How much better is an IPS monitor?

[kevinsbane]

I happen to run an Acer x223w myself, and I have a Dell U2312hm (which uses the same panel as the ASUS ML239H) sitting beside as I speak.

I fiddled around with my settings on the Dell a bit, and here are my impressions;

The Acer's colours are a bit more "yellow" than the Dell.
The Dell's reds are redder (The Acer's is slightly orangey, like my laptop but not as bad... the X220 has bad reds!), the dell's blues are bluer (marginally) and the dell's greens are greener (the Acer is a green that's slightly yellow tinted).

Comparing my U2312hm to the U2311h's I have at work, the U2312hm is has a slight red tint that I'm having a hard time getting rid of without screwing up the white point. But I don't have a calibrator.

IPS glow will affect dark scenes if you sit closer than about 60 cm (2 feet). The IPS glow manifests as a slightly less dark patch in the corners.

Black levels seem a bit better on the U2312hm than the Acer x223w.

Viewing angles, of course, are much better on the Dell. The acer's OSD is total crap compared to the Dell.

Costwise... I actually got the two at about the same price. The Dell was on sale, managed to snag it at 204 dollars.

All in all, I definitely like the U2312hm better than the Acer. No commet about the ASUS ML239H itself, but suffice to say it isn't a problem with that particular panel model, but maybe just Asus. If you can snag a U2311h, that'd be even better, but they have been EOL'd.

 

[Zebo]

lol

I don't game often currently, but from how much I used to play, hearing anything about lag is not good.

I looked at the dell model everyone mentioned, but I am only going to be buying a replacement/upgrade if it is LED backlit. I'm sorry I neglected to mention the sleeper-sofa.
My laptop screen is LED backlit & I love it. I just wish it were matte finish and not the bright'n'shine std. My current 2 monitors are both matte finished screens, so I wanted to replace the one, and leave the newer of the two for a second monitor.

I hadn't noticed how freakishly large the bezel on that monitor is. I like how uniform the bezel length is between my 2 acer's. I really like ASUS's commitment to be green in ways they make nearly std.

LEDs are not use in the ultra high end EIZOs and NEC's pros use for a reason but whatever floats your boat.

 

[Zebo]

ive tried many ips screens this year 2 of which blew me away,haszro HZ27WC,and dell ST2220T.what i find hilarious is we have posters in this thread who are eye candy junkies who are using matte screens*laughs*.

The glossy NEC 20WGMX2 drove me nuts because it reflected everything in the room in the day time, even with the lights out it would reflect light off my clothing. Blacks become greys and many other colors on reflection. That's why I got rid of it.

I am so glad I switched to my current IPS monitor with a Matte screen, the A-TW filtered NEC 2490wuxi which seems to have the standard AG coating which has no reflections.

My thinkpad tablet, also IPS, has a very mild anti glare coating, almost glossy, has glare problems too as you can see. Hate it.

I could not imagine working on a glossy laptop/tablet.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

i bought the ML239H a while back and hated it. no matter how much calibration, i could not get a good balance of brightness, contrast, and color. it was too bright out of the box, and turning down the brightness to non-blinding levels wreaked havoc on the amount of adjustability i had with contrast. and unfortunately i never could get the colors to look right. no matter how vivid some colors would appear, other would appear washed out, and adjusting washed out colors to be more vivid only further washed out other colors. if you're going to get an IPS monitor, try and stick with an S-IPS or H-IPS. and if you onoly have the budget for an E-IPS monitor, make sure its a Dell or an HP, not an ASUS, LG, etc.

it should be pointed out that the U2410 is a true 8-bit H-IPS panel, while the U2412M is only a 6-bit E-IPS panel. i have the U2412M myself, and as awesome as it is (i do love it), it needs hardware calibration out of the box. the colors were less than satisfactory when i first powered it on and let it warm up for a few hours. after some hardware calibration though, its nothing short of perfect.

The fact that you say you tried using the brightness setting to adjust the white level, and your insistence that the U2412M needs hardware calibration out of the box, suggests that you don't know as much about calibration as you expect us to believe. One of the first articles I read about calibration explained very clearly how the different controls work, and helped me come up with a simple procedure that has proven valuable many times in hand-calibrating multiple monitors (2408WFP, U2410, U2412M) over the last couple years. Your points about brand quality may have some merit -- I've only owned/used-at-work the IPS/VA monitors mentioned -- but knowing some basics in adjusting monitor settings goes a long way.

what i find hilarious is we have posters in this thread who are eye candy junkies who are using matte screens*laughs*.

You've heard of glare right? Glare? It's when light reflects off glossy surfaces...

 

[Zebo]

Sometimes the Dell U2412M goes on sale for $300. IMO that's baseline minimum buyers should look into for a IPS. Anything lower end does not do the technology justice.

 

[Borkil]

just bought the dell u2412 last night, was on sale for 300 and i found a 5% coupon and so i snagged one. arrives next week!

i recommend TFT central for reviews on monitors. the reviews are very in depth, much like anand's
tft central

 

[Rifter]

Well i use a 24" TN at home(BenQ E2400HD) and 2 24" IPS at work(HP Z24W) i am familiar with both.

