Looking for a new screen.

[Colonel Mitch]

As you all know, I'm not one for spending exuberant amounts of money on something for little to no gain, however, I've had my current screen since long before i31, and its spent a good bit of that time running, and its starting to take its toll.

I'm looking for a new screen (as you may have guessed from the title).

Something with a decent brightness (at least 350cd preferably)
Something with a very good contrast ratio.
Something 24"-26"
Preferably glossy surface
Must support at least 1920 x 1200 or 1920 x 1080
Must be DVI/HDMI compliant
Sound is not required


Basically, im looking for a screen that is stunning to look at but not too £lol expensive. I AM willing to spend a fair bit more than the budget £150, but am not looking to spend £300+.

Anyone got any recomendations?

[Mr.Big]

exuberant, haha always makes me laugh when i read that word :P

[Chalex4]

I have the 28" Hanns.G, and I absolutely love it. Sure, it's a TN panel so won't have those perfect IPS colours, but the screen size is just so amazing for watching movies and really makes a difference for normal use. It's also had some great reviews on amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000YAHWF2/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_img?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1).



http://www.overclockers.co.uk/pimg/MO-025-OK_200.jpg

The Hanns.G 28" has an industry leading ultra-fast 3ms response time making it perfect for blur-free video and gaming. With it's 800:1 contrast ratio and excellent viewing angles there is no other TFT that can match the quality, value or performance. Make the large screen affordable to all this 28" is ideal for gamers and home cinema use due to its huge size and 1920x1200 resolution.

£276.99 inc VAT

- Screen Size: 28" Widescreen
- Resolution: 1920x1200
- Contrast Ratio: 800:1
- Brightness: 500cd/m²
- Response Time: 3ms
- Viewing Angles (H/V): 160°/160°
- Colours: 16.7 Million
- Inputs: 1x Analogue & 1x HDMI
- VESA Compliant
- Dimensions: 668.0mm x 486.0mm x 211.0mm
- Weight: 10.8kg
- Warranty: 3 Years On-Site (Call 0871 8552425)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-025-OK&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=

I believe it does have HDCP but not 1:1, so if you want to display a resolution of 1920x1080 it will get stretched to fit the screen. Personally though this has never been a problem.

[ez64]

800:1 is a tad fail though if you sit it next to a decent monitor or plasma/crt

[Chalex4]

Just read the reviews to see how happy everyone is with it, and I'm no exception. Most 27"+ monitors cost £550+, so of course there has to be a compromise somewhere.

[Target]

LoL chalex once again you bought a fail item, u bought your silly mini laptop yet?

[Chalex4]

Target don't go off topic please, I was simply telling everyone my favourite monitor at the moment. Everyone has different opinions and preferences, at least I suggested something rather than just trolling this thread with useless comments.

[Colonel Mitch]

Target don't go off topic please, I was simply telling everyone my favourite monitor at the moment. Everyone has different opinions and preferences, at least I suggested something rather than just trolling this thread with useless comments.


Thanks for the suggestion but 28" is a tad big and contrast ratio = fail :P also its at the top end of my pirce bracket jsut for the extra couple of inches i dont want :P

[Calneon]

Thanks for the suggestion but 28" is a tad big and contrast ratio = fail :P also its at the top end of my pirce bracket jsut for the extra couple of inches i dont want :P
Oh noes, any monitor without 50,000:1 contrast ratio is teh sucks!

I think this (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-034-DE&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=) should do for you Mitch, it has quite a high contrast ratio!

Contrast ratios mean nothing nowadays because advertisers use dynamic contrast ratios to scam consumers. It's best to rely on reviews from real people as to whether or not the screen is good. As chalex said, a 28" screen for under £300 has to make compromises somewhere.

[ez64]

Actually most use the standard black white contrast ratio, few use the dynamic claim and whoever does you just dont buy from them.

[D_K_Head]

...isn't a moniter just a moniter? get a nice looking one and fuck the bonus features...

[Vicious Horizon]

hehe.. moniter..

Anywhoo, I liked Phantom's monitor at i37, actually, I wouldn't mind finding out what that is myself ^^,

[Chalex4]

I think he has the Hazro HZ24Wi (http://www.hazro.co.uk/products/hazro_hz24w.html) monitor, which is IPS and as a result costs a huge amount more. I can't actually find anywhere that sells that monitor now though.

[Vicious Horizon]

Intergrated Power System? D:

Anyway, yeah, that was my suggestion XD

But that'll cost a bomb I guess.

[Chalex4]

No, just no VH:


In-Plane Switching (IPS): An LCD wide-viewing-angle technology pioneered by Hitachi in which the alignment field is generated from electrodes located on a single substrate rather than on opposite sides as in conventional (TN) panels.

