Very Different Frontrunners

[skeeder]

Help me out! I'm looking to replace my main monitor this year, I am still rocking a 10 year old NEC 20WMX2. I choice this monitor because of my love for photography and graphic design. It handles games remarkably well too. The monitor had at the time, the most advanced panel on the market, AS-IPS. Unfortunately it hasn't aged that well, it sometimes shuts-off, loses connection, and could be described as "finicky", but it still works.

I've taken to the internet to find the next monitor, I know the Dell is the front-runner for its replacement and has been for many years, but I don't do graphic design or photography as much as I used to (it was almost my career). I love the idea of gaming in ultrawide and using it as a 'solution' to some much needed real estate for more adult like things (spreadsheets and web at the same time).

Both are about the same price, so at this point, I'd like to hear your opinion!

 

[KG-Prime90]

If you go ultrawide, i would choose the 29UM67 over the UM65, as it has a faster response time, the Um65 is 14ms GtG, which is double that of the Nec you are used to, you most certainly would notice it i would think. The UM67 has freesync ( if you use Ati ) but i believe it can also overclocked to 75Hz on Displayport. I think the UM65 is discontinued anyway?

Personally i prefer 16:10. But i would rather go a full 1440P 16:9 for the extra height than the Lg or ultrawides, which you might notice at 1080p in height feeling weirdly constrained even though 1080p is only slightly taller than the 20WMGX2. It still might feel weirdly cut off at the top and not quite right. It's shocking really going from 16:10 to 1080p, to me personally anyway, perhaps you can get used to it being ultrawide an all, but something to keep in mind.

The Dell 24" dot pitch may appear slightly less sharp than you are used too. There's the u2515h at 1440p which has a kind of semi gloss ( but still matte) coating and a higher/sharper dot pitch than the Nec, and is a proven good option with good color and contrast far surpassing the Nec.

I had one of those Necs for about 2 weeks back then as well. I liked the glossy screen and crispness and color, the rest was a no go for me, ips glow, and too slow for gaming imo, so i got rid of it right away and stuck with crts.
Just realize if you are really used to that opticlear coating, you might be a little bummed looking at any matte coating unless you have also used matte monitors at work or whatever and then maybe it's no big deal. I bought the Nec exactly because it was gloss, and i hate matte lcds, but unfortunately gloss monitors are as rare as wooden rocking horse shit today.

The Nec however for what it was quality made for it's time. Mine had zero backlight bleed, it did have that purple ips glow, which drove me nuts, as all ips do. Realize though that monitors today can have random backlight bleed funky uniformity on bigger panelsand tons of glow more so because they are bigger and or wider. So another thing to keep in mind, lol. I only say this as i've seen people come from the WMGX2 to todays panels and are like WTF is this crap!
Depends on your pickiness and uses i guess, and if your monitor is dying and or probably yellowing by now, i'm sure something new should be looking better to your eyes.

I suggest going to a store if you haven't really payed attention to monitors in the last 10 years and checking a few out, I'm sure you will be able to see a ultrawide in person. Also remember your video card/system should be able to handle the pixel upgrade, what you have in your sig is going to take a little bit of a hit. Perhaps the 24" not as much.

 

[Mokkat]

I used a 20WGX2 for years. I still do occasionally, as my parents use it for their desktop pc. Wonderful old monitor - modern IPS have caught up response time wise, but the glossy coating, lack of BLB and dark purple instead of yellow IPS glow still makes the NEC more enjoyable than a lot of the modern competition.

I went through a 24" VA monitor and an overclockable 27" 1440p Korean monitor before ending up with a Sony FW900, which is like a 20wgx2 on steroids but huge and very hard to get a hold of.

If I were to get a replacement for the NEC I would go for the option described in the post above: A 25" 1440p monitor, like the U2515H or G257HU/H257HU. Ultrawide is a novelty option IMO, while higher vertical pixel count will produce a crisper image. 3440x1440 monitors are kind of a no compromise option, but expensive and harder to run.

