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AG coating on Dell U2412M

T

toronado455

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Mar 6, 2007
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I've read so many threads on the anti-glare coating on the Dell U2412M being overly noticeable that I wanted to ask "in comparison to what"? I've only had monitors with AG coating, never a glossy monitor and it never bothers me. Is the coating on U2412M much different from other monitors with AG coating?

I've previously owned a Dell 1905FP, and a Samsung F2380 both with AG coating and neither of those bothered me. And I currently have a LG IPS226 with AG coating. The LG is a bit strange because the vertical viewing angles are somewhat impaired by a dark shadowy band which appears as you change the vertical angle. I don't know if that is caused by the AG coating on the LG or not. Overall, I'd say the AG coating on the LG IPS226 is not objectionable to me.

I'm just seeking some point of reference by which to judge the Dell. Is the AG coating on the Dell U2412M much different from the AG coating on the LG IPS226?
 
AFAIK, it should be exactly the same as the coating on the IPS226.

Some people on [H] have made it their lives work to rant about AG coatings. The vast majority of people with U2412 have no issue with the AG coating.
 
Snowdog said:
AFAIK, it should be exactly the same as the coating on the IPS226.

Some people on [H] have made it their lives work to rant about AG coatings. The vast majority of people with U2412 have no issue with the AG coating.
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this ^


i say this a lot and ill say it again... if you are coming from a glossy monitor and you dont mind the glare. . dont by an AG coating monitor think about it. the AG coating sacrifices sharpness for absolutely no glare at all. the u2412m has a much better coating then the 2410 and they continue to improve it. if you are coming from a matte monitor the u2412m is a god send.. and the AG coating wont bother you at all.


you are coming from an AG coating from an LG monitor is will be as good if not better on the u2412m as dells ultrasharps tend to be high end monitors.
 
As stated above, it should be the same as IPS226, so if you are good with that, I expect you'll be fine with the U2412. To be safe, get it from a place with a good return policy.

There is a subset of people where AG coating really bothers them (myself included). I wouldn't say that that most go on anti-AG rants, but some of us simply like to mention the fact that it does bother some people. I was one of those who read these forums, read that the 2412 coating wasn't so bad, and then when I saw it, I had a problem reading text on white screens. So it will vary a lot by person.

In comparisons to other screens, based on the small number I have owned, the 2412 was worse than: an LG TN, NEC 2170 + 2190 (VA), Eizo S1921 (VA) and NEC 2490 (IPS). The LG probably had the heaviest coating of that bunch, and the rest would be considered 'standard AG coating'. And that's the most my eyes can take... and even then, it's more than I prefer.

I think the majority of people, even those fine with heavy AG coating, probably would prefer semi-glossy or a lighter coating, if they could see such monitors side-to-side, but then that does limit your purchase options. For some reason certain threads commenting on heavy AG coating tend to devolve into super shiny, mirror glossy vs matte heavy AG coating, like those are the only two options -- both at the extremes.
 
Don't listen to a couple of self-satisfied denialists, OP. There are varying degrees of AG coatings. Some of them are acceptable. Some of them are not. If you care about picture quality, look up some of the members on this forum who have "made it their lives (sic) work to rant about AG coatings".
 
Have you guys seen the AG coating on the so-called "PIN pad devices" at POS (point of sale) check out registers at grocery stores and the like? The little 4 to 5 inch device where you swipe your card and sign on the screen? Those are really bad in my opinion. It's like looking at a coating of grains of multi-colored semi-transparent sand. I would certainly not want a display with a coating that looks like that. But I have never seen a coating on a display screen that looks like that anywhere other than on those PIN pad devices.
 
wabbitseason said:
Don't listen to a couple of self-satisfied denialists, OP. There are varying degrees of AG coatings. Some of them are acceptable. Some of them are not. If you care about picture quality, look up some of the members on this forum who have "made it their lives (sic) work to rant about AG coatings".
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Don't listen to a couple of self-satisfied OCD types, O.P.. There are varying degrees of AG coatings. Some of them are acceptable. Some of them are not. The U2412M is perfectly acceptable. :p

I own one. I'm looking at it now. My previous monitor was a glossy 22". Empasis on GLOSSY. Oh, and my vision is 20/15. If anyone should be unhappy with the AG coating it should be me. This monitor is very, very good. Calibrate it properly (it doesn't take much) and run the Clear Type text tool in Windows. My whites are bright and clean, blacks are deep and true, there is very little graininess from two feet away. No more than any other matte screen I've used over the past decade. Of course my glossy TN had no graininess, but the Dell blows it away in color and image quality.

Seriously, I'm not totally dismissing the way some people find it irritating. Everyone has different peeves. I hate crooked pictures hanging on the wall. /shrug. The only way you'll know if ANY matte screen is going to bother you is to use one for a while. Just make sure you buy from a retailer with a liberal return policy. I sent two monitors back for backlight bleeding I didn't like before I settled on the U2412M (which is very uniform).
 
