Best 27" screen?

[JAGX]

So I figured that if some of the best 23" monitors can cost up to $250-$350, I might as well just plunk down another $50 and get a decent 27" screen.

Here are the basic criteria to be met:

- 6ms or less response time
- <$450 (no Dells)
- 16:9 1920x1280 (no 1200 nonsense)
- at least 1 HDMI input


Additional criteria to consider:

- wide viewing angle
- more inputs/ more variety
- speakers (nice to have the option)
- smaller pixel pitch (sub 3)
- wall mount
- higher brightness (300+)
- TV tuner
- 120hz refresh rate
- higher contrast ratio
- ergonomics/tilt
- display type
- extra features
- good reviews
- price/performance gain


Personally, I'm debating between the newest models:
Acer S273HL BMII
LG W2753V-PF
SAMSUNG P2770FH
ViewSonic VX2739WM

Discuss.

[TirolokoRD]

Any particular reason why you dont want dellS?

[FULMTL]

my AOC 27" http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=AOC%2027%22

I got mine for $280 on sale though so is an effing amazing deal, and I like AOC products. Dont think there are any 120hz 27" out there.

[JAGX]

Dells are extremely expensive aren't they? I saw their newest panels were like $800+ and I don't have that money!

[nhlkoho]

1920x1280? Never seen a monitor at that resolution.

[iako]

Originally Posted by JAGX

...16:9 1920x1280 (no 1200 nonsense)...

16:9 will be 1920x1080... at 27" it's gonna be either 16:10 (1920x1200) or 16:9 (1920x1080)...

[nhlkoho]

It's hard to find a good 1920x1200 monitor now. Everyone seems to only be making 1920x1080.
The one I bought a couple years ago is still sold today and its pretty good. Except it doesn't have a TV tuner so if your really set on that I guess this one is out.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0306940

I was a little hesitant to buy it since I didn't know much about Hannspree. But it turned out to be a great monitor. And it's got 2 HDMI, component, composite, DVI and VGA connections.

[JAGX]

16:9 (1080) sorry.

I'm leaning towards the samsung atm, but people are telling me to consider the viewsonic as well, but I'm not familiar with that brand at all...

[Laykun]

You won't pick up a 'decent' 27" LCD for that price, mostly because nearly all 27" LCDs are rubbish TN panels. In my opinion you'd be better off getting a quality 24" panel like the HP ZR24W.

[nhlkoho]

Yes well, the OP is asking for a 27" screen. Not a 24".

[Laykun]

Originally Posted by nhlkoho

Yes well, the OP is asking for a 27" screen. Not a 24".

He asked for the best 27" screen, which I assume means he's looking for something that's not ****, and with the price parameters he's specified it's quite clear he cannot afford a good 27" monitor.

There's also the issue of 1920x1080 stretched to 27" which results in an absolutely terrible pixel density.

[shaggeyman39]

Love my Samsung P2770. Just purchased a few months ago. Paid $315 at BJ's club. 2ms response HDMI, 70000:1 Contrast. Bad Company 2 looks awesome with 1920.1080 With AF on 16x and All settings on high. Major difference from my previous 21" LG. Highly recommend. Friends and family comment how nice it looks on my desk. Some even asked if it was a TV.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/m.../LS27EFHKUV/ZA

Now priced at $299, I heard Cosco has these also.
http://www.bjs.com/samsung-27-lcd-mo....product.47394

[JAGX]

Originally Posted by Laykun

He asked for the best 27" screen, which I assume means he's looking for something that's not ****, and with the price parameters he's specified it's quite clear he cannot afford a good 27" monitor.

There's also the issue of 1920x1080 stretched to 27" which results in an absolutely terrible pixel density.

That's true, I def want a 'good' one, but I'm not sure there is a consensus on what an acceptable level is between good and s***.

I mean, sure the TN panel tech is not the best, but it has been dominant and has been the standard for many years now. IPS panels do have a better viewing angle (even though I'll be right in front of it) and better color reproduction, but their weakness--as far as I know--is their response times and prices.

The way I see it, TN panels are basically at their height atm, with a good price/performance ratio, good response times, and all-around acceptable specs. IPS panels are not yet the adopted standard, are expensive, and still have some kinks to work out (like response times).

If people have been using these for years, and I have an old Bravia LCD TV that is nice for gaming/movies, then I see no reason why a newer LCD TN monitor would be insufficient?

About the pixels, I thought they just made larger pixels (because they don't seem to be too far apart at .31)? I'll have to go to a store and find a recent 27" model to view, but what makes them so bad in your opinion?

[Laykun]

Originally Posted by JAGX

That's true, I def want a 'good' one, but I'm not sure there is a consensus on what an acceptable level is between good and s***.

I mean, sure the TN panel tech is not the best, but it has been dominant and has been the standard for many years now. IPS panels do have a better viewing angle (even though I'll be right in front of it) and better color reproduction, but their weakness--as far as I know--is their response times and prices.

The way I see it, TN panels are basically at their height atm, with a good price/performance ratio, good response times, and all-around acceptable specs. IPS panels are not yet the adopted standard, are expensive, and still have some kinks to work out (like response times).

If people have been using these for years, and I have an old Bravia LCD TV that is nice for gaming/movies, then I see no reason why a newer LCD TN monitor would be insufficient?

About the pixels, I thought they just made larger pixels (because they don't seem to be too far apart at .31)? I'll have to go to a store and find a recent 27" model to view, but what makes them so bad in your opinion?

