Samsung SyncMaster F2380M for nVIDIA Surround Gaming?

[RamGuy]

Hi,

I'm considering different monitors for my future thee-monitor nVIDIA Surround setup (no 3D!) when my 2x GTX480 arrives later this week.

I was looking at the Acer G245HQ 120Hz monitor, until I read all the dreadful feedback on it's 2D / desktop performance, giving users headaches and what not when trying to read some text of the screen etc..


Today I've got a HP LP2475W, despite the somewhat awkward default colour settings which I have yet to manage to get correct even after almost two years of use I find it to be bless compared to every other TN-based monitors I've seen to date.


Last weekend I was dealing with the Acer S24HL which just feels awful when standing side by side with the LP2475W, it's not just the fact that the viewing angles are so tight that I got problem when looking at sides even when sitting right in-front of the screen, and I couldn't ignore the blueish feel of the entire image, and when LANing World of Warcraft I could clearly see how the Acer lacked details in the picture compared to my LP2475W which was rather chocking as I did only expect it to be worse when it came to colour accuracy and viewing angles, and not in picture and texture details within the same game, at the same settings, on the same machine with the same graphics card and drivers.


I could always go for two more LP2475W, but they take up a little too much space and are a tiny bit too expensive, and I find the colour settings to be too much of a hassle to deal with on two more monitors.

We also have the Dell U2410 which seems really nice, with even less ghosting than my LP2475W which is always good! Even though I'm not really affected by it on my HP anyway.



This is where the SyncMaster F2380M comes to mind, it seems to be some hell of a monitor for the price, easily justify a purchase of three monitors! It also seems to be superior to any TN-based monitors, and more or less on pair with my LP2475W in every department other than perhaps the response times?



And that's the million dollars question, without any apparent input lag, but a rather slow panel.. Will the response time become an issue, considering I'm fine with my LP2475W which seems to be about the same speed?


Or should I be looking at something completely different?
What's the difference between the F2380M and the "newer" F2380MX anyway?

 

[RamGuy]

I do see several recommending the NEC EA231WMi and HP ZR24W over the F2380M?

Here in Norway I could get the F2380M for about 315$, and both the NEC and HP goes for about 450-460$.


So if I'm going to buy 3x monitors, they would be a bit more expensive, and considering Digitalversus.com review actually tells me that the EA231WMi has about the same response times as the F2380M, in fact it's slightly higher 0.95 / 0.2 (Coloured / Transparent) vs 1.0 vs 0.4?

That should actually make the F2380M better suited for gaming, even though the NEC is IPS and the Samsung is PVA? Right?

And as both the NEC and the HP supposedly are using the same panel, I guess it's the same story for the ZR24W response times? Making the higher price a complete waste in the matters of getting better monitors for gaming?




There is no sign of the F2380MX model here in Norway, so we only seem to have the F2380M for 315$ as a option, I don't really know what the big differences and improvements of the newer MX versus the older M model is all about anyway?


Or we have these NEC EA231WMi and HP ZR24W IPS options for a bit higher price compared to the cPVA based F2380M.


What would be best suited for my situation where I want a three monitor gaming setup for my upcoming GTX480's? Considering I already own a HP LP2475W (0.6 / 0.9 response time from Digitalversus.com) and don't have any problem with the ghosting and don't want the cheapo feeling and lack of image quality and detail most TN-based monitors provide.

 

[Bummrus[H]a]

Won't the gamma shift viewing angle problems be really annoying in landscape for eyefinity? IIRC, *VA monitors have a horizontal gamma shift much like the vertical shift on TN monitors.

Might be a good question to ask NCX in his F2380mx vs F2380 thread. He has both monitors on his desk, and while he doesn't have an eyefinity setup, he could play a video in fullscreen on both displays and observe whether or not he sees any negative effects while looking around the main display and also with slight head movement.

Though if you don't think the gamma shift will annoy you, worry not!

Here is a quote of his summary on the MX versus original...

+F2380mx looks and performs better. Unless you are on a really tight budget it is pointless to get the original
+F2380mx has noticeably better blacks once calibrated to 100cdm/2 in a pitch black room
+F2380mx has HDMI and no black crush making it better for consoles
+F2380mx has better motion set in Normal mode.
+F2380mx has slightly better (minute) and tiny bit better screen uniformity, this is only noticeable having them set up side by side
+F2380mx Delta E is around 1.07 after contrast/brightness adjustments
-F2380mx performs worse than the F2380 with response time set to Fast/Faster and has a yellowish/green tinge
-F2380mx performs worse in the Prade red ghosting test
+/-F2380mx is 160$ more and has very similar performance once calibrated and only real bonus is HDMI and slightly better motion, which again is probably only noticeable if you have both set up side by side
+/- Input Lag is about the same (I didn't measure but it is obvious)

 

[NCX]

Gamma shift is fine on the F2380's. Viewing angles really are fantastic. Here is an F2380m review

http://www.digitalversus.com/article-357-6293-36.html

Other than not being the fastest monitor out there it is hands down the best monitor you can buy if you aren't going for 120hz responsiveness or extremely accurate color work (though colors are extremely accurate we will have to wait for more professional reviews on the MX).

Digital Versus says the M version performs the same as the original, now it is my belief that the M/MX do not suffer from black crush and the MX is the best but only by a bit as it has slightly deeper blacks and slightly better motion.