[Vicious Horizon]

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I get it. Sorry, just googled it and power systems were the first thing to turn up >.<

So you can see it in true-colour from any angle, right?

[VoX]

More or less, TN panels fail where viewing angles are concerned, IPS panels are a lot more superior, not sure what they are like for colour reproduction though, but Phantom's seemed very very nice.

[Vicious Horizon]

Yeah, main reason as to why I considered it

[Calneon]

Yes, it cost just under £400 when I bought it from OcUK, they don't stock them anymore. Love the screen to bits though. I've been meaning to send it off to get the firmware updated for a while now but never got round to it (fixes the banding issue apparently).

[Chalex4]

Colours are better on an IPS, but you do pay a hefty premium imo and do lose out on lower response times.

Regarding viewing angles, people often go over-the-top with saying how bad TN panels are, but it's all personal preference. It could just me that my monitor's angles are better than an average TN, but I've never seen what all the fuss is about. I always sit in front of my monitor, and if I want to lay back in a chair and watch a film then I'll just tilt the monitor slightly!! :p

[Vicious Horizon]

Just noticed the screen I have is IPS =D

It appears we're off-topic

[Colonel Mitch]

Thanks for the dell suggestion, ti sounds like a good choice, I'm assuming teh 250 cd brightness is wrong or is down too the adjusting technology it has, coz otherwise 250cd^2 is fail.

As giles said dynamic contrast ratio things are usualy just lies, so if there is teh actual contrast ratio its often more useful to compare.

[Calneon]

I suggested the Dell as a joke because it had a ludicrously high contrast ratio (1,000,000:1) and you said you wanted one with high contrast ratio.

If I were to suggest something serious, i'd probably say this (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-099-SA&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=), I bought one for a friend and it was nice, and VoX has the same one but a bit better and he likes it.

[VoX]

That is basically my monitor without HDMI, and I think a slightly higher (Dynamic) Contrast Ratio.


Otherwise it is the same, and a very nice screen, I just did some minor tweaking on graphics drivers and the monitor itself (namely turning dynamic contrast off) obviously the colour reproduction is not 100% accurate with these tweaks but everything is nice and vibrant. Brightness is pretty good aswell, have had to turn it down a bit (T240s ship with brightness at 100% for some reason.)

[Colonel Mitch]

That samsung looks very nice :)

Anyone know anything about these ones?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-106-SA

The usb ports and massivley adjustable base would benefit me.

[ez64]

Overclockers charge a fair amount over the odd's on monitors or just selling older product lines at the same price, also in there wisdom they display every monitor in dynamic contrast ratings so the numbers can mean something completly different from screen to screen so it's utterly butterly pointless.

[Calneon]

also in there wisdom they display every monitor in dynamic contrast ratings so the numbers can mean something completly different from screen to screen so it's utterly butterly pointless.
The manufacturer decides what it's contrast ratio is, not OcUK.

[ez64]

No there is a industry wide rating that VESA set but was not enforced by law that everyone used to use and thats where the true numbers used to be, now though everyone started using there own funny contrast ratio tests thus providing whatever number they wanted to state.

Monitors still get aftermarket tested using the VESA scale and thats where you get the contrast ratio from but OCUK only display the dynamic rubbish now where as the majority 5 years ago on the internet was in the VESA standard.

[Colonel Mitch]

Im going to get this tomorrow (Friday), driving down to their depot and buying it there coz cba waiting til monday xD.

Unless anyone knows otehrwise why I shouldnt?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-106-SA

[Calneon]

Go for it, 24" is the way to go!

[Target]

A whole 5ms response time, could make a cuppa quicker :D *JOKES*

[VoX]

Unless you have a massive need for the USB hub and the extra (dynamic) contrast ratio the T240 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-086-SA) is on This Week Only and is cheaper. It still has a 2 port USB hub but it is slightly harder access, nothing impossible but its round the back near the DVI/VGA/HDMI inputs.

[Colonel Mitch]

Unless you have a massive need for the USB hub and the extra (dynamic) contrast ratio the T240 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-086-SA) is on This Week Only and is cheaper. It still has a 2 port USB hub but it is slightly harder access, nothing impossible but its round the back near the DVI/VGA/HDMI inputs.

was too late to get to OCUK befoer they closed today so will ahve to settle for it later, but im not getting it for the usb hub lol and the contrast ratio will most likley be the same, im getting it for the adjustability (in comparison to the otehr one).

Also i dont really like having a monitor that looks like a stylish TV :P

[VoX]

Fair enough lol.


I'll agree on the stylish TV point, looks good if your only using a singlen scree but with duals it becomes a bit more apparent and distracting that you have curved and glass/see-through bezels. Still, for a single screen <3.