an Asus VG236HE but the glare coating is killing my eyes, so I was thinking about exchanging it for one of these Planars...
 
Planar is matte. From what I have been reading the planar is the best matte 120hz while Asus is best glossy 120hz in the 23-24" range. Acer released their gn245hq but it's impossible to find but is supposed to be pretty decent
 
After buying the Planar Weds and receiving it Thurs (wow, overnight shipping even though I chose 3-day?), I can confirm that the SA2311W is indeed using a matte screen. In fact, the whole cabinet is matte *except* for the front of the bezel, which is glossy (why why why???), but eh, better than the whole thing being glossy top to bottom like the Asus.

That said, I definitely miss the extra "pop" that the Asus' coating gave it, but I certainly don't miss the awful eye-strain & headache-inducing screen reflections. The ability to enable/disable overdrive in the monitor's OSD is nice as well, although I'm not really sure I can tell the difference. Monitor also does not appear to use dynamic contrast as it cites 1000:1 "typical" contrast ratio in the specs. There is also a "DCR" option in the monitor's service menu that is set to "off" by default (didn't try turning it on).
 
Notice any input lag ?

Do I notice any? No. Could there be some? Maybe. The only in-depth review I've been able to find claims:

the Planar SA2311W monitor exhibits some input lag, the values measured vary from 0 to 24 ms with an average of about 10 ms, something which is quite good considering that most of the 3D-capable 120Hz monitors do have some input lag.

But they don't show any pictures or explain their methodology. If you know of any way I can check I'd be happy to give it a shot and compare it against the VG236HE (which I haven't boxed up to return yet). I don't have a DVI splitter though, and it's my impression that most tests involve the use of one.
 
I just replaces my Acer GD235hz with one of these and for 3d vision this monitor is amazing. This thing is a nice improvement. I have noticed far less crosstalk in the few games that I tested. This thing is also super bright so with the 3d vision glasses on it feels like I'm gaming on a normal monitor without the glasses. I love this display.

I need to play around with this in an fps like Serious Sam. I did notice a little input lag on the Acer when coming from a 28" I-inc. So far I haven't noticed any on the Planar but I need to play around with it some more to make a more informed judgment.
 
I just replaces my Acer GD235hz with one of these and for 3d vision this monitor is amazing. This thing is a nice improvement. I have noticed far less crosstalk in the few games that I tested. This thing is also super bright so with the 3d vision glasses on it feels like I'm gaming on a normal monitor without the glasses. I love this display.

I need to play around with this in an fps like Serious Sam. I did notice a little input lag on the Acer when coming from a 28" I-inc. So far I haven't noticed any on the Planar but I need to play around with it some more to make a more informed judgment.

I heard a few complaints that while there is less crosstalk, there is some annoying white banding at the top and bottom of the screen when playing in 3D. Also, how is the backlight bleed compared to your old Acer? I have an Alienware but I really would like monitor that is better with reducing crosstalk.

I can reduce crosstalk on my monitor by reducing contrast, but turning it down too low makes the image too dark. What level of contrast do you play in 3D with and how does the crosstalk look that way, especially compared to your Acer?

Sorry for all the questions, but it is hard to get decent user feedback on S3D topics.
 
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I heard a few complaints that while there is less crosstalk, there is some annoying white banding at the top and bottom of the screen when playing in 3D. Also, how is the backlight bleed compared to your old Acer? I have an Alienware but I really would like monitor that is better with reducing crosstalk.

I can reduce crosstalk on my monitor by reducing contrast, but turning it down too low makes the image too dark. What level of contrast do you play in 3D with and how does the crosstalk look that way, especially compared to your Acer?

Sorry for all the questions, but it is hard to get decent user feedback on S3D topics.

The Acer showed a lot of crosstalk and its an older gen 120hz monitor so I wouldn't go comparing it to your Alienware. With the planar I almost have to go looking for ghoted images in areas where I could see them clear as day on the Acer and in most cases cant find anything at all. I'm running the contrast on the Planar at 70 which is about where it needs to be in 2d and on the Acer I had it pretty low. I think that it was around 40, it needed around 50 in 2d.

That said the backlight bleed is about the same between the two but the Planar is very bright so in 3d you can see the bleed at the top and bottom of the display with the glasses on. I think that might be the banding that you are refering to. To me its better than not being able to see very well like with my Acer in some scenes.
 
I am considering getting this in my next build I'll do later this year. Though I am also considering going with the ASUS VG236HE. I do not have issues with reflections thankfully to my current setup in my room. Though I am moving back to school in a month and I have no idea how the room setup will be in the dorm. Depending on that the sun maybe right on my screen. I'll find soon I guess.
 
