Recommend An LCD Monitor?

[schplurg]

I would like to trade in my 22" Viewsonic for an LCD that meets the following criteria:

- Consistent brightness from top to bottom. Every monitor I have looked at gets lighter from top to bottom, no matter the vertical viewing angle. Webpages appear to have a gradient background when in fact it is a solid color.

- 22 inches or larger.

- 2ms (maybe 5 max)

- $600. I've doubled my maximum price allowed, though I could go higher (or lower).

The backlit/brightness issue is unacceptable and is my main issue. I don't mind backlight bleeding on the edges though, but I need consistency in brightness and color, at least better than I have seen of any popular brand.

I know that Eizo makes great stuff, but I think they are too pricey.

I have 20 days to return this Viewsonic. Any suggestions? Testimonials? ;)

[I Ratant]

I bought an HP 17" LCD last year, which performed poorly with my computer. I replaced the Samsung I had been using.
Programs would lock up with the HP.
I've been noticing over the years that HP's quality, usually the best in the industry has gone downhill. No doubt chasing the bottom line, forgetting the very word "quality".

[Wudang]

The customer reviews below might help, I hope
http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Sound-&-Vision/cat/Monitors?hp=pc

[El Greco]

The first thing is to decide whether you need a more expensive MVA/PVA panel or would be ok with the common TN panel. Read up Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_film_transistor_liquid_crystal_display) for details.

[jon]

If you have space, is it worth considering a CRT screen? A good quality CRT could meet your criteria very nicely, and if you can find one secondhand they can sell for peanuts...

[A W Smith]

I like all my samsung syncmasters (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=samsung+syncmaster+191T&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=), I have three of them in the house. They were quite pricey when i bought them years ago nearing 750 dollars a piece. But today you can get a 22 inch syncmaster (http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/samsung-syncmaster-225bw-black/1805-3174_7-32081069.html)for half that (http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID=10860)

[PB&J]

This Acer got really good reviews:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009125

I've had good experiences with ViewSonic and Scepter in the past, but this Acer looks promising.

[schplurg]

Okay, I bought a monitor! I got a 24" (yes, 24) MVA panel for $260. The catch is that it is used and is a Soyo brand. I know I know, but...

About a year ago this company built a 24" MVA and sold it for around $300 - 400. Then, at around Dec 2007, they switched to a cheaper TN panel. This is due to the fact that most consumers don't know the difference, they just like the low price. Most consumer monitors are now made with TN panels, and they all have the problems I described in the OP. This includes Samsung, Viewsonic, etc.

The buzz on the hardware forums is that if you can find this Soyo MVA version in good shape that you'd be getting a bargain. And they were correct. I had to dig around and settle for a slightly used one. Great shape, no dead pixels, no backlight bleed...none! Beautiful even color across the screen...not perfect, but very very close.

I love it. I don't expect perfection at this price, or from the Soyo brand, but this thing kicks ass...for me. I am happy (I hope it holds up!).

For those interested: The model number is DYLM24D6, and it needs to be the 6ms version, not the 2ms, to have the MVA panel. They were built up until 11/2007, approximately. Has very low inupt lag too. There was a new one on ebay but it had no return policy or warranty, so I went for the used one. At least I could try it first and be certain it was MVA. It was a 40 mile drive too...no shipping. It looked great, I bought it. Craigs List heh.

Thanks to everyone who helped, especially El Greco and someone from the other thread I started who both clued me in on different LCD types. I didn't think I'd find an MVA anywhere near this price. Taking back the Viewsonic tomorrow.

This monitor makes the Samsung and Viewsonic I tried look pretty bad. For $260 it was well worth the risk. So far, so good!

[Cl1mh4224rd]

This Acer got really good reviews:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009125

I've had good experiences with ViewSonic and Scepter in the past, but this Acer looks promising.


I actually just got this very monitor and have been using it for the past week. So far so good, but it definitely does not meet schplurg's brightness and backlight bleed criteria.

[pingnak]

Definitely go WUXGA (1920x1200). Slightly more shopping, but it's worth it.

Samsung makes pretty good monitors, and they have come down quite a bit since I paid a couple grand for one a few years back.

[schplurg]

I am running at 1920 x 1200. Woke up this morning and my monitor isn't broken yet ;) I did some color calibrating and it is sharp and stunning. I use a real nice 30" at work so I'm not easily impressed either. Played a little Far Cry last night...no perceptible ghosting.

I don't have an actual calibrator but I used this website:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

:D

[pingnak]

And now you got me shopping. Dammit! My 17" WUXGA notebook monitor is looking so teensy... can't... resist!

Viewsonic VX2835wm is the first one that I found that hits the bases. Price, WUXGA, >=24", HDMI, HDCP, built-in speakers (anti-clutter).

