How much better is an IPS monitor?

[ManBearPig]

Wicked, tested out my monitor, everything looks fine. Found one semi stuck pixel at the very bottom and touched it really slightly with a q-tip and it went away. I'll monitor that dot for a while since I'm anal but in my experiences those don't return. Initial reports show no light leak/flashlights. The anti glare coating is a bit aggressive (kinda muddies up the display), but I'm used to it. Colors looked great! Totally different than my laptop screen lol.

 

[Remobz]

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.

Point taken Sir!

I have an eye condition and eye strain is a factor to me. I limit my computer use these days.

I have a LG L227WTG 22-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor and its not bad, but I live for the day when we get the best of both worlds in a monitor. I will try and hold on to my 22inch until something that fits the bill comes in the near future (not too late hopefully).

However, if my 22inch dies tomorrow then my eyes comes first before any games!! And I will have to spend the extra money and get a proper S-IPS or H-IPS monitor.

 

[Zanovar]

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

Stop stating the glaringly obvious.

 

[Throckmorton]

The one thing I hate about IPS monitors is they usually have a bad grainy antireflective coating.

My Dell 2405FPW died recently so I've been using my Sony 32EX400 TV as a monitor, and it's amazing. It has a matte coating with no visible grain, yet it works great. The grain on the 2405FPW always bothered me. I don't get why monitor manufacturers don't use the same material that is used for TVs.

The graphics intensive things I do are edit photos and game, so I really need good color... not sure I'll ever be able to go back to a monitor. Apparently this TV is known for having very low input lag also.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I have a IPS monitor at work and a TN (led variant) and to be honest I don't notice a huge difference.

 

[Despoiler]

Did Dell ever get their pink/green tint issue fixed with their e-ips monitors? That is the reason I never got one of theirs. I opted for an NEC EA231WMi and it's fantastic. Excellent stand and there are pro color calibration files available for it. It will do 83hz with a display port cable and a custom .inf.

 

[Edrick]

I just got my Dell U2412M in tonight. I upgraded from a Samsung BX2331, which is a pretty good TN panel monitor. Lets just say the difference is night and day. When trying to decide if spending the money for an IPS monitor, I keep reading that once you go IPS, you will never go back to TN. Well, I am sold.

I used Spider3Pro to calibrate my TN panels (and my wife's as she is a professional photographer). It did a good job. Tonight we compared the calibrated TN panels (hers and mine) agaisnt the uncalibrated U2412M. Care to guess which one looked the best? I just uninstalled Spider off my desktop since it is not even needed anymore.

And this is a low end IPS. My wife wants one now and I may go for a higher end model (NEC?) for her.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Stop stating the glaringly obvious.

With you, I think it's necessary.

Does everybody like glossy screens? Clue: no.

 

[WorldExclusive]

IPS is like a brand new jet black shirt.
TN is a black shirt that has been washed quite a few times. Fuzzy and faded.

 

[Zanovar]

With you, I think it's necessary.

Does everybody like glossy screens? Clue: no.

Rofl,wow sounding a bit butthurt about your new monitor there chief,does everybody like screens with a layer of frost on?(aggressive ag) clue: no.so chill out sweetheart, only opinions and prefrences after all.

 

[Pacman4]

The funniest thing is people will buy $600 CPU+XF/SLI and run it into a small TN panel.

 

[MrK6]

The funniest thing is people will buy $600 CPU+XF/SLI and run it into a small TN panel.

It's even sadder how common it is. IMO, if you don't at least own a 24" or greater IPS panel, you shouldn't be thinking of CF/SLI.

 

[Pacman4]

It's even sadder how common it is. IMO, if you don't at least own a 24" or greater IPS panel, you shouldn't be thinking of CF/SLI.

I'm referring to IQ rather than FPS, ie, they spend more than needed on stuff which can produce max IQ, but then strangle the IQ with the display.

