which monitor?

johnmck

this one
LG L227WT 22"

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-054-LG

or
Acer P243W
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-035-AC


also, are overclockers giving the best value these days?

extra-ordinary_

Your using these mostly for gaming? What's you gfx setup?

johnmck

i've an 8800 gts, but to be honest I havent had time for any gaming.

Monitor will mainly be used for work and showing work to clients.

PogMoThoin

I think its a waste to go for a 22' when the resolution they support is 1680x1050, why not go for a 24' which supports 1920x1200 as 1920x1080 (1080p) is hd format. Worth the extra investment for futureproofing.

BTW, I've just ordered this, its a TN panel, ie it suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. Many use 6, instead of 8, bits per color, and are consequently unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit truecolor) available from modern graphics cards, but i don't mind that as i sit directly in front of it while gaming or watchin films. More here. I'll let you know next week how it is.

Fnz

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I think its a waste to go for a 22' when the resolution they support is 1680x1050, why not go for a 24' which supports 1920x1200 as 1920x1080 (1080p) is hd format. Worth the extra investment for futureproofing.

Maybe not a total waste if you're looking to run at the native resolution with the eye candy turned on. 1900 x 1200 can be tough on a graphics card. But yeah for future proofing I intend to hold on to my current 17" monitor until I find a decent 24". Hopefully the BenQ V2400W will turn out to be excellent - it's out later this month.

BTW, I've just ordered this, its a TN panel, ie it suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. Many use 6, instead of 8, bits per color, and are consequently unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit truecolor) available from modern graphics cards, but i don't mind that as i sit directly in front of it while gaming or watchin films. More here. I'll let you know next week how it is.

I bough the Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW in January but returned it soon after. The most irritating issue it had was the viewing angle - not just that it darkened quickly when viewed from below (and was alway angled slightly up because of the base) but because of a problem best described here:

Digitalversus wrote:

the problem arises when you fix your eyes on an object in the center of the screen and then glance up to an edge without moving your head. The area appears darker. Inversely, if you look at a corner and then the opposite edge, there is this same darkening of the image. Why is this? In our opinion, the problem seems not to be related to the backlighting or liquid crystals but rather to a filter applied to the panel. We believe the race to manufacture panels in the most cost effective manner has some produced some casualties

Does the 24" 245B suffer from this problem? I was considering it but I don't fully trust Samsung's monitors these days.

EDIT: Realized you mention you don't play games. 24" monitor would be great to work on with the added resolution - probably be able to fit 2 word documents side by side at 100% zoom. If you do graphics design or such - go for a better panel type than TN (ie. IPS, PVA or MVA).

PogMoThoin

Fnz wrote: »

Does the 24" 245B suffer from this problem? I was considering it but I don't fully trust Samsung's monitors these days.

From what i've read its a better TN panel, good enough for gaming. It doesn't pivot 90' but i don't mind that. I'll let ya kno next week when it arrives.

Where the 245B does work well is as a gaming screen – one thing that's good about a TN panel is the fact that it can switch very quickly, with Samsung quoting a grey-to-grey response time of 5ms. Not that I feel response time is that much of an issue of course. Generally, anything with a 16ms off-on-off response time isn't going to give you problems with moving images when gaming. All that said, the 245B makes a very competent gaming monitor, with no hint of motion smearing. Also, because you tend to remain in the "sweet spot" when playing a game, the colour and intensity shifts don't rear their heads.

Quoted from here

BTW, I'm getting a 9800GX2 shipped from USA, so no shortage of graphics power for it.

johnmck

hi,yes its for graphic and web design.

i might go with that samsung! im not sure now

PogMoThoin

Samsung got great review here and here

Honestly I've done my homework on this one, ok its a budget TN panel, but its a good entry level 24'.
22" is just not worth considering IMHO.........as long as you've got the graphics power to drive it

johnmck

this has a VA panel

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-026-OK

Catsmokinpot

I got the LG L227WT a few months ago and I must say I can't find any fault with it apart from the refresh rate, is a bit lacking at 1650 x 1080 - but thats only when gaming, other than that it's an excellent monitor.

