BenQ E2420HD vs. Dell ST2410 for gaming/movies/school???

[dooodo]

Hey all, just wanted to know what the TH community thought about the following 24" lcd's. They are both very similar with the former having extras like a usb hub and built in speakers whereas the latter has a better warranty.

In terms of sheer quality imagewise and physically, what is the better buy at the same price?

This monitor will replace my 3 year old 20" lcd... Looking to make use of my 4870x2 by running it on HD res.

I was also looking at the Dell U2211H IPS 22" screen which can also display HD, it costs a bit more then the two listed but how would this compare for gaming/movies/school???

Any thoughts or opinions would GREATLY be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jaguarskx]

The first two monitors are based on TN panel LCD screens while the Dell U2211H uses an IPS panel (as you stated).

TN panels can have response times a low as 2ms, while 8ms is considered slow. The fastest IPS panels have response times of 5ms, while less expensive IPS panels can have 14ms response times. These are estimated average response times. The higher the response time the more likely you will see ghosting. Therefore, TN panels are generally better for games.

TN panels have narrower viewing angles often listed between 160 - 170 degrees. IPS panels have viewing angles listed at 178 degrees (Dell sometimes list it as 89/89 for left and right). All LCD monitors seems to shift color the more off center you view the screen. TN panels shifts the most while IPS panels shifts the least. In fact, while staring directly in the center of a TN panel and simply rotating my eyes to look left / right / up / down, I can notice color shifts. IPS panels are better for movies especially if there are more than one person watching the movie.

TN panel can only create 256k actual colors compare to 16.7m of IPS (and PVA / MVA) panels. Using temporal dithering a TN panel monitor can simulate up to 16.7m colors. This is done by flashing very quickly between two colors to create a 3rd color the panel cannot create by itself (like flashing between Red and Blue to create Purple). This is fine for most people, but for people who wants the best most accurate colors then IPS panels are they way.

Due to the above, TN panels are prone to color banding and visual artifacts compared to IPS panels. Example, I used Batman: The Dark Knight DVD to review a recently purchased Asus VK246H TN panel monitor. During the scene where the Joker is dressed as a nurse and blows up the hospital, the Joker's bare arms switched between natural color of skin to darkish green while he is walking down the street. When the hospital blows up and there is a huge cloud of black smoke, that smoke was highly pixelated (very blocky shades of dark grey / black). This did not happen on any of my IPS monitors / HDTV.

 

[dooodo]

Best answer selected by dooodo.