What is best 30" monitor that is 16:10?

tangoseal

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I am in the market for a 30" 16:10 monitor.

I was looking sharply at the HP ZR30W but would like other recommendations from experienced 30" owners.

I am not looking at a 4K display as I cant afford it right now and I dont feel it is priced fairly.

Thanks a million!
 
What are you using it for?

I'm quite happy with my ZR30w...but there's a lobby in the Displays forum that is going to post shortly explaining that all 30" panels are shit with crappy color, which may or may not matter to you...and further try to convince you to buy a Korean 27" panel with no manufacturer warranty backing it up.

/the warranty service from HP on their displays is killer BTW.
 
What are you using it for?

I'm quite happy with my ZR30w...but there's a lobby in the Displays forum that is going to post shortly explaining that all 30" panels are shit with crappy color, which may or may not matter to you...and further try to convince you to buy a Korean 27" panel with no manufacturer warranty backing it up.

/the warranty service from HP on their displays is killer BTW.

Ha yeah ... I wanna use it for Gaming, Photo and Video edit/viewing, movie watching. So 50/50 on everything you can think of.

I currently own and sold 2 of my 3 Asus PA246Q IPS displays. They are fantastic with a billion+ colors blah blah. I dont want a 1ms gtg gaming display. I dont care about 3d nor 144hz crap.

Just want color reproduction a very fine pixel pitch and LED would be nice to cut down on the heat. I am really eyeballing the ZR30W because yes HP has good customer service traditionally.

Thanks so far.

Your comment about others comments about 30" having crappy colors? 1.02 billion color palette is quite large if you ask me and afaik most 30"s that I have looked up have quite a palette of colors due them being at least P-IPS panels. I am good with a VA panel as well but would opt to swing more towards a LED (not mandatory) lit IPS.
 
Ha yeah ... I wanna use it for Gaming, Photo and Video edit/viewing, movie watching. So 50/50 on everything you can think of.

I currently own and sold 2 of my 3 Asus PA246Q IPS displays. They are fantastic with a billion+ colors blah blah. I dont want a 1ms gtg gaming display. I dont care about 3d nor 144hz crap.

Just want color reproduction a very fine pixel pitch and LED would be nice to cut down on the heat. I am really eyeballing the ZR30W because yes HP has good customer service traditionally.

Thanks so far.

Your comment about others comments about 30" having crappy colors? 1.02 billion color palette is quite large if you ask me and afaik most 30"s that I have looked up have quite a palette of colors due them being at least P-IPS panels. I am good with a VA panel as well but would opt to swing more towards a LED (not mandatory) lit IPS.

ZR30W is a great piece of hardware...especially if you get it at refurb prices. But maybe not for you.

Due to the lack of switchable onboard monitor color profiles...the only way you'll get accurate color out of it all the time is if you're either working in AdobeRGB. Or if all your production apps are colorspace aware and will use an ICC profile specified in Windows. That being said for gaming and movies even uncalibrated, it is good enough and still a lightyear ahead of TN panels.

Read up on AdobeRGB vs. sRGB. There are tons of articles on the internet. Just because the panel has the billion+ color palette doesn't mean anything IRL...especially in photo production where color accuracy is important. Unless your entire workflow from camera to print is AdobeRGB (and no sRGB), ZR30 may lead to headaches in workflow. The problem is that all the other 30"ers have QC issues (cough Dell 3014) or like the ZR30W are wide-gamut (AdobeRGB).

If you can live with AdobeRGB (and TBH most people not doing photo/video production can and would never know the difference), it is a great tool backed with a great warranty..and even if you buy refurbed you can get an advanced overnight RMA warranty extension.
 
The non-LED backlit 30" IPS monitors have a significantly larger color gamut than the LED backlit ones. LED backlighting has some advantages, including lower power use, but for color accuracy and range ccfl tubes are still the best.

As the other poster recommended, get a zr30w, you will not be disappointed. Build quality and 3 years of next-day replacement make it worth the premium, in my opinion.

I had a single bad pixel, called HP and an HP technician delivered a brand new replacement the next day!
 
The non-LED backlit 30" IPS monitors have a significantly larger color gamut than the LED backlit ones. LED backlighting has some advantages, including lower power use, but for color accuracy and range ccfl tubes are still the best.

As the other poster recommended, get a zr30w, you will not be disappointed. Build quality and 3 years of next-day replacement make it worth the premium, in my opinion.

I had a single bad pixel, called HP and an HP technician delivered a brand new replacement the next day!