The Acer showed a lot of crosstalk and its an older gen 120hz monitor so I wouldn't go comparing it to your Alienware. With the planar I almost have to go looking for ghoted images in areas where I could see them clear as day on the Acer and in most cases cant find anything at all. I'm running the contrast on the Planar at 70 which is about where it needs to be in 2d and on the Acer I had it pretty low. I think that it was around 40, it needed around 50 in 2d.

That said the backlight bleed is about the same between the two but the Planar is very bright so in 3d you can see the bleed at the top and bottom of the display with the glasses on. I think that might be the banding that you are refering to. To me its better than not being able to see very well like with my Acer in some scenes.

Sounds good, thanks for the input. I am seriously considering getting this monitor as my Alienware appears to fall in between both of the monitors you have owned in terms of generations.
 
disclaimer - I am not using these screens for 3D, I just wanted 120hz for "normal" gaming.

Having used both monitors for some gaming over the weekend, I have to say I'm starting to lean back towards the VG236HE in spite of the reflections. Colors seem much more accurate (esp in sRGB mode) and are obviously much punchier. That wouldn't be enough if not for the fact that I find tearing is much more noticeable on the Planar even at 120hz (and in some games, even with triple-buffer/vsync enabled). What's worse though, is that there is tearing in videos with the Planar at 120hz. It's especially evident in Netflix streaming, but I can also spot it occasionally in local files as well. Switching to 60hz resolves the issue, but I'd prefer not to have to wait for the monitor to switch between 60 and 120hz whenever I launch a game or alt-tab out of one.

If the Asus suffers from this problem, it is somehow masked by the glossy coating or some other property of the screen. I'm planning on setting up both screens side by side in clone mode tonight for further testing.

The reflections from the Asus are annoying, but manageable with the right tilt/swivel arrangement, and more importantly, the Asus just provides a deeper sense of immersion when gaming, which is what I got these monitors for in the first place.
 
Enable overdrive to get rid of the tearing at 120hz on the Planar. Its the option labeled "OD" under display. With overdrive disabled I get tearing while scrolling through webpages. Its nice to have the option in the osd though.

If you do have a Nvidia card I highly recommend that you pick up an $80 pair of wired 3d vision glasses. 3d Vision rocks.
 
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Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a shot.

And I may consider nVidia for a future upgrade, but as of right now I'm still gaming quite happily on a nearly 2-year old Radeon 5850 :)
 
5850 is a killer card. With bitcoin craze those things are selling for a pretty penny. ;)
 
Thanks again for the OD tip, worked like a charm.

As for my feelings on the two monitors after setting them up side by side - the difference is much less noticeable after fiddling with the color calibration a little. I'll most likely keep the Planar as the reflections on the Asus are still a concern and I don't want to be limited as to where I can use my computer.
 
I just got this monitor recently and checked for tearing after reading this thread. It's there in 120hz with vsync on, whether overdrive is on or not. There is no difference in tearing whatsoever with overdrive on.

The tearing usually manifests as a line running at a moderate speed from bottom to top every so often.

So far, I haven't noticed such a thing in 60hz or 3D. I'm not sure what to do.
 
Bump with response I received from Planar:

Thanks for contacting us about the tearing issue. It is an issue that we just recently observed and have been working to develop a solution. We believe that a firmware upgrade will resolve the problem. I just received the firmware upgrade kit from Taiwan today and I will try to test this tomorrow. If successful, then I should be able to send you the firmware upgrade kit. Do you have multiple SA2311W monitors that would need to be updated?



Best regards.



- Scott

My original email detailed the various tests I did, the results of which are: no tearing at 60hz, tearing at 100/110/120hz, no tearing at 120hz in 3D mode (whether the content is 3D or if I launch in 3D and disable it to get 2D without tearing).

If you look at the OSD with regular 120hz, you will see the horizontal refresh rate reads 137KHz, while in 3D 120hz, it reads 138KHz. So the timings appear to be slightly different.
 
That's good to hear that they're working on a solution.

I am strongly considering getting this monitor (mainly for 2D, but I'll try the 3D out for sure), what has your experience been so far, overall?
 
If you want the monitor mainly for 2D, I'd contact Planar about the firmware update (provided it fixes everything like it should; they indicated that they'll be testing it for the first time today). I'd assume after a few months or so it won't matter, as all monitors shipping would have the new firmware.

Dealing with Planar support seems pleasant at least, if you do have to go that route.
 
