Best 24" monitor

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hey guys,
well im looking to upgrade my old syncmaster 913n to a bigger widescreen as im getting a new g.card in a few days.
ive narrowed it down to 2 but am unsure of the best,
my choices is the samsung 245b:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =MO-054-SA

and the second is a overclocker value one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] subcat=510

the samsung uses a tn panel and has a contrast ratio of 3000:1

the OC value one uses a VA panel? but only contrast ratio of 1000:1 and is no named but carries same warranty as the samsung.

the samsung i can get for £300 with delivery the no name is £258 with delivery.

any body know anything about monitors and which i should get thanks

ps sorry fro posting this in the tv card subsection, i couldnt find any for monitor

I just bought the 245BW... I must admit, it's realllllly nice.

The Syncmaster does indeed have a better contrast ratio as well as a 1ms faster response time (although it is GtG and now BtB). I doubt you'd notice a 1ms difference, but whatever.

Anyways, I've bought my share of "no name" sets before and they've all disappointed me in some way. With Samsung, you get the name as well as a ton of outstanding reviews on the product. (It's even recommended as one of the best gaming monitors here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messag [...] TMP=Linear Just scroll down a bit and they've got recommendations in different categories)

My money goes on the Samsung... but my opinion is biased because I just bought one and love it.

3000:1 contrast ratio is pure BS. That is the "newer" and more misleading Dynamic Contrast. The actual or Static Contrast is probably more like 1000:1.

The OC looks to be too inexpensive to be using a VA panel, but the specs do point to a VA panel. Could be a no name brand who bought VA panels batches that were rejected by higher end brand names due to "higher than average defects". Rather than throwing them away, LCD panel manufactures probably gives a deep discount to either recover most of the cost of manufacturing or to make a razor thin profit.

Sammy makes panels used by others.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/


I own a Dell monitor with a Sammy panel. My data HD's are Sammy. I almost bought a Sammy TV. I gotta say Sammy is pretty darn good with just about everything they make.

By the Sammy. Be safe.

I have the Samsung 245BW, and its just ok. The response time is fast, I guess, but I had a 25ms response time monitor before, and I never saw any ghosting. The big problems are the colors and the viewing angles. It has an 18-bit panel (versus 24-bit) and uses dithering to replicate the remaining colors. As a perfectionist, I find its color reproduction unacceptable. The viewing angles are less than what Samsung claims (~160-170 degrees IIRC) - they are so bad that if you sit only a few feet from the monitor (what I think of as "normal" ) you see color distortion on the left and right sides of the monitor.

That being said, this is the only Samsung product I have been disappointed with.

Oh, that is the 6bit TN panel. Yeah, them guys are not as good as the 8bit panels for color reproduction. But you get what you paid for.

I have a LG L246WP and it's a beautiful monitor. The only problem with it is the lack of inputs but it has what I need.

Notice that the value monitor has a viewing angle of 180/180 which is really good.
The samsung 245B is at 160/160.
The 24" monitor you want is the samsung 245T with a 178/178 viewing angle.

Why is this important? If you don't hold your head in the proper horizontal and vertical position, the monitor with the poorer viewing angle will look washed out.

Dell 2407WFP-HC, it might not be very cost effective ($700) but you did ask for the best...

Current as of October 15, 2007 -
This review should give you a good comparison between a few leading models out today.
http://www.behardware.com/articles [...] fp-hc.html

I would recommend the Benq FP241VW that i have, it is a stunner... no complaints whatsoever! Got it cheaper than all other 24" panels bar the acer!

some thoughts from Anandtech...

"Closing Thoughts

Frankly, considering the price, it's difficult to justify the HP w2408. It looks nice and performs reasonably well, but there other similarly priced LCDs have better features and higher-quality panels. We like the idea of seeing 24" LCDs come down in price, but we would prefer to keep most of the features and quality intact. Dell's 2405FPW offered numerous video inputs back in 2005 with an S-PVA panel; while we might rate the modern S-TN panel used in the w2408 as being slightly better and the design is more attractive, in other ways the 2405FPW is still superior."

Link to whole article. It is directed at the new HP, but I think it applies across the board.

http://www.anandtech.com/displays/ [...] =3188&p=10

I'll second that, the Dell 2407WFP-HC is probably the best 24" display monitor you can get. However if money is an issue the non HC models are still good and should cost a lot less.

Yeah... I own a Dell 24-HC and its probably the best $600-700 I've spent.

I'm looking for a 24" LCD that is great for web design (photoshop etc) and great for Gaming (COD4, Crysis etc)

Is there such a monitor?

Hey beatts,
I picked up the 245bw, and I can say from actually using it and not looking at the specs, it's a solid monitor.

I'm just a gamer really, and it's a quick/crisp monitor.
It lacks inputs; dvi and vga only.
The color is actually better then I thought it would be, it's actually pretty damn good.
Yes the viewing angle aint the greatest as geofelt pointed out, it can looked washed out if your really slouching or on a odd angle.
However, if you plan on sitting in front of your computer and not off to the side you're fine. Even so, the washout a'int that bad.

One other good point is how you can adjust this monitor. All you have to do is basically touch it, and it will move up for down, or tilt for you with out any odd levers or whatever. Which is a nice feature since you can adjust it any which way very very easily, and it can be raised quite high.

So from my point of view heres my break down.

Pros

- Price for what your getting
- Very quick
- Great color
- Very ergonomic
- Some good options (inside the monitor control panel)
- Sexified
- Name

Cons

- Lack of inputs
- Washout
- Sexified meets dust (black gloss)

I hope that help'd you out a bit, I can't say much for the other monitor since I never used it before. Can't really judge by the specs because there is technically no standards set for measureing them.

Monnewbie,

Second fot the Benq fp241vw. Great monitor all around. Lots of inputs, pip. And it just looks awesome.

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 245T and I think i a great monitor.
The 245T is allot better then the 245BW because of the inputs (DVI, S-Video, Component, HDMI), the colors are great (if you calibrate it correctly) and the response time is good.

I just recently upgraded to the Samasung SM-245B bought from ocuk and i can say it's awsome. I came from a Sam'y 19" but this size is overwhelming.

Just a word to the wise, people say your fps drops in games but i didn't realise how much. I've gone from playing Crysis @ Very High 35avg fps to 17fps with the new screen .

One odd thing about it is the screen can rock side to side, it's fairly loose so everytime you turn it on you might have to re-adjust it again. Probs a screw at the back just needs tightening however, i've not looked into it much.

I'll speak of two monitors I own and use.

Dell 2407WFP-HC >>> You can't go wrong. Lot's of input (no HDMI), nice image, good quality. I know several people who own those 24", no complain, only good feedback.

Benq fp241vw >>> You can go wrong. Some monitor have a blackout problem well documented, where you lost image for a brief moment occasionnally. Also, built quality isn't as good as the Dell one.

Otherwise it is a great piece of equipement with a lot of inputs (including HDMI which can be used as DVI with proper cable). Just make sure you manufactured date is september 07 or after, so you'll get the latest firmware with 1:1 fix.