 

[blastingcap]

I'm looking at a ASUS ML239H Black 23" 5ms IPS on sale, and thinking of replacing my Acer x223w.
Both seem to be spec'd the same, but I'd be gaining >1" diagonally, and going from an aged fluorescent backlit to an LED backlit IPS. I play games occasionally, watch HD TV and movies often, and am upgrading my optical drive to BR from DVD. I know IPS monitors aren't known for their snappy response times, but both my current and the prospective monitor are clocked at 5ms response.

This response is probably too late for the sale, but I went from three of those x223w's to three ASUS ML239H's, so I am probably extremely well positioned to answer your question.

The ASUS is a lot better in most ways

- more energy efficient
- lighter
- LED lasts longer than CCFL which will degrade faster
- 23" vs. 22"
- 1080p is not only higher resolution, it's a standard one, too, so 1080p videos, TV, etc. can be played back at native resolution
- and lastly but definitely not least, even eIPS is an improvement over TN. For these monitors specifically, the TN color gamut and accuracy was meh and it simply didn't have the apparent dynamic range and color accuracy of the ASUS. I used to have a Dell IPS next to one of my x223w's and the difference was obvious.
- better viewing angles
- neither have particularly good blacks and both have some backlight bleeding, but I would not say the ASUS is any worse than the Acer
- I do not notice any worse input lag or response time that the ASUS might have; they would both be fine for non-professional gaming purposes. If you're a pro gamer, you already have a CRT, though, I'm sure.
- the cheapest 23" 1080p eIPS monitor I could find (important because with three monitors, that's TRIPLE the cost... but I don't game that much nor am I a graphics professional, so for the price I paid, I could get 3 good monitors, 1 very good monitor, or half or less of a great monitor)

The ASUS has some drawbacks

- weird, non-standard, non-VESA mount, you may have to use books or something if you want to raise the monitor. It's fine and stable but you can't ever rotate them vertically. Not that the ASUS stand was that great either.
- I got a dead pixel in one of the 4 monitors I ordered. Buy only from places with good return policies. I got zero dead pixels out of 3 Acer x223w monitors.
- some people don't like the bezel; I don't care, I don't look at the bezel when I'm gaming or multitasking

Other stuff

- I don't notice any bad anti-glare coating, I think the ML239H has a decent rep regarding that, but I don't have my monitors in an area with lots of glare, so I dunno.

Conclusion: Ditch the energy-guzzling, CCFL-backlit, heavy, 22" non-standard resolution, lower-image quality monitors now while you still can get some resale value out of them.

P.S. I posted the above prior to reading the thread. For your purposes, the ML239H will be fine. Light non-competitive gaming, media playback, websurfing, etc. aren't as demanding as, say, professional graphics editing. Some people compared the ASUS ML239H to far more expensive monitors that, imho, don't offer as good value. For me the ASUS is "good enough" quality and has great bang for the buck. (I did order just one ASUS first, to see if I liked it, then I ordered 2 more to round out my Eyefinity setup.)

Like many things in life, you get less and less the more you pay. You could pay $170 after rebate for the ASUS (like it was on sale last month), or pay DOUBLE that for a slightly better monitor like the 8-bit S-IPS/H-IPS HP/Dell monitors out there, or pay 10x or more for an Eizo. The 6-bit eIPS panel that ASUS uses is the same as the LG and BenQ one, and it does a good job of mimicking 8-bit color.

Also, the guy spouting off on calibration doesn't know how to calibrate. TFTcentral reviewed the ML239H and found it fine out of the box and good after calibration. I have a couple of photos I like to use for testing out monitors; the Acer x223w failed to display the low-contrast areas of the photo regardless of what setting I used. The ASUS ML239H, straight out of the box with no calibration, displayed the low-contrast areas just fine. Could play FPS games fine. Movies look fine on it. Good enough for me, and good for my wallet.

It's even sadder how common it is. IMO, if you don't at least own a 24" or greater IPS panel, you shouldn't be thinking of CF/SLI.

I dunno, some people care a lot about minimum framerates and stuff like that, and three 120Hz panels can be a lot to chew through for one GPU by itself.

