An IPS or PVA monitor that equals my Samsung LED TV

[dk77]

Greetings,

I originally had an LG 22" which worked ok for years, then decided to recently upgrade to an Asus VS248H-P. It has a 5 star rating on newegg and its non-led equivelent the VW246H has a 1340 reviewes 5 star review. It claimed 50million to 1 dynamic contrast ratio so I thought, great, this must be very good.

Problem is I have my Samsung UN60C6300 (60 inch LED) in the same room mirrored. With great sadness when I looked over and saw the image / video quality on the Sammy compared to the Asus monitor I was greatly dissapointed. The Sammy is twice as clear, crisp, detailed, colorful, sharp, twice! What I had completely failed to remember was the difference between TN, PVA, IPS screen types, the Asus being the crappy TN and the Samsung TV being PVA in this case.

So my goal now is to find a monitor that equals my TV which is only a series 6 not even the higher end series 7 or 8. No TN will accomplish this so I'm looking at IPS models. I would hate to plunk down 500 on an IPS and still not meet my visual objective. I really only play Crysis and Crysis2, BF series, games with very high levels of detail, and basic other tasks.

My main question is, has anyone here personally compared an IPS panel to either a Samsung seies 6,7,8 or Sharp Aquos etc high end TV and have the image quality comparible? I don't care about color matching or color accuracy all I care about is the level of detail in terms of clarity, crispness, sharpness etc. Apparently contrast ratio doesnt mean jack if the asus I have is really dynamic 50mill to one, ASCR is pointless. I don't believe color accuracy affects sharpness, clarity and detail levels or does it? What actually is the technical differing factors why the Samsung PVA is litterally twice as sharp, clear and detailed, is it really the ability to display the additional colors or is it the real contrast ratio of being able to display a wider range / gamut of those colors from dark to bright?

Here are the IPS models I was looking at. If anyone has visually verified any of these compared/mirrored next to one of the TV's mentioned before that would be great to know if any compare or are close.

HP ZR2440W
HP ZR24W
Asus PA246Q
Dell U2412M
Dell U2410

If there is any higher levels of input lag or ghosting on an IPS as compared to a TN I'll take that for the better image.

Thanks in advance

 

[MagicPants]

Samsung's are VA. IPS and VA are very similar except for:

1) IPS has slightly better viewing angles and colors
2) VA has slightly deeper blacks
3) VA has more input lag

You should look for a wide gamut monitor. Also be aware that there are a few types of IPS. You want S-IPS or H-IPS, not E-IPS.

From your list, I'd recommend the u2410 or the zr2440w.

I have a u2410 and a zr2740w.

 

[adampower]

I'm in the same boat. Looks like the u2412 is a cheap, scaled down, e-ips version of the u2410 and the asus PA246q runs with the u2410 but for less money. What do we do?

The samsung s24a850dw pushes this too. It's the same price (500ish) as the pa246q but does it compare? How?

 

[dk77]

Samsung's are VA. IPS and VA are very similar except for:

1) IPS has slightly better viewing angles and colors
2) VA has slightly deeper blacks
3) VA has more input lag

You should look for a wide gamut monitor. Also be aware that there are a few types of IPS. You want S-IPS or H-IPS, not E-IPS.

From your list, I'd recommend the u2410 or the zr2440w.

I have a u2410 and a zr2740w.

Samsung's are VA. IPS and VA are very similar except for:

1) IPS has slightly better viewing angles and colors
2) VA has slightly deeper blacks
3) VA has more input lag

You should look for a wide gamut monitor. Also be aware that there are a few types of IPS. You want S-IPS or H-IPS, not E-IPS.

From your list, I'd recommend the u2410 or the zr2440w.

I have a u2410 and a zr2740w.

Is there any difference between the Dell and HP? Do you happen to have a Series6 or better Samsung LED tv or Sharp or nice LED tv to compare against? Is there a visible difference between the E-IPS and S/H-IPS thats worth the extra 150/200 bucks?

I'm leaning towards the Dell rather than the HP just because from all of the reviews I have read at Amazon, NewEgg etc HP seems to have a bit more of a QA issue. The question still remains, will the U2410 or HP ZR2440w unit look comparible to my TV? The HPZR24w has some good reviews and the Dell2412 are both a few hundred bucks less than their more expensive counter parts. I think what I will do is pick up the 2412 from Amazon as they have a good return policy if it doesnt work out and then get the 2410 if not. My guess is that any IPS panel even the lower end ones are night and day better than the TN panels, but the difference between the low end IPS and higher end IPS probably isnt worth the extra $150 or more unless your a graphics artist needing the better color gamut matching which I don't really care about since I am not doing wysiwyg printing.

I just have not been able to get from anyone a comparison between their IPS panel and their higher end Samsung/Sharp LED tv's. Its an expensive test to perform without knowing for sure.


Thanks

 

[MagicPants]

Imho, LED doesn't make a bit of difference to image quality. You can get good LED and you can good CCFL. In fact, good CCFL is better than good LED (it has a wider gamut). IPS vs VA vs TN is far more important.

LED does two things that I've noticed. It is far more power efficient with less heat, and it turns on really fast.

I do have a Samsung 32" LCD TV (not LED, but PVA) sitting next to my 30" u3011. The dell looks far better imho. I've also seen a dell 2405 (which is VA) next to an IPS. The IPS looks better except that the blacks aren't as deep. But then again VA panels tend to crush the blacks a little(turn colors that are close to black into black).

When I first saw an IPS next to a VA, I liked the VA a little better (because of the blacks), but then I started noticing much more detail on the IPS.

If you are in a completely dark room, the VA panel will look better, but at soon at you add a little light (I'm in a room solely lit by one 60 watt bulb), the IPS wins.

 

[dk77]

Best answer selected by dk77.

 

[dk77]

Wonderfull, really appreciate your input, pretty much your reply is the only one on the Internet that answers this question for me, really appreciate it.

 

[MagicPants]

You're welcome! I'm glad when my monitor obsession can help other people.

 

[Adroid]

Hey, looks like Magicpants already gave you a good response, I'll add my two bits because I just went through this process.

I bought and returned:
Samsung 2770H
Samsung PX2370
Asus VX246H

These are some of the supposed better TN panels that I could find after quite a bit of research, and quite frankly, they were not good enough. I was replacing an old viewsonic TN panel which had a pretty good picture, and these TN panels just didn't make me justify the upgrade price - the picture really wasn't much better.

Now I ended up with a Dell U2311H, and the picture is AMAZING. Yes, it is e-IPS, but I can assured you the picture, color accuracy, shadow detail, and overall quality and feel were a galaxy apart. It really is that much better. I personally will never buy another TN panel - i'm ruined for good.

Regarding the Dell U2410 if you do your research, you will find that Dell and HP among others use the EXACT SAME panels manufactured by LG. I'm pretty sure the HP and Dell panels you list both use a LG panel, the only difference is the electronics hooked up to the panels... For instance Dell uses a anti-ghosting technology that gives it a "gamer mode" option to decrease input lag etc. If you want to know more about that do your research, I don't claim to fully understand it.

Without any further ado, I leave you with the most comprehensive IPS monitor site I have come across, and believe me I have spent weeks looking prior to my purchase Lol.

For gaming, make sure to get a concept of input lag, not just response time. Something with great response time but long input lag would SUCK for the games that you play.

I play battlefield 3, starcraft 2, league of legends, etc. And I am VERY happy with my decision. There is minor ghosting in certain games at certain times, but its very rare, I rarely notice it, and the beauty of this picture outweighs the occasional blurry second or two here and there in my opinion.

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

 

[littlebit]

I'm in the same boat. Looks like the u2412 is a cheap, scaled down, e-ips version of the u2410 and the asus PA246q runs with the u2410 but for less money. What do we do?

The samsung s24a850dw pushes this too. It's the same price (500ish) as the pa246q but does it compare? How?

A couple of cautions:
1. There have been many complaints about the ASUS PA246Q, mostly related to quality control problems around stuck (dead or bright) pixels, heat, an overly bright display and noise. Add to that numerous complaints about the failures of ASUS Customer Support to resolve problems. There is generally high praise for the color and image quality, but high frustration around the problems. [Check out the Customer Reviews at Newegg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236119&Tpk=asus%20PA246Q]
The bright and heat and perhaps noise may be related to the CCFL backlighting. Heat might also be responsible for some of the dead or everbright pixels. I would add my concern that that a hot monitor may be cooking itself and its components over time. I had been initially attracted to the PA246Q when shopping, but the high percentage of problems and problems getting the problems resolved didn't sound like something I wanted to bet $500 on.

2. I think the Dell U2410 may be a similar situation to the ASUS, since it is also CCFL backlit, offers high color and image quality, and comes at a higher price. It seems to have fewer problems than the ASUS and offers potentially better color and image quality than LED-backlight monitors, but it may be better suited for intensive graphics than gaming or general use. With a clearly higher cost and questions about whether you will get visibly better performance, I think it isn't clear that it offers a better value or one that will hold up as well over time as the LED IPS monitors. See the reviews at TFT Central for the Dell U2410 and U2412M, and also HP ZR2440W. They offer extensive test reviews and useful comparisons of the monitors.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm

The lower cost for the e-IPS monitors is an advantage, with the U2412 passing more of that advantage to customers through generally lower prices than the zr2440W, and both of them less than the ASUS PA246Q and the Dell U2410. My impression is that the game response of the e-IPS monitors is likely to be better and perhaps combined with the price advantage a more compelling value for all but those wanting a brighter monitor with full color palettes for photography and graphics work. But it may take some time for a better consensus around the comparative value of the U2412m and the ZR2440W to be reached. A few items such as the absence of HDMI and a Dynamic Color Ratio (DRC) control that seems to have virtually no real effect gave me the impression that Dell might have been doing more corner-cutting than HP did with its monitor, but the reviews don't seem to show a clear performance difference between the two.

One thing I find problematic is that it is hard to find many of the 16:10 aspect ratio ISP LCD monitors on display. Most large retailers focus on cheaper displays and 16:9 widescreen HD movie formats. That often means having to gamble on a monitor you haven't personally seen or going with one of the relatively few you happen to find on display. It makes the role of expert reviews and customer reviews more important in revealing the advantages and the drawbacks each monitor presents. The industry practice of yearly new model rollouts also makes it harder to evaluate and compare an everchanging menu.