Deciding between U2412M and S24A850DW

wixter

Weaksauce
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Mar 8, 2012
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So I need a new monitor and I've been sorting through a lot of threads on the forum here a lot the past couple of days. A couple of requirements I had for a new monitor was that it had to have a display port connector and preferably also an hdmi connector but I could overlook that since both also have dvi connections.

I did take a look at the NEC PA241W however that is pretty much out of my price range right now. I'm sure it's a great monitor but the price is too high. I also took a look at Viewsonic's lineup again since that's the current monitor I have and they've served me well but I still can't get onboard with their products since they only have vga and dvi connectors. Would it really kill them to give us some more connections? I have to move up to the 27"+ just to get dp.

So, the U2412M and the SA850 both have 1920x1200 (for 16:10) and both have max color depth of 16M colors. Dell lists response time as 8ms GTG, while Samsung lists 5ms. Dell lists dynamic contrast ratio as 2million:1, while Samsung lists it as 1000:1. WTF? Is Dell just inflating their number here or just measuring the wrong thing? They list the typical contrast ratio as 1000:1.

So assuming the contrast ratio was just a mistake, the only real difference here appears to be the response time, which gives Samsung a slight edge.

I plan on using the monitor for probably 60% gaming, 40% everything else. Given that the response time could be the determining factor, but I will say that I have played on other panels and it's not a huge thing for me either. The price does seem to be in Dell's favor on the other hand. Any other issues not officially listed about either of these two models, like bad batches or too many RMAs?
 
Contrast ratio is the second most abused spec in the display industry. Anything over 3000:1 or so (and certainly everything in the millions) is indeed dynamic contrast as Dell states it is. The 1000:1 that Samsung listed is static contrast, which is what you will actually be using. Have you ever watched a movie on a poorly configured HDTV, and in the dark scenes you can see the brightness of the display being adjusted as the scene changes? Stupidest thing ever. That's dynamic contrast.

Response time is the most abused spec in the display industry. It's been abused so badly that it is now meaningless; the 8ms could just as easily be faster than the 5ms than the other way around.
 
The Samsung is better in theory due to the semi glossy coating vs Dell's very grainy matte coating, but the quality control is awful: pretty much every one has reported seeing tons of back-light bleeding on the S24A850D which is unacceptable considering the premium pricing.

Reviews put the S24A850D's native contrast consistently around 800:1 while the U2412 ranges from 800-1100:1. The Samsung has 3 overdrive settings vs the U2412's 2 (there is no clear winner in terms of lack of ghosting) and the Samsung can scale 1080p sources (consoles) w/o stretching while the U2412 can't.
 
Check tftcentral, one of better review site for LCD's. They have very good write up for whatever flow your boat, from editing to just plain office works etc. They actually test the ghosting of monitors and has picture to show for it. And you can tell some monitor with 2 ms sucks worse then monitor with 10+ms. If you not doing editting 2412 is not bad at all.
 
Check tftcentral, one of better review site for LCD's. They have very good write up for whatever flow your boat, from editing to just plain office works etc. They actually test the ghosting of monitors and has picture to show for it. And you can tell some monitor with 2 ms sucks worse then monitor with 10+ms. If you not doing editting 2412 is not bad at all.

Thanks for recommending the site. I managed to find out which Samsung and LG panel each monitor uses. The Dell uses e-ips and Samsung uses s-pls. Only thing I know is that the pls stuff is a little newer technology, but pretty much the rest of the specs on the panels themselves are pretty much the same, with the exception that the LG panel includes Adobe and sRGB coverage. That stuff hasn't really mattered to me before but I guess it helps with quick calibrations??
 
To me, the decision would come down to how well you deal with the AG coating found on just about all IPS displays. If you are fine with heavy matte coating, I'd lean towards the Dell ... better build quality and cheaper.

If you dislike (or can't stand) heavy AG coating, the Dell is off the table regardless of specs. Then you'll need to decide if you want to play the buy/return game with the Samsung 850, and hope you get one without backlight bleed.
 
So I need a new monitor and I've been sorting through a lot of threads on the forum here a lot the past couple of days. A couple of requirements I had for a new monitor was that it had to have a display port connector and preferably also an hdmi connector but I could overlook that since both also have dvi connections.

I did take a look at the NEC PA241W however that is pretty much out of my price range right now. I'm sure it's a great monitor but the price is too high. I also took a look at Viewsonic's lineup again since that's the current monitor I have and they've served me well but I still can't get onboard with their products since they only have vga and dvi connectors. Would it really kill them to give us some more connections? I have to move up to the 27"+ just to get dp.

So, the U2412M and the SA850 both have 1920x1200 (for 16:10) and both have max color depth of 16M colors. Dell lists response time as 8ms GTG, while Samsung lists 5ms. Dell lists dynamic contrast ratio as 2million:1, while Samsung lists it as 1000:1. WTF? Is Dell just inflating their number here or just measuring the wrong thing? They list the typical contrast ratio as 1000:1.

So assuming the contrast ratio was just a mistake, the only real difference here appears to be the response time, which gives Samsung a slight edge.

I plan on using the monitor for probably 60% gaming, 40% everything else. Given that the response time could be the determining factor, but I will say that I have played on other panels and it's not a huge thing for me either. The price does seem to be in Dell's favor on the other hand. Any other issues not officially listed about either of these two models, like bad batches or too many RMAs?

Samsung SA 850 real world review.
Currently the second best 24" monitor after NECs assuming you get a uniform panel and can accept some color mismatch.
 
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