Trying to decide!

M

Mag Neo

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May 1, 2009
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Hey guys,

Ive been reading a lot of the threads on here, and on other forums, as well as the reviews on TFT Central.

I want to buy a new wide screen monitor to use as a primary monitor, and Ive been looking at the 24" models.

My primary use for these is 3D artwork (3D modeling, texturing, graphics work, etc.) and PC/console gaming.

What I want is a non TN panel with component/composite/svideo inputs as well as the usual HDMI/DVI/VGA inputs. Good image quality and color reproduction would be great, but Im not nearly as picky about it as a graphic designer or photographer.

Ive narrowed it down to these 3 models, but Im having a tough time making a choice, so Ive come looking for your opinions.

Samsung 245T
Dell 2408WFP
HP LP2475W

Ive been using a Samsung 214T (PVA, 8ms GTG) for the past 4 years and love this thing. I personally haven't been bothered by any input lag or ghosting this monitor has. Nor do I know just how bad the lag is. So even though some of these monitors that I listed are reviewed as having 60ms of input lag, I'm not sure if that will bother me or not? I'm assuming my 214T has it worse, being older.

But Im also open to suggestions for a smaller screen, if its better than the ones I listed.

Thanks!
 
I recently bought a dell 2408wfp and am very impressed with it. I can't see any backlight bleed, screen is uniform or any other "defects" that were associated with sub A02 versions.

My only crit is that the viewing angles aren't great, but from the perspective of a web designer it doesn't affect my work (maybe if I was a really picky print artist I would care).

I would go for the HP if the price gap isn't too big, simply because of the black crush issue with PVAs.

I will post some pictures of my display in the 2408 thread hopefully this weekend.
 
Whats this black crush issue you mentioned?

Looking forward to those photos.
 
markd said:
I would go for the HP if the price gap isn't too big, simply because of the black crush issue with PVAs.
Click to expand...

Black cursh is when dark greys look the same as blacks. A good test for it can be found here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.php

I can not comment on the 2408, but if it is similar to my 2709W then the black crush issue has been fixed/removed. My display shows all of the squares in the page listed above very clearly. There is some gamma shift, but I can see each shade of grey. I had a 2407WFP and it had black cursh for the first two rows of dark greys. The black levels are the best I have seen anywhere on my new display.

My advice is get the 2709W it is a great display for the money.

Dave
 
daveswantek said:
My advice is get the 2709W it is a great display for the money.
Dave
Click to expand...

Oh I would certainly love a big monitor like that, but I fear it may be a bit too big to fit into my desk, as it has a hutch.

How tall is it from base to top if you lower the stand as much as possible?

Thanks!
 
Mag Neo said:
Whats this black crush issue you mentioned?

Looking forward to those photos.
Click to expand...

This is how "black crush" or colorshift on PVA looks like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VryMz2OsG2Q&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC7EozTCGSQ

You need to look from an angle to visualize dark tones.
It cannot be fixed. Repeat: it cannot be fixed as it is a part of PVA technology regardless monitor brand from Dell to Eizo.
It can be "masked" a bit by screwing down gamma - at the cost of whiter black, lower CR, narrower viewing angles.
Your older Samsung has the same problem. So as soon as you can live with colorshift, you can buy larger PVAs.
Another problem you will come across is wide color gamut.
All three candidates suffer from that. Your 214T has standard gamut.
The Dell 2709 is basicly enlarged 2408. If you go PVA and wide gamut - get 2709.
Exclude 245T.
The HP 2475w has wide gamut too, but no colorshift. It's H-IPS.

A lot of info to study is here and here.
 
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albovin said:
This is how "black crush" or colorshift on PVA looks like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VryMz2OsG2Q&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC7EozTCGSQ

You need to look from an angle to visualize dark tones.
It cannot be fixed. Repeat: it cannot be fixed as it is a part of PVA technology regardless monitor brand from Dell to Eizo.
It can be "masked" a bit by screwing down gamma - at the cost of whiter black, lower CR, narrower viewing angles.
Your older Samsung has the same problem. So as soon as you can live with colorshift, you can buy larger PVAs.
Another problem you will come across is wide color gamut.
All three candidates suffer from that. Your 214T has standard gamut.
The Dell 2709 is basicly enlarged 2408. If you go PVA and wide gamut - get 2709.
Exclude 245T.
The HP 2475w has wide gamut too, but no colorshift. It's H-IPS.

A lot of info to study is here and here.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Ill have to give those links a read tomorrow. My current Sammy hasnt really bothered me regarding the colorshift issue though, so It may not be a big deal to me.

Ive never seen an IPS in person. All the stores usually only carry TN unfortunately.
 
Hmm, I didnt consider the wide gamut issue.

Since I do game quite a bit, this would seem to be a problem?
Though it seem some people can remedy this problem with an ATI card, which I also have.
 
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Mag Neo said:
Oh I would certainly love a big monitor like that, but I fear it may be a bit too big to fit into my desk, as it has a hutch.

How tall is it from base to top if you lower the stand as much as possible?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

17.5 inches

Dave
 
daveswantek said:
17.5 inches

Dave
Click to expand...

Only 17.5 inches? Wow thats not very tall. I suppose its because its widescreen though.

My 214T is about 19" from base to top, so that monitor would fit fine.

Its an interesting prospect lol. I may have to consider this monitor, thanks! (Though it costs 2x as much as the 2408)


Who to purchase from though? Not a whole lot of retailers offer Dell monitors. And although Dell offers a zero bright pixel policy, they have a 6 dark pixel policy for a return.

I think someone mentioned Amazon just offers their regular 30 day return policy, regardless of dead pixels. But is the Dell 3 year warranty still valid in that case?
 
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Just an update, but I decided on the Dell after reading up on the issues with the HP, which make it unsuitable for gaming. And the Samsung just sucks apparently. Would have liked the 27" Dell, but the price difference between it and the 24" were too great, nearly 2x as much. Totally not worth it.

Anyway, Im loving the Dell, its a pretty sweet monitor, and Im not disappointed with it at all. Im still waiting for my Eye One to ship so I can calibrate this thing, since my two monitors are mismatched, and the colors look so wrong between the two. However, I havent had any issues with the expanded gamma on the Dell. Maybe Im used to the saturation?

Size wise, screen size is about as tall as my 21" Samsung, but wider of course, so it works out great! I can have an expanded desktop and the monitors line up.

Very pleased with this purchase.
 
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