For colors and contrast and viewing angles no doubt the IPS is better, literal night and day difference with IPS blowing TN out of the water.

For response time and input lag however there is also a literal night and day difference but with the TN winning this time.

So since i stare at a monitor for 12 hours straight a shift at work doing essentially data entry and research the IPS is very well suited for that task and the eyestrain is very minimal, much better than TN panels.

For gaming however i prefer the TN panel, all i do at home is game on my desktop, if im surfing the net it will be on my HTPC or laptop. Im never on my gaming rig for more than 6-8 hours at a time and then its 90%+ time spent gaming. So for me to spend money on a IPS panel at home would be a waste, i intend to get a 120hz TN panel soon as i believe this will make the best improvement for the money.

 

[Sunrise089]

I had dual U2410s at my last job, and have a U2412M at this job. I wish I had the cash to replace my 2408WFPs at home with U2412Ms. Such a sweet, sweet picture.

I'd love to hear more about the relative differences from TN -> U2412 -> 8bit IPS.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I'd love to hear more about the relative differences from TN -> U2412 -> 8bit IPS.

For me it comes down to a) picture quality, b) viewing angles, c) LED backlight.

I'm a software engineer, and computer geek (gamer, etc.). I've used TNs for years, of course, both at work and at home. I've had good ones and bad ones... BenQ, Dell, Samsung, ViewSonic, my current laptop (Toshiba). On (all) TNs things seem a bit washed out, text isn't as clear. I guess that would be contrast ratio as much as anything. The viewing angle problems are very annoying on a laptop, and they're a PITA at work when you have multiple people sitting at the same (desktop) computer as well.

I bought dual Dell 2408WFPs a couple years ago (VA panels) for home and the crappy viewing angles and washed out picture went away. The picture quality, for most stuff, is awesome. But they are wide-gamut displays, and that just annoys me. When I pull up a picture in the Windows Picture Viewer the colors are all screwed up. When I was dialing them in I came up with the hand calibration I linked to earlier in this thread, and that got me 95% of the way there, but I never went so far as to do hardware calibration or use color profiles. I am sure the weird colors for pictures would go away if I did, but I've just never bothered. Everything else looks amazing.

I got a couple U2410s at work sometime last year. They were even more beautiful than my 2408s at home, and I didn't ever really see the color problems with pictures on them either. They are hardware calibrated before they leave the factory, so maybe that makes a difference. I also used the same manual calibration process in that post I linked to earlier. The picture on those things was absolutely gorgeous.

I started a new job a few months ago, and they got me a U2412M. I've wanted an LED IPS monitor for a long time, and there finally is one. I don't need wide gamut, so this thing is the perfect fit for me. Stunning contrast, crystal clear text, full viewing from any angle, negligible heat output (my 2408s are freakin' space heaters), beautiful colors. I can't tell a difference between the picture on a U2412M compared to those U2410s, but I have not done a side-by-side.

I have *zero* complaints about the U2412M, it is my ideal monitor. If I had $600 of disposable income I could sneak past my wife, I would replace my 2408s here at home in a heartbeat.

 

[Throckmorton]

You're looking at a e-ips monitor which has a little color shifting unlike higher end H-IPS. You can read about it here of you're interested.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/ips_technologies.htm

However it's much better viewing angles and color than your current TN.

IMO only the higher end Dells or NECs are worth it. I definity wouldn't screw around with 19x10 ratio or that huge bezel. Maybe just stick with what you got until you can get a dell U2410 at a minimum.

Why don't you want 16x10?

 

[LokutusofBorg]

He said 19x10 which I think he means 16:9 (1920 x 1080).

 

[technocog]

I consider myself a general user and after using an ips panel for years I cringe when I look at a tn panel. IPS is well worth any extra money.

 

[dennilfloss]

I find my IPS monitor perfectly acceptable for gaming. Then again, I'm an older person playing RPGs like Oblivion & Skyrim, not FPS.

The IPS glow is something I have learned to accept as I sit only about 27" from my monitor. The AG coating isn't as strong as the Dell and HP equivalent 24" and the factory colour precalibration was good enough for me.

 

[BassBomb]

The glossy NEC 20WGMX2 drove me nuts because it reflected everything in the room in the day time, even with the lights out it would reflect light off my clothing. Blacks become greys and many other colors on reflection. That's why I got rid of it.

I am so glad I switched to my current IPS monitor with a Matte screen, the A-TW filtered NEC 2490wuxi which seems to have the standard AG coating which has no reflections.

My thinkpad tablet, also IPS, has a very mild anti glare coating, almost glossy, has glare problems too as you can see. Hate it.

I could not imagine working on a glossy laptop/tablet.

Gloss was my favorite part about that monitor

 

[C1]

Bought an ASUS PA246Q at Fry's Electronics a week ago (didnt want to purchase anything mail order). My experience with it so far is posted in the LCD Sticky. So far it looks like I got a good one (better in calibration and uniformity than the demo that is on display). Im pretty happy with it.

