IPS vs LED

nombrecinq

Senior member
May 15, 2005
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I'm pretty set on getting a 24" or higher IPS screen, after dealing with a few 2408wfp returns...

What's the verdict on the best ones for the money? I'd love to get one for about $400 or less, spending more than that on a monitor makes me feel ill.

And how does IPS compare to the LED options in terms of viewing angle, # of colors, etc?
 

Chris27

Member
Sep 19, 2005
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IPS refers to an LCD panel type. LED refers to the back-light of an LCD panel. You are comparing apples and oranges.
 

nombrecinq

Senior member
May 15, 2005
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So I guess my next question would be, is there any advantage to using LED over an IPS LCD?
 

MyLeftNut

Senior member
Jul 22, 2007
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If you're referring to if there are monitors using LED backlighting with an IPS panel, then yes, the current 24" Apple Cinema Display is probably the only commonly available one. Not sure if anyone else came out with anything similar lately, but if you're gonna pickup the ACD, just to warn you, it only has a displayport connector and no OSD controls.
 

nombrecinq

Senior member
May 15, 2005
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I generally try to stay away from Apple products ;) The only thing I have now is an Airport Express, but that might end up on eBay as soon as I find something a bit easier to configure for music streaming.
 

MyLeftNut

Senior member
Jul 22, 2007
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The only thing that keeps me away from apple products is the price. If that's holding you back, you can buy a refurbished ACD on the apple website for $599 which makes it more affordable than paying full price. On the plus side, these look a lot nicer than the usual monitors out there as well. If you're sensitive to glare, you'll want to remove the glass panel though. Luckily, the glass panel is just an extra piece that has part in enclosing the panel inside the aluminum casing.
 

nombrecinq

Senior member
May 15, 2005
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I actually don't like OSX much, I was forced to use it for a couple years for work. Although... I do miss the native shell and built-on-unix part.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
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So is there a such thing as a LED IPS?

led isn't magic, its simply a backlight. in fact some leds are simply for asthetics and power consumption..like on laptops. high color gamut screens can be powered by the regular tube lights and still be superior to some led backlights. esp side lit led is not much different from the old tech. newer grid array led is rare on computer screens, never mind ones with local dimming, the only truly superior tech is RGB led. get a grid array of those and you got sweetness. but it doesn't exist for pc screens yet as far as i know. and is $$$$ on tv's. theres also density of led arrays. cheaper= less.

get an ips and forget about the whole "led" magic marketing term.
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
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There is one /other/ potential benefit to LED, it's less likely to have sudden inverter or a more rapid light degradation. That doesn't remove the chance of other failures like the capacitors on the main PSU board popping after a couple years, but all else equal the average LED backlit monitor should outlive the average CCFL backlit alternative.
 

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
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I think LED will make a bigger difference with cheaper panels. A cheap LED backlight would be much better than a cheap traditional-lighted panel. As we move toward more LED backlit screens, the brightness and color uniformity across the screen will be better. I agree that you have to be careful about the "LED hype" recently. They are promoting this like it is a new tech to replace LCDs...I kinda laugh at these ads...:)
 

Griswold

Senior member
Dec 24, 2004
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Speaking about LED backlights. There is not just one type of LED backlight. The cheap edge-type backlight allows for a slim design and doesnt consume as much energy as direct LED backlights, where the entire surface behind the panel is filled with LEDs - these LEDs can also be locally dimmed or turned off entirely for much better black levels.

Needless to say, brightness uniformity is much better than with edge-type backlights. However, uniformity is an issue in itself with LED backlights due to the fact that LED age at different rates.

And finally there is the difference between white LED and RGB LED. The latter are capable of producing a much wider color gamut. Dont bother with that though, unless you're prepared to spend an enormous amount of $$$. Yet, aging of LED is an even bigger issue here due to a shift of the white point when the three different colors age at different rates.