FYI, you can purchase a 5-year warranty extension with overnight replacement for $100. The coverage period of the purchased warranty extension starts ticking at the time of purchase...so it is best to put off purchasing it until your original warranty is almost (but not quite) up.
 
My Nikon D3200 can shoot in adobe so my workflow is adobe from nut to butt.

As far as warranty and service that is a biggie for me. I must have those.

Also as far as LED while not required by anymeans was only to cut down on heat output. I dont care about power as am coming from 3 ccfl backlit ASUS IPS displays that output quite a bit of heat.
 
My Nikon D3200 can shoot in adobe so my workflow is adobe from nut to butt.

As far as warranty and service that is a biggie for me. I must have those.

Also as far as LED while not required by anymeans was only to cut down on heat output. I dont care about power as am coming from 3 ccfl backlit ASUS IPS displays that output quite a bit of heat.

So long as whomever your customer is has AdobeRGB-aware software, you're probably golden then. Because that is the other bit of the problem, most of the world runs on sRGB most of the time when viewing material digitally.

ZR30W pops up on places like CompSource for $675 from time to time refurb'd...and you can up the warranty for 5 years $100. That is where I and several other folks in the [H]orde got theirs. For an all around tool, it is a good one...all the other 30ers I know of have QC issues or ghosting/response problems and so for gaming side usage are not good picks. The longer warranty packs are for SMB S/N panels whereas if you buy a consumer S/N panel I think the max is a 3 year extension (on top of what the panel comes with)
 
ZR30w is a wicked awesome monitor.

Its replacement is LED driven and glossy screen.
I prefer the original.
 
IIRC, doesn't the HP ZR30w have a aggressive AG coating, making it seem grainy? How is the IPS glow on the monitor BTW. Most 1600p monitors I've seen have a little too much from my experience.
 
All CCFL back-lit 30" use the same grainy matte coating but TangoSeal is used to the PA246Q which uses the same coating and has poor black levels (<700:1 contrast) so he should be ok with spending 1000$ to "upgrade," (lol) to essentially a bigger version of his monitor, but with far more IPS glow.

Its replacement is LED driven and glossy screen.

The Z30i has much faster pixel response times, a non-grainy matte (or semi-glossy if one prefers) coating, unlocked color controls, multiple inputs, uses far less power, ect... The ZR30W is in no way better than the Z30i aside from being cheaper.
 
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ZR30w is a wicked awesome monitor.

Its replacement is LED driven and glossy screen.
I prefer the original.

What El Eagle07 said.

IIRC, doesn't the HP ZR30w have a aggressive AG coating, making it seem grainy? How is the IPS glow on the monitor BTW. Most 1600p monitors I've seen have a little too much from my experience.

ZR30W is fairly aggressive. But 30"ers need it IME. Panels 30" size class (and therefore 1600 as you note) no matter what pick up glare/reflections from light sources in anything other than a pitch black room...and hence they are all fairly heavy on it. If you have a window in your office and a glossy 30" panel, you'd never be able to read it between reflections and glare.

Only time I ever notice the AG (and it is a fairly subtle thing) is the white post reply blanks on [H]
 
Okay I think Microcenter had a few matte screens in stock with ccfl. I may do a refurb or amazon Like new to save money.

Looking at Z30I and it does look nice as well and some others. Dell? Any good besides potential QC? Any other brands worth mentioning?

I have plenty of time to make my mind up.
 
Be smart, abandon the idea of owning a 30" and spend your 1,000$ on the glow free Eizo EV2736W. My Qnix in the comparison from the following link is also glow free like the EV2736W. See how a regular 27" compares to a 30" from around 2.5ft away:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-ahva-auos-version-ips-pls-2.html#post1105544

The ZR30W=Dell 3007=2007 image quality for 1000$. Might as well buy a used 3007 and colorimeter which will provide superior results.

The Dell 3014 has really high input lag and suffers from excessive overshoot ghosting. One can use the game mode which is delay free but the colors suck and it will still suffer from more obvious ghosting than most monitors. The Lenovo LT3053P has lower lag than the Dell (same as the PA246Q) but it suffers from the same overshoot ghosting issues. The PA246Q has slower pixel response times (slightly more color streaking/smearing) but is free from obvious overshoot ghosting.

The Z30i does not suffer from obvious overshoot ghosting, it's one of the fastest non TN panels around but the out of the box colors suck for a 1300$ monitor and it is a rip off. Nearly finished Z30i Review:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-2560x1600-semi-glossy-wide-gamut-ah-ips.html

The best 27" 1440p monitors are much better than ANY 30" and typically cost at least 25% less. The larger size is negated 10x over by the far more pronounced glow vs. a 27" unless one wants to sit at least 4ft away which defeats the purpose of owning a big monitor IMO. This leaves the over-saturated and inaccurate, art direction disrespecting wide gamut colors (when not color manged) and tiny increase in resolution as the only advantages a 30" monitor can offer.
 
