Review: Dell 1900FP vs Planar 191M
by Schnieds
Testing Platform:
P4 2.3 GHz
GeForce 4 Ti4200 DVI Connection
1280x1024 Res @ 32bit color
Ghosting / Fast Motion Blurring:
I tested both panels with the following games and movies:
Games: Unreal Tourn 2003; Serious Sam SE; RTCW; Jedi Knight II; Warcraft III; NOLF2
(I used 1280x1024 Res @ 32bit color for all games except NOLF2, which did not support this resolution.)
Movies: Matrix: Lobby Shooting Spree
Winner: Dell 1900FP
Both panels did a great job in all of the tests, however the 1900FP was a little bit better handling the motion of fast moving games and movies. I did not notice what I would term to be ?Ghosting? (although the definition of ghosting seems to be up for debate) on either panel during most of the games. I did notice some slight ghosting in NOLF2 on both panels, however I think this may have been due to the lack of NOLF2's support of both panel's native resolution of 1280x1024. Overall you really had to look to see it even in NOLF2. I could not find any in any of the other games, or the movie that I tested. The 1900FP did however cope with fast moving images in a more solid manner. The Planar, while doing a great job, left me feeling a little bit disoriented because the pixels weren't responding to the game/movie as quickly as I would have liked. The 1900FP however did a fantastic job, and I did not feel disoriented at all.
I would personally term ghosting as pixel motion trails left behind when an image changes onscreen quickly. Neither panel displayed this behavior at any point during my tests. However, if you have ever played a game or watched a movie on an LCD you will notice that the motion on the screen is quite different than a CRT. The 1900FP did not deviate much from the standard feel of a CRT and didn't take much time to get used to. The Planar however, did have more of the LCD motion lag and made it difficult for me to keep my bearings in very fast moving games. In DVDs, I didn't notice any difference between panels.
[Update]
After using the 1900FP panel for the last month in many different applications and having more time to test it, I have found some new and interesting ghosting results. In my previous observations and testing of the panel I found no ghosting in the applications that I listed above. However, after I did the initial testing and wrote the initial review, I have used many more applications which has led to different results. The 1900FP does indeed exhibit some ghosting, but only in certain games.
Since my initial review I have had the chance to play the following games: NOLF2 (I did a quick test initially of this game, but have since had time to really test it
); Dungeon Siege; Freedom Force; Battlefield 1942. Dungeon Siege and BF1942 were no surprise. The game play on the panel was brilliant with no ghosting that I could see. However, in certain levels on NOLF2 and during all main character movement in Freedom Force there is definate ghosting! I was shocked that there was ghosting on both of these games as I played them. I have not seen ghosting in any other game but these two, which leads me to a few possible thoeries: 1) Neither game supports 1280x1024 resolution, which is native to the panel and the resolution I used in most of the other games that didn't exhibit ghosting 2) There is something about the textures or colors used in these games which cause ghosting in the panel. 3) I have had to switch back to an analog connection (I need to get a new DVI video card) and this could be the cause of the ghosting. 4) Some people have suggested that it is certain greys which cause the ghosting, but Unreal Tourn 2K3 has a lot of greys and contrasts and it looks spectacular with no ghosting so I don't know if I support this theory.
Althought the ghosting in NOLF2 and Freedom Force is a little annoying at times, it isn't bad at all. Both games are very playable and very enjoyable on this panel. I expect that there will be more games in the future that I will find exhibit some ghosting, but even when the ghosting is present it is minimal and the panel is still excellent. I do not change my full-hearted endorsement of this panel. The ghosting that I have found isn't bad, but I wanted to make sure that anyone reading this review is aware of everything that I have found about the Panel.
[/Update]
Picture Sharpness / Quality:
Tests: Everyday operating system; Photoshop; Internet Explorer; Illustrator; etc.
Winner Dell 1900FP
Again, both Panels were excellent. However, the 1900FP was definitely sharper, crisper, and overall produced a more quality picture. The applications really just came alive on the 1900FP with the DVI connection. I have to say that I have never seen my applications or operating system look so good! Everything was more rich and vibrant than the Planar. The Planar did an excellent job, and while I was testing the Planar (before I had received the 1900FP) I didn't think that the picture could get much better... until I got the 1900FP. The Planar is excellent, but the 1900FP is better.
Color Depth:
Tests: Everything listed above.
Winner: Dell 1900FP
Once again, the 1900FP was more vibrant. The colors looked truer to me in general. I looked at some high res photos, as well as normal the operating system GUI, and I though the color on the 1900FP was much sharper.
Brightness:
Tests: Everything listed above.
