Best Overall Monitor in the $300 Range in Color Accuracy?

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I'm looking to replace my HP W2207, which is now starting to show its age with its 1680x1050 resolution. Overall, though, I loved the monitor apart from the glossy screen treatment and the fact that color reproduction was a bit off even after some calibration. Contrast and black levels are fantastic, however. It has the ability to pivot (rotate) and swivel, and the base is pretty sturdy and the monitor itself has a minimalistic look. It also has a 2-port USB hub, but I could do without that. For me when gaming input lag or ghosting was never an issue, probably because now that I tested my reaction time it was in the 250-270ms ballpark.

I'd want similar features to this one, but I'd also like a higher quality panel with higher resolution (whether that is VA or IPS) and if it would be possible to get the same or a bit higher screen real estate (in height, that is) that would be a great bonus. I'd also prefer a matte screen. I was looking at the Dell U2311H and it has all the requirements, except one: its height is lower than my current monitor, which is kind of a bummer. I'd be willing to give up some features as long as it's a high quality VA or IPS panel that's a bit bigger than what I currently have. Unfortunately that means either 24" monitors at 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, which I'm sure would be pretty difficult to get at this price. Are there any options?

TL;DR:

I want a VA or IPS panel monitor with good build quality, features like swivel and maybe pivot, 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 resolution, and a matte screen. It should be 23" minimum with 24" being preferable.

 

[Kevmanw430]

I have this ASUS monitor. Its gorgeous. Great colors, great contrast. No swivel, though. Seakers are terrible, though. I use externals.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236123

This one is 24 inch, and cheaper. Still great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236049

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I have this ASUS monitor. Its gorgeous. Great colors, great contrast. No swivel, though. Seakers are terrible, though. I use externals.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236123

This one is 24 inch, and cheaper. Still great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236049

Both of those are great for gamers, but I'm looking more of a monitor for all-around use and I don't really notice the difference in input lag or ghosting in games unless it's a really old IPS or VA panel in comparison to a new TN panel. Since I'm looking for great color reproduction that pretty much singles out TN panel monitors.

Thanks for replying, though.

 

[gevorg]

Checkout NEC EA232WMi, the most recent affordable IPS from NEC.

I currently use Samsung 2333T which is amazing PVA for the price.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Checkout NEC EA232WMi, the most recent affordable IPS from NEC.

I currently use Samsung 2333T which is amazing PVA for the price.

Wow, these are GREAT recommendations. I can't believe you can get a 23" 1920x1080 PVA monitor for $150-170. Only gripe I'd have about it is losing features like pivot and the build quality is a bit lower and the display is a bit lower in height than what I have now, but other than that it's an extremely good deal.

As for the NEC, it seems like a better deal than the U2311H now that that one is in the $300-320 range while this is cheaper. If it had 1" more of real estate it'd be perfect. I took a look at the Dell U2412M and came away impressed, but it'd be nice if you could get a display with perhaps a bit less features and 1920x1080 res but at 24" so they could price it at less than $350.

 

[Chinoman]

I would take a look at the HP ZR24w. Unlike the Dell Ultrasharp models you mentioned which use e-IPS, it uses an S-IPS panel which I believe allows for better color reproduction. You can find the monitor going for >$370 online at various retailers.

 

[happy medium]

Used Sony 24 inch widescreen crt

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Wow, many options now.

I've been looking at the LG IPS231P, the ASUS ML239H, the Samsung 2333T, the NEC EA232WMi, and the BenQ EW2420. The LG has a great price, good build quality, a wobbly-but-feature-rich stand, great color accuracy, good contrast, good blacks, good input lag and low backlight bleeding but is lacking some connectivity features and it's not the ideal 24". The ASUS has a good price, a non-wobbly stand with little features, great color reproduction and good contrast, bad build quality, and is also lacking in features and backlight bleeding is bad. It's also not 24". All of these also had excellent viewing angles. The Samsung has an amazing price, uses a cPVA panel and has excellent black reproduction, excellent contrast, very low backlight bleeding and decent color reproduction but the build quality is meh and it's lacking some features, and I don't know if I'd have any problems with ghosting. The viewing angles seem okay. Again, though, not 24". The NEC EA232WMi has a good price, tons of features, great build quality, great color accuracy, great viewing angles, good contrast, meh response time, good input lag, and little backlight bleeding. It's not 24", though. The BenQ has an okay price, okay build quality, tons of features, excellent contrast ratio and blacks, little backlight bleeding, good color accuracy, okay viewing angles, meh response time, and meh input lag. Default settings are pretty bad. On the upside, it is a 24" screen.

TL;DR:

The ones which I am considering the most are the LG IPS213P, the Dell U2311H, and the Samsung 2333T respectively. That LG looks too good to pass up at its current price, truth be told, but I don't know if I should go for it considering it's so new to the market.

EDIT: now that I think about it, the Dell doesn't make much sense given the price. I'll remove it off the list; the NEC EA232WMi is better overall IMO. The NEC is only $30 more than the LG and has a much better stand, less quality control issues, and more connectivity options. The Dell is $40 more than the NEC and offers better response time and slightly better contrast ratio.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Used Sony 24 inch widescreen crt

My mother would kill me. I moved in with her recently and we each pay 1/2 of the electricity bill, and electricity here costs roughly 2x more/kWh than in the US.