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Jeffredo said:
. My whites are bright and clean, blacks are deep and true, there is very little graininess from two feet away. No more than any other matte screen I've used over the past decade. Of course my glossy TN had no graininess, but the Dell blows it away in color and image quality.

The only way you'll know if ANY matte screen is going to bother you is to use one for a while. If it does, get a glossy Korean monitor.
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This is a good example of how subjective describing AG coating, or many aspects of a monitor, is really. For myself, I found whites on the 2412 quite horrible, dirty and gray looking -- unless I pumped up the brightness to retina-burning levels. And if that bright, whites were of course brighter, but now a grainy bright white, and my eyeballs felt like they wanted to fall out. I find blacks generally terrible on all IPS screens (including the one I am using now), so wouldn't describe any IPS as having deep and true blacks. And the U2412 had the heaviest AG coating of any monitor I have seen in my life... and I sit 2 feet away, as well.

Only way for you to know if the AG coating won't bother you, is to try it yourself. So long as whomever you buy from has a good return policy, no risk. I do expect you'll be fine with it, as you currently have an IPS monitor with probably a similar coating. You may prefer a semigloss/light coating instead, but you'd need to see them next to each other to compare.

Edit: The Samsung you have/had is c-pva, right? If so, it should have a light coating, so you can compare it directly, if you have it stored away in a closet or something.
 
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Clean whites? on a display with aggressive AG coating?

1b8c8943_350x700px-LL-4ad90b08_Not-sure-if-serious2.jpeg


If the AG on the LG isn't bothersome, the Dells won't be either.
 
Jeffredo said:
Don't listen to a couple of self-satisfied OCD types, O.P.. There are varying degrees of AG coatings. Some of them are acceptable. Some of them are not. The U2412M is perfectly acceptable.
.
Click to expand...

Worse yet. The poster already stated he has an LG IPS screen with the exact same coating, so this will essentially be exactly what he is already used to, but the AG crusaders ignore that and act like the LG AG coating will give him eye cancer or something. :rolleyes:

We really should have this nonsense confined to AG bun fight thread like the Mod did for 16:9 aspect ratio zealotry.

@ toronado455

Try to ignore the noise. This is essentially exactly the same coating as your current LG. If you have no issue with it (like most people don't) you won't with the U2412, which is great monitor by most accounts.
 
I can't stand glossy monitors. If i wanted a mirror, then I would have gotten a mirror instead of a monitor.

Everyone has different opinions though but AG coating IMO is the lesser of two evils.
 
Snowdog said:
Worse yet. The poster already stated he has an LG IPS screen with the exact same coating, so this will essentially be exactly what he is already used to, but the AG crusaders ignore that and act like the LG AG coating will give him eye cancer or something. :rolleyes:
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I don't know who you are even referring to, as I think just about everyone in this thread, (besides wabbitseason) has said he'd probably be fine with U2412, as the LG he has now has basically the same coating.

If referring to my posts, please look closer. I hardly classify myself as an AG crusader, just want to make sure people are aware that it may be an issue for some. I too also mentioned he'd probably be fine with the 2412 coating. But I also wanted to stress it is highly subjective as far as coating preferences.

I also noticed it didn't take long for the someone to bring up the extreme of glossy mirror monitors either.
 
Namelessme said:
Edit: The Samsung you have/had is c-pva, right?
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Yes. Actually, I'm not committed to buying an IPS panel, or even a matte panel. I just want something with vertical viewing angles equivalent to the Samsung F2380. I'd even consider a glossy panel. The most important thing to me is the vertical viewing angle stability. I got the Samsung because it said "178°(H) / 178°(V)" viewing angles in the specs. And it was very good in that regard. What bugs me most about monitors is the color inversion and contrast change you get with cheap TN panels. So, not to change the topic here, but if anyone could recommend something, I'd appreciate it.
 
I'd be partial to one of the Samsung PLS monitors myself. But the downside is, all besides the newest 27"er (at around $1000) has been known to have backlight bleed.

The vertical angle thing is what bothers me about TN panels too. VA should be fine with vertical angles, so-so with horizontal (although unsure how A-MVA is with angles), and IPS (or PLS) generally should be the best regarding vertical + horizontal angles. If you mention what you primarily want the monitor for (gaming, movies, text work, etc) and cost + size preference, it may be easier to make a recommendation. If you want 16:10, it will limit your choices a bit more.
 
Namelessme said:
If you mention what you primarily want the monitor for (gaming, movies, text work, etc) and cost + size preference, it may be easier to make a recommendation.
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Thanks. I use it primarily for text, PDF files, and music notation software (which uses fonts), so it is basically a black fonts on white background situation. I value high dpi over large screen size. Going from the 23" Samsung to the 21.5" LG with identical resolution (1920x1080) was a net gain on the dpi so I don't miss that larger screen.
 