 

[Sunny129]

Also, the guy spouting off on calibration doesn't know how to calibrate. TFTcentral reviewed the ML239H and found it fine out of the box and good after calibration.

not only did i do my own hardware + software calibration and wasn't satisfied, but i also then tried 2 different ICC profiles in TFT central's database - the ML239H and the NEC EA232WMi (both of which use the same e-IPS panel), and still wasn't satisfied...i suppose this information would have been useful in my previous posts. nevertheless, the absence of that information earlier in the thread certainly isn't grounds for coming to the conclusion that i don't know how to calibrate a monitor...at least not with the confidence with which you proclaim it LOL...

i'll tell you what, if you can get at least 10 others to confirm your positive assessment of the ML239H's color/contrast/general IQ, then - MAYBE then - we can start taking your comment about one individual not knowing how to calibrate a monitor seriously...in the mean time, there are only two first hand assessments of the ML239H in this thread - yours and mine. and with the tally at 1 for and 1 against, your argument that the results of my assessment are due to a lack of calibration knowledge is flimsy at best...

i'm sure your intentions weren't to call me out or anything, but you're far less likely to appear like uninformed if you just think before you post from now on. the information in your assessment of the ML239H, although very different from mine, is just as valuable to potential buyers. if you had left your assessment of my assessment out of your post however, people might take the rest of your post much more seriously...

 

[Vdubchaos]

It's as big of a difference as going from Med to High end video card.

My Dell 2007FPW looks better with 4870 (at lower graphics settings) than my Samsung TN with 460GTX (not SLI though).

 

[ManBearPig]

what about IPS vs e-IPS?

 

[rgallant]

-well picked up a S27A850 2 days ago. no dead pix's , no back light bleeding.
-did not know web sites are in such bright colors like reds ,that look red. lol
-that's @ 23% brightness at 100% you need sun glasses.

-bf3 looks like a dvd -had to turn a setting[MSAA x4 to x2] down to keep vram at 1450mb and 60+ fps.
-at first did see some lag\burr when moving fast but most of it was vram\fps related
-after 2 hours , I did not see it any more , but I could pick out a lot more players out of the background cover, they did not blend in[camo] as much as they did before.could make out them running behind trees \ bushes ,could not see them on the TN panel @ 1920x1200 , had to use the i\r scope all the time.
-so if a 120 hz ips comes out it would be a killer for fps gaming ,but not with today's cards at this res. of 2560x1440.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Rofl,wow sounding a bit butthurt about your new monitor there chief,does everybody like screens with a layer of frost on?(aggressive ag) clue: no.so chill out sweetheart, only opinions and prefrences after all.

When you disagree with someone and think that simply ROFL-ing at them wins you the argument it just makes it apparent you learned your forum skills over on the WoW boards.

blah, blah Yes I do know how to calibrate blah, blah

As soon as you made it clear in one of your first posts that you don't know that a monitor's Brightness setting controls the black level and the Contrast setting controls the white level, you cast serious doubt on your calibration expertise... just sayin'.

 

[blastingcap]

Sorry if you feel defensive about your calibration abilities, I didn't mean to call you out but at the same time, the site you referenced said it's fine after calibration, as well: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/content/asus_ml239h.htm#calibration So it's not 1 vs. 1 firsthand account, I have a major review site behind me, you have your own opinions. Then again, you said you couldn't calibrate to your satisfaction; maybe your standards are higher than TFTcentral's and my standards. (Note: My standards change depending on what I plan to do with the hardware. I am planning on building a new system in the future so that one might get one very expensive, very good monitor, and my present system will retain the triple-ML239H setup that I find very good for multitasking/productivity.) Additionally, it's possible that you bought a monitor from a bad batch or something, in which case you did the right thing by returning it. Therefore, I apologize for being too dismissive when I stated that others were able to calibrate to their satisfaction while you were not able to do so.