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Be smart, abandon the idea of owning a 30" and spend your 1,000$ on the glow free Eizo EV2736W. My Qnix in the comparison from the following link is also glow free like the EV2736W. See how a regular 27" compares to a 30" from around 2.5ft away:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-ahva-auos-version-ips-pls-2.html#post1105544

The ZR30W=Dell 3007=2007 image quality for 1000$. Might as well buy a used 3007 and colorimeter which will provide superior results.

The Dell 3014 has really high input lag and suffers from excessive overshoot ghosting. One can use the game mode which is delay free but the colors suck and it will still suffer from more obvious ghosting than most monitors. The Lenovo LT3053P has lower lag than the Dell (same as the PA246Q) but it suffers from the same overshoot ghosting issues. The PA246Q has slower pixel response times (slightly more color streaking/smearing) but is free from obvious overshoot ghosting.

The Z30i does not suffer from obvious overshoot ghosting, it's one of the fastest non TN panels around but the out of the box colors suck for a 1300$ monitor and it is a rip off. Nearly finished Z30i Review:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-2560x1600-semi-glossy-wide-gamut-ah-ips.html

The best 27" 1440p monitors are much better than ANY 30" and typically cost at least 25% less. The larger size is negated 10x over by the far more pronounced glow vs. a 27" unless one wants to sit at least 4ft away which defeats the purpose of owning a big monitor IMO. This leaves the over-saturated and inaccurate, art direction disrespecting wide gamut colors (when not color manged) and tiny increase in resolution as the only advantages a 30" monitor can offer.

Thanks NCX, I really had my heart set on the real estate of 30" and hell I was about to just consider a 42" Panasonic Plasma instead, over 8.x billion color palette, absolutely NO GLOW period of any kind, true 100% black due to gas cell on/off states, but the pixel pitch would be not so great as well as the potential for burn in even with all the anti retention tech built in.

I am looking at the Eizo but am really kind of anti 1080/1440p format. It is just an eye sore to have such a wide display when I am accustomed the to 1200 high format of my current PA246Qs.

I am still considering the Z30i as an option because I am not as stringent about every little nit picky thing as many people are but I am certainly entertaining and considering other pathways to display glory.
 
30" is wider and taller vs 27"

http://displaywars.com/27-inch-16x9-vs-30-inch-16x10

It's 2013 not 2006 and you were thinking about getting a TV, 99% of which are 16:9. Some games & movies will have bigger black bars when watching letter boxed films and playing games which do not support 16:9=viewable area loss and bigger black bars=more obvious glow.

I tried watching one letterbox movie on the Z30i but the glow completely ruined it and I use a low brightness of 100-140cdm/2 and have a relatively bright light (1600 lumen 6500k CFL) in my room. Dark scenes in games were also completely ruined. My Z30i did not have any back-light bleeding but the glow makes it seem like it has excessive bleeding unless I sat at least 4ft away. Normally I sit 2-2.5ft away from my desk, when viewing my 27" 1440p monitors the glow is obvious but minimal by comparison.
 
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Oh hell that was a while ago NCX. I will say that ... my Panasonic VT25 50" Plasma that is 4 years old has given me the absolute best gaming experience I have ever enjoyed EVER. yes in caps haha.

However a TV falls short in all other areas related to the computing experience.

I am still looking at your recommendations as well as reading your reviews. From what I can tell the only thing I see wrong with the 30" HP is the IPS glow? I am still heavily debating based on information you provide, others, as well as my own wants and willingness for different levels of compromise.
 
Ha yeah ... I wanna use it for Gaming, Photo and Video edit/viewing, movie watching. So 50/50 on everything you can think of.

Your comment about others comments about 30" having crappy colors? 1.02 billion color palette is quite large if you ask me and afaik most 30"s that I have looked up have quite a palette of colors due them being at least P-IPS panels. I am good with a VA panel as well but would opt to swing more towards a LED (not mandatory) lit IPS.

While i do agree that that 1.02 billion colors is plenty, i have never, ever, heard of a true professional photografer that found a VA panel " OK". Black crushing + Horizontal gamma shifting is a no-no even for web-photo editing. Printing photos is totally out of question with a VA panel, which is sad because VA are the best monitors for watching movies, with great contrast.

