27" 2560x1440 monitors

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jgallardo

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I'm a casual gamer, playing mostly League of Legends (and eventually Dota 2 when it comes out). I'm building a new computer and could use some advice as to which monitor to go with. I really don't want to have issues with the sparkle effect (as I spend a lot of time using programs with lots of white), ghosting, or lag. Please advise.

-HP ZR2740w - just came out?, can't find info on it
-Dell U2711 - is the sparkling really that bad? I can't find actual pictures of sparkling vs none, but this seems to be an issue for a lot of people
-Samsung SyncMaster S27A850D - can't find much info on this one either

Also, I'm probably going to get a GeForce GTX 560, is this going to be powerful enough to have a decent frame rate at that resolution?
 
There is a good thread on the zr2740w on the 1st page, last page in it has a video and all but still no detailed professional review. Seems to offer the best bang for the buck right now over all though.

The u2711's coating is something you have to see in person to really know if you'll love or hate it. I've seen it and yea I could spot it without any trouble but it didn't bother me too much. But that is me. You may hate it with a passion for all I know. Costs more than the HP 27" LED LCD.

Good thread on the s27a850d here too. Long story short its a mixed package. Color is good and so are the viewing angles, AG coating is mild too, but the back light bleed is pretty bad and it seems to have some input lag issues. Also costs more than the new HP 27" LED LCD.
 
Hi there i see you haven't mentioned the Hazro HZ27WD? I ended up going for one, although in hindsight i think i should of gone for the dell. Being only slightly cheaper than the dell (got mine for £499) it's got a cheap look n feel to it and no height adjustable stand which just takes the piss, mine is sitting on a pile of books what a joke!

I upgraded from a Samsung 245B TF Panel and quite frankly i feel a bit short changed.
 
wouldnt recommend hazro if you outside UK, cant return it under distance selling law or whatever its called.

They think this is acceptable bleed:

full.jpg
 
jgallardo said:
-HP ZR2740w - just came out?, can't find info on it
-Dell U2711 - is the sparkling really that bad? I can't find actual pictures of sparkling vs none, but this seems to be an issue for a lot of people
-Samsung SyncMaster S27A850D - can't find much info on this one either

Also, I'm probably going to get a GeForce GTX 560, is this going to be powerful enough to have a decent frame rate at that resolution?
Click to expand...

Hi jgallardo,

Pretty much ALL 2560x1440 and 2560x1600 displays have very aggressive AG coating, and this does create a very visible "sparkle" effect. Like the above poster said, some people don't mind it, while it drives other people completely nuts. I bought a DELL U3011 (which is just a 30" version of the U2711) and I ended up returning it, I couldn't deal with the sparkle. This is an example of how a DELL looks next to a normal semi-aggressively coated matte monitor. And the ZR2740w should have similar AG as the DELL U2711.

dell3007wfphcantiglarea.gif


Unfortunately, if you don't want a 2560x1440 monitor with a "sparkle" effect, you only have 3 options period.

1. Samsung SA850 (The monitor has a very mild semi-reflective coating. It's very clear, but unfortunately Samsung used edge lighting as opposed to back lighting. It has pretty bad light glow issues.)

2. Apple LED Cinema Display 27" (I ended up replacing my DELL with this. It's pretty much a DELL sans "sparkle", and works perfectly on the PC. 2 things to keep in mind though. The ACD27" is glossy, so it may or may not be a good fit for you depending on your lighting. It also a DisplayPort ONLY monitor, so if you want this --- Be sure to buy an nVidia GeForce 560 that actually had a DisplayPort connector, some nVidia cards only have HDMI and DVI depending on the manufacturer)

3. Hazro HZ27WD (A European "replica" of the ACD27". This display actually has additional HDMI, DVI, and VGA inputs and while it is glossy, I believe you can buy a version w/o glass. That being said, it is only sold in Europe, and Hazro has had a spotty history with quality control and customer support. The build quality of the display is fairly poor compared to the Apple and Samsung. And buying it from the USA might be a bit of a risk.)
 
jgallardo said:
Also, I'm probably going to get a GeForce GTX 560, is this going to be powerful enough to have a decent frame rate at that resolution?
Click to expand...

