I finally upgraded my monitor

[pandemonium]

I was holding out with my trusty Viewsonic G810 CRT for a long, long time (nearly 11 years). But it's finally dying and I had to order something new since it was smelling funny while operating. >.>

I'd been researching this for the last couple years on-off and had finally settled with an Asus PB278Q. It's inbound from Newegg for $643.48 after 3Day shipping (no tax). I really wanted a x1600, but the price was just too much of a commitment for me.

I chose the Asus due to review from TFT central; primarily for ghosting performance (since gaming will probably be my primary use) and the decent deviance and luminance results. I'll also be doing some video editing (nothing professional). The downscaling to x1080 appears to be decent as well for those games and full screen programs that don't support x1440.

Overall, I read quite a few people complaining about the backlight bleed. Some reviewers were saying it was overexaggerated, others saying it was a deal breaker. Can anyone comment on this? Also, the PWM is a negative, but I don't think I'll notice it as badly unless I'm in complete darkness; I'm hoping anyways.

Also, to those videophiles out there, I've considered getting a calibrator, something like a Spyder4Pro, but trying to bring myself to justify the cost. I figure with a nice display, it's about time I got it - and all other displays that I and family/friends own - properly calibrated. Anyone have experiences with calibrators and can say it's worth it?

Edit:
I've been testing the monitor with Skyrim with all of the goodies turned up (except AA, x2 or x4 is good enough with FXAA injector mod and high detail resolution packages; x8 is overkill and isn't really noticeable except with how much it taxes the hardware).

Skyrim is a whole new world to me now. I thought it was beautiful before. Now it's absolutely incredible. ^^

Ran through the monitor user presets and did a manual adjustment against what TFTCentral found to be the best setting for accuracy. I set brightness much higher - to 78, instead of 27 - than they found as the best so it doesn't look too dim. Aside from getting a calibrator, this is gorgeous as-is.

I haven't seen a single dead pixel and haven't noticed any ghosting issues. Input lag is pretty minimal. Suffice to say, I doubt I'll be going back to CRT anytime soon simply for the lack of resolution alone.

 

[Tattoedsailor]

Welcome to 2013.. I didn't think anyone was still using CRT's.

 

[Sheep221]

Welcome to 2013.. I didn't think anyone was still using CRT's.

I used CRTs still in 2010, well I still have mine stored in the closet waiting to be returned to service one day.

While LCDs improved very much in past few years, they still don't come near the color retention of CRTs.

OP grats on the upgrade.

 

[sioux]

@pandemonium, what graphic card do you have ?

 

[pandemonium]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127545

X2

Why?

 

[sioux]

Thanks.
I want to buy a new monitor, as well, and i dont know if my graphic card HD Radeon 7970 can handle 2560x1440 / 2560x1600 at high details ( no AA / AF ) with an 30 inch monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35078223#post35078223

 

[pandemonium]

All depends on the games you're playing and the settings you're using. Without AA/AF, you'll definitely be fine on a 7970, depending on the engine. I doubt you'll be seeing a big difference between 27" [x1440] and 30" [x1600] though. If your budget is at all a concern, don't bother with a 30" IMHO. Go to a local shop and sit 3' in front of a 30" for about a minute, then sit in front of a 27" and see if you're really hurt by the loss of screen size. For gaming and browsing, I doubt you would be.

 

[sioux]

It is a difference between 27 inch 16:9 and 30 inch 16:10

http://www.displaywars.com/27-inch-16x9-vs-30-inch-16x10
But anyway. What do you think about 32 inch led tv as a pc monitor ?

 

[pandemonium]

Welcome to 2013.. I didn't think anyone was still using CRT's.

Thanks...

You'd be surprised. CRT isn't worthless when compared to LCD. See input lag. Response frequency is on top of this. How much marketing do you see plastered all over for low input lag? None. There's a reason for this. Because all LCDs inherently suffer from at least some of it compared to CRT displays. And the response time given on labels isn't by any universal standard, it's by whatever testing method that company uses; same goes for contrast ratio.

Why do we have a market for 120hz TN panels? To compete with the level of CRT responsiveness.

