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HP ZR30w Versus DoubleSight DS-309W, 30-Inch Monitors, Tested
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1. 30 Inches And 2560x1600: Two Big-Screen Monitors

Very few of us can claim that we have enough desktop real estate. If you say you do, you haven't spent enough time tinkering around on just one more monitor.

Now that LCD panels are commodities (and not luxuries), enthusiasts enjoy filling their desktops with either multiple displays or a single large one. Twenty-seven-inch panels are great, especially with the high pixel density afforded by QHD (2560x1440). But we continue to lament the near-demise of 16:10 panels. That extra bit of height makes it so much easier to put two documents or two browser windows side by side. In fact, the jumbo monitors we're looking at today sport 33 percent more screen area than a 27-inch 16:9 panel (404 square inches versus 311).

If you’re willing to lay down $1100-1200, HP and DoubleSight both have massive 30-inch 16:10 monitors for your desktop. Sporting resolutions of 2560x1600, they offer pixel density nearly equivalent to a 27-inch QHD screen. Even at a viewing distance of less than three feet, you won’t see the dot structure unless you have very sharp eyes. And since everything becomes smaller, you get more room for multiple windows on your desktop. Plus, with a panel this big, one is probably all you’ll need. Making room for two or three certainly wouldn't be easy.

HP ZR30w

Just like its smaller brother that we reviewed in HP ZR2740w Versus Asus PB278Q: QHD 27" Monitors, Tested, HP's ZR30w comes in an enormous box that protects its contents from all but the most vicious handling. The panel and stand are fully encased in dense Styrofoam. DVI and DisplayPort cables are included, along with a standard power cord for the internal power supply. Also in the box is a CD with the user manual and drivers.

The base is a heavy metal frame covered in high-quality plastic. Its footprint is fairly small and only extends forward of the panel by two inches. At the rear, it takes up another eight inches and totals 17 inches in width. HP did a very good job designing a base that is extremely solid and stable without eating up too much of your desk. Ergonomic adjustments include height, tilt, and swivel. The panel does not rotate to portrait mode, though. If you want to use your own bracket, you can remove the factory hardware and use the panel’s 100 mm VESA mount.

The bezel is near-black in color and completely light-absorbing. Width is a uniform 24 mm on all sides. On the lower-right side of the bottom bezel lies the power button, a key to change input sources, and two controls for raising and lowering the brightness. There is no on-screen menu, and therefore no other adjustments available. The buttons have a nice high-end feel, and the entire panel seems solidly built. The screen itself has a very aggressive anti-glare coating. While it completely eliminates reflections, its texture is so deep that we see a subtle sparkle effect on the screen. This phenomenon is visible in smooth-toned images like those of sky or water. Expanses of solid color or subtly-shaded content seem to show it the most. We don’t consider that a deal-breaker by any stretch, but it might bother the super-picky user. At nearly 3.5 inches thick, this monitor won’t make a fashion statement, but the simple industrial styling is understated and should blend well into any office environment. Of course, its sheer size will stand out, and if you have one on your desk we expect that your co-workers will want one too.

Inputs are all-digital and face downwards. Only DVI and DisplayPort are included, so no VGA or HDMI ports are present. For peripherals, there is a USB-B upstream connector and four standard USB-A ports. Two are on the input panel and the other two are on the left side of the bezel. They are all USB 2.0-compatible. There is no provision for audio, either through analog jacks or via DisplayPort.

Like HP's ZR2740w, the ZR30w utilizes an H-IPS panel from LG. The big differences here are the CCFL backlight and the 16:10 aspect ratio, making the resolution 2560x1600 instead of 2560x1440. This is a serious amount of screen area. Because of the extra size, pixel density is slightly lower (100 pixels per inch instead of 108). At normal working distance, even those with sharp eyes won’t notice the difference. Once you’ve had a screen this large in front of you, it’s hard to go back.