Unless YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANT OR NEED A SPECIFIC MONITOR, I wouldnt mess around trying to buy a high end TN panel. After you compare the costs of a TN panel and IPS (ie, after adding the overhead expenses such as taxes and disposal fees), you might as well just add an extra $100 and get a decent monitor as that is what one is staring at all the time. In addition, you can always use a good monitor with any new system upgrade.

 

[Anarchist420]

e-IPS/TNs suck because of banding and viewing angle. Every H-IPS out there still sucks ass though because there isn't one that's >=940:1 SCR calibrated, ~6.7 ms g2g response time, 120Hz input (that adds <2ms input lag at 120 Hz), glossy, and RGB LED backlit with all made in Japan capacitators and copper interconnects.

 

[BassBomb]

e-IPS/TNs suck because of banding and viewing angle. Every H-IPS out there still sucks ass though because there isn't one that's >=940:1 SCR calibrated, ~6.7 ms g2g response time, 120Hz input (that adds <2ms input lag at 120 Hz), glossy, and RGB LED backlit with all made in Japan capacitators and copper interconnects.

Your definition of sucks ass seems to be quite strict

 

[Methodical2]

This is good to hear from an actual end user of this unit. I just completed spec'g my computer build and now need a new monitor. I currently use the HP vs19 that was purchased with the HP computer system back in 2005, so I am way outdated and behind time when it comes to the latest technology. I have pretty much narrowed my choices down to Dell 2412 or HP ZR24w. I want a 27", but they all seem to be wide-gamut monitors and I only edit my images in sRGB (also plan to do some light gaming and video work). I was concerned about the unit not being a true 8bit, but it seems from your experience that no difference really exist. Which calibrator did you use? I have the i1 display 2 and hoping I don't have to upgrade because of the LED backlight.

Is there a true 8bit standard gamut unit out there that cost up to $700?

Thanks...Al

...I started a new job a few months ago, and they got me a U2412M. I've wanted an LED IPS monitor for a long time, and there finally is one. I don't need wide gamut, so this thing is the perfect fit for me. Stunning contrast, crystal clear text, full viewing from any angle, negligible heat output (my 2408s are freakin' space heaters), beautiful colors. I can't tell a difference between the picture on a U2412M compared to those U2410s, but I have not done a side-by-side.

I have *zero* complaints about the U2412M, it is my ideal monitor. If I had $600 of disposable income I could sneak past my wife, I would replace my 2408s here at home in a heartbeat.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I've never done hardware calibration. Look up earlier in the thread where I linked to an old post of mine that describes the 10 minute manual calibration process I've used to dial in all my monitors for the last couple years. Once I go through that process, the monitors are toned down in brightness and have rich color.

I actually bought a Spyder 3 a couple years ago, but before it got delivered, I did that manual process on my home monitors and the damn Spyder 3 has never been taken out of the box. (Sore spot for my wife, she hates it when I buy something and then don't use it.)

 

[Methodical2]

Ah ok. I did that, not exact steps but manual settings, with my current monitor until I finally acquired a calibrator and it was a world difference. This site has monitor calibration database where they and others share their calibrations settings (profiles) for all kinds of monitors so that folks could use them. You'll may already be aware of it, but it not see below.

Monitor Calibration Database

I've never done hardware calibration. Look up earlier in the thread where I linked to an old post of mine that describes the 10 minute manual calibration process I've used to dial in all my monitors for the last couple years. Once I go through that process, the monitors are toned down in brightness and have rich color.

I actually bought a Spyder 3 a couple years ago, but before it got delivered, I did that manual process on my home monitors and the damn Spyder 3 has never been taken out of the box. (Sore spot for my wife, she hates it when I buy something and then don't use it.)

 

[ManBearPig]

Damnit, I'm getting mixed signals from this thread. Did I make a mistake getting a u2312hm 23" e-IPS monitor for $221 or not?

 

[RavenSEAL]

Like I'm sure many people have said above, it depends on what you like to do...

 

[roedtogsvart]

Personally like (probably) everyone here I spend a lot of time at my computer: work, gaming, entertainment... I love talking and reading about hardware but IMO the 2 most important parts of your computer are screen and keyboard. For screen it's simply a no-brainer.. an S-IPS or H-IPS will look worlds better and drastically reduce eye strain. An extra $200 is peanuts when you consider it's something you stare at 4, 8 or more hours a day. Spend an evening calibrating it and you're set.

The "extra input lag" argument is seriously a joke unless you are a professional Quake Live or CS player. It's just one more spec people (most likely with asperger's) love to hound over. Even if you are running 60 FPS in your game modern IPS response time is under a single frame... 120hz on the other hand is another bowl of rice entirely. Until we have 120hz H-IPS screens under 6 benjamins or so you'll have to settle somewhere.

 

[ManBearPig]

Like I'm sure many people have said above, it depends on what you like to do...

Light non-competitive gaming, surfing the web, etc.

 

[kevinsbane]

Light non-competitive gaming, surfing the web, etc.

You did fine. My TN Acer is driving me nuts now with colour shifting and also colour quality now that my U2312hm is set up beside it. It really bothers me now heh.