Probably for the games you mentioned (never played 'em) but for most things not quite powerful enough. Lack of VRAM will also be an issue. I have a Dell 2560x1600 display and GTX560 Ti and mostly play at 1080p for better frame rates. Thanks to the hardware scaler there isn't much of a reduction in image quality whereas GPU scaling makes it all a blurry mess.

I don't get the whole sparkle thing. I use the Apple 27" iMac at work and 30" Dell 3008WFP at home and don't find that the AG coating is any worse.
 
Kenster said:
What about the HP ZR2740w ??
Click to expand...
Don't know for sure. Many are assuming it has the aggressive AG coating that is hated. There is a short video in the thread I linked though that does a quick close up and it didn't look bad at all to me, less apparent then Dell's. The owner said it had a coating similar the zr30w which does have aggressive AG so maybe the camera he used hides that or something I dunno.
 
kasakka said:
Probably for the games you mentioned (never played 'em) but for most things not quite powerful enough. Lack of VRAM will also be an issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah OP, the GTX 560 may be just a tad underpowered for some newer games @ 2560x1440. You would probably be better off stepping up to a GTX 570 or an AMD 6970, granted they are a few hundred dollars more. I play all my games with High settings @ 2560x1440 on my Apple LED Cinema Display 27" with no real issues. With my Q6600 3.2Ghz + 6GB RAM + eVGA GTX 570, I'm averaging around 40-45fps in graphically intense games like "The Witcher 2" and "Crysis 2".
 
mesyn191 said:
Don't know for sure. Many are assuming it has the aggressive AG coating that is hated. There is a short video in the thread I linked though that does a quick close up and it didn't look bad at all to me, less apparent then Dell's. The owner said it had a coating similar the zr30w which does have aggressive AG so maybe the camera he used hides that or something I dunno.
Click to expand...

Interesting, look forward to a proper review on this monitor, if anyone see's a review on the HPzr2740w i think we all would be grateful for the info here?
Im most probably going to hit the return button on my Hazro screen and send it packing from where it came...

The choice for me is a naff looking monitor with no stand and very poor support let alone contact details for Hazro(sounds like a terrorist organisation that makes toys!) or annoying sparkle, but with height adjustment and quality build potentially slightly slower response for gaming..still swayed by the Dell or more towards the hp zr2740w

Just seen this lil snippet

http://appleheadlines.com/2011/09/14/comparison-between-the-apple-thunderbolt-display-and-hp-zr2740w/
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I went to my local Microcenter and they had a 30" Dell (running at 1920x1080 due to the graphics card). The "sparkle" effect was pretty noticeable and somewhat annoying.

I'm going to wait to see what people say about the hp zr2740w (it seems no one has gotten their hands on it yet). If the responses are negative, I'll probably go with the Dell.

Now, to find a suitable graphics card for under $300... :)
 
For the GPU I recommend looking at the Radeon 6950 ~$220 (edit: $210+tax after MIR at newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523, edit2: just saw a 2GB version on amazon for $240 http://www.amazon.com/XFX-6950-MiniDP-Video-HD695XCNFC/dp/B004ULZ7YY). Some people have had success unlocking cores in the 6950 to make it a 6970 but it is not guaranteed. Still a good deal even without unlocking.

I just recently got a 6870 for $150 to feed my Dell 2405FPW (1920x1200) and find it adequate for most games (for example, 60FPS locked most of the time in SpaceMarine at max settings). For AAA PC only games like battlefield 3, a 6950 or 6970 would probably be recommended.

edit: I should add, if you really like anti-aliasing then you should probably get a card with 2GB of RAM for that resolution. The flip side is, with such a high pixel density ant-aliasing isn't as important.
 
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mangomilk said:
Does that gif go
Print screen -> Anti-glare -> Normal semi-aggressive ?

If it does, that looks pretty horrid.
Click to expand...

MetaGenie made that .gif using his DELL 3007WFP-HC which has similar AG as the DELL U2711. The animation goes as follows:

1) The 3007WFP-HC As-Is with Aggressive AG
2) With Scotch Packaging Tape on top to simulate Normal Semi-Aggressive
3) How it would look "ideally" with no AG
 
I bagged a cheap NEC PA271W. Glad I did.