DoubleSight DS-309W

The DS-309W is also packaged very securely in a double-corrugated box. Rather than the suitcase-style carton most monitors come in, DoubleSight lays the panel flat and surrounds it with soft rubbery foam that doesn’t crumble or break easily. Unfortunately, the bundled cables are a bit sparse, with only DVI, VGA, and a stereo audio cable to drive the internal speakers. The power supply is a large external brick. In fact, it’s one of the largest we’ve seen. But its rubber feet are a nice touch that won’t mar your desktop. Rounding out the accessory kit is a CD with drivers and a PDF user manual.

The most attractive part of the DS-309W is its base, which is a quarter-inch thick glass plate. It’s quite substantial, keeping the monitor balanced well on four large rubber feet. The rest of the attachment hardware is less impressive. There is no height or tilt adjustment; just swivel. Luckily, the screen sits just high enough to work on the typical desktop. If you want to use a custom bracket or swing-arm, there are two sets of threaded VESA-compatible fittings around back at 100 and 300 millimeters.

The bezel is made of a soft plastic that is prone to scratching. It’s finished in a gloss black and measures 23 mm at the top and sides, and 44 mm on the bottom. The controls are in the usual lower-right location, and are activated by downward-facing buttons. They feel cheap and require enough effort that the panel wobbles as you operate them. We also found them a bit confusing at first. The menu and source keys are easy to understand. However, there is no select key, only up/down arrows and plus/minus. It turns out that plus doubles as the select button. We also discovered the source inputs do not auto-sense. You have to choose them manually. Style-wise, this monitor reminds us a little of the value-based Auria EQ276W with its rounded corners and chassis free of angles or bevels. The screen itself has a superb anti-glare coating that cuts reflections completely, all without introducing any graininess to the image.

You get a complete set of inputs from the DS-309W, with one each of VGA, HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort. There is also an analog audio input and a headphone output. Both are one-eighth-inch jacks. The speakers will also pass an audio signal from the monitor’s HDMI input. Volume can be controlled both in the OSD, or using the plus and minus keys on the bezel. There are no USB ports included. All of the input jacks face downward in a recessed portion of the panel’s backside. This makes cables with large connectors, like DVI, a tight fit. It’s best to lay the screen down and make the necessary connections in advance, before placing the monitor on your desk.

This display also uses an H-IPS panel from LG Display. Like the HP, the backlight is CCFL and the aspect ratio is 16:10 with a native resolution of 2560x1600.

Brand
HP
DoubleSight
Model
ZR30w
DS-309W
Street Price
$1199.99
$1017.99
Panel Type
H-IPS
H-IPS
Backlight
CCFL
CCFL
Screen Size
30" (29.7" viewable)
30"
Max Resolution
2560x1600
2560x1600
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Response Time (GTG)
7 ms
7 ms
Brightness (cd/m^2)
370
370
Speakers
No
Yes, 2
VGA
-
1
DVI
1
1
DisplayPort
1
1
HDMI
-
1
Headphone
-
1
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Dimensions w/base
WxHxD
27.3 x 19.3-32.2 x 10.9 in
694 x 489-589 x 276 mm
27.5 x 21 x 7 in
699 x 533 x 178 mm
Panel Thickness
3.38 in / 86 mm
3 in / 76 mm
Warranty
Three years
Three years

From a specifications standpoint, these 30” panels are very similar, though the DoubleSight sells for around $180 less than the HP. 

2. Measurement And Calibration Methodology: How We Test

To measure and calibrate monitors, we use an i1Pro spectrophotometer and version 5.0.3 of SpectraCal’s CalMAN software.

For patterns, we employ an AccuPel DVG-5000 video signal generator. This approach removes video cards and drivers from the signal chain, allowing the display to receive true reference patterns. Connections are made via HDMI.

The AccuPel DVG-5000 is capable of generating all types of video signals at any resolution and refresh rate up to 1920x1080 at 60 Hz. It can also display motion patterns to evaluate a monitor's video processing capabilities, with 3D patterns available in every format. This allows us to measure color and grayscale performance, crosstalk, and ghosting in 3D content via the 3D glasses.