Alternately, if you don't want to push a resolution that high, I would get the HP 25cw or 25xw. NCX reviewed them to be excellent IPS monitors and they have a virtually glossy coating.

 

[geok1ng]

Dell P2416D

 

[skeeder]

I used a 20WGX2 for years. I still do occasionally, as my parents use it for their desktop pc. Wonderful old monitor - modern IPS have caught up response time wise, but the glossy coating, lack of BLB and dark purple instead of yellow IPS glow still makes the NEC more enjoyable than a lot of the modern competition.

I went through a 24" VA monitor and an overclockable 27" 1440p Korean monitor before ending up with a Sony FW900, which is like a 20wgx2 on steroids but huge and very hard to get a hold of.

If I were to get a replacement for the NEC I would go for the option described in the post above: A 25" 1440p monitor, like the U2515H or G257HU/H257HU. Ultrawide is a novelty option IMO, while higher vertical pixel count will produce a crisper image. 3440x1440 monitors are kind of a no compromise option, but expensive and harder to run.

Alternately, if you don't want to push a resolution that high, I would get the HP 25cw or 25xw. NCX reviewed them to be excellent IPS monitors and they have a virtually glossy coating.

I did look at the HP25cw and the 27cw, the xw appear to the same with black as the primary color. I ruled them out due to a lack of any VESA mounting. I'm really tall, and find most monitors are coming with stands that are absolute garbage. They are really cheap. My desktop will be upgraded sometime in the near future, I figured some component choices would be altered depending on my primary screen choice for the next few years.

I am actually starting to consider the U2515H it gives me the same resolution as the ultrawide with a few more pixels at the bottom, I'm suddenly not sure ultrawide is the way to go at 2560x1080. I love the aspect ratio of the ultra wide, I just am wondering if it makes any sense at this point.

 

[geok1ng]

In America the U2515H is way overpriced ( last time i checked it was cheaper to get one in Amazon UK, pay shipping and taxes), hence i mentioned the P2416D , which also has a pivoting stand. The U2515H is more suitable for triple monitor setups because it has a built-in DP MST hub, but for single monitor usage, the P2416D beats the ultrawide alternatives in every relevant metric. The price difference can be used to a colorimeter or a better graphics card.

 

[jhatfie]

My question is how much photo/design work would you actually be doing since you mentioned that you do not do it as much now. Would you be using the monitor for traditional purposes far more, how much gaming?

I can say that I have a 29" ultrawide (2560x1080) that I bought myself so I could use it at work. Love it for work purposes far, far more than the 16:9 monitors that work provided. The ppi is not bad but it is slightly lower I think than your current monitor. A good 27" 2560x1440 might be a good compromise offering higher ppi and more screen real estate to make games more immersive and more room for productivity?

 

[Mokkat]

In America the U2515H is way overpriced ( last time i checked it was cheaper to get one in Amazon UK, pay shipping and taxes), hence i mentioned the P2416D , which also has a pivoting stand. The U2515H is more suitable for triple monitor setups because it has a built-in DP MST hub, but for single monitor usage, the P2416D beats the ultrawide alternatives in every relevant metric. The price difference can be used to a colorimeter or a better graphics card.

Dell just seem to overprice their stuff in the US. The P2416D is amazingly priced in Europe as well.

The 24" 1440p monitors are 6bit + FRC though, which may be a problem if you notice gradients.
Also, on the American Amazon, G257HU and the 30$ vesa adapter is about the same price as the P2416D.

 

[skeeder]

I can say that I have a 29" ultrawide (2560x1080) that I bought myself so I could use it at work. Love it for work purposes far, far more than the 16:9 monitors that work provided. The ppi is not bad but it is slightly lower I think than your current monitor. A good 27" 2560x1440 might be a good compromise offering higher ppi and more screen real estate to make games more immersive and more room for productivity?

I'm actually thinking that would make sense, the BenQ GW2765 looks promising--I'm just starting to explore more of this size and resolution. I can say I still do a decent amount of design work so I do prefer the IPS "type" design.