So can anyone comment on the bolded areas in the original post?

 

[Tattoedsailor]

Thanks...

You'd be surprised. CRT isn't worthless when compared to LCD. See input lag. Response frequency is on top of this. How much marketing do you see plastered all over for low input lag? None. There's a reason for this. Because all LCDs inherently suffer from at least some of it compared to CRT displays. And the response time given on labels isn't by any universal standard, it's by whatever testing method that company uses; same goes for contrast ratio.

Why do we have a market for 120hz TN panels? To compete with the level of CRT responsiveness.

So can anyone comment on the bolded areas in the original post?

I'm pretty naive on subject. I seriously thought they were obsolete at this point. .

 

[pandemonium]

I've been testing the monitor with Skyrim with all of the goodies turned up (except AA, x2 or x4 is good enough with FXAA injector mod and high detail resolution packages; x8 is overkill and isn't really noticeable except with how much it taxes the hardware).

Skyrim is a whole new world to me now. I thought it was beautiful before. Now it's absolutely incredible. ^^

Ran through the monitor user presets and did a manual adjustment against what TFTCentral found to be the best setting for accuracy. I set brightness much higher - to 78, instead of 27 - than they found as the best so it doesn't look too dim. Aside from getting a calibrator, this is gorgeous as-is.

I haven't seen a single dead pixel and haven't noticed any ghosting issues. Input lag is pretty minimal. Suffice to say, I doubt I'll be going back to CRT anytime soon simply for the lack of resolution alone.

 

[pcunite]

Looks like a great monitor. I'm rocking the NEC 2490 WUXi2 and love it. The complainers of LCD are not using the $600+ tech versions and don't know what they're missing.

 

[pandemonium]

Ya, I held out for a long time (mainly just waiting for the monster to just die; why replace something if it still works?). I constantly read reviews and kept up with the advancements of display technology, and it's pretty safe to say we're cruxified with limited issues now.

From what I've gathered, NEC monitors are pretty much the best, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that level of cash; especially for x1440 or x1600. >.<

 

[AMD64Blondie]

Ahem.Allow me to introduce the HP A7217A 24 inch wide screen CRT.

(22.5 inches viewable of creamy goodness).

 

[pandemonium]

Ya...there's this thing called finite finances, lol. (At the time it was released.)

 

[pcunite]

It felt crazy at first spending more on a monitor than some spend on their PC, but for me, it is where I spend all my time. So display > box-on-floor. The good news is that the price is coming down so all can appreciate it.

 

[Peter Nixeus]

I can comment on this bolded text from our own monitor manufacturing experienceL

Overall, I read quite a few people complaining about the backlight bleed. Some reviewers were saying it was overexaggerated, others saying it was a deal breaker. Can anyone comment on this?

Back light bleeding can occur or develop from a number of ways. But one prominent fact is that it can result from the shipping courier dropping your monitor package on the side or corners. This impact can dent, alter, damage or deform the panel causing LED lighting leakage. This is much more likely to happen with larger displays due to thinner bezels holding larger sized panels. So good packaging makes the difference in minimizing backlight bleeding.

We had to exchange or warranty service monitors with back light bleed, and after taking apart our monitor, we found the cause of the severe back light bleeding were from rough handling by the courier.


This fact is also stated on NEC's website and NEC is a premium monitor manufacturer:

I just received and unpacked my display monitor and I noticed that there are several bright patches around the edge of the screen when I look at a black screen. Is the monitor defective?

Almost all LCD panels will have some slight light leakage around the edge of the screen when viewed with a black screen&#8212;especially on larger screens or when viewed at an angle. Pressure and stress on the LCD panel edges due to packaging and shipping can also increase this effect temporarily.
Allow the display a few days after being unpackaged to reach its optimal performance while the stress on the LCD panel is released. Don&#8217;t place any heavy items on the top of the display. Don&#8217;t leave the color sensor resting against the screen for longer than necessary. And never apply pressure to the screen or use suction cups to hold the color sensor in place.

http://www.necdisplay.com/faq/product-category/desktop-lcdmonitors