Best IPS 23" or 24" monitor

R

rasen

n00b
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
16
I was reading around here and I am looking to buy two IPS monitors for a dual setup, not for gaming, but for productivity/work. I was wondering what the best IPS monitor was for say $300-$400. I have been looking and have seen these to name a few:

Dell U2311H

HP ZR24w

NEC EA231WMi

ViewSonic VP2365wb

It looks like these are the one's I'd be picking from unless someone knows anything different or something worth waiting for like maybe the NEC PA231W.

Also what is the difference between e-IPS and IPS?
 
Last edited:
Well, I HAVE a Dell U2311H that I got in today. Know how with a TN monitor, the top is darker and the bottom is lighter, like washed out? With this e-IPS panel, it's bluish on the left and orange-ish on the right. I suspect this is the "purple tint" people refer to. In any case, it's HORRIBLE quality. All else is well.

How anyone sells a monitor where you can CLEARLY see the color isn't uniform across the whole screen is BEYOND me.

So, I'm asking the same question as the OP - are there any 23"-24" monitors with something BETTER than an e-IPS or TN panel?

I've gone through Dell's Alienware Optx AW2310, Samsung's PX2370, and now Dell's U2311H. Each one is awful in its own right. And I'm not talking about a "bad panel". I'm talking about bad technology. I HAD a nice Samsung 215TW. Color was nice and uniform, but a bit dull. Unfortunately, it had offensive input lag.
 
Last edited:
grit - don't forget that with your 2311h, you have next day advance replacement. Call CS, and get a different one. Not every monitor is the same. Call back and demand a replacement.
 
Thanks, I did just that today. I had to talk to 6 different people and the process took about 40 minutes on the phone. I hope the new panel is better, but I'm very worried based on what else I've read about e-IPS panels and this one in particular.
 
Between those listed by the OP, I'd say the NEC is probably best with the HP a close second. I'm not a fan of e-IPS, so the Dell gets dropped there, and I'm not familiar enough with ViewSonic's current offerings to honestly recommend them.
 
I'm familiar with the Dell, NEC, and HP and the HP is no doubt the best since its an S-IPS. Of course, if you could splurge on NEC's 24" that'd be even better.
 
bartsimsonii said:
I'm familiar with the Dell, NEC, and HP and the HP is no doubt the best since its an S-IPS. Of course, if you could splurge on NEC's 24" that'd be even better.
Click to expand...

From my understanding the HP is S-IPS in HP-marketing speak only. I believe in reality it's an e-IPS like the rest.
 
For business use only, I'd go with a higher resolution 16:10 monitor, ie 1920x1200 resolution.
If you want two of them, I'd look at the Dell U2410, the HP ZR24W, or if you've got the money for the very best - NEC 2490wuxi or it's newer PA 241W line.
 
Well from my understanding from what I remember reading, the Dell U2410 is absolute junk. And as far as the HP ZR24W, i have been reading some very mixed reviews. I have also read in multiple places that the NEC EA231WMi is an e-IPS panel, so I don't know what to believe.

And also, I would only want to go about $400 max each
 
Monitors are very subjective things though. You really have to try them yourself to see if you like them. Reviews can only measure the objective stuff and the subjective stuff is from the perspective of the reviewer. I really enjoy my triple 23" NECs but are they prefect? Nope. And if I were doing business stuff, I'd appreciate a little more vertical resolution. If at all possible, try before you buy. NEC has had a very good reputation for monitors though. High quality builds on most of their stuff.
 
rasen said:
Well from my understanding from what I remember reading, the Dell U2410 is absolute junk. And as far as the HP ZR24W, i have been reading some very mixed reviews. I have also read in multiple places that the NEC EA231WMi is an e-IPS panel, so I don't know what to believe.

And also, I would only want to go about $400 max each
Click to expand...

The Viewsonic VP2365wb, Dell u2311h and NEC ea231wmi are based on the same panel technology (and likely the same panel) that is being marketed as e-ips, which from a technological perspective is a derivative of h-ips I believe. It is targeted more at home consumers as it offers cost and energy savings, while having better contrast/deeper blacks.