It still remains true: you cant have it all. Professional photo monitors are not only expensive, their image processors and hardware LUTs add a whole lot of input LAG for gaming in First Person Shooters. IPS panels are too bright for reading and the low contrast does not help with movie watching.

My current favorite is the Seiki 39" 4k VA panel. The sheer size kind of compensates the horizontal gamma shift, and the service menu allows for individual color channel tweaking (saved to firmware) in a 10bit panel. The 120Hz at 1080p now works. The fact that it cost less than half of what is asked for a 2560x1600 30" only ices the cake. You can get a professional monitor calibration kit with the money you save using a Seiki 4k 39" and you get everything you need if a VA panel is acceptable for you usage scenario.
 
From what I can tell the only thing I see wrong with the 30" HP is the IPS glow?
And the wide gamut color with no sRGB mode. IMHO when it comes to these 30" panels there are three groups - those who actually need wide gamut, those who just want the pixels and don't care about the color, and everyone else. It is only useful if you specifically have a need to print materials with an extended color range. If you aren't working in a professional production environment, but care somewhat (or even a little bit) about color, you will most likely be better off with a solid sRGB screen.

If you want the HP warranty, the ZR2740w (100% sRGB, IPS, LED backlit, 2560x1440, very low input lag) can be had from B&H Photo for $450, or Microcenter (if you have one in your area) for $400.
 
Be smart, abandon the idea of owning a 30" and spend your 1,000$ on the glow free Eizo EV2736W. My Qnix in the comparison from the following link is also glow free like the EV2736W. See how a regular 27" compares to a 30" from around 2.5ft away:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-ahva-auos-version-ips-pls-2.html#post1105544

The ZR30W=Dell 3007=2007 image quality for 1000$. Might as well buy a used 3007 and colorimeter which will provide superior results.

The Dell 3014 has really high input lag and suffers from excessive overshoot ghosting. One can use the game mode which is delay free but the colors suck and it will still suffer from more obvious ghosting than most monitors. The Lenovo LT3053P has lower lag than the Dell (same as the PA246Q) but it suffers from the same overshoot ghosting issues. The PA246Q has slower pixel response times (slightly more color streaking/smearing) but is free from obvious overshoot ghosting.

The Z30i does not suffer from obvious overshoot ghosting, it's one of the fastest non TN panels around but the out of the box colors suck for a 1300$ monitor and it is a rip off. Nearly finished Z30i Review:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...-2560x1600-semi-glossy-wide-gamut-ah-ips.html

The best 27" 1440p monitors are much better than ANY 30" and typically cost at least 25% less. The larger size is negated 10x over by the far more pronounced glow vs. a 27" unless one wants to sit at least 4ft away which defeats the purpose of owning a big monitor IMO. This leaves the over-saturated and inaccurate, art direction disrespecting wide gamut colors (when not color manged) and tiny increase in resolution as the only advantages a 30" monitor can offer.

The ZR30W is highly regarded by professional users. It also has ZERO input lag, thanks to not having a scaler or on screen display.

There is a HUGE difference between working on a 27" and a 30". 30" gives you 20% more screen area.

I strongly suggest you do your own research on the ZR30W, and perhaps buy from a place with a good return policy like Amazon. You won't return it.

Watching movies on a computer monitor? No thanks, that's what large TV's and projectors are for.

As for the "It's 2006 technology" for $1000 BS, in 2006 30" monitors were $3500, and weren't nearly as good as the ZR30W (which was released in 2010).
 
There is a HUGE difference between working on a 27" and a 30". 30" gives you 20% more screen area.

Nope

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7370/10815252056_79f0ee865f_b.jpg

The resolution increase is tiny (dat extra space for a taskbar) and if one is truly concerned about resolution they can buy 2x Dell U2713HM's, Asus PB278Q's, Monoprice or Nixeus 1440p monitors for 1000$ or 2x BenQ BL2710PT's or a 4K Dell UP2414H for the same price as the HP Z30i.

I strongly suggest you do your own research on the ZR30W, and perhaps buy from a place with a good return policy like Amazon. You won't return it.

HP only sent the ZR30W out to be tested by Anandtech who didn't even measure the gamma. They sure proved how confident they were with their product by sending it out to plenty of reviewers, not. The difference between the CCFL back-lit 30" monitors is extremely minimal. Don't believe me? Just look at TFT Central's reviews of the CFFL back-lit 30" (Hazro, Dell, NEC), they are pretty much all the same after calibration. The ACD from 2006 should offer nearly identical results once calibrated compared to the rest of the CCFL back-lit models. LG has essentially been selling us the same monitor with different stands & casings for 8 years.