Calibration Notes

The HP ZR30w is a wide-gamut monitor designed to conform to the AdobeRGB 1998 spec. Therefore, we benchmarked it against that standard. You’ll see in the chromaticity charts that we plotted the results relative to the larger color gamut. Delta E values are also expressed using those same color points. There are no calibration controls available except for brightness. You can vary the monitor’s total light output with the plus and minus keys on the front bezel. There is no on-screen menu to let you know what the setting is. You have to adjust it by eye or with some type of meter, as we do.

Since this monitor is incompatible with the 1920x1080 signals from the Accupel generator, we utilized the CalPC Client from SpectraCAL as a substitute pattern source. All video driver settings were carefully checked to be sure the graphics card didn’t affect our readings.

The DoubleSight DS-309W is also a wide-gamut panel and has a full set of adjustments including high and low range RGB controls. We first saw this on the Asus PB278Q that we reviewed last month, and liked the fact that it allows for very precise adjustment of the monitor’s grayscale at all brightness levels.

After experimenting with the brightness and contrast controls, we found they work more like a television rather than a computer monitor. Normally, we increase the contrast to a point right before the highest-level details are clipped (blend into one another), then adjust light output with the brightness slider. The DoubleSight operates in the opposite way. Brightness affects the overall black level so we set this as low as possible while maintaining detail down to the minimum signal level. While this resulted in a fairly high black level measurement, setting the control any lower would clip information. The contrast has a narrow window of usable adjustment. Moving it more than a few clicks above the halfway point would crush top-end information and cause a visible color shift towards red. You can lower it as far as you want without harming accuracy. To dial in the max output at 200 cd/m2, we set it to a value of 33.

The sharpness control is set to a default value of 12, but because it appeared to have no effect on digital signals, we set it to zero.

Calibration Settings

DoubleSight DS-309W
Brightness
50
Contrast
33
Sharpness
0
Gain
Red 55 / Green 47 / Blue 45
Offset
Red 54 / Green 48 / Blue 50

Obviously, there are no recommended settings for the HP ZR2740w. You can set the Brightness either by eye or by measuring the level with a meter.

3. Results: Stock Brightness And Contrast

Before calibrating both panels, we measure zero and 100 percent signals at both ends of the brightness control range. This shows us how contrast is affected at the extremes of a monitor's luminance capability. In DoubleSight’s case, we used the contrast control to manipulate the light output.

At over 300 cd/m2, both panels offer more than enough light output for any work environment. The HP was set to maximum brightness while the DoubleSight display had its contrast set to the highest possible value without clipping detail. While you could increase its output to around 375 cd/m2, the image would be so lacking in detail that it wouldn't be usable.

More and more panels today have LED backlights, but these two still use CCFL. Let’s see how that affects the black level.

The HP falls to the middle of the pack, while the DoubleSight fares somewhat worse. It might be said that LED backlighting provides a superior black level, but our results show this is not always true. Both the HP ZR2740w and the Auria EQ276W utilize LEDs.

With both monitors close in max brightness, the black level is what determines the final contrast ratio.

The ZR30w manages to crack the 1000:1 barrier, but the DS-309W is 34 percent lower at 670.9:1. This is a fair result, and it’s still ahead of the Auria. To our eyes, both panels display a decent image with good punch and detail. To put the contrast-winning Samsung on your desk, you’ll pay around the same price and give up 33 percent of your screen area.

To measure the minimum brightness levels, we turned down the HP’s one and only adjustment, brightness control. On the DoubleSight, we left the brightness alone and reduced the contrast to its lowest setting.

The minimum output level of both panels still provides a very usable image. If you like to work or game in a totally darkened room, these screens will allow for a good degree of comfort to the eye. Detail and color saturation are retained as well.

Some of our recently-tested monitors achieve absurdly low black levels when the brightness is reduced.

The ZR30w follows suit by measuring a very black 0.0458 cd/m2. DoubleSight's DS-309W, however, only drops 19 percent to 0.3652 cd/m2. The difference is barely visible to the eye. No matter where the contrast control is set on the DS-309W, the black level is about the same.