The aggressive AG coating isn't as bad as its made out to be. The only time I really notice it is when I'm scrutinizing a plain white background trying to see it.
 
Ashok0 said:
MetaGenie made that .gif using his DELL 3007WFP-HC which has similar AG as the DELL U2711. The animation goes as follows:

1) The 3007WFP-HC As-Is with Aggressive AG
2) With Scotch Packaging Tape on top to simulate Normal Semi-Aggressive
3) How it would look "ideally" with no AG
Click to expand...

1) Clear like day
2) Pixelated shit
3) Some dirt on it
?
 
Damn, if it really looks like that how can some people "get used to it" ? It looks worse than my cheap TV.
 
mangomilk said:
Damn, if it really looks like that how can some people "get used to it" ? It looks worse than my cheap TV.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I bought the DELL U3011 after so many people said the AG wasn't that bad. And I know opinions on AG are subjective but in comparison to my cheap Panasonic HDTV the DELL had an extremely "glittery" appearance so I returned it to the store. Unfortunately, your other options for 1440p displays are pretty limited to either a Samsung with white glow or a glossy Apple.
 
I have 2 theories about AG coating

1.) People sit far from both their monitor and tv (many people sit 10ft+ from their TV's, hence the millions of people who think sub hd console games like COD look just as good as true 720p games) so they don't notice nor have any idea as to what type of screen coating they have.

2.) They have never owned a CRT or glossy monitor.
 
mangomilk said:
Damn, if it really looks like that how can some people "get used to it" ? It looks worse than my cheap TV.
Click to expand...
I'm not effected by it too much but it only stands out on a pure white area of the screen to me so I don't really care. Things like viewing angle, back light uniformity, dot pitch, response time, etc. matter more to me.

But that is me. Lots of people apparently really hate that sort of AG. Putting some tape over it made a pretty big difference in that .gif. I wonder if you could get one of those large screen protectors to put over the screen if it'd have the same effect as the tape.

BTW OP the new HP 27" LCD does indeed have that aggressive AG so if that bothers you then you won't like that one either.
 
I ended up getting the 2GB GeForce GTX 550Ti. Should be enough for my needs I think. I'm going to wait and see the reviews of the hp before I decide to take the plunge for a new monitor.
 
where are you located? I don't think they ship to usa anymore. I had considered them as a cheaper option if I ever wanted to add a glossy 27" 2560x on each side of my 27" cinema display for eyefinity. The reports of bad support (at least overseas) incl lack of responses, as well as the fact that I heard they didn't ship to usa anymore, made me can that idea. I'm pretty happy with my ACD as it is though anyway.. I put a 19" 1440x900 on each side, on monoprice ero arms, set back about 10" so the bezels and ppi match.
 
Is that Hazro HZ27WD (replacement of the discontinued HZ27WA) factory calibrated like the HZ27WC model? And since it is a wide gamut display, does is have a working sRGB mode?

Here in germany only the downgraded HZ27WC is available in only one single shop for 500€. Compared to a Dell U2711 which can be bought nearly everywhere starting from 580€ it's not really a good price unless you order it from the UK. What I wouldn't do since there's no warranty for non-UK-customers.
The only real advantages over the Dell are the non-existent AG coating and 8.8ms input lag. But I guess a glossy display would be by far more annoying than U2711's crystalline effect. I'd love to try them out both next to each other.
 
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elvn said:
where are you located? I don't think they ship to usa anymore. I had considered them as a cheaper option if I ever wanted to add a glossy 27" 2560x on each side of my 27" cinema display for eyefinity. The reports of bad support (at least overseas) incl lack of responses, as well as the fact that I heard they didn't ship to usa anymore, made me can that idea. I'm pretty happy with my ACD as it is though anyway.. I put a 19" 1440x900 on each side, on monoprice ero arms, set back about 10" so the bezels and ppi match.
Click to expand...

I bought mine directly from the Hazro website; did they say they don't ship here anymore? I would also go with ACD if I was unable to get a Hazro, but anything Apple is pricey.
 
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