Winner: Planar 191M
Both panels were plenty bright. However, the Planar still had lot's of room to grow from what I felt was a comfortable brightness, however the 1900FP was just about maxed out in its settings. Both panels were very bright, and I have no complaints either way. However, if you were working in a very well lit environment (such as on a sunny day with a window at your back) the Planar has enough brightness to spare to allow you to wash out the picture some and make it easier to see, the Dell does not. Once again, let me state the both panels are as bright as I would ever use them, however the Planar has some room to spare, so I picked it as the winner.
Text Sharpness:
Tests: Operating System; Word; Internet Explorer; Agent Newsreader; Outlook Express
Winner: Planar 191M
First off, if you are using Windows XP, make sure to enable ClearType and then visit Microsoft's and use their ClearType tuning wizard. I found that this was absolutely imperative in getting the text to look really good on either monitor.
Overall, the Planar beat the 1900FP hands down. The 1900FP looks fine, however the best tuning using ClearType in Windows XP left the text looking great, but not excellent. I was only able to use one of the selections for ClearType text tuning, which was the least bold of the bunch. If I chose any of the other tuning types, the text would bleed a red haze during certain applications (such as Outlook Express.) It is sharp and easy to read, but not in the same league as the Planar. The Planar allowed me to use any of the available ClearType tuning text selections without a problem. The text on the Planar is overall sharper, bolder, and allows the user a little more freedom in choosing what they think looks best.
Aesthetics:
Winner: Dell 1900FP
I love the tiny silver bezel on the 1900FP. It just looks darn cool. I also perceive the 1900FP to be a little bigger (optical illusion only) than the 191M because of the smaller bezel. The 1900FP rocks! I should not however, that I had a friend over to check them both out and he liked the look of the Planar better and felt it looked bigger, so this is very much personal preference.
Overall Winner:
Dell 1900FP
I am going to personally keep the 1900FP and ship the Planar back to Dell. The only significant area that I feel the Planar beats the Dell in is displaying Text. As I stated above the Planar is definitely better. However, I am satisfied with the Dell's display of text and the other areas of the panel are more important to me. Overall the 1900FP's gaming experience is much better in my opinion (which is a very, very important factor to me) in addition to the overall picture and colors being better on the Dell.
I think that both Panels are great, and I was really surprised when I got the Dell that it was better than the Planar because I though the Planar rocked (and it does, just a little less than the Dell.) I don't think that you can go wrong with either panel. With the price being equal for both panels (which it is in my case) I would definitely take the Dell. However, if the Planar were significantly less expensive I would probably lean towards keeping it since it is a very nice panel.
by Schnieds
Testing Platform:
P4 2.3 GHz
GeForce 4 Ti4200 DVI Connection
1280x1024 Res @ 32bit color
Ghosting / Fast Motion Blurring:
I tested both panels with the following games and movies:
Games: Unreal Tourn 2003; Serious Sam SE; RTCW; Jedi Knight II; Warcraft III; NOLF2
(I used 1280x1024 Res @ 32bit color for all games except NOLF2, which did not support this resolution.)
Movies: Matrix: Lobby Shooting Spree
Winner: Dell 1900FP
Both panels did a great job in all of the tests, however the 1900FP was a little bit better handling the motion of fast moving games and movies. I did not notice what I would term to be ?Ghosting? (although the definition of ghosting seems to be up for debate) on either panel during most of the games. I did notice some slight ghosting in NOLF2 on both panels, however I think this may have been due to the lack of NOLF2's support of both panel's native resolution of 1280x1024. Overall you really had to look to see it even in NOLF2. I could not find any in any of the other games, or the movie that I tested. The 1900FP did however cope with fast moving images in a more solid manner. The Planar, while doing a great job, left me feeling a little bit disoriented because the pixels weren't responding to the game/movie as quickly as I would have liked. The 1900FP however did a fantastic job, and I did not feel disoriented at all.
I would personally term ghosting as pixel motion trails left behind when an image changes onscreen quickly. Neither panel displayed this behavior at any point during my tests. However, if you have ever played a game or watched a movie on an LCD you will notice that the motion on the screen is quite different than a CRT. The 1900FP did not deviate much from the standard feel of a CRT and didn't take much time to get used to. The Planar however, did have more of the LCD motion lag and made it difficult for me to keep my bearings in very fast moving games. In DVDs, I didn't notice any difference between panels.
[Update]
After using the 1900FP panel for the last month in many different applications and having more time to test it, I have found some new and interesting ghosting results. In my previous observations and testing of the panel I found no ghosting in the applications that I listed above. However, after I did the initial testing and wrote the initial review, I have used many more applications which has led to different results. The 1900FP does indeed exhibit some ghosting, but only in certain games.