 

[ieatdonuts]

Btw there's a peripherals forum - this is the 3rd monitor question I've seen in the graphics card section today

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Btw there's a peripherals forum - this is the 3rd monitor question I've seen in the graphics card section today

Oh, my bad. I think Monitors should be dedicated an entire section like video cards. I didn't find the peripherals section until just now that you mentioned it.


Now I'm debating between the NEC EA232WMi and the Samsung 2333T. Does anyone here have one of these?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I think I'll go for the Samsung. I don't really notice ghosting in gaming and the extremely good contrast ratio, black levels, good color accuracy, higher quality control and absolutely amazing price are what won me over. It's simply insane. You can get this 23" 1920x1080 PVA panel monitor for only $170. The NEC has more features, better build quality and better color accuracy, but it doesn't really justify spending $100 more, especially when quality control and backlight bleed are worse. I hope we can get 2560x1440 monitors for $500 in three-four years.

Thanks a lot for the recommendations.

 

[12andy]

If the NEC is anything like its older model, it should be able to output at 83hz via Displayport.

Pixel-response wise, the elder NEC took a hit (due to lack of overdrive), but it's not a major issue, even in twitch shooters such as Quake, etc.

Otherwise, it looks very fluid, and its input response time comes very close to that of a CRT (IMO, should be prioritized over pixel-response nowadays).

But it looks like you did your homework, and Samsung won your eyes.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

If the NEC is anything like its older model, it should be able to output at 83hz via Displayport.

Pixel-response wise, the elder NEC took a hit (due to lack of overdrive), but it's not a major issue, even in twitch shooters such as Quake, etc.

Otherwise, it looks very fluid, and its input response time comes very close to that of a CRT (IMO, should be prioritized over pixel-response nowadays).

But it looks like you did your homework, and Samsung won your eyes.

What kinda bothered me about the NEC is that like the newest crop of LED IPS panel displays it seems that some samples have noticeable backlight bleeding. My current monitor is pretty good in that aspect, and taking a step back in that category for me is a no-no. The Samsung has CCFL backlighting and given that Samsung aimed to have the highest static contrast ratio possible they tried to eliminate bleeding as much as possible. I still haven't seen anyone complain about it on the 2333T.

For me I don't really notice the difference in response times, so I'm not gonna go TN, especially since this monitor can be had for only $150 on TigerDirect.

 

[Bryf50]

Try to find an ea231wmi. Thats what I'm currently using. It's CCFL back-it(in reality better then wled) and because of the lack of any differing artifacts it's thought to be one of the few true 8-bit e-ips displays. Remember that the current LED back-lit e-ips panels are all really 6-bit+differing just like TN.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Try to find an ea231wmi. Thats what I'm currently using. It's CCFL back-it(in reality better then wled) and because of the lack of any differing artifacts it's thought to be one of the few true 8-bit e-ips displays. Remember that the current LED back-lit e-ips panels are all really 6-bit+differing just like TN.

Yeah, but in terms of color accuracy the 6-bit IPS + dithering panels are still very similar. The ones that seem to fall a little are the new LED models, which go down from calibrated dE average of 0.2 to 0.4. Still an academic difference really, since color accuracy for both is indistinguishable to the human eye. The main problem with the LED models is the bleeding backlight, which I am absolutely trying to avoid. I'd take a look at the EA231WMI, but the problem for me is that it's available mostly in refurbished and used condition. About the only company I'd trust with refurbed monitors is Dell through their own website.

In comparison to the more expensive Dell and NEC monitors I'd lose build quality and features, a bit of color accuracy, response times and a bit of viewing angles, but it's $130 less and still miles ahead of TN panels. Over the IPS monitors I'd gain static contrast ratio, better blacks and almost no backlight bleeding, so I think it's the best way to go given it's good in all areas except response time, build quality and features.

I don't know if I'm being cynical, but I think I wouldn't pay more than $250 for a 1920x1080 resolution nor more than $350 for 1920x1200. Monitors have largely been stuck in terms of resolution for a lot of years, and it'd be nice if in four-five years I can replace the Samsung with a 2560x1440 monitor at under $500. Probably wishful thinking, though.

 

[genegold]

You might check the Dell U2412M, a 1920x1200 IPS, which is in new release, going for $399. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...329A0A01A0A640.

 

[Crow550]

At Costco they have the Samsung s27a350h for $309 till 9/11. Which is 27"

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Used Sony 24 inch widescreen crt

This. I picked up an FW900 last week and got through most of the painful calibration process. Absolutely love it, colors are like nothing I have ever seen on an IPS display, and obviously blacks are stunning. I need to adjust the focus a bit, text is a tiny bit fuzzy.

I am mostly joking, as was happy medium (I'm guessing)

But if you seriously care about color reproduction, once you calibrate a FW900 it will run circles around any LCD. But there are some LCDs that do very well. http://www.displaymate.com/best.html#reference

As far as LCDs go, it looks like 300 might be a little too cheap for what you are asking. Except for maybe if you go with 1080p instead of 1920x1200.