If I disliked the HP Z30i which does not use a grainy matte coating, why would I buy a ZR30W only to put up with the same excessive glow issues AND a grainy matte coating?
 
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I've gamed on the Samsung 305T and have owned a ZR30w since 2011. It's an amazing monitor that I can't recommend highly enough. I'm currently eyeballing the new G-Sync monitors that will be released this year but I doubt I can go back to a TN panel.
 
I really like my ZR30W and its comparatively low input lag. I do not do professional editing and so never bothered to buy a calibration tool.

The Dell U3011 has some better input options and a scalar. But then again the scalar causes severe lage in gaming. While the newer U3014 has a "gaming mode" that monitor has so many problems as to not be worth it.

NEC has a great 30in 2560x1600 monitor... which is about 2-3% better than the Dell's or HP's models and only tends to cost about twice the price of either of those screens.

There are several other brands out there that are slightly cheaper than the Dell or HP, but tend to have greater lag and even less out of the box color accuracy.

Then again, unless you really, really want that extra 160 pixels of additional vertical resolution (and I do!) save your money and get a 1440 panel. Or wait a few more months for cheaper 2160p panels to go on sale.
 
I think the best 30in, 16x10 monitor is Lenovo LT3053p.
I have had hp ZR30w and the PWM and FRC were making my eyes hurt.
ZR30i still has FRC AFAIK, but not PWM (it is LED). Still not good enough, esp. in the light that LT3053p has got two USB uplink ports and a switch button so it will allow me to switch {keyboard, mouse, webcam, USB stick and iPhone} from my home desktop to my work laptop's dock in a moment at the push of a button.
ZR30 is sold now and I am looking at you, Lenovo...
 
I think the best 30in, 16x10 monitor is Lenovo LT3053p.

The Lenovo suffers from the same excessive overshoot ghosting as the Dell 3014 which even shows up when moving windows and scrolling text slowly:

http://www.prad.de/new/monitore/test/2013/test-lenovo-lt3053p-teil11.html#Reaktionsverhalten

The vastly superior 4K Acer B326HK and BenQ BL3201PH/PT are cheaper than most of the horrible 30" monitors:

http://www.prad.de/new/monitore/test/2015/test-benq-bl3201pt.htm

Isn't the Alphascan 3014 the best ?
http://www.playwares.com/xe/45128136

It does not have an sRGB mode, but it is definitely better than the rest aside from the PA302W.
 
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I always have a lot of difficulties trying to understand anything from google-translated Korean reviews, but the manufacturer's website specifies 'sRGB 100%'.
http://www.alphascan.co.kr/page.php?LinkPage=product_view&Code=20141027133251
Would that be some kind of marketing lie ?

No, most wide gamut monitors can cover 100% of the sRGB colour space via colour management or hardware calibration*. The product page also indicates that it can cover 100% of the Adobe RGB colour space since it is a wide gamut monitor. Playerwares measurements indicate that it lacks an sRGB mode and can cover a bit more than the Adobe RGB colour space: http://www.playwares.com/xe/45128136

*Wide Gamut monitors sRGB modes usually have locked colour controls, a preset colour dominance and lower colour space coverage vs. using the monitors native gamut with a program (no games, consoles, or movie playback software) which supports colour management.
 
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Understood, thanks.

Well, apart from the size/format there's nothing interesting-enough about those 30" 16:10 indeed.

I'd a buy a standard gamut one if it had good performances and was not over $500 or so. But that will never happen.
 
I agree now that Lenovo LT3053p will be problematic for me. I discovered that my eyes do not like FRC.
I would care for wide-gamut only if the panel is true 10-bit and not 8+2FRC color dithering like that Benq BL3201PT. I checked it out and - shivers. Moving on.
 
I always have a lot of difficulties trying to understand anything from google-translated Korean reviews, but the manufacturer's website specifies 'sRGB 100%'.
http://www.alphascan.co.kr/page.php?LinkPage=product_view&Code=20141027133251
Would that be some kind of marketing lie ?

After some time searching about this monitor I've since discovered it is actually a copy of a Iiyama XB3070WQS-B1. There are a few reviews out, Prad has one http://www.prad.de/new/monitore/test/2015/test-iiyama-xb3070wqs-b1.html

The user manual mentions it has a "Blue Light Reducer" what ever that means, it doesn't mention anything about being flicker free, but the Japanese page mentions flicker free and blue light reducer

https://translate.google.com/transl...u=http://www.iiyama.co.jp/&edit-text=&act=url

There's a new NEC EA304WMi-BK which is also flicker free as noted at TFT Central's data base.
 
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