By doing brief shopping, I remembered another important shopping point....

HDMI/DVI + HDCP If you don't have HDCP, BlueRay, PS3 and other 'protected' high definition sources (Like Windows Vista) will display video at crap-tastic resolution. On a PS3, you can't even play games at the monitor's highest resolution. Something to think about if the monitor is going to do dual-duty.

There are still lots of monitors with HDMI/DVI without HDCP. Of course, if you're not going to play hi-def video on your monitor, there's no reason to worry over this feature, and you can save a little (or afford bigger) by shopping clearances. Unfortunately, the general public is absolutely clueless about HDCP and what it means, so they still get away with selling these things at full-price without it.

Though for the BIGGEST SCREEN, there's nothing that can beat a projector. You may think a 16 foot screen is overkill, but start sniping in a Halo death match and you'll soon change your tune.

Added: But then of course, you start reading reviews, and this monitor, though bigger, is not especially better.

[pingnak]

Added: Samsung 2493HM, Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM, Asus MK241H ...

Back around to Samsung again.

Samsung T240HD/T260HD... there's an interesting compromise TV/Monitor doohicky. $360 open box special at newegg.com. All the inputs and an ATSC TV tuner.

Some controversy and mixed reports exist about the HDCP support, however Samsung claims all their monitors have HDCP inputs and Sony PS3/BlueRay seems to work fine in any of the HDMI/DVI inputs. HDMI/HDCP has proven to be hit or miss with EVERYTHING, and there are all manners of conflicts and issues with hardware. Some of it is user error, such as a friend of my dad's had problems until I sat down and worked them out. Both his TV and his stereo wanted to be 'boss'. It worked just fine when I made the TV 'boss'.

$438 for a 26" WUXGA monitor with all the extra inputs and TV seems pretty reasonable. Nobody had anything especially negative to say about it, and 'average' performance of today should still be much better than my unfortunate 240T, that is no longer with me. No PiP, but I guess that's excusable since I'm using it as a second monitor anyway. Also lightweight in the power use department. 70 watts for something that big is fairly lean compared 24" screens eating 100 watts.

[PhantomWolf]

I'll throw in another vote for the Samsung SyncMaster. I'm running a 932BW, works great for everything from internet browsing to hard core gaming.

[pingnak]

The joy of having money coming in... but unfortunately going out almost as fast. At least it's all a tax write-off. Nothing like getting a call from the credit card company asking if it's really me blowing all that cash at once.

My new 26" Samsung T260HD should arrive Friday. I'll hook it up and give it some abuse and compose a review of it. I ended up spending $499 for it at Amazon, of all places, but there's a $30 mail-in rebate. Crossing my fingers about 'dead' pixels.

I'll see whether it lives up to its promises. I decided I needed a monitor with the extra 'TV' style inputs and built-in speakers (no matter how tiny and tinny), rather than a separate computer monitor and TV set for console games and some other video-based nonsense. It has optical out for a surround amp, if I want to add that later.

And it looks like the Adobe Production Premium CS4 box will show up on the same day. Christmas in October! I'll have fun 'upgrading' a clone of my CS3 virtual machine to run that, since I still need CS3 (and CS2/Flash 8 for that matter) for the customers. I had to upgrade for some of the same reasons that Office customers end up upgrading. The CS4 artwork will start turning up in the repositories, and I'll have to be able to deal with it, because making an artist do even the simplest thing is a minimum 48 hour turn-around. Maybe the new animation changes will make it finally 'usable' and I can get something out of Flash as an art tool myself for a change.

[schplurg]

The other monitors I tried, before settling on my current, were all very capable gaming and general purpose monitors. All the TN panels had 2ms response times. One was the Samsung T220, the other a Viewsonic (forget the model number).

They looked awesome, except for the brightness inconsistency issue. That's a big negative for graphic design and photo editing. TN panels just don't cut it. I found it impossible to live with.

My P-MVA panel doesn't have that issue. I am enjoying this 24" baby sooooo much! It doesn't have HDCP but I don't need it. I asked my wife if it was okay for me to say that I love my monitor and she said yes. Bless her :D

[pingnak]

Well, got the T260HD. Came up in 1920x1200, and looks surprisingly good even though it's connected to an analog VGA plug.

The audio wasn't very impressive-sounding until I turned it up. Nothing broke up even when I cranked the volume to 100%. Better than your average PC speakers, anyway.

NO DEAD PIXELS! YAY!!!

So, I went to this site, slapped the browser into 'full screen' mode and tried some of the tests. The viewing angle test showed a little color variation when viewing at different angles. NBD. I mostly write code and only edit bent art.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

No egregious artifacts. Looks a LOT better, brighter and more evenly lit than my WUXGA notebook LCD. And BIGGER. OMG, lots bigger.