Along with low black levels come high contrast ratios. If you like to use your computer in the dark, this can often be the best way to achieve maximum image depth.

The HP’s contrast ratio doubles to 2164.5:1 at the minimum brightness setting. Because of its relatively high black level, the DoubleSight’s number drops to 167.3:1. Even though color and detail are still OK, the image looks washed out at these settings. For best results, we recommend keeping the DS-309W’s output setting above 100 cd/m2.

4. Results: Calibrated Brightness And Contrast

Since we consider 200 cd/m2 to be an ideal average for peak output, we calibrate all of our test monitors to that value. In a room with some ambient light (like an office), this brightness level provides a sharp, punchy image with maximum detail and minimum eye fatigue. It's also the sweet spot for gamma and grayscale tracking, which we'll look at on pages five and six.

This comparison normally includes a full grayscale calibration. Since the HP has no adjustments in that area, we simply set the brightness as close to 200 cd/m2 as possible.

Both the HP and the DoubleSight have fine resolution on their image adjustments. A single click of the brightness (HP) or contrast (DoubleSight) represents around 2 cd/m2 of output. This allows for a very precise setting of the user’s preferred light level.

Calibration can either raise or lower the black level.

The ZR30w’s black level drops by about 30 percent in this test. Remember that all we can do here is lower the brightness control. There is no grayscale calibration possible with this monitor. The DS-309W benefits from adjustment with a 10 percent reduction in black level.

We recommend calibrating any monitor regardless of price point or intended use. Here are the final contrast ratio numbers for our two screens.

The HP maintains its high value of nearly 1000:1. DoubleSight's DS-309W, however, loses about 26 percent contrast from its default state. This is a fair result and the gain in color accuracy is more than worth the reduction in contrast.

5. Results: Gamma And ANSI Contrast Ratio

Gamma is the measurement of luminance levels at every step in the brightness range from 0 to 100 percent. This is important because poor gamma can either crush detail at various points or wash it out, making the entire picture appear flat and dull. Correct gamma produces a more three-dimensional image, with greater depth and pop. Meanwhile, incorrect gamma can negatively affect image quality, even in monitors with high contrast ratios.

In the gamma charts below, the yellow line represents 2.2, which is the most widely accepted standard for television, film, and computer graphics production. The closer the white measurement trace comes to 2.2, the better.

The HP’s gamma rides right around the 2.0 mark, which is a bit lower than the 2.2 standard. This results in an image with slightly less perceived contrast, especially in darker content where the gamma value is below 2.0. The tracking is reasonably flat, which is a plus. If HP added a gamma control, this issue could be fixed easily.

The DoubleSight also lacks a gamma selector. Let’s see how it turned out.

The DS-309W seems to be the opposite of the HP. The gamma is fine at the lowest signal levels and gradually rises to over 2.5 at the 90 percent point. This is a small error, and one that should be nearly invisible to the naked eye. Nevertheless, the DoubleSight’s tracking is not quite as good as the HP screen.

Here’s how our 30-inch panels compare to the 27-inch competition.

With a range of values spanning as high as 0.38, both monitors finish at the back in this metric. While their gamma tracking is fair, it isn’t quite as good as the other five screens.

By expressing the gamma error in percentage of deviation, rather than showing the absolute value, it’s a little easier to compare the performance of all the monitors.

With a low average value of 1.83, the HP ZR30w finishes last in gamma performance. The DoubleSight fares better because it sticks closer to the correct 2.2 standard. Its overall error is extremely small compared to the Auria and the HP.

ANSI Contrast Ratio

Another important measure of contrast is ANSI. To perform this test, a checkerboard pattern of sixteen zero and 100 percent squares are measured. This is somewhat more real-world than on/off measurements because it tests a display’s ability to simultaneously maintain both low black and full white levels, while factoring in screen uniformity. The average of the eight full-white measurements is divided by the average of the eight full-black measurements to arrive at the ANSI result.

