U3011 vs 27inch led 120 Advice needed please

[RoboChobo]

Hello, I am looking for advice from regarding my future purchase.

After reading the LCD monitor thread, I am currently debating if I should get the

"Dell - UltraSharp U3011 30-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor"

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=ca&l=en&cs=&k=u3011&cat=all&x=0&y=0

vs

" Samsung SyncMaster T27A550 27in Widescreen LED LCD w/ HDTV Tuner, Speakers "

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX33610%28ME%29.aspx

It will be for my PC gaming machine and maybe to watch movies and videos online.

I was able to see some demo's from computer stores about the 27in LED 120 Hz monitors and was quite impressed.

However, they have little or no experienced on the 30 Dell monitor.

I have always played on console systems and my plasma TV of 600hz of refresh rate and 300000:1 contrast ratio allows me to have the nicest dark/black pictures possible.

So my question is

*How does the 30 Dell stack up to a 27in LED monitor picture quality wise?
" Color quality "

*Does the 60hz vs 120hz 1:1000 vs 1:1 000 000 contrast ratio really matter? I keep hearing about "ghosting or motion blur for fast moving animations?"

*Should I get a MAC monitor or would that be considered blasphemy or sacrilege

Is their anything I should be aware of before buying any of these monitors, especially if its for pc gaming?


If you have any experience or own or have advice regarding any of these monitors or suggestions, please give me your input.

Money is not an issue for now but I would like to keep the monitor budget under $2000

It seems like the U3011 Dell monitor was released from September/October 2010, seems like old technology already?
Does anyone know if Dell is working on another 30 monitor that might be coming up this fall?

 

[Soccerman06]

The largest difference between these 2 screens are the resolution and refresh rates. Contrast ratios are a terrible way to compare models as companies will run an inhouse test and say it got 5m:1. It's just a number they put on a box to differentiate models for the average consumer. Please never compare contrast ratio from the box, only professional and independent reviews.

The resolution is the big selling point of the dell. The panel image quality and color accuracy will blow the socks off the Samsung TN panel (im assuming its a tn panel since its a 1080). Viewing angles most likely will be better on the dell as well. The refresh rate with computer monitors and tv monitors are completely different in most cases. Computers will refresh the entire screen at whatever frequency while a tv may alternate half the pixels at 60 and the other 60, which is not the same. That is how cheap panels do it and how some manufacturers get 480hz refresh rates.

Keep this in mind, these are 2 completely different beasts, one is a jackrabbit and the other is a yeti. It's like comparing a mustang and a porsche. The dell is the better of the 2 imo.

 

[postmortemIA]

Dell is objectively better unless you are hard core gamer and not doing any work on your PC. There's reason why Dell is 3x more expensive than Samsung.
If Samsung had better resolution and non-TN panel, then it would be another story...

 

[darkswordsman17]

The largest difference between these 2 screens are the resolution and refresh rates. Contrast ratios are a terrible way to compare models as companies will run an inhouse test and say it got 5m:1. It's just a number they put on a box to differentiate models for the average consumer. Please never compare contrast ratio from the box, only professional and independent reviews.

The resolution is the big selling point of the dell. The panel image quality and color accuracy will blow the socks off the Samsung TN panel (im assuming its a tn panel since its a 1080). Viewing angles most likely will be better on the dell as well. The refresh rate with computer monitors and tv monitors are completely different in most cases. Computers will refresh the entire screen at whatever frequency while a tv may alternate half the pixels at 60 and the other 60, which is not the same. That is how cheap panels do it and how some manufacturers get 480hz refresh rates.

Keep this in mind, these are 2 completely different beasts, one is a jackrabbit and the other is a yeti. It's like comparing a mustang and a porsche. The dell is the better of the 2 imo.

You seem to have gotten interlaced/progressive confused with refresh rates. One has to do with content, and the other has to do with the actual display. That's not how they get higher refresh rates on TVs (and I don't think there are any 480Hz displays, unless you're getting confused with Plasmas 480/600 which is not the same thing as 120/240Hz on LCD).

OP, I'm not seeing anything that says that Samsung is 120Hz, so I don't know where you're getting that from. Are you specifically comparing those two, or are you also asking about 120Hz displays?

 

[RoboChobo]

Dell is objectively better unless you are hard core gamer and not doing any work on your PC. There's reason why Dell is 3x more expensive than Samsung.
If Samsung had better resolution and non-TN panel, then it would be another story...

I would only be using this to play PC games and I would like to get the best picture/resolution possible. The deepest black/dark color and vivid colors. Maybe some movies once in a while but that's what my 60in plasma and blu ray player is for though :/

You seem to have.....).

OP, ..... Are you specifically comparing those two, or are you also asking about 120Hz displays?

Yes I am comparing a 120Hz led displays to 30in Dell monitor u3011.

so far, about 80% of people I talked with really likes IPS panels aka Dell monitors. Even though they heavily favor the U3011, they didn't give me a valid reason why its good for the PC games.

Also I watched a video review of it in cnet,

http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/dell-ultrasharp-u3011/4505-3174_7-34182214.html?tag=mncol;lst;1

 

[RoboChobo]

The largest difference between these 2 screens are the resolution and refresh rates. .....

The resolution is the big selling point of the dell. The panel image quality and color accuracy will blow the socks off the Samsung TN panel.... It's like comparing a mustang and a porsche. The dell is the better of the 2 imo.

Will the refresh rate of 60hz of a DellU3011 be a factor compared to a 120hz of a LED backlit monitor?

The image quality and color accuracy is a big bonus for me, another +1 to Dell.

Some people in this forum favor 120hz LED monitor over the u3011dell monitor, I will try and see if I can find them or have their input as well.

