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-Updated 4-19-08-
I figured I would share my experiences with all of you on my recent monitor dilemma. The goal was to walk into the local retailer, pick up a flat panel to replace my old 21CRT (20 viewable), and go on with my life. I wanted to switch over to a widescreen for the newer games and for extra room for applications. I should have done more research than I had done before picking one up, but there is a lot of FUD out there for the price range I was looking at (my budget is very limited) and felt I needed to go in and look at the monitors first-hand. Well, on with the fun
I picked up the 28 (cough 27.5) HannsG HG-281DJB first. I have to admit this monitor looked good at first. After picking up this monitor I noticed that this was going to be more difficult than I thought. Even though the image looked great, I noticed that the extremely dark colors had the look of a photo negative (particularly in shadows of games). Then the deal breaker hit I ran an old 4:3 game and found it stretched to the size of the screen. There was no way to set the scaling on the monitor or thru the Nvidia drivers (you could TRY to set, but after accepting the changes it would revert back). I say more about this in note 1.
Then I picked up 24 Gateway FHD2400. This is a monitor with all the bells and whistles you could ask for PIP, 1:1, fixed aspect ratio, 90deg rotation, lots of inputs, ect. The biggest drawback was the size and the color. Compared to the 281, the color saturation was a little over the top for my taste and I preferred the image quality of the 281 more. I also noticed that the FHD felt a little unresponsive compared to the 281, I found out why a little later. I also want to note that the response time was notably slower on the FHD as well.
(Note 1: At this point I realized there was a relation to the Nvidia drivers being able to control fixed aspect ratio and the connection used on the monitor. It seems that if you used a DVI to HDMI cable, you could not control the fixed aspect ratio with the Nvidia drivers. I was able to confirm this with the FHD2400. I used the DVI to DVI cable and could select any scaling option in the drivers. I then used the DVI to HDMI cable and none of the forced scaling options would work in the drivers.)
(Note 2: I also noticed screen size starting to have a major impact on my decision. At default resolution 1920x1200 the 281 was easier to read web pages without messing with font sizes go figure. The FHD was a pain to read black on white lettering for long periods of time without changing the font size.)
I then made my first hard call and the FHD went back. However at this time I had new options appear. I saw that a line of 25.5 monitors were just released. Me being a fan of the LG optical drives, figured they earned my trust to buy their monitor unseen, so I traded up to the 26 (cough 25.5) LG W2600H. Oh, what a mistake. The colors were so saturated you could barely pick out any details in areas were the other monitors shined. The response time was also notably slower the than 281. The monitor I picked up was also very hot, and had that burning-in smell of electronics. I was sick at the time so I may have been a little more sensitive to it; however it was to the point where I couldnt stand being in the same room for longer than an hour (and to note that the smell was strong from down the hall). The temporal dithering was excessive to say the least, I could notice the static easily on darker images and could see the pattern pop up on occasion during normal use (but thats the price you pay for the super high Contrast Ratio Rating, which IMO is a bit overrated). On a positive note, I was able to do 1:1 via the drivers and scaled 4:3 thru the monitor itself and the 25.5 was a nice compromise for size compared to the 24 & 27.5 models. One thing to note on this monitor is that even though the instructions stated it comes with a DVI to DVI cable, it did not. However the retailer was nice enough to include one at no extra charge. In the end, this one went back without much of a fight.
But here is where another option popped up; the new 28 (um still 27.5) Hannspree HF-289HJB was in. I thought this was going to end my troubles and life would get back to normal nope. This thing was basically the same as the 281 with a couple notable exceptions. I compared these side-by-side and even though the 281 had a better viewing area and had a better appearance for the most part, the 289 ran circles around the 281 with the dark shades (the negative look was gone in this version). However I was still concerned that scaling was not available thru DVI to HDMI cable or the VGA connection (they do support scaling for HDMI & Component signals but that didnt help me out). At the end of this round, the clear winner was the 289. (Update 4-19-08, I heard that a user was able to get DVI-HDMI scaling to work using the new Vista64 Drivers, however I had no way to confirm this after the fact.)