PogMoThoin

Youtube review of Samsung here

Fnz

I'm not speaking from experience with the higher quality panels - just my own online research.

afaik all TN panel display are 6-bit and can display somewhere in the region of 262,000 colours - dithered to produce an illusion of 16.2 million colours. All 22" monitors use TN panels. Other types use 8-bit panels and can display the full 16.7 million colours. Working with graphics this would be important for colour accuracy.

That OcUK Value L2442WD-VA is meant to be pretty decent for the price. I was going to get it myself when it was on sale a couple of weeks ago but it's not HDCP compliant.

IIRC this Benq and this Dell are supposed to be the business. Though may be a bit dear for your liking.

There's also a newer version of that Dell but IIRC it has an inferior panel type (that's not to say it's no good - I haven't read to much about it tbh. Also be aware that some manufacturers have been producing different versions of the same monitor (same model number) with differing panels. Samsung (and iirc Dell) has been guilty of this "panel lottery".

PogMoThoin

Fnz wrote: »

afaik all TN panel display are 6-bit and can display somewhere in the region of 262,000 colours - dithered to produce an illusion of 16.2 million colours. All 22" monitors use TN panels. Other types use 8-bit panels and can display the full 16.7 million colours. Working with graphics this would be important for colour accuracy.

Something wrong in your info there m8, Samsung i linked is TN panel and has 16.7 million colours, how do you explain that?

Fnz

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Something wrong in your info there m8, Samsung i linked is TN panel and has 16.7 million colours, how do you explain that?

I think the 16.2 million is the actual figure when you work out what 262,144 dithered colours produces the illusion of. I can only guess that they claim 16.7 because they figure if they claim "16.2 million colours" it stand out more and would make it easier for consumers to be more discerning when it comes to choosing a monitor. They're happy that they can get away with using the (cheaper to produce) TN panels that offer colour that is acceptable to the majority of users.

16.2 or 16.7 million colours isn't the aspect to focus on though. The fact that other panel types offer the full gamut accurately without resorting to smoke and mirror tricks is pertinent to someone working with colour.

I'm not 100% certain the TN panels can't display 8-bit but afaik they don't. The Samsung I had claimed 16.7 colours yet I experienced banding between colours - which may have been due to the lack of colours the monitor could produce.

Apple is currently being sued over it's "millions of colours" claim. [Link]

I'm surprised that they alone have been singled out.

johnmck

those monitors are expsenvive Fnz, don't think i'm willing to stretch that far!
so would you go for the cheap Overclockers one over the Samsung or Acer?

Fnz

johnmck wrote: »

those monitors are expsenvive Fnz, don't think i'm willing to stretch that far!
so would you go for the cheap Overclockers one over the Samsung or Acer?

For working with graphics, personally, I would go with the VA Overclockers panel over the other 2. Now, this monitor has been on sale a number of times (for as little as €281 recently) so I'd wait as I just hate paying more for something than I know it has been going for in the past.

Be aware of what you lose with this monitor though:

-No HDCP: You can't hook up a blu-ray player (including the PS3) to the OCUK display and have it play in high resolution.

-No adjustment: The BenQ comes with tilt, swivel, pivot and height adjustment. The OCUK display only comes with tilt. Would being able to pivot the screen 90° to work in portrait mode benefit you?

Here's a link to the ocuk forum thread discussing this monitor. [Link]

[EDIT] 'Bargain Alert' posted by TerrorFirmer - looks like the same monitor as the OcUK Value monitor. [Link]

Though since it doesn't specify panel type, I'd be wary as there was a TN panel version of the same monitor. Overclockers UK at least guarantee a VA panel. [Link]

johnmck

ok ok,
I think ive decided to just stay with a 22" for now

got to decide on which on

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=342254

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=347378

or

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=bsd&cs=iebsdt1&sku=130010

Fnz

I don't know about those monitors. I've already reported my experience with the 2232BW (which iirc I believe you can now buy in PC world for the price Komplett are selling it).

I went ahead and bought that 'Bargain Alert' monitor posted by TerrorFirmer (not for myself though). The one I received was definitely not a TN panel so is probably the same model as that OcUK Value monitor. [Link]

johnmck

any problems with delivery? I've read horror stories about Dabs!

johnmck

ah, now im confused again. if i go for this i know im guaranteed it to be a VA panel with overclockers. I'll pay only 10-15 euro extra.... whereas if i go with dabs im not guaranteed a VA panel!!