not only did i do my own hardware + software calibration and wasn't satisfied, but i also then tried 2 different ICC profiles in TFT central's database - the ML239H and the NEC EA232WMi (both of which use the same e-IPS panel), and still wasn't satisfied...i suppose this information would have been useful in my previous posts. nevertheless, the absence of that information earlier in the thread certainly isn't grounds for coming to the conclusion that i don't know how to calibrate a monitor...at least not with the confidence with which you proclaim it LOL...

i'll tell you what, if you can get at least 10 others to confirm your positive assessment of the ML239H's color/contrast/general IQ, then - MAYBE then - we can start taking your comment about one individual not knowing how to calibrate a monitor seriously...in the mean time, there are only two first hand assessments of the ML239H in this thread - yours and mine. and with the tally at 1 for and 1 against, your argument that the results of my assessment are due to a lack of calibration knowledge is flimsy at best...

i'm sure your intentions weren't to call me out or anything, but you're far less likely to appear like uninformed if you just think before you post from now on. the information in your assessment of the ML239H, although very different from mine, is just as valuable to potential buyers. if you had left your assessment of my assessment out of your post however, people might take the rest of your post much more seriously...

 

[tweakboy]

I'm looking at a ASUS ML239H Black 23" 5ms IPS on sale, and thinking of replacing my Acer x223w.
Both seem to be spec'd the same, but I'd be gaining >1" diagonally, and going from an aged fluorescent backlit to an LED backlit IPS. I play games occasionally, watch HD TV and movies often, and am upgrading my optical drive to BR from DVD. I know IPS monitors aren't known for their snappy response times, but both my current and the prospective monitor are clocked at 5ms response.

All LED monitors are 5ms latency if not 8ms or more.

This will cause laggy mouse if vsync is enabled to prevent image tearing. No matter if its 120hz or not. Your not going to get a CRT like experience with FPS games I tell you that. Im @ 1ms soo mines instant just like a CRT.. vsync on , capped @ 60fps.

 

[Zanovar]

When you disagree with someone and think that simply ROFL-ing at them wins you the argument it just makes it apparent you learned your forum skills over on the WoW boards.

When you disagree with someone and resort to personal insults this suggests you've lost the argument.
This debate is pointless - we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Throckmorton]

Did Dell ever get their pink/green tint issue fixed with their e-ips monitors? That is the reason I never got one of theirs. I opted for an NEC EA231WMi and it's fantastic. Excellent stand and there are pro color calibration files available for it. It will do 83hz with a display port cable and a custom .inf.

Does it really refresh at 83hz?

 

[Ferzerp]

I use a U3011 at home, a U2410 at work, and my laptop is an RGB-LED IPS panel (not sure which flavor ips), but I look at other monitors and the colors just look... wrong.

 

[Sunny129]

Sorry if you feel defensive about your calibration abilities, I didn't mean to call you out but at the same time, the site you referenced said it's fine after calibration, as well: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/content/asus_ml239h.htm#calibration So it's not 1 vs. 1 firsthand account, I have a major review site behind me, you have your own opinions. Then again, you said you couldn't calibrate to your satisfaction; maybe your standards are higher than TFTcentral's and my standards. (Note: My standards change depending on what I plan to do with the hardware. I am planning on building a new system in the future so that one might get one very expensive, very good monitor, and my present system will retain the triple-ML239H setup that I find very good for multitasking/productivity.) Additionally, it's possible that you bought a monitor from a bad batch or something, in which case you did the right thing by returning it. Therefore, I apologize for being too dismissive when I stated that others were able to calibrate to their satisfaction while you were not able to do so.

its not that i'm defensive about my calibrating capabilities...it just bothers me that the first thing you did was write me off as someone spouting nonsense about calibration, something i apparently don't know at all how to do, when you knew just as well that there could have been a defect in the monitor that i had. to be honest, i never really thought there was a defect and just assumed that it was just another monitor (regardless of panel type) that has quite poor color after all that calibration failed. could it have been some defective back-lighting? perhaps...that might have resulted in the kind of sub-par panel uniformity that would result in the kind of funky combinations of colors and contrast i couldn't get rid of with any amount of calibration. but it just didn't strike me as "defective." anyways, no hard feelings...:thumbsup: