Deciding between dell ultrasharp 22/23/24" or other?

coldengrey

Distinguished
Nov 23, 2010
50
1
18,540
(IPS?) monitor reccomendations- Dell Ultrasharps?
Would really appreciate any advise/recommendations. Am particularly worried about making this HUGE investment blindly, that is without having seen/compared ANY Mid-High end (IPS) monitors in person.

*Dell ultrasharps are on sale till 12/23, so gotta make a move now if going that route. Sale prices: U2410 $499, U2311H $279, U2211H $239 (21.5”)

-Background:
Planning on SandyBridge build with total budget $2,500-$3,000 including monitor, printer, speakers, accessories/cables, ect. *Would consider adding second monitor after build is completed with cheaper/moderate priced monitors (ie 2x Dell Ultrasharp 2211H $239ea sale vs 1x Dell U2410 $499) need to research dual monitor setups further- good for extra screen space for productivity-type internet browsing and photo editing, but won’t work for gaming?

-Primary uses:
A lot of internet browsing (Researcher), moderate gaming (perhaps more than I think?), plan to do fair amount of digital photo/video editing (hobby-not professional/critical at all), BluRay/HD Movies

-Preferences/Priorities, ect:
Am fairly picky (truth is likely closer to having OCD/perfectionist) about video/graphics, particularly display. Almost sure I’d like to go with an IPS panel. 22”-24” seems like target display size.

-Concerns, ect:
Dell Ultrasharp IPS panel issues (Any Brand using LG IPS Panels?): Was 99% sure wanted one of the Dell Ultrasharps (21.5” U2211H/23” U2311H/24” U2410) was leaning towards U2311H as the U2410’s price premium seems diffucult to justify without having seen. But am worried about widespread issues reported by owners of green/pink tint and/or backlight bleeding. I suppose not huge issue as Dell should exchange if within 21 days of purchase and it seems to be an issue that would have to be dealt with in any IPS Brand’s monitors that use LG’s IPS panels.
 

rofl_my_waffle

Distinguished
Feb 20, 2010
972
0
19,160
LG is the only company that makes IPS panels so theres really no other option.

The U2311H is a good monitor but the U2410 is better in every single way but obviously cost a lot more.

The best parts of the U2410 is the
-Higher resolution
-Better black levels/contrast from H-IPS panel
-Wide color gamut.

You might think it is too expensive and you are probably right if you are strapped for cash. The U2311H is almost as good but for a drastically lower price.

About your concerns. Many many users have reported a color tint on their monitors. This is not a problem with the monitor, rather those people just don't calibrate their monitors. Even a $3000 monitor would look like crap if you don't calibrate it. Colorimeters cost at least $200 new, and may be found for $100 on ebay.

If you are strapped for cash I would recommend a U2311H and buy a colorimeter off ebay. I do recommend a colorimeter since monitors are pretty bad out of the box. Yes the Dell monitors are pre-calibrated but it is also true that gamma tends ot shift over time so by the time you opened the box, whatever Dell did at the factory would probably not matter, not to mention changing any setting such as Brightness or Contrast would make the calibration profile useless (oddly Dell's report doesn't say what kind of settings they used during calibration).

I haven't seen or heard of any backlighting bleeding.
If you are to get a colorimeter, I recommend the i1 Display 2 or the LaCie Blue Eye Pro (they are the same thing). The Spyder 3 is cheaper but of course not as accurate but good enough.
 

Adroid

Distinguished
I highly recommend you check this website. It has the most in depth and up to date reviews of monitors of any website I have seen.

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

It has a review for both the U2410 and the U2311H.

I went for the U2311H, and I will never buy a TN panel again. The U2311H is consistantly has more accurate colors out of the box, and there have been repeated reports of the U2410 Having green-pink hues.

The biggest difference is that the U2410 uses a H-IPS panel, which is a more expensive panel, and is has a WIDE GAMUT.

The U2311H has standard color space, slightly less input lag (good for games) and slightly higher (8ms) grey to grey speed rating (bad for gaming), and this monitor uses STANDARD color space (not wide gamut).

I don't fully understand wide gamut, but I do know that for everyday applications you will be fine without it. On the contrary, some applications with make the wide gamut can make colors look really screwy, due to the software not knowing how to tell the monitor to draw normal colors in wide color space... In other words reds and bright colors can look atomic instead of normal.... You will have to research if you want a better explaination than that. If you are a pro photographer you may want the extra color space.

That said, I spend more time gaming than anything with my U2311H, and I play mostly shooters and starcraft 2, both of which are great on this screen. Coming from a 5MS TN panel I hardly notice a difference. You may be able to see a little ghosting sometimes if you really look for it, but overall I am extremely satisfied with this purchase.

After returning 2 top of the line samsung TN panels, and a Asus TN panel, I can fairly say that the U2311H e-IPS screen has a far superior picture quality than ANY TN panel I have ever laid eyes upon.
 

Adroid

Distinguished
PS, the 2209WA got extremely high reviews also. I would personally recommend either the 2209WA or the 2311H, depending if you want 1080p etc, or are happy with the 1680x1050.

Really a matter of preference, the screens are almost the same size.

The 22" is actually a little bit TALLER, while the 23" 1080p is a little wider.