Hanns-G 281DJB 28 inch LCD

[turpit]

I purchased this unit to replace a Dell FP2405.
Uses:
-word processing
-web browsing
-2D/3D graphics
-video editing
-the occasional game.



PROS
*Large size (27 1/2 viewable)
*Price ($489 USD)
*Ease of installation
*Fast response rate
*Resolution: Very good. Very minor pixelation/bleed at 24 in viewing distance..not a detractor, noticable only with high contrast colors.

CONS
*Advertised as a 28 inch monitor, but only 27 1/2 viewable
*Poor control placement
*Lack of vertical adjustment
*Lack of Win XP drivers (Vista only) ((Yes, Im a caveman---get over it))
*Color: Fair. Tricky to balance.
*Contrast/Brightness: Good. but tricky to balance
*Viewing angles:
-Horizontal: Acceptable with 25' per side before notable distortion, 45' per side before significant distortion
-Vertical: Unacceptable. Notable distortion/color shift for any change of 5' or greater in the vertical. Optimal vertical viewing is bizzare. Rather than being perpedicular to the screen, the best angle is 23~24' ABOVE the horizontal, yielding the best contrast brightness and color balance.

Based on reviews, I expected to receive a monitor with:
-stuck but repairable pixels
-unacceptable factory Bright/Cont/Color settings,
-limited viewing angles

Upon receipt, I was pleasantly surprised to find no malfunctioning pixels.

As advertised, the factory Color/Bright/Cont settings are well off, and the viewing angles are limited. Color/Bright/Cont are adjustable to an acceptable range with extensive tweaking. Unfortunately, vertical viewing angles are so far off (as noted above) that you would get much better viewing results turning the monitor upside down and flipping the display

Conclusion:
It is what it is; a bargain 'big' monitor. In that respect it succeeds spectacularly. For the gamer, this monitor is acceptable if not more due to its response rate and size. Personally, beacuse gaming is such a small percentage of what I do, I would not purchase this monitor again nor would I recommend it to anyone who intends to work graphics or video.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Hanns-G is a major step down from the Dell FP2405.

You "traded" in a 24" LCD monitor with an 8-bit S-PVA monitor for a monitor that:

1. Bigger
2. Less expensive
3. Uses the "inferior" 6-bit TN panel.

It is #3 that is at the root cause of most of you cons.

It's just fine for the average consumer. But once you throw in a requirement for color accuracy and no or very little image artifiacts, then everything goes out the door.

 

[turpit]

The Hanns-G is a major step down from the Dell FP2405.

You "traded" in a 24" LCD monitor with an 8-bit S-PVA monitor for a monitor that:

1. Bigger
2. Less expensive
3. Uses the "inferior" 6-bit TN panel.

It is #3 that is at the root cause of most of you cons.

It's just fine for the average consumer. But once you throw in a requirement for color accuracy and no or very little image artifiacts, then everything goes out the door.

No, I did not 'trade' and Yes, I am well aware of the points you make.

Had you actually read my post, you would have in fact seen my comment [qoute]It is what it is; a bargain 'big' monitor[/quote]

For me, because I also use my monitor as a TV, there has to be some trade off for size (read: viewing range of 15 ft to 18 inches) vs. quality of reproduction, or for Price vs. Size, or some combination of the 3. My research indicated the Hanns-G would achieve the most reasonable balance of those 3 major categories, even though it is a 'lowly' TN. While my Dell is indeed the superior Samsung PVA panel, it is also several years old now. The Hann’s panel, a more recent variant of the twisted nematic, purportedly boasts some of the improvements to TN technology made over the past few years. And in fact given my limited experience with this particular product, when viewed from the correct angle, the quality of the picture the Hanns provides falls into the range of ‘acceptable’ for the sum of my purposes.


The problem with this particular monitor does not appear to be the technology, but the execution. As noted by many owners the factory settings are "off". Simply put, they are maxed out. The manufacturer’s response to queries regarding the default settings is that they are set to optimize the monitor for use in viewing video. Used for that purpose and that purpose only, I can believe their statement. However, after working through the viewing angles, the factory settings appear (to me) as more likely being a 'quick fix' to deal with an improper vertical skew. This in turn appears to be either a design or manufacturing flaw specific to this particular model panel rather than a flaw inherent to TN technology. While this model has been noted for negative attributes inherent to TN (a flatter than desirable gamma curve and a limited color gamut) the RGB points are neutrally distributed giving good quality within their limited range and the gamma curve, while noticeably flatter than the Samsung PVA’s is fairly good….when viewed from the proper (read; uncomfortable/un-natural) angle.

