HP ZR30w vs Dell U3011

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darktiger

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2007
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Well I am in the market for another 30" LCD. I currently use the Dell 3007WFC-HC. I primary will be using this monitor for photoshop/photoediting. Which one do you all like better (I know this will create some debate). Who around here has used both? Which one do you all like better?

And for those who use to use the 3007WFC-HC and upgraded to the HP ZR30w or Dell U3011, is it that much of a improvement?
 
That's the wrong link. He was asking about the HP ZR30w, not the Hazro 30 inch.

Reviews for the HP are here:

http://hothardware.com/articles/HP-ZR30w-30Inch-SIPS-LCD-Monitor-Review/

and:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3754/a-new-30-contender-hp-zr30w-review

The major difference between the HP and the Dell is the lack of an OSD/Scaler on the HP. Upside is lower input lag for gaming, the downside is no tweaking the picture independent of the OS.

Both use the same LG 30 inch panel as far as I know. Some have said the AG coating on the HP is not as severe as on the Dell but that's anecdotal and no one really knows for sure. Neither is glossy.

The HP shows 10-bit color but since it has no OSD colors will look oversaturated on video cards that don't support 10-bit output (mainly professional cards).

The HP also lacks many of the input options available on the Dell with just 1 DVI and 1 Displayport.

Your choice really depends on what you want. If you have a solid pro-level video card to output 10-bit, and don't need extra ports, you can probably save some money by going with the HP.

I have had my ZR30w for about a week and love it. Can't comment on the older Dell 30s as I upgraded from an old 2407. :)
 
nbuubu said:
The HP shows 10-bit color but since it has no OSD colors will look oversaturated on video cards that don't support 10-bit output (mainly professional cards).
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I'm confused; if you use an 8-bit video card, and configure your applications to compensate for wide-gamut, should one still see any over-saturation issues? For example, with firefox, configure gfx.color_management.mode: 1
With this configuration, most web photos look correct to me with my u3011, but occasionally I see some sRGB web pics that are still over-saturated. RGB color space photos look fine with my 8-bit card.

Differences in RMA policy and return policy should also be considered when deciding between dell&hp.
 
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nbuubu said:
The HP shows 10-bit color but since it has no OSD colors will look oversaturated on video cards that don't support 10-bit output (mainly professional cards).
Click to expand...

No...

If you had a pro level 10 bit card and supporting applications, the benefit is that you get smoother gradients.

True 10 bit cards won't change over-saturated visuals. That is from wide gamut. You need to properly profile it and use profile aware applications.

I would never choose a panel with no OSD.
 
I currently have 2 260GTX running SLI. Is there a listing of 10bit cards anywhere?
 
Also if you were to edit with a 10bit card and a 10bit monitor, if people are looking at your finished image on your typical high contrast/bright LCD that most people have, would the picture look washed out/muted?
 
darktiger said:
I currently have 2 260GTX running SLI. Is there a listing of 10bit cards anywhere?
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Not a complete one, but we had some discussion on that in the u3011 thread. Seems radeon hd x87x models (the high end expensive ones such as 5970,4870), and "workstation" class video cards (nvidia or amd) are the only choices currently.

Maybe the new radeon 6xxx models will all be 10 bit. Crosses fingers.
 
darktiger said:
Also if you were to edit with a 10bit card and a 10bit monitor, if people are looking at your finished image on your typical high contrast/bright LCD that most people have, would the picture look washed out/muted?
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In that case you'd presumably be authoring for web and would export the jpg in srgb color space, in which case the jpg would look fine for non-wide gamut displays. If you just gave them the rgb color space jpg, and the jpg wasn't tagged with its color space, and/or the user's app isn't color-space aware, then yes it'd be under-saturated on srgb screens.
 
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Well for both, images for the web and prints from my printer... I am sort of familiar with color mgmt/profiling... I currently use my eye one pro with coloreyes for my 3007wfc-hc and hp 2335. I am just seeing if it is advantages for me to upgrade to 2 30" and to see if the 3007wfc-hc is worth the upgrade. The images on the dell 3007wfc-hc is over saturated, which I think is one of the biggest complaints against it. Even when you calibrate it, one reason why I "think" a monitor with a OSD where I can change the RGB would work.
 
darktiger said:
The images on the dell 3007wfc-hc is over saturated, which I think is one of the biggest complaints against it. Even when you calibrate it, one reason
Click to expand...

If you are properly calibrated/profiled and using a profile aware application (Photoshop) then it should not be over-saturated.

The problem with all wide gamut monitors is that the majority of applications are NOT profile aware.
 
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