With the 281 gone, another option appeared the 26 Samsung 2693HM (um 25.5, someone should teach these marketing guys how to measure). I had to say I was very impressed right off the bat. This was a large monitor that included the ability to rotate 90degrees and could to scaled 4:3 in the monitor itself. However, even though it was connected via a DVI cable, the scaling options in the Nvidia driver would not stick so no 1:1 for me. I was satisfied with the way all of the popular resolutions scaled (640, 800, 1024, 1280, & 1600) so the lack of the 1:1 was not a deal-breaker. The 2693 also had a better response time than the 289 as well. The only other drawback was that there was a small amount of temporal dithering going on. For the most part it wasnt much of an issue, but every once and a while I would see it. (Update 4-19-08, The temporal dithering is a bit more annoying than I originally thought. In certain instances the dithering pattern can be seen as clear as day. I am still happy with my purchase, however I am wondering if the 289 would have been the better purchase for a primary monitor.)
(Note 3: It was at this point where I started to notice all the guys that preached about input lag (a thing I did not check for coming from the CRT). I started to do tests with my old monitor and checked the lag between the CRT, 289, & 2693. The 289 was slightly faster being within 0-1 frames (@60Hz) of the CRT, where-as the 2693 was between 0-2 frames of the CRT.)
So the next call had to be made and out went the 289 (the 281 & 289 put up a really good fight, if I could have got the 4:3 scaling to work I would have kept these without hesitation). (Update 4-19-08, I wish I was able to test this out with the new drivers that supposedly fixed the DVI-HDMI scaling issue. If it would have worked the 2693 would have lost this battle.)
I then started to wonder if me being sick had anything to do with my negative impression of the LG or if I had a lemon. So I picked up another one (yep, the second one was missing the DVI cable too). The first thing I noticed was the monitor didnt seem nearly as hot and the electronic smell of the other one was pretty much not there. But the colors were still oversaturated and the 4:3 scaling didnt look as good as the 2693. Even though it had 1:1, that didnt save it. Another thing was the input lag was more than the 2693 (1-2 frames more). I didnt test it against the CRT mainly because I didnt feel like dragging it back out again. The icing on the cake was that this was the first monitor I received that had a pixel issue (there was a pixel issue that would show up on grey images where the pixel would be bright green ug). I preferred the image of the 2693 more so this one didnt make it 24 hours.
In the end the Samsung 2693HM came out the winner for my needs. It plays the old 4:3 games without stretching them, rotates to portrait, and the image quality is very good for the price. I do want to point out that if you have Vista you will probably want to skip the programs on the disk and use the ones on the website if you have to. I found very good results without having to tune with the programs. The only real negative thing about the monitor as that the controls are practically impossible to read in low light, however that was not even a slight consideration in my decision. To solve the issue I put some small foil stickers where the text of the buttons are so I could clearly see where to push (the buttons are touch sensitive so without the stickers or being are to see the text you didnt know where exactly to push).
Please note that all tests were done with a 8800, I wouldnt have minded testing this out with an ATI card for purpose of being able to give out more info, however I never intended on doing a flat panel review to begin with. I just touched on some of my experiences with these monitors, if you want more detail about a particular one vs. another I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
Also, I performed all reasonable calibrations that I could with the monitors, first by setting on the monitor using various test images, and if I wasnt satisfied redoing the calibrations with the included software. I do not have the means to try hardware color calibrations; however I analyze color on product & samples at work on a regular basis so some say I have a better than average appreciation for color.
I would like to give thanks to the very understanding people at the local retail store who made this whole ordeal a positive experience. I passed along some of my findings to them so they could help their customers find the LCD screen they are after a bit better (to prevent a repeat), and is the basic reason I posted this for others to be able to make an informed decision before purchasing.
I would also like to give some thanks to http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/index.php for providing the community with a nice manual calibration site and http://tft.vanity.dk/ with the excellent stopwatch.
The comparisons I made between the various units were done with the limited tools and resources I have available and should be looked at as such. Another person may receive different results on a different setup.
It would be nice to see the [H] crew do a full featured 25-30 LCD round-up in the near future for others (hint-hint).