Of your list the HP zr24w would be significantly different (as it uses a different panel, although still a h-ips type), whether its better or not though would be more dependent on what factors are more important to you.
 
At the <$400 pricepoint there are no perfect monitors. Every model has some kind of characteristic flaw. U2311h has uniformity/tinting issues. ZR24W has poor blacks. U2410 has tinting and uniformity issues as well. OptX is a TN. Pick the one that bothers you the least. For me that was the ZR24W and the OptX. I will be posting a roundup of the ZR, OptX, and U2311H soon when I get the time.
 
Tricky thing with reviews from users is that rarely they have one of each of the competing monitors to compare to, so they just say the one they bought is the best.

I picked up a ZR24w and I'm quite happy with it for what I do (games, movies, photo work). I'm looking to get a 3 screen array, and that was the best size/type/cost for me.
 
I just bought the U2311h and it should be here next week. I would have bought the NEC EA231WMi instead but I got the dell for $255 and it was too tempting... My brother has the NEC EA231WMi and it is indead a good monitor and I hope that I get a good U2311h to compare it with.
 
grit said:
I just hate that $400 gets you "what bothers you least". :(
Click to expand...

I paid $600 used for my current display, and I don't have HDMI or DisplayPort (both of which I would've liked to have) and blacks, while good, aren't quite as good as the P-MVA panel I had before, so in some ways I paid ~$350 after selling the other display to go backwards. There are no perfect displays.
 
grit said:
Thanks, I did just that today. I had to talk to 6 different people and the process took about 40 minutes on the phone. I hope the new panel is better, but I'm very worried based on what else I've read about e-IPS panels and this one in particular.
Click to expand...

what did you say that finally made them replace it?

mine came with tint too, this sucks

the new one will probably come with tint issues too.. dam the u2311h argh
 
grit said:
I just hate that $400 gets you "what bothers you least". :(
Click to expand...

Yea it does suck but I really don't think the situation improves by spending more. At the bottom end you have the TNs that are fast but have terrible colors and viewing angles. Then as you go higher in price you get better colors and viewing angles but give up speed. I would say the monitors in the $400 range are actually the best blend of both. Once you start looking at monitors in the $700+ range they have great colors but typically really poor response time/motion.

For those that are unhappy with the U2311H's uniformity I actually bought one then returned it because it failed on me after a week but I would have returned anyways because of the uniformity issues. Ended up buying a ZR24W to replace it and although the blacks are not as good the uniformity is really great and it's 16:10. That plus the OptX for gaming keep me pretty happy.
 
MkI definitely need a single "best of both worlds" solution. I returned an optx 23" for horrible bleeding and because the 120hz didn't justify the increased cost since I do not 3d for my gaming. How is the zr24w for gaming, and are you using the 22" 60hz optx or the 23" 120hz one?
 
grit said:
I just hate that $400 gets you "what bothers you least". :(
Click to expand...

Buying monitors at the moment (at reasonable consumer prices, not sure about some of those multi-thousand dollar displays) is all about compromises, it isn't just the $400 dollar range.

Give 5-6 years and this might change with things like blue phase and OLED.
 
ummm that ain't happening any time soon. Sony scrapped their OLED monitors because it was just too expensive. something like $1,500 for a 13" monitor which was teh largest they could get at the time.
 
Fenix793 said:
Yea it does suck but I really don't think the situation improves by spending more. At the bottom end you have the TNs that are fast but have terrible colors and viewing angles. Then as you go higher in price you get better colors and viewing angles but give up speed. I would say the monitors in the $400 range are actually the best blend of both. Once you start looking at monitors in the $700+ range they have great colors but typically really poor response time/motion.

For those that are unhappy with the U2311H's uniformity I actually bought one then returned it because it failed on me after a week but I would have returned anyways because of the uniformity issues. Ended up buying a ZR24W to replace it and although the blacks are not as good the uniformity is really great and it's 16:10. That plus the OptX for gaming keep me pretty happy.
Click to expand...

how did you return it? did you eat the 15% restock fee?
 
I have 3 NEC EA231WMi's and I can tell you they are excellent monitors. Uniformity, backlight and brightness are all fantastic.

Viewing Angles are exceptional.
 