Since my initial review I have had the chance to play the following games: NOLF2 (I did a quick test initially of this game, but have since had time to really test it
); Dungeon Siege; Freedom Force; Battlefield 1942. Dungeon Siege and BF1942 were no surprise. The game play on the panel was brilliant with no ghosting that I could see. However, in certain levels on NOLF2 and during all main character movement in Freedom Force there is definate ghosting! I was shocked that there was ghosting on both of these games as I played them. I have not seen ghosting in any other game but these two, which leads me to a few possible thoeries: 1) Neither game supports 1280x1024 resolution, which is native to the panel and the resolution I used in most of the other games that didn't exhibit ghosting 2) There is something about the textures or colors used in these games which cause ghosting in the panel. 3) I have had to switch back to an analog connection (I need to get a new DVI video card) and this could be the cause of the ghosting. 4) Some people have suggested that it is certain greys which cause the ghosting, but Unreal Tourn 2K3 has a lot of greys and contrasts and it looks spectacular with no ghosting so I don't know if I support this theory.Althought the ghosting in NOLF2 and Freedom Force is a little annoying at times, it isn't bad at all. Both games are very playable and very enjoyable on this panel. I expect that there will be more games in the future that I will find exhibit some ghosting, but even when the ghosting is present it is minimal and the panel is still excellent. I do not change my full-hearted endorsement of this panel. The ghosting that I have found isn't bad, but I wanted to make sure that anyone reading this review is aware of everything that I have found about the Panel.
[/Update]
Picture Sharpness / Quality:
Tests: Everyday operating system; Photoshop; Internet Explorer; Illustrator; etc.
Winner Dell 1900FP
Again, both Panels were excellent. However, the 1900FP was definitely sharper, crisper, and overall produced a more quality picture. The applications really just came alive on the 1900FP with the DVI connection. I have to say that I have never seen my applications or operating system look so good! Everything was more rich and vibrant than the Planar. The Planar did an excellent job, and while I was testing the Planar (before I had received the 1900FP) I didn't think that the picture could get much better... until I got the 1900FP. The Planar is excellent, but the 1900FP is better.
Color Depth:
Tests: Everything listed above.
Winner: Dell 1900FP
Once again, the 1900FP was more vibrant. The colors looked truer to me in general. I looked at some high res photos, as well as normal the operating system GUI, and I though the color on the 1900FP was much sharper.
Brightness:
Tests: Everything listed above.
Winner: Planar 191M
Both panels were plenty bright. However, the Planar still had lot's of room to grow from what I felt was a comfortable brightness, however the 1900FP was just about maxed out in its settings. Both panels were very bright, and I have no complaints either way. However, if you were working in a very well lit environment (such as on a sunny day with a window at your back) the Planar has enough brightness to spare to allow you to wash out the picture some and make it easier to see, the Dell does not. Once again, let me state the both panels are as bright as I would ever use them, however the Planar has some room to spare, so I picked it as the winner.
Text Sharpness:
Tests: Operating System; Word; Internet Explorer; Agent Newsreader; Outlook Express
Winner: Planar 191M
First off, if you are using Windows XP, make sure to enable ClearType and then visit Microsoft's and use their ClearType tuning wizard. I found that this was absolutely imperative in getting the text to look really good on either monitor.
Overall, the Planar beat the 1900FP hands down. The 1900FP looks fine, however the best tuning using ClearType in Windows XP left the text looking great, but not excellent. I was only able to use one of the selections for ClearType text tuning, which was the least bold of the bunch. If I chose any of the other tuning types, the text would bleed a red haze during certain applications (such as Outlook Express.) It is sharp and easy to read, but not in the same league as the Planar. The Planar allowed me to use any of the available ClearType tuning text selections without a problem. The text on the Planar is overall sharper, bolder, and allows the user a little more freedom in choosing what they think looks best.
Aesthetics:
Winner: Dell 1900FP
I love the tiny silver bezel on the 1900FP. It just looks darn cool. I also perceive the 1900FP to be a little bigger (optical illusion only) than the 191M because of the smaller bezel. The 1900FP rocks! I should not however, that I had a friend over to check them both out and he liked the look of the Planar better and felt it looked bigger, so this is very much personal preference.
Overall Winner:
Dell 1900FP
I am going to personally keep the 1900FP and ship the Planar back to Dell. The only significant area that I feel the Planar beats the Dell in is displaying Text. As I stated above the Planar is definitely better. However, I am satisfied with the Dell's display of text and the other areas of the panel are more important to me. Overall the 1900FP's gaming experience is much better in my opinion (which is a very, very important factor to me) in addition to the overall picture and colors being better on the Dell.
I think that both Panels are great, and I was really surprised when I got the Dell that it was better than the Planar because I though the Planar rocked (and it does, just a little less than the Dell.) I don't think that you can go wrong with either panel. With the price being equal for both panels (which it is in my case) I would definitely take the Dell. However, if the Planar were significantly less expensive I would probably lean towards keeping it since it is a very nice panel.
Facebook
Twitter