I figured I would share my experiences with all of you on my recent monitor dilemma. The goal was to walk into the local retailer, pick up a flat panel to replace my old 21CRT (20 viewable), and go on with my life. I wanted to switch over to a widescreen for the newer games and for extra room for applications. I should have done more research than I had done before picking one up, but there is a lot of FUD out there for the price range I was looking at (my budget is very limited) and felt I needed to go in and look at the monitors first-hand. Well, on with the fun
I picked up the 28 (cough 27.5) HannsG HG-281DJB first. I have to admit this monitor looked good at first. After picking up this monitor I noticed that this was going to be more difficult than I thought. Even though the image looked great, I noticed that the extremely dark colors had the look of a photo negative (particularly in shadows of games). Then the deal breaker hit I ran an old 4:3 game and found it stretched to the size of the screen. There was no way to set the scaling on the monitor or thru the Nvidia drivers (you could TRY to set, but after accepting the changes it would revert back). I say more about this in note 1.
Then I picked up 24 Gateway FHD2400. This is a monitor with all the bells and whistles you could ask for PIP, 1:1, fixed aspect ratio, 90deg rotation, lots of inputs, ect. The biggest drawback was the size and the color. Compared to the 281, the color saturation was a little over the top for my taste and I preferred the image quality of the 281 more. I also noticed that the FHD felt a little unresponsive compared to the 281, I found out why a little later. I also want to note that the response time was notably slower on the FHD as well.
(Note 1: At this point I realized there was a relation to the Nvidia drivers being able to control fixed aspect ratio and the connection used on the monitor. It seems that if you used a DVI to HDMI cable, you could not control the fixed aspect ratio with the Nvidia drivers. I was able to confirm this with the FHD2400. I used the DVI to DVI cable and could select any scaling option in the drivers. I then used the DVI to HDMI cable and none of the forced scaling options would work in the drivers.)
(Note 2: I also noticed screen size starting to have a major impact on my decision. At default resolution 1920x1200 the 281 was easier to read web pages without messing with font sizes go figure. The FHD was a pain to read black on white lettering for long periods of time without changing the font size.)
I then made my first hard call and the FHD went back. However at this time I had new options appear. I saw that a line of 25.5 monitors were just released. Me being a fan of the LG optical drives, figured they earned my trust to buy their monitor unseen, so I traded up to the 26 (cough 25.5) LG W2600H. Oh, what a mistake. The colors were so saturated you could barely pick out any details in areas were the other monitors shined. The response time was also notably slower the than 281. The monitor I picked up was also very hot, and had that burning-in smell of electronics. I was sick at the time so I may have been a little more sensitive to it; however it was to the point where I couldnt stand being in the same room for longer than an hour (and to note that the smell was strong from down the hall). The temporal dithering was excessive to say the least, I could notice the static easily on darker images and could see the pattern pop up on occasion during normal use (but thats the price you pay for the super high Contrast Ratio Rating, which IMO is a bit overrated). On a positive note, I was able to do 1:1 via the drivers and scaled 4:3 thru the monitor itself and the 25.5 was a nice compromise for size compared to the 24 & 27.5 models. One thing to note on this monitor is that even though the instructions stated it comes with a DVI to DVI cable, it did not. However the retailer was nice enough to include one at no extra charge. In the end, this one went back without much of a fight.
But here is where another option popped up; the new 28 (um still 27.5) Hannspree HF-289HJB was in. I thought this was going to end my troubles and life would get back to normal nope. This thing was basically the same as the 281 with a couple notable exceptions. I compared these side-by-side and even though the 281 had a better viewing area and had a better appearance for the most part, the 289 ran circles around the 281 with the dark shades (the negative look was gone in this version). However I was still concerned that scaling was not available thru DVI to HDMI cable or the VGA connection (they do support scaling for HDMI & Component signals but that didnt help me out). At the end of this round, the clear winner was the 289. (Update 4-19-08, I heard that a user was able to get DVI-HDMI scaling to work using the new Vista64 Drivers, however I had no way to confirm this after the fact.)