The HP’s ANSI number comes in a little lower than its on/off measurement. It is still quite high, however, at over 750 to 1. Only the 27-inch HP and the Asus QHD monitor from our last review do better in this test. The DoubleSight’s ANSI contrast is only a bit below its on/off number. This demonstrates consistent performance regardless of image content. In use, both panels look very good whether watching video, playing games, or working with productivity applications.

6. Results: Grayscale Tracking

All of the panels we’ve tested recently display excellent grayscale tracking, even at stock settings. It’s important that the color of white be consistently neutral at all light levels, from darkest to brightest. Grayscale performance impacts color accuracy with regard to the secondary colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow). Since computer monitors typically have no color or tint adjustment, accurate grayscale is key.

Most users lack the equipment to calibrate their monitors, so out-of-box performance is important, especially in the grayscale metric. An error of over three Delta E is visible to the naked eye. Since most productivity apps have a white background, any tint is easily seen.

HP ZR30w

Because the HP has no calibration adjustment available, we’re showing the results at its max brightness setting.

For an out-of-the-box result, this is a pretty good chart. The grayscale error is below five at its worst and below three at its best. Since three is the visibility threshold, the HP has only a slightly visible error. The tracking is also fairly flat with little variation from dark to light.

After setting the brightness to 200 cd/m2 with the spectrophotometer, we generated the following result.

The difference is negligible, as it should be. This means you will have a fairly accurate white balance with good tracking no matter what the brightness setting.

DoubleSight DS-309W

The DoubleSight has both high and low RGB controls, making it easy to see the benefit of an instrumented calibration.

This chart was generated from the User color temp preset. We tried the other presets and found that User matches the 6500 K option pretty closely. The 7500 and 9500 K selections are extremely blue in tint, and to our eyes, unusable. As you can see, the white point is not at 6500 K, but somewhat cooler. This means whites and other light colors will have a bluish tint rather than a neutral one.

After calibration, the results are much better.

This is an excellent chart with no visible errors anywhere in the brightness range. Only 50 and 100 percent crack the Delta E two level, and then just barely. This measurement is right up there with the best monitors we’ve tested, even comparing favorably to many high-end televisions.

Here’s the grayscale performance round-up of all our recently-tested QHD screens.

Both HP monitors are near the top for stock performance, which is a good thing since they can’t be improved upon. The DoubleSight is at the bottom of the pack, but it does have the necessary adjustments to fix the white balance errors.

While the HP monitors’ numbers remain virtually unchanged, the DoubleSight makes a marked improvement after adjustment.

The DS-309W is much improved post-calibration, with an error that’s well below the all-important Delta E three standard. With an average value of just 1.64, it looks every bit as good as the competition to the naked eye. The HP screens look decent as well, but their small grayscale error is visible to users looking for the most accurate white balance. As always, we recommend calibration of any monitor, regardless of its stock performance. We believe the before and after comparisons above demonstrate the benefits quite clearly.

7. Results: Color Gamut And Performance

Both panels in today’s review are wide-gamut monitors, designed to render 100 percent of the Adobe RGB 1998 color space. This means that more of the visible spectrum of color is displayed. If you look at the CIE charts below, you’ll see the fin-shaped area that represents all the color visible to the human eye. The triangle formed by the three primary colors is the gamut actually shown by the display. The Adobe RGB 1998 gamut extends the sRGB/Rec 709 spec by about 30 percent, mostly towards the green region of the chart. We adjusted our graphs to show both screens’ measurements relative to the larger color space.

Color gamut is measured using a saturation sweep that samples the six main colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow) at five saturation levels (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%). This provides a more realistic view of color accuracy. Since there are no color management controls on either monitor, we're only showing the post-calibration graphs (although we’re sure they'd look pretty much the same out-of-box).

HP ZR30w

The ZR30w tracks the larger gamut pretty well except for the red primary and magenta secondary colors, which are a little over-saturated. The rest of the color points are quite good with only tiny errors at all five saturation levels. This is excellent performance. Color luminance is a little hot for green, blue, and cyan, but very good for red, magenta, and yellow. We recommend creating a custom monitor profile for any screen intended for precise photo and graphics work. This way, small errors can be compensated for and matched to your camera and output devices.

