LCD colors question

[wetcat007]

On this page it shows the Viewsonic VP171B, as using less colors than the other ones, what exactly does that mean? Doesn't it use the same panel as a couple of the monitors on there anyhow? If someone could explain it to me that'd be great I've been looking at getting that monitor for some time...

-Mark

 

[wetcat007]

BUMP

 

[fredtam]

They all use the same panel and the viewsonic technically list the correct spec. I don't know how to explain it exactly but it seems the AU panel does something to produce the other colors so the mans. use the higer spec. After all you would have a hard time selling your monitor to an uninformed consumer if they saw the Viewsonic with 262200 colors next to a Samsung with 16.7 million colors. This was posted by Rapsac in the comment section of the FAQ and may help explain it. If not Kristopher will probably pick up this thread and explain it better. He has said the explanation will be included in part two of the FAQ.


One important conclusion is missing in the article:
On page 10 in the list of brands with the same panel you can see that the # of colors change from manufacturer to manufacturer. Fact is that this specific panel only uses 18bit color info, resulting in 262200 colors. All companies that state more colors LIE.
The controllers they use for these panels use some form of interpolation to fake more colors, but this will never result in as good a picture as with 24 bit panels.
Also, the interpolation is based on FRC (frame rate control); hereby the pixels get different color info each refresh. This results in visible noise (look at any Acer/BenQ from closeby, chances are you'll see it straight away) and it will also completly ruin the response times as more than 1 refresh is neccesary to give the pixel its color.
I have had a lengthy discussion with BenQ about this. The only result is that they promised to state the #colors of models with interpolation to 16M instead of 16.7M, at least this gives the end user a means to detect a 262k panel with interpolation.

 

[wetcat007]

Well i plain english is this a good all around monitor to get for gaming and so on? Or is that something I need to worry about?

 

[fredtam]

Yes everyone seems happy with it. I would suggest getting the Hitachi since it is the same panel and cheaper. If color reproduction is that important the Samsung 172T has only a slightly higher response time but I doubt you will notice any difference in color while gaming. Do a search for vp171b and you will find tons of comments on it.

 

[wetcat007]

hmm i found this

 

[fredtam]

My guess is he should have hooked it up DVI. Any product you search is going to come up with some problem. How often would you be playing low quality video. Don't limit your search to the Viewsonic. Check for the orther monitors that use the same panel. I think you will find very few problems with video and most of them can be attributed to improper adjustment/vid card/analog.

 

[wetcat007]

I guess what I generally want to know, are all LCD monitors 262,200 colors like that or whatever? I generally like the viewsonic for it's sweet stand and looks. I mean it's not going to be a big problem or anything and should look better color wise than my Compaq FS740 i'm currently using. I will be using DVI for it as well just to let u know.

 

[fredtam]

No only the ones that use the AU panel. The color reproduction was "sacrificed" to get the 16ms response time. I can't say anything about the color comparison between it and your current monitor because thats a matter of perception but it will be bigger,take up less space, use less power and be easier on the eyes.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Beware of the colors, look carefully at the spec.
Some xyz brands don't list the colors in the spec.

NEC new 1560 series is 16194277 colors vs old 1550 series is 16777216 colors.
Samsung is 16194277 colors too.

I won't consider any LCD with 16194277 colors.

I buy Eizo only, new xx7 series has 5 years warranty, it's worth to pay the extra for Eizo.

 

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: Kingofcomputer
Beware of the colors, look carefully at the spec.
Some xyz brands don't list the colors in the spec.

NEC new 1560 series is 16194277 colors vs old 1550 series is 16777216 colors.
Samsung is 16194277 colors too.

I won't consider any LCD with 16194277 colors.

I buy Eizo only, new xx7 series has 5 years warranty, it's worth to pay the extra for Eizo.

^
More dollars than sense?
Although you can adjusst every little color detail on an Eizo this will help little in gaming where without the source art you don't really know what color it is supposed to be anyway. I agree if he had said he wanted to do serious photo editing that may be the monitor for him but when you take into account the 30+ms response time it won't matter because all you will see is blurring.

 

[fredtam]

Kingofcomputer search your post.
I buy Iezo.
I have an Iezo
We get it your proud of your somewahat decent yet expensive monitor,STFU

 

[wetcat007]

How bout the Samsung 172T i've heard is good does that then reproduce all the normal colors but with a 20ms response time? It costs a bit more, but I really want to get the best that's out there for a 17 inch screen. And keep in mind i will be playing fps games a lot..

 

[Kingofcomputer]

I'd suggest you to buy the cheaper NEC, Viewsonic, Hitachi, Planar 16ms for games.
If you want to pay more for Samsung 172T, why not pay little bit more to get the best - Eizo.

Samsung 172T is nothing spectacular - 25ms, 16.2M colors.

 

[wetcat007]

But will things like high rez digital pictures and such in full screen mode not be displayed in full color then or what?

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: Kingofcomputer
I'd suggest you to buy the cheaper NEC, Viewsonic, Hitachi, Planar 16ms for games.
If you want to pay more for Samsung 172T, why not pay little bit more to get the best - Eizo.

Samsung 172T is nothing spectacular - 25ms, 16.2M colors.

I thought that was a 20ms one?

 

[KristopherKubicki]

Some might say specifically the 172T is not spectacular when you ony look at the specs. Sure black to white response time is 25ms but that is more of a marketing spec anyway. Check this out:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1785

and

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1780

I think the 172T is an excellent monitor. I own several.

Kristopher

 

[fredtam]

Several?

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fredtam
Several?

Well he is a site editor.. lol

 

[fredtam]

LOL. When I read it Ijust imagined four or five sitting on the desk with world domination plans and feeds from targets around the world.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fredtam
LOL. When I read it Ijust imagined four or five sitting on the desk with world domination plans and feeds from targets around the world.

Well you never know

I think I'm going to go with the viewsonic, if anyone has any reasons why I shouldn't please scream at me asap! lol

 

[fredtam]

How much are you paying for it?

 

[wetcat007]

Around $500 probabily at dell.com or monitorsdirect.com

 

[fredtam]

Yeah I was just over at Dell and they had it for $549 with free shipping. Ends today. Apparently you can send it back to dell within 30 days for any reason. This is good in case it shows up with a few dead pixels. But that is so close to the price of a 191t I would have to think hard about that.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: fredtam
Yeah I was just over at Dell and they had it for $549 with free shipping. Ends today. Apparently you can send it back to dell within 30 days for any reason. This is good in case it shows up with a few dead pixels. But that is so close to the price of a 191t I would have to think hard about that.

hmm price went up it was 470 a few weeks ago.. what's the 191t? a samsung 25ms 19in? just my guess lol, both monitorsdirect and dell have 30 days no reason needed return policy.