Zepharus said:
I have 3 NEC EA231WMi's and I can tell you they are excellent monitors. Uniformity, backlight and brightness are all fantastic.

Viewing Angles are exceptional.
Click to expand...
Have you seen/tried the Dell UltraSharp U2311H? If so, how did it compare to the NEC?
 
A pity there's no such thing as plasma computer monitors. The value and performance ratio for plasma right now is insane.
 
The only danger there is burn in, but the image is unparalleled for home video right now. Going back to the Dell monitors, my replacement arrived with far less tinting, acceptable in my book. However, there was annoying light leak in the upper left corner. Now that its calibrated and I'm using it, I don't notice unless its black. I finally am using it in normal light (i was testing last night in near darkness) and I can't see the leaking.

Just to test, I hooked both up at the same time in "duplicate" mode and I can easily tell the bad tinting on the first. I can't tell the light bleed though.

I may yet try the NEC, but I'm concerned about it having more input lag and ghosting, since I do game on a regular basis.
 
I've got three EA231WMi's. Out of them only one of them had great color out of the box. One of the other ones was slightly bluish and the other was noticeably red. They've been fixed though. Ghosting and lag isn't an issue with the EA231WMi.

I like the stand on the EA231WMi better than the U2311h. I also got a killer deal on them with BCB and dell coupons. Came to $250 shipped each :)
 
Q-BZ said:
A pity there's no such thing as plasma computer monitors. The value and performance ratio for plasma right now is insane.
Click to expand...

I believe plasma pixel sizes can't get small enough for typical computer screen sizes.
 
So what I am getting from all of this is that the HP and the NEC are probably the best out of the bunch. But is the NEC so good that its worth losing the extra inch of screen? I'd prefer to have two 24's, but if the NEC's are that spectacular over the HP, I would consider that too.
 
rasen said:
Well from my understanding from what I remember reading, the Dell U2410 is absolute junk. And as far as the HP ZR24W, i have been reading some very mixed reviews. I have also read in multiple places that the NEC EA231WMi is an e-IPS panel, so I don't know what to believe.

And also, I would only want to go about $400 max each
Click to expand...

It is junk. just read the thread here with 9/10 posts people having issues with it.

a fucking joke of a monitor
 
rasen said:
So what I am getting from all of this is that the HP and the NEC are probably the best out of the bunch. But is the NEC so good that its worth losing the extra inch of screen? I'd prefer to have two 24's, but if the NEC's are that spectacular over the HP, I would consider that too.
Click to expand...

The NEC isn't that much different than the HP, certainly not worth the price premium. I'd go with the HP.
 
rasen said:
So what I am getting from all of this is that the HP and the NEC are probably the best out of the bunch. But is the NEC so good that its worth losing the extra inch of screen? I'd prefer to have two 24's, but if the NEC's are that spectacular over the HP, I would consider that too.
Click to expand...

I really can't say because I've only had the NECs. I think it depends on your resolution preference. The HP will give you 1920x1200 and 24", the NEC will give 1920x1080 and 23". The NEC has excellent build quality and stand with built in cable management. If ergonomics are important to you then it's the best 23" monitor imo. With input lag of only 8ms it is also one of the most responsive IPS monitors you can get.

I can definitely see the attraction for a 24" monitor like the HP ZR24W for another $100 more. Oh be aware that the monitor lacks a scalar function, so it really won't handle 16:9 designed content that well. It will probably stretch to fit. This is from what I've heard. But the picture should be pretty good for what you're paying for it. I believe that it has the same panel as the U2410. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
 
vjcsmoke said:
I can definitely see the attraction for a 24" monitor like the HP ZR24W for another $100 more. Oh be aware that the monitor lacks a scalar function, so it really won't handle 16:9 designed content that well. It will probably stretch to fit. This is from what I've heard. But the picture should be pretty good for what you're paying for it. I believe that it has the same panel as the U2410. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
Click to expand...

Don't think so on either point. I was under the impression it had a scaler and could do 1:1 last I looked in to it. I know it's not an e-IPS panel, however, like the U2410. It's a "real" H-IPS panel, unless they've changed panels since the initial run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top