S-IPS Panel under $400?

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ZacharyS

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Jan 27, 2006
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Preferably 20"? I've been looking at the Samsung 206BW, but it's TN. The new Dell 2008FPW is also TN.

What can I get that is glossy and a good quality screen?

EDIT: I might can get a 24" if it's around $600, only because I'd love that resolution. And I do plan to get a 9800GT(X), so I won't have to push it with my current GPU for long, as this monitor will be Christmas. So far it seems to be between the 2407FPW, Samsung 24", and this 24" BenQ. I realize these aren't S-IPS, but what can I do, there isn't much choice these days :(
 
Many guys on the forum really like the Nec 20WMGX2. It's 20 inches and it is also S-IPS (sorry, not glossy). Although this does involve a rebate, it is much better than other online retailers on the web. Most other places still want $650. One word of caution is that in my own research there were some folks that seemed to have gotten a less than stellar quality monitor, such as, some backlight bleeding, staining, and a few other problems. The biggest problem buying from Newegg is that they don't do refunds.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=NEC+20WMGX2
 
I've looked at it, and considered it, but I just don't like the way it looks, and that is important to me. :(
 
The 20wmgx2 is glossy. It was the only one I could find in a two month learning/searching mode unless paying $800-1400.

I had come down to the NEC 20wmgx2 or Sam 215TW (21" S-PVA). I ordered a 215TW mainly because I had a hard time dealing with the no return and 8 pixel policy at Newegg (and most retailers actually) and TigerDirect has a no questions asked 30 day money back or exchange on the 215TW and other "selected" models. I'm hoping perhaps the ones with 30 day back guarantees might be monitors that rarely come back. I've heard nothing but great things about customer service at Newegg but since I've never dealt with them the return policy was an issue.

My 215TW is supposed to be delivered next week so guess I'll find out then if I'm happy, I had really wanted the glossy S-IPS, especially after spending a lot of time looking at screens at the local stores and coming to the conclusion the matte finish screens must be responsible for much of the TN viewing angle problems. TN appears naturally better at horizontal than vertical, but having viewed a HP 2207w at CC I can say I was truly impressed the side views were nearly as good as my CRT and no color shifting within normal usage ranges. I would have bought the HP 22" even though it's TN simply because it looks very good to my eyes, but the lack of video inputs stopped me. The best tool I've found for viewing in the stores if the unit is hooked to a computer is the sample Microsoft picture of a tree. The bark on the tree has the most color shift of any picture if there are color shift problems it will show on the tree bark. The glossy screen TN's had no problem with the tree bark.

I wanted to see if others had issue with color shift on the 215TW so I Googled 215TW color shift, interesting I was looking for complaints but only found praise, go figure, guess I'll find out next week.
 
ZacharyS said:
I've looked at it, and considered it, but I just don't like the way it looks, and that is important to me. :(
Click to expand...

Just take off the speaker bar (2 little screws) and It looks like any other display and better than it looks in pictures.
 
FarmDog said:
The 20wmgx2 is glossy. It was the only one I could find in a two month learning/searching mode unless paying $800-1400.

I had come down to the NEC 20wmgx2 or Sam 215TW (21" S-PVA). I ordered a 215TW mainly because I had a hard time dealing with the no return and 8 pixel policy at Newegg (and most retailers actually) and TigerDirect has a no questions asked 30 day money back or exchange on the 215TW and other "selected" models. I'm hoping perhaps the ones with 30 day back guarantees might be monitors that rarely come back. I've heard nothing but great things about customer service at Newegg but since I've never dealt with them the return policy was an issue.

My 215TW is supposed to be delivered next week so guess I'll find out then if I'm happy, I had really wanted the glossy S-IPS, especially after spending a lot of time looking at screens at the local stores and coming to the conclusion the matte finish screens must be responsible for much of the TN viewing angle problems. TN appears naturally better at horizontal than vertical, but having viewed a HP 2207w at CC I can say I was truly impressed the side views were nearly as good as my CRT and no color shifting within normal usage ranges. I would have bought the HP 22" even though it's TN simply because it looks very good to my eyes, but the lack of video inputs stopped me. The best tool I've found for viewing in the stores if the unit is hooked to a computer is the sample Microsoft picture of a tree. The bark on the tree has the most color shift of any picture if there are color shift problems it will show on the tree bark. The glossy screen TN's had no problem with the tree bark.

I wanted to see if others had issue with color shift on the 215TW so I Googled 215TW color shift, interesting I was looking for complaints but only found praise, go figure, guess I'll find out next week.
Click to expand...

Glossy won't help TN viewing angles, I owned a w2207, it won't compare to a IPS in any shape or form.
 
I'm in the same boat. As a consumer I'm *itching* to give money away for a quality monitor, S-IPS or S-*VA, but my only options seem to be the "prosumer" high end models that are completely out of my price range. I never would have thought I'd be stuck on an LCD purchase, but the market is increasingly dominated by TN.

The funny part is that I don't ever recall having an issue with viewing angles on my old crappy Dell 15" LCD, which I presume is a TN panel. But I guess this is because the screen is physically smaller, and there isn't as much edge space as compared to 20"+ widescreens.

The only other option I'd like to mention here is the Lenovo L220x. Again, more money than I'd like to spend but, eh
 
The 20wmgx2 is probably the only one you'll find for under $400, and that's after rebates..
HP screens are also glossy, but have TN panels.. I haven't found glossy screens to help with viewing angles personally though..

And for 24"... you forgot the LG 246wp.. which has been priced at $500 at several places before, and just recently $430 @ frys(backordered) . Similar to the benQ and 2407fpw you mentioned, but cheaper, and marginally the fastest response time of the three. The 24" samsung uses a TN screen and the viewing angles(lack of) become very noticeable especially on a 24" screen.
 
vick1000 said:
Glossy won't help TN viewing angles, I owned a w2207, it won't compare to a IPS in any shape or form.
Click to expand...

I don't want to go too off topic here, perhaps a new thread is in order.

Something has to account for my observations however. I've read the matte/non-glossy screens diffuse reflections over the entire screen and that could account for what I saw in the big local stores due to their bright reflective lighting. I had gloss screen TN next to matte TN on a computer with the same pictures on each screen and I could clearly view the picture and color from a wider side angle on the gloss screen. The bottom up view was still pretty horrible but even that seemed to change on a more gradual scale than the nearly all-or-nothing change of the matte. IF this was being caused by the reflections being diffused into the entire screen on the non-gloss, it might not show as such in a home environment. The first time I noticed this was on the gloss HP, it caught my eye and made me look if it was "178" viewing angle, which it wasn't so I was curious what was going on and noticed a new glossy Gateway next to last years matte Gateway and it had the same affect, I could see the pictures better from and angle on the gloss. This may not be a measurable affect in a lab setting, but it was to me in a store atmosphere. Don't mean to compare IPS to TN by the way, just the coatings.
 
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