Yeah I still have the tearing with overdrive enabled. It doesn't bother me though. I almost never game with vsync and don't really notice any tearing while gaming. I also don't watch movies or videos on this display. I have my TV for that. I doubt that I'll even apply the fix when they do get around to releasing it on the off chance that effects 3d performance.
 
Bump with response I received from Planar:



My original email detailed the various tests I did, the results of which are: no tearing at 60hz, tearing at 100/110/120hz, no tearing at 120hz in 3D mode (whether the content is 3D or if I launch in 3D and disable it to get 2D without tearing).

If you look at the OSD with regular 120hz, you will see the horizontal refresh rate reads 137KHz, while in 3D 120hz, it reads 138KHz. So the timings appear to be slightly different.

I cited this post in a chat with Planar support as I too am still experiencing tearing even with OD enabled. The responses I got were:

I am not aware of any issue with the SA2311 but I will double check with an engineer. May I have an email address or a phone number to contact you once I have confirmation?
Thank you, I'll speak with the engineer and contact you. I should have a response within 24 hours, otherwise I'll contact you anyway to let you know.
 
Just got a call back from Planar, they don't have an ETA for a fix yet, but once they've got one they're going to advance me a new monitor with a prepaid shipping label to send the old one back. They say mine is defective.
 
Ah, so not all units are affected by the tearing? And if it is, they'll replace it?

Seems like I shoudn't worry about getting one then. Only other 'bad' thing I heard about it was a low amount of input lag--do you guys notice it at all?
 
Ah, so not all units are affected by the tearing? And if it is, they'll replace it?

Seems like I shoudn't worry about getting one then. Only other 'bad' thing I heard about it was a low amount of input lag--do you guys notice it at all?

Every user here seems to see the screen tearing so....

I haven't noticed any input lag and I am normally pretty sensitive to it.
 
Well, if they said his unit was defective it wouldn't make any sense that all units have the tearing... else all are defective, lol.

I figure I'll wait a little while then until they fix the tearing issue, might shoot them an e-mail in the meanwhile.
 
Well, if they said his unit was defective it wouldn't make any sense that all units have the tearing... else all are defective, lol.

I figure I'll wait a little while then until they fix the tearing issue, might shoot them an e-mail in the meanwhile.

Yeah I was a bit confused as well but hey they're fronting me a new monitor minus the problems, so I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
The email support department I contacted is specifically for 3D monitors. From the response I got, I suspect they have more specific and greater expertise than the general chat support that probably handles every product type.

They indicated that they just discovered the problem and just received the new firmware that corrects it. So I would assume none currently being sold have the firmware as they are testing it for the first time just now. The fact that everyone in this thread with one experiences the tearing seems to bear this out as well.

Unless they update the firmware of the model they send as a replacement first, it would be the same. The monitors aren't defective so much as the firmware is.

If in doubt, I'd try [email protected] as they seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. As of right now, I have yet to hear back from the rep I've been speaking to. The fix seems to be in the very earliest stages.
 
Thank you for this thread. I'm interested in picking up a Planar SA2311W in a few weeks and I contacted Planar ([email protected]). I live in Europe, so I don't want to pick up a monitor that doesn't have the new firmware fix. I was given the contact details of the European reseller and I was told that it's going to take a few weeks for them to get me an updated monitor.
 
I contacted Planar support, as well, and they say that they will actually post in this forum as soon as the firmware fix is complete and they begin shipping updated monitors. Should be soon, 1-2 weeks (3 days ago) is the ETA.
 
Hmm. I can get this monitor new for $300 on craigslist. Is that worth it? Though I am a bit wary now as I guess the company isn't making profits at the moment (stock is down 8% today) as I do not want warranty issues. Almost makes me wonder if this company may go belly up.

Should we expect sub $300 23 inch 120Hz monitors by early next year? Otherwise I probably won't bother as my current setup probably will struggle to keep above the 120 FPS, which is what I am looking for in extra smoothness when I get a new machine down the road.
 
It can be had for $350 from Planar directly with the warranty (and updated firmware in a week or two), so I probably would not go with CL.
 
Who knows what the shipping cost is and if there is any taxes in the mix too.
 
Hmm. I can get this monitor new for $300 on craigslist. Is that worth it? Though I am a bit wary now as I guess the company isn't making profits at the moment (stock is down 8% today) as I do not want warranty issues. Almost makes me wonder if this company may go belly up.

The stock is only selling for a bit less than it was three years ago. I wouldn't worry about Planar suddenly going under.
 
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