hp f2304 vs L2335 23in FPDs, Parhelia, long DVI

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

If anyone has experience with either/both of these LCDs (beyond
the data sheet and user guides), I have some questions.

My current 22/24in wide-aspect monitor (Sony GDM-FW900) is
slowly failing (green gun black level won't zero), so the time
has come to survey the market for a replacement. Several 23in
LCDs are already available for less than a replacement FW900,
so going digital is my current inclination.

I haven't studied the new Apple Cinema 23 in detail but have
looked at a couple of products from Hewlett-Packard:

hp model f2304, SKU P2612A, Pavilion product line
hp model L2335, SKU P9615A, business product line

Both of these appear to be based on the same LG-Philips 23-in
1920x1200 16ms TFT. The f2304 is nominally more expensive, but
due to rebates, taxes, shipping, channel and other matters, the
bottom lines are close enough that the choice will likely come
down to factors other than price.

Both have the same inputs (except audio, a don't-care) and
comparable front-bezel controls (and the only daily-use control
I really care about is Input Selector). Neither has a built-in
USB hub, so I lose that when the Sony departs.

The f2304 has built-in speakers and amp. This nice-but-not-
essential feature makes it take up more room on the desktop.

The L2335 apparently supports portrait mode. This nice-but-not-
essential feature has a side effect of a greater range of vertical
adjustment of panel placement.

The f2304 has a quality spec: basically 5 max defects, of
which only 3 can be hot pixels. This exceeds the usual
industry/reseller spec of 8 defects.

The L2335 has no stated pixel policy, anywhere on the hp web.
Other L-series LCDs have the same 5-pix policy as the f-series,
but I'm not willing to assume that it applies to the L2335.

The L2335's silence makes me wonder:
a. why (just a marketing oversight?), and
b. which of these two product lines gets the
higher binning of panels from LG-P?

Both displays apparently hit 1920x1200 by using VESA CVT 2.30MA
or 2.30MA-R (although only the f2304 documents this). Neither
display documents whether it supports/uses DVI dual-link. My
guess is that both are single-link, because otherwise the
reduced blanking wouldn't be required.

I propose to use the LCD with a Matrox Parhelia. This card
easily runs well over 1920x1200 in analog mode, and Matrox
claims it can hit 1920x1200 in digital via reduced blanking.
They also don't say if their card is dual-link capable, even
though it is clearly dual-head capable (so link2 pins are
populated and active).

The DVI-D/DVI-D cables hp provides are 1.8m, which is too short,
so I propose to replace them with 3m cables, such as the
DVIDL-3 from
<http://www.pacificcable.com/DVI.htm>

To summarize the questions, for those still awake

* Did I miss any significant differences?

* Any insights on L2335 pixel policy?

* Anyone know if either LCD is dual-link?

* Any other kudos or caveats on these displays?

* Anyone using Matrox at 1920x1200 DVI-D with any LCD?

* Any tips on long DVI-D cables (other than:
don't go over 5m)?


--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Further info:

> Both displays apparently hit 1920x1200 by using VESA CVT 2.30MA
> or 2.30MA-R (although only the f2304 documents this). Neither
> display documents whether it supports/uses DVI dual-link. My
> guess is that both are single-link, because otherwise the
> reduced blanking wouldn't be required.

The cable supplied with the f2304 doesn't even have
the Link2 pins populated, so it's clearly single-link.

> I propose to use the LCD with a Matrox Parhelia. This card
> easily runs well over 1920x1200 in analog mode, and Matrox
> claims it can hit 1920x1200 in digital via reduced blanking.
> They also don't say if their card is dual-link capable, even
> though it is clearly dual-head capable (so link2 pins are
> populated and active).

I have a report of this config being trivial PnP with
the f2304.

> The DVI-D/DVI-D cables hp provides are 1.8m, which is too short,

The audio cable is even shorter, at ~1.4m.

Since large monitors are often used on desk corner-turns,
and with noisy high-end PCs/workstations on the floor and
as far from the user's ears as possible, the industry
really needs to adopt a standard cable length of 2.0m
(or more, not to mention making all the cables the same
length .

--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

> The DVI-D/DVI-D cables hp provides are 1.8m, which is too short,
> so I propose to replace them with 3m cables, such as the
> DVIDL-3 from
> <http://www.pacificcable.com/DVI.htm>

I have a report that this cable is fine for use with
a Parhelia and hp f2304. This cable is, however,
dual-link. Although Link2 goes unused, the cable is
a more sensible purchase for future requirements,
because the single-link DVISL-3 is only $1.00 cheaper.

There's also a DVIIDL-3, which adds analog, but I'm
thinkin' that's actually worth avoiding, even though
it's the same price as the DVIDL-3, for 3 reasons:

1. If the monitor also has a Dsub15 ("VGA") input,
that might be shared with the DVI-A pins, and
might prevent use of a second signal source if
the DVI cable is DVI-I and the primary source
sends analog and digital.

2. So that there's no confusion as to which signal
the monitor is to use.

3. Going DVI-D keeps needless analog noise out of
the cable.

Anyone have any comments on using cables longer than
3m with DVI-D connections at max pixel clock, which
is 165 MHz for the DVI spec, and 157 for Matrox?

Back when the DVI 1.0 spec came out, it was my
understanding that 3m was the safe maximum (although
the spec itself was silent on that). Pacific Cable's
FAQ says 5m max.

--
Regards, Bob Niland mailto:name@ispname.tld
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.