Double Sight DS-309W

Overall performance is a little better on the DoubleSight. Like the HP, red and magenta are slightly oversaturated. Color luminance is low for red, blue, and magenta, but nearly perfect for the other colors. The DS-309W does squeak under the average Delta E three line with a value of 2.5. This is excellent performance.

Here is how both panels compare to other recently-tested monitors.

None of the monitors in the group have any significant color accuracy issues. Even though the HP is on the bottom, its value of 3.5 is respectable. Remember that this is an average of 30 measurements. All of the screens offer professional-level color quality. The Samsung S27B970D continues to lead this benchmark, followed closely by the value champ, Auria's EQ276W.

Gamut Volume: Adobe RGB 1998

There are basically two categories of displays in use today: those that conform to the sRGB/Rec 709 standard like HDTVs, and wide-gamut panels that show as much as 100 percent of the Adobe RGB 1998 spec. We use Gamutvision to calculate the gamut volume, based on an ICC profile created from actual measurements.

The DS-309W displays a tick more of the Adobe RGB 1998 gamut than the ZR30w. The difference is negligible and not visible to the naked eye. The other screens are sRGB monitors and display the correct 68-72 percent gamut as they should. If you watch video or play games on either of the screens in today’s review, you will see that reds and greens look a little unnatural. It is important to match a display to its intended content. Unless you need the extra color saturation available on these panels, you may be dissatisfied with the color rendering of typical image content. We’d love to see selectable color gamuts on monitors like these. Any panel that renders Adobe RGB 1998 is capable of rendering sRGB. Many consumer TVs have this feature, so there’s no reason to omit it on a computer monitor.

8. Results: Viewing Angle And Uniformity

For off-axis viewing, there’s no better tech right now than IPS. You can sit as much as 45 degrees from center and still see a decent image. The light falloff is minimal and the color shift associated with TN monitors is virtually non-existent. In addition, with monitors as bright as these, the effect can be further minimized at high output settings.

The ZR30w looks just like all of the other large IPS screens we’ve photographed for recent reviews. Color shift is minimal at all angles and light falloff is practically non-existent. The pattern appears different on the HP because we had to display it as a Windows desktop graphic rather than using the pattern generator. The end result is the same. You can still clearly see the differences in the brightest and darkest bars. This indicates good retention of highlight and shadow detail at off-axis viewing angles of up to 45 degrees.

Here’s the DoubleSight DS-309W:

The results here are about the same. If you look close, the darkest two bars are barely delineated from each other. However, they do not crush at a 45-degree viewing angle. That's still excellent off-axis performance. We suspect subtle differences in the two monitors’ anti-glare layers are the reason for the variation.

If you’re wondering why the white balance appears different in the two photos, it’s because we changed cameras midway through the review process. We didn’t discover the difference until after returning the monitors to their manufacturers. Rest assured the photos are directly comparable, since we kept the exposure values the same.

Screen Uniformity

While some monitors are better than others, no LCD panel has perfect screen uniformity, and even samples of the same model can have quite a bit of variation. So, since there’s no fair standard for applying a rating to different monitors, we’ll simply present the results of our measurements.

To measure screen uniformity, zero percent and 100 percent full-field patterns are used, and nine points are sampled. We’re now expressing the values as percentages relative to the center of the screen.

HP ZR30w
Black Field Uniformity
101.11%
142.58%
84.24%
114.22%
100.00%
137.39%
106.87%
110.28%
134.41%
White Field Uniformity
81.87%
89.08%
86.77%
92.14%
100.00%
94.24%
87.44%
96.64%
91.40%

The ZR30w shows a couple of hot spots in a black field pattern. The most visible are at the top-center and bottom-right. The white field pattern looks more uniform, but the center is slightly brighter than the rest of the screen.

The DoubleSight fares a bit better.