 

[Grooveriding]

... I would like to get the best picture/resolution possible. The deepest black/dark color and vivid colors.

If you care about this as you said, the 27" screen is no contest to the quality of the 30" Dell. The Dell is IPS, the Samsung is TN. That is a huge difference right there. Colours and image quality of the Dell will be far better than the TN panel.

Also 2560x1600>1920x1080.

Just know if you do want to game on the 30" you will need some good horsepower to play games at that resolution. If you don't care about having the absolute highest settings in games, a 6950 2GB will do. If you want the best of settings you will need more than one video card.

 

[postmortemIA]

120hz will look smoother on FPS, and that's all. All TN monitors have problem with washed out colors, viewing angles, color reproduction.
Now you'll need a great graphics card to play anything on 2560x1600, but it will look better than same thing on 1920x1080.

 

[QuantumPion]

Personally for a gaming monitor I prefer 120 hz TN panel over an IPS monitor, having used both.

 

[RussianSensation]

Soccreman06 is right, comparing monitors based on "specs" on paper is often misleading.

The Samsung in question "performs like most other modern products in this test, delivering a max brightness of over 300 nits and a contrast ratio of over 700:1." - Full Review

Also, if you intend to use the Samsung for 3D, that review noted that "the SA950, although supports Nvidia GPUs, can only enable 120Hz mode for AMD-based cards."

If money is no object, I'd grab a 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Like RussianSensation said, the 30" dell would be my choice in a heartbeat. However, its important you don't spend good money on the monitor and then get cheap when it comes to buying graphics cards. Even if you get an amazing monitor, an underpowered computer would really hurt the experience.

 

[gramboh]

The Dell will have superior colours and viewing angles, there is no question.

The competitive FPS playing crowd does prefer the 120hz TN panel monitors though for the higher refresh rate (these are the folks that played on CRTs up until now).

From what you have said, you will probably be more impressed and happy with the Dell, the black levels and washed out colour on the Samsung will annoy you if you are used to a high end Plasma set. I have an older Dell 24 inch (S-PVA) and even using that, I would never switch to TN. The newer IPS Dells are superior to mine even.

 

[RoboChobo]

After reading countless post and other threads, I've decided to get one u3011 Dell monitor. I just hope there isn't another 30in monitor from dell coming out soon that might be better than the one I'm buying.

Looks like I'll be investing $1499 but hopefully i can find this on sale like before, it was -25% off, which would be $1125.

Regarding the graphics hardware, I've also decided to get two evga 580 gtx 3GB.

I was inspired by this guy's setup

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2179318

thanks again to all the input given Now I'll be heading to the storage and memory section for the final piece of the puzzle

 

[MangoX]

I just hope there isn't another 30in monitor from dell coming out soon that might be better than the one I'm buying.

I'll break down the Dell model number for ya.

U3011

U = Ultrasharp, their high end IPS displays
30 = Monitor size. ie: 30 inch
11 = Year. It's actually released the year before. Ya know, like how car manufactures do it?

They only started adding the U in recent years. The 3007WFP, 2005FP, 2007WFP/FP did not start with the U designation.

To answer your question, they probably won't come out with another 30" for at least another 2 years. The one before the U3011 was the 3007WFP, which was in 2007 (note the 07). Based on that trend the next 30" display would probably be the U3015/16.

 

[Zorander]

Given how Dell has come out with the 2412 (from the 2410) and 2711 (from the 2709), it's more likely there will be a 3013.

 

[postmortemIA]

I'll break down the Dell model number for ya.

U3011

U = Ultrasharp, their high end IPS displays
30 = Monitor size. ie: 30 inch
11 = Year. It's actually released the year before. Ya know, like how car manufactures do it?

They only started adding the U in recent years. The 3007WFP, 2005FP, 2007WFP/FP did not start with the U designation.

To answer your question, they probably won't come out with another 30" for at least another 2 years. The one before the U3011 was the 3007WFP, which was in 2007 (note the 07). Based on that trend the next 30" display would probably be the U3015/16.

sorry they had 3008wfp.

 

[Mogadon]

Have you looked at HP`s 30in offering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824176177

I have 3xU3011 and they`re great but HP`s offering seems very comparable (if not more popular) and a few hundred bucks cheaper.

If you can`t find the U3011 on sale at least newegg have it at $1399 as opposed to $1499 (not sure if affects warranty):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824260028

 

[Necc]

If iwanted 120Hz monitor then I'd buy a good old big CRT, otherwise the Dell will blow your mind.

Igot the little brother U2410, when I RMA'd my Videocard last week Icouldnt stand the TN-panel on my laptop, Ihad to connect it to the monitor.

For me color reproduction > 120Hz anyday.

I'd say grab the Dell U3011

 

[kyniskos]

I didn't even know they had 27" 120 Hz panels. What I can say going from a 2408 Dell (TN-panel) to a U3011 is the main change being color and size. I thought the 24" was getting small (what was I thinking??). The 30" is too large, still find myself looking for the mousepointer at times. Mind you I sit a bit too close to the monitor due to space constriction. The colors though are no comparison, the ISP is just so more vibrant, with far better tones and darkness. I love it for games, the only reason for me to go 120 Hz TN-panel would be to try out nVidia's 3D. Maybe I'll do that sometime if I get more space. It should be noted while you get more screenspace, in games things just get bigger, you don't get to see more.

 

[abaez]

I've had a u3011 for awhile now and it's amazing. I use it for all my movie and tv watching too. I had to get another 470 card for SLI to run games though.

I read that the HP is slightly better image-wise, but it has absolutely no ports (I think it only has one dvi port?) and the USB and multitude of ports on the u3011 pushed me over. Got a great deal on it too ($800 shipped new).