TN panels are perfectly acceptable at 23" and below. But once you start getting into 24" + TN panels, particularly on cheap models, the problems of TN panels become more prominent. For example, since TN panels only do 6bits per colour channel natively and use FRC to emulate 8bits per colour channel (by flicking between two colours they can produce natively very fast) you tend to see wavy / rainy patterns on 24+ panels. This is particularly annoying since it happens more so with certain colours (harder to emulate than others) and can really ruin the picture. Different monitor brands have different ways of doing FRC so you may get either rainy or wavy artefacts on the screen. Currently I run a 24" AOC (2416V) TN panel and a 24" Samsung (245B) TN panel and the AOC has wavy effects while the samsung has rainy effects. In the middle I have an HP LP2475W and by comparison it blows the other two monitors out of the water as there is no artefacting from FRC, the viewing angles are amazing and the colour range is far superior (reds from the two TN panels actually look orange compared to the red on the IPS panel, greens on the TN panels are very dull on TN as well). At work we have some 1920x1080 monitors and due to the larger pixels the FRC artefacts show through even worse.

The problem with viewing a monitor in the store is that the monitors will not be calibrated to show accurate color reproduction and the content on the screen will most likely be incredibly vibrant and saturated making these effects near un-seeable.

This is all personal opinion and you may enjoy using dynamic contrast ratios, use over bright over saturated colours and not be bothered by colour emulation artifacts.

[JAGX]

Originally Posted by Laykun

TN panels are perfectly acceptable at 23" and below. But once you start getting into 24" + TN panels, particularly on cheap models, the problems of TN panels become more prominent. For example, since TN panels only do 6bits per colour channel natively and use FRC to emulate 8bits per colour channel (by flicking between two colours they can produce natively very fast) you tend to see wavy / rainy patterns on 24+ panels. This is particularly annoying since it happens more so with certain colours (harder to emulate than others) and can really ruin the picture. Different monitor brands have different ways of doing FRC so you may get either rainy or wavy artefacts on the screen. Currently I run a 24" AOC (2416V) TN panel and a 24" Samsung (245B) TN panel and the AOC has wavy effects while the samsung has rainy effects. In the middle I have an HP LP2475W and by comparison it blows the other two monitors out of the water as there is no artefacting from FRC, the viewing angles are amazing and the colour range is far superior (reds from the two TN panels actually look orange compared to the red on the IPS panel, greens on the TN panels are very dull on TN as well). At work we have some 1920x1080 monitors and due to the larger pixels the FRC artefacts show through even worse.

The problem with viewing a monitor in the store is that the monitors will not be calibrated to show accurate color reproduction and the content on the screen will most likely be incredibly vibrant and saturated making these effects near un-seeable.

This is all personal opinion and you may enjoy using dynamic contrast ratios, use over bright over saturated colours and not be bothered by colour emulation artifacts.

AHHHH

I shopped for my LCD TV about 4 years ago, when we didn't have so many choices... much simpler times!

I'm not very good at calibrating images, and I seem to prefer my T.V. @ 100% brightness (heats my room) for a 'vivid' image. Probably isn't going to give me the best color reproduction but it looks O.K. to me.

One thing I know that will bother me is if the response time is high, like most IPS panels have 6+ ms. I guess I'm not an official videophile, but I'm just trying to get something that's right for me.

I guess I'll have to do a bit of research on these issues, but I can always adjust the monitor at the store and see if I can get it to where I might set it and then decide? I know the contrast numbers are all whacky so I don't pay them much attention...

I guess it will turn into a TN vs IPS debate after all!

So the TN (a.k.a. the evil I know) are cheaper, have low response times, inferior viewing angles and color reproduction.

IPS (evil I don't know) are more expensive, but have better color reproduction and viewing angles but slower response times.

I don't know... it seems like the TN have been able to suffice for a long time now, sure IPS might be the next big thing, but is that tech at the sweet spot yet? I mean, until the price can come down a bit and maybe fix the response times I don't know if I can justify being an early adopter for this tech just yet.

[Laykun]

The HP ZR24W is the price/performance sweet spot for IPS panels and is made for gaming with a rated response time of 5ms. But if response times are important to you then you'll want to go TN panel as there simply is no equivalent. IPS panels aren't the next big thing, they've been around for quite some time and most good TVs use them, they've always just been at the high end of the market. The next big thing will be OLED screens unless there are some unforeseen circumstances that bring along an even better technology.

[waway625]

the Dell Ultrasharp U2311 is in promotion for S$289 or about USD225..dunno if sale applies to US though

[G-Man]

The 'best' would probs be an apple cinema display, but im not sure what they cost and by the sounds of it it would be out of your budget. 2560 x 1440 reso mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Laykun]

Originally Posted by G-Man

The 'best' would probs be an apple cinema display, but im not sure what they cost and by the sounds of it it would be out of your budget. 2560 x 1440 reso mmmmmmmmmmmmm

The Dell U2711 uses the same panel as this display. However there has been very noticable input lag with this panel (although this may be dell specific as the controller may be different) so I wouldn't say it's the 'best'. It's very awesome for everything except games.

[Wolficats13]

I just bought this SAMSUNG P2770FH after black friday sale price tag was from$299.99 on sale to $279.99 and get $20.00 instant rebate so I paid only for $259.99. I hope this monitor is good I know this is just TN monitor but for that price you can beat for 27 inch monitor. If you just want to use it for gaming and watching video.This monitor has 1ms so it is good for gaming.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001431

[rcca]

Originally Posted by nhlkoho

1920x1280? Never seen a monitor at that resolution.

Mine does, ViewSonic LED 1080P Full HD 189.99
Ron

[phill1978]

sod off the tiny monitors and get a short throw DLP projector

or a decent but simple 1080p LCD tv @ 32" and sit further back

(btw keep a second monitor for browsing, preferably in portrait)