Double Sight DS-309W
Black Field Uniformity
77.91%
88.04%
84.46%
82.04%
100.00%
84.88%
82.95%
90.24%
93.20%
White Field Uniformity
90.29%
90.68%
86.19%
101.38%
100.00%
93.79%
101.44%
102.72%
96.97%

This is an excellent result. White field uniformity is especially good with only the tiniest differences from point to point. The DS-309W isn’t too far behind the best-in-class Samsung S27B970D in this metric.

9. Results: Pixel Response And Input Lag

To perform these tests, we use a high-speed camera that shoots at 1000 frames per second. Analyzing the video frame-by-frame allows us to observe the exact time it takes to go from a zero-percent signal to a 100% white field.

The pattern generator is placed at the base of the monitor so our camera can capture the precise moment its front-panel LED lights up, indicating that a video signal is being received by the monitor. With this camera placement, we can easily see how long it takes to fully display a pattern after pressing the button on the generator’s remote. This testing methodology allows for accurate and repeatable results when comparing panels.

Since we couldn’t use our Accupel pattern generator with the HP ZR30w, we employed CalPC Client from SpectraCAL to display a white field pattern. We shot the same video, but this time we recorded mouse inputs to determine the panel’s input lag. Since this method is less precise, we averaged five measurements to arrive at the final value. The DoubleSight DS-309w does accept input from the Accupel, so we measured it like we do our other test screens.

For pure response, both panels are near the top of our comparison. We would expect them to be close since they are both based on similar LG IPS panels.

The real litmus test is the absolute lag metric. This is a function of each monitor’s input control PCB.

The HP is fairly snappy like its 27-inch sibling, but the DoubleSight comes in second to last. As with Auria's EQ276W, I didn’t have any trouble playing fast-paced games, though gamers more skilled than myself might notice the delay. We look forward to testing some high-refresh gaming monitors in the near future, but for now, none of the above screens is really intended for those with super-human reflexes. For the vast majority of people, these 30-inch panels will provide an excellent gaming experience.

10. 30-Inch QHD, Is Bigger Better?

We certainly enjoy having monitors this big on our desks. The vast screen real estate is a tremendous advantage to those who like to keep multiple windows open. With the extra height afforded by the 16:10 aspect ratio, you can have three documents side-by-side-by-side and still read text easily from three feet away. The high pixel density means you’ll never see any dot structure, even at two feet or less. And the wide gamut caters to the graphics pro who needs a monitor capable of displaying all of the Adobe RGB 1998 color space.

HP ZR30w

HP’s entry into the jumbo screen category offers a mix of qualities, most of which are good. On the pro side, it has superb build quality, plenty of brightness, excellent color accuracy, and a sleek functional look that will enhance any desk. It isn't perfect, though. We lament the lack of adjustability, and the relatively poor gamma performance. A few presets and a set of RGB sliders to adjust white balance would be welcome, and could even make the HP a stand-out product. Of course, it's possible to take care of those specific issues via software. We expect most graphics pros would have the ability to resolve them, then. Also, a selectable color gamut would be nice for those occasions when we’re watching a movie or TV show.

Double Sight DS-309W

The DS-309W is brand-new to the marketplace, replacing the now-discontinued DS-307W. Aside from a new bezel design, it appears to be the same screen in every other respect. It offers excellent accuracy after calibration, good build quality, and the same wide gamut as the HP. While its out-of-box performance is only fair, an instrumented calibration wrings out some excellent performance measurements. Though it doesn’t offer super-high contrast, we found its image to look every bit as good as the competition, mainly thanks to solid gamma performance. Like the HP, it offers the full Adobe RGB 1998 gamut, making it ideal for photographers and artists. Again, we would love to see a selectable gamut so one could properly enjoy a movie when not working. After all, with a screen this big, watching TV in the office takes on a whole new dimension!

There are really only two considerations here: do you want to spend around $1200 on a computer monitor, and do you need the larger color gamut? Other than that, there is no reason for us not to recommend either of these screens to those looking for largess. Based on its adjustability, we’d go for the DoubleSight, though plenty of folks (including us) would be just as happy with the HP. Either way, it’s hard to deny the allure of so much screen. And for those who demand a density above 100 pixels per inch and a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, they represent the top of the heap...for now.