The c-pva monitor you used to own should have been decent for text, seeing as it had a light coating, rather high contrast and shouldn't have suffered from s-pva/cleartype blurriness. But yeah, the LG may be sharper due to the same res on a smaller screen.

As for new monitors, I'd lean toward the Samsung PLS for text myself, earlier models are semi-glossy but may suffer from backlight bleed, newer one is 27", glossy, and very expensive. If working in an area with good lighting conditions, a glossy IPS may be better for text too (27" korean, 27" ACD, etc.)

Even though you may be perfectly fine with heavy AG coating, as has been said many times already -- a preemptive mention if anyone feels I am being an AG crusader -- I think you'd find a lighter coated monitor better for text work, as whites will be cleaner and fonts a bit sharper. Black text on a white background is exactly the reason I had to return my 2412... too sparkly for me.

It depends on the lighting in your working area too. If you have windows or bright lights shining down, you may have to go the AG coated route regardless, as too much glare isn't good either.
 
How about the SAMSUNG S22A650D? I wish NewEgg had a search filter for viewing angle. It isn't easy to find these.
 
toronado455 said:
How about the SAMSUNG S22A650D? I wish NewEgg had a search filter for viewing angle. It isn't easy to find these.
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A couple of people here have the 24" version, and I would assume the 22" version uses a similar A-MVA panel. It should be decent for text, as it has a semi-gloss coating (or at least the 24-27" versions do), and nice contrast. I don't think A-MVA suffers from the same blurry text when using cleartype as S-PVA does.

Downsides (to me) would be the 22" size (too small), probably some horizontal color shift, slow response times, and it's 16:9. For text work, I typically think vertical is more important than horizontal, so 16:10, or even 4:3 may be preferred. Your preferences may vary there.
 
Namelessme said:
Downsides (to me) would be the 22" size (too small)
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Thanks. I prefer the 21.5" (22") size now over the 23" and 24" because using the same resolution (1920x1080) it has a higher DPI. Since the amount of screen real estate is the same as the 23" and 24" variants, I prefer the higher DPI of the 21.5" version. If I take into consideration the fact that many laptops have much smaller screens with 1920x1080 resolution (and even higher DPI), the 21.5" size is plenty big for me. Until higher resolution monitors come down in price, I'll stick with the highest DPI I can get on a 1920x1080 screen.

Namelessme said:
a glossy IPS
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If anyone knows of such a beast, I'd be interested.
 
There are several glossy IPS screens --

21.5"er, Dell touchscreen, which I forget the model number to. It's on their website.

Korean 27" IPS glossy, several threads in this forum on it. $300ish on eBay, new... high res, 1440p. Most report no problems, but some may have dead pixels, etc.

There is a microcenter 27" glossy IPS that goes for about $400, if you happen to have one in your area. It's certainly a lot easier to return a monitor to a store than ship back to Korea, if there are defects.

There is a 23" glossy Asus IPS screen too. I think that is a tad under $300.

And if you wanted a Samsung PLS, but in a smaller screen, Eizo makes a model using the PLS panel at 23", semi glossy. But Eizos are expensive, so expect that to be at least $450+

And if you want to go big bucks, there are the Apple ACD 27" and new Samsung PLS 27" for around $900ish.
 
Namelessme said:
There are several glossy IPS screens --

21.5"er, Dell touchscreen, which I forget the model number to. It's on their website.

Korean 27" IPS glossy, several threads in this forum on it. $300ish on eBay, new... high res, 1440p. Most report no problems, but some may have dead pixels, etc.

There is a microcenter 27" glossy IPS that goes for about $400, if you happen to have one in your area. It's certainly a lot easier to return a monitor to a store than ship back to Korea, if there are defects.

There is a 23" glossy Asus IPS screen too. I think that is a tad under $300.

And if you wanted a Samsung PLS, but in a smaller screen, Eizo makes a model using the PLS panel at 23", semi glossy. But Eizos are expensive, so expect that to be at least $450+

And if you want to go big bucks, there are the Apple ACD 27" and new Samsung PLS 27" for around $900ish.
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Thanks again. I believe the Dell is the ST2220T. Interesting, but sometimes touchscreens have a layer over them which is visible - not sure on that one.

The higher res ones you mentioned are are too expensive for me right now and I'm using integrated graphics without display port so anything over 1920x1080 is out for now. Will consider such stuff in the future.

The ASUS is interesting. I'm not sure what the part number is on that one. I found two on NewEgg, though I don't think they are glossy. One is a 21.5" VS229H-P model, but the comments sound like it has a heavy AG coating. Might not be a problem for me though. The other is a newer 23" PB238Q. I'd prefer the 21.5" for the reasons stated previously. But I'd consider the 23" if it is the glossy one you mentioned.