With the 281 gone, another option appeared the 26 Samsung 2693HM (um 25.5, someone should teach these marketing guys how to measure). I had to say I was very impressed right off the bat. This was a large monitor that included the ability to rotate 90degrees and could to scaled 4:3 in the monitor itself. However, even though it was connected via a DVI cable, the scaling options in the Nvidia driver would not stick so no 1:1 for me. I was satisfied with the way all of the popular resolutions scaled (640, 800, 1024, 1280, & 1600) so the lack of the 1:1 was not a deal-breaker. The 2693 also had a better response time than the 289 as well. The only other drawback was that there was a small amount of temporal dithering going on. For the most part it wasnt much of an issue, but every once and a while I would see it. (Update 4-19-08, The temporal dithering is a bit more annoying than I originally thought. In certain instances the dithering pattern can be seen as clear as day. I am still happy with my purchase, however I am wondering if the 289 would have been the better purchase for a primary monitor.)
(Note 3: It was at this point where I started to notice all the guys that preached about input lag (a thing I did not check for coming from the CRT). I started to do tests with my old monitor and checked the lag between the CRT, 289, & 2693. The 289 was slightly faster being within 0-1 frames (@60Hz) of the CRT, where-as the 2693 was between 0-2 frames of the CRT.)
So the next call had to be made and out went the 289 (the 281 & 289 put up a really good fight, if I could have got the 4:3 scaling to work I would have kept these without hesitation). (Update 4-19-08, I wish I was able to test this out with the new drivers that supposedly fixed the DVI-HDMI scaling issue. If it would have worked the 2693 would have lost this battle.)
I then started to wonder if me being sick had anything to do with my negative impression of the LG or if I had a lemon. So I picked up another one (yep, the second one was missing the DVI cable too). The first thing I noticed was the monitor didnt seem nearly as hot and the electronic smell of the other one was pretty much not there. But the colors were still oversaturated and the 4:3 scaling didnt look as good as the 2693. Even though it had 1:1, that didnt save it. Another thing was the input lag was more than the 2693 (1-2 frames more). I didnt test it against the CRT mainly because I didnt feel like dragging it back out again. The icing on the cake was that this was the first monitor I received that had a pixel issue (there was a pixel issue that would show up on grey images where the pixel would be bright green ug). I preferred the image of the 2693 more so this one didnt make it 24 hours.
In the end the Samsung 2693HM came out the winner for my needs. It plays the old 4:3 games without stretching them, rotates to portrait, and the image quality is very good for the price. I do want to point out that if you have Vista you will probably want to skip the programs on the disk and use the ones on the website if you have to. I found very good results without having to tune with the programs. The only real negative thing about the monitor as that the controls are practically impossible to read in low light, however that was not even a slight consideration in my decision. To solve the issue I put some small foil stickers where the text of the buttons are so I could clearly see where to push (the buttons are touch sensitive so without the stickers or being are to see the text you didnt know where exactly to push).
Please note that all tests were done with a 8800, I wouldnt have minded testing this out with an ATI card for purpose of being able to give out more info, however I never intended on doing a flat panel review to begin with. I just touched on some of my experiences with these monitors, if you want more detail about a particular one vs. another I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
Also, I performed all reasonable calibrations that I could with the monitors, first by setting on the monitor using various test images, and if I wasnt satisfied redoing the calibrations with the included software. I do not have the means to try hardware color calibrations; however I analyze color on product & samples at work on a regular basis so some say I have a better than average appreciation for color.
I would like to give thanks to the very understanding people at the local retail store who made this whole ordeal a positive experience. I passed along some of my findings to them so they could help their customers find the LCD screen they are after a bit better (to prevent a repeat), and is the basic reason I posted this for others to be able to make an informed decision before purchasing.
I would also like to give some thanks to http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/index.php for providing the community with a nice manual calibration site and http://tft.vanity.dk/ with the excellent stopwatch.
The comparisons I made between the various units were done with the limited tools and resources I have available and should be looked at as such. Another person may receive different results on a different setup.
It would be nice to see the [H] crew do a full featured 25-30 LCD round-up in the near future for others (hint-hint).
LCD are super light compared to the CRT I removed and then brought back for testing again...ug.