In fact, when viewed for the proper angle, the quality and balance of the display is quite acceptable even for all but the most demanding graphics work. Even with the narrower viewing range that TN panels in general demonstrate relative to any of the IPS, SIPS, MVA PMVA or PVA panels, the range of the Hanns itself would be acceptable IF it was centered on the longitudinal axis of the monitor. Unfortunately, it is not. And it is not off by some minor amount, but as noted in the previous post, it is over 20’ off. Because the center of the range is so far off axis this monitor is so ungainly as to be unusable in terms of comfort. As I noted simply rotating the panel 180' and flipping the display would provide a significant improvement, simply because of the 'comfort' of using a panel angled 'up' vs. 'down'

Now, I have seen no mention of the ‘axis’ problem in any reviews, either professional or from purchasers, but given the results of various sites testing, I do not believe that I received a ‘one-time defective’ unit. Knowing that the flaw this particular panel exhibits is not native to TN, (And I am talking about the aixs of orientation here, NOT the range) I can only hazard a guess that the root cause of this problem lay in the design or in the manufacturing process. Given what very little I know of the actual manufacturing process of TH panels, it would seem to me that during the deposition process for this panel’s substrate alignment films, one or both of a substrate’s layers have been mis-aligned, resulting in divergence from the longitudinal axis. Again, that is only a guess, and it assumes this is not a defective unit, but given the uniformity across the horizontal range, it seems plausible.

BTW, IRT improvements in TN tech, I would recommend you read this article.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/6bit_8bit.htm


While I know you are personally predisposed to discount any TN panel, things do change, and sometimes they even improve. In fact, the Hanns ‘poor’ TN handles subtle shifts in greens far better (surprisingly) than the Dell, but then the ‘superior’ Samsung LTM240M1-L01 was known to not ‘deal’ so well with greens. For a gamer, they would probably never notice the green issue, nor the vertical axis issue and at $489 they are going to have a hard time finding a better deal. For myself, or anyone else who is not a gamer, that is a different story, and I would not recommend this monitor unless Hanns-G fixes the vertical viewing angle axis.

 

[jaguarskx]

By "traded" I actually meant replaced.

Purchasing an LCD monitor always involves compromises and everyone's acceptable level of compromise is different. Price is usually somewhere near the top of the list. TN panels by design are typically cheaper to produce than other panel techs and are generally acceptable for the vast majority of people.

To me, the limited viewing angles of TN panels is he result of the limitation inherent of the technology itself. As the name TN (twisted nematic) suggests, the liquid crystal twists to allow light through the LCD matrix so that images can viewed on the screen. It is most likely the limited range these nematic liquid crystals can deform to allow light to pass through that is at the root of the problem.

The fact that the monitor has all setting maxed out simply implies they were just too lazy to even bother providing customers a "suggested" factory settings for convenience. That's not to say all factory default setting are perfect. Hanns G can even argue the fact that most people adjust the settings to their own liking. But to me it simply implies laziness and a lack of commitment to deliver a good product to their customers.

I am well aware of the articles you referenced at www.tftcentral.co.uk, I read them about a year ago, if not more. So far I have not seen or read of any clear indication of TN panels displaying 8-bit (aka 24-bit) colors. It is most certainly possible. I'm kinda curious what the difference in production costs would be between a true 8-bit TN panel and an 8-bit S-PVA / P-MVA panel would be.

The introduction of FRC (frame rate control) is certainly better than the traditional method of dithering (at least in theory). It relies on tricking the brain into seeing a shade of color that the panel itself cannot produce by quickly flickering between two colors very quickly.

Ultimately it is the individual consumer who defines what is acceptable and what isn't based whatever parameters the consumer deems important . My 19" S-PVA panel Planar PX 191, which cost me around $650 (on sale) back in 2002, currently serves as a monitor for my home theater computer (HTPC). If it were to suddenly fail, I would most likely replace it with a TN panel monitor since TV is the primary display and the LCD monitor is secondary to it. Thus, it would have limited usage and at which point I wouldn't be too concerned about viewing angles, color accuracy, etc since the monitor would be off most of the time.

 

[turpit]

I aggree that the limited range of the of the TN is the reason viewing anles as a whole are much narrower than for other types of panels, but in the case of TN, it comes down to the user. Personally, on my primary home monitor, my angle varies little from dead center, while distance does change. One of the reasons the Hanns was acceptable to me...prior to purchase.

But as I said, with this particular panel, the optimal viewing angle was not dead center, as it should have been, but 20ish degress abouve dead center.


I disagree about the settings. The more I used this thing over the past few days, the more the 'truth' of Hannspree statement became apparent. Watching video, from dead center, black reproduction detriorating significantly with each step down in any of the settings. Again, when viewed form above, with settings lowered to make whites normal, blacks were good, but dead center, well, the word abysmal pops to mind. And while less than optimal black reproduction is a quality inherent to TN panels, this one was sub par even for a TN - at dead center.


Costs...I know nothing other than the impact volume of flat panel sales have had on retail prices. Unfortunately, while cheap alternatives such as the TN persist, the volume of the PVAs and S-PVAs is not like to increase at a rate to drive their costs down to TN levels.

Had this monitor performed as I expected based on reviews (proffesiona reviews, not the Kiddie 'It r0x0rs the 911 reel cuul cuz itz big" crap) it would have met my desires, but the optimal viewing angle (which no one noted or discussed) just makes it unusable for me.

So, its back to NewEgg with this.....thing, and research the reviews for the 30 in S-PVA. I would be willing to try a different large TN...but the whole 'once you bought it you bought it' refund policy is a bit of a deterant.


Speaking of returning the Hanns to NewEgg, a little plug for them here....even though this panel was listed as 'non-refundable', they are going to take it back and refund my money - minus the restocking fee of course, but still, bless their hearts for making an exception to the rule.


And a plug for the monitor: If all you want to do is game on a big, cheap screen, it will work for you. If you want to do any editing or graphics....look elsewhere