For now my short list includes:
ASUS VS229H-P
Samsung S22A650D
LG IPS225T-BN
Dell U2212HM

All are 21.5" models. I will mostly likely order the Samsung this week and give that a try first.

I am near a MicroCenter, and got my LG IPS226V there. I would like a smallish 4:3 to use on the side of my main monitor, but haven't found any with viewing angles I like.
 
This is the asus model I was referring to:

Asus VG23AH

My mistake, it's semiglossy, not glossy. But that may be a good thing depending on your lighting conditions. There is a thread here on it, if curious about it.

The Microcenter one is the Auria EQ276W. But with integrated graphics, you may have an issue with 1440p, like you mentioned. The newer intel chipsets should be able to handle it, though, unless you plan on gaming.
 
toronado455 said:
I won't even consider the ASUS VG23AH because it is 3D.
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It can work as a 2D monitor, too, of course.

For anything you decide on, check out prad and tftcentral for reviews, and this forum too.

If you want a 4:3 to pair with it, and you are okay with used, I'd recommend eBay. Since you like the higher dpi, maybe something like a NEC 2090, or Dell 20" IPS would be suitable -- both are 1600x1200. New 4:3 monitors are still made today even, but they are insanely expensive when new.
 
I won't buy 3D or used regardless. I'd still have my Dell 1905FP if it still worked. Was a wonderful 4:3 monitor.

Thanks for the tips on prad and tftcentral. Much appreciated!
 
Funny... ever since posting this thread I've been becoming more aware of the AG coating on my LG. When before I never paid any attention to it, now that I'm aware of it it's becoming more noticeable. :)

I don't think I want my next monitor to have as much AG as my LG. Does the Samsung S22A650D have a lighter coating than the LG IPS226?
 
The Samsung VA 650D & PLS 850D series are semi-glossy.
 
I just got my U2412M yesterday and the AG coating doesn't bother me. No more noticeable then other monitors I've used. The only thing I see that bothers me at all is a bit of backlight bleed on the right side...
 
NCX said:
The Samsung VA 650D & PLS 850D series are semi-glossy.
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I'm not sure which models you are referring to, but I just got a Samsung S22A650D yesterday, and it does not seem semi-glossy to me. It seems to have as much AG as any monitor I've ever had, including my LG. Not sure I like the color either. Default is very green. I can pull that down manually using the controls, but not sure I like the result.
 
I don't understand this whole "it has to be GLOSSY" thing. I hate seeing a reflection in my monitor and an AG screen is easier on the eyes for extended use. Maybe it's just propaganda that everyone is buying into to feel better about settling for TN panel screens.
 
It doesn't have to be glossy, but this Samsung I just got has even more noticeable AG than my LG. I was wanting the opposite.
 
That's strange. I know the 24" and 27" 650 versions have been reported to have semiglossy coatings. Maybe for some odd reason the 22" is different?

You might want to take a look at Dell's new lineup, as they have several glossy or light flavors to choose from. They also have two 21.5" models, if you want that size. That is assuming you can still return the Samsung if you dislike it.
 
I would wait until proper reviews come out (prad/tft central) before buying any of the newer Dells, but at least they are an option.

And if you want the 21.5" version, make sure it is in fact a light coating/glossy, as the glass versions are 24"/27" only. I'm a bit partial to the 24" VA one myself, but who knows until they are properly reviewed.

The 1080p thing for the 27"er is an option for those with weakling video cards (like myself) or prefer larger text due to older software not playing nice with dpi settings. If it was 1440p, it'd probably be several hundred more dollars too, like their 2713.

Lack of height adjustment on the stands is my pet peeve. I guess they save a couple of dollars by making them tilt only.
 
Namelessme said:
Lack of height adjustment on the stands is my pet peeve. I guess they save a couple of dollars by making them tilt only.
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I'm not clear on if the 21.5 version has glass but just isn't edge-to-edge, and has a bezel, or if there is no glass at all.

Lack of height adjustment would have been OK with me if they had included VESA holes. But to have neither the height adj nor VESA is a deal breaker for me.

I'm considering the UltraSharp U2212HM, but still fretting over the dreaded "3H Anti-Glare coating". If it is truly the same as on my LG, then I'll be OK with that.
 
CyberKP4 said:
I don't understand this whole "it has to be GLOSSY" thing. I hate seeing a reflection in my monitor and an AG screen is easier on the eyes for extended use. Maybe it's just propaganda that everyone is buying into to feel better about settling for TN panel screens.
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Agreed, I don't understand how anyone could prefer glossy vs. non-glossy, assuming the best quality.

I would pay more for the non-glossy screen.
 
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