I have had my CRT crash on me and now need a monitor. By the end of this week I should be in a position to order the Dell Ultrasharp U2311h for roughly £265. This is the very top of my budget so only products costing less or the same can be considered. Have I made the right choice? I'm going for quality but have a few reservations. I wanted HDMI and component connections but this Dell does not have any. I can use the DVI for Gaming Console or Cable box as I already have a DVI to HDMI cable. I did notice a Samsung P2470HD for around the same price. This is a TV/Monitor with all the connections and a stated 50,000 Dynamic Contrast Ratio. I know it is not an IPS display so quality is a worry. Any suggestions?
it's a good choice, should always go for good panel as it will allow for much better viewing experience. don't be too hang up on dynamic contrast ratio, it doesn't tell you ANYTHING. it's an useless bit of information manufacturers like to put out there, because the number looks impressive. in reality, you do NOT want dynamic contrast to be turned on at all. a good panel should give over 800:1 of contrast ratio, and im pretty sure the TN panel in that Samsung cannot achieve it.
Personally I have used a samsung P2370HD as a PC monitor and for a PS3 and it was fine for everything. Obviously the quality probably isn't as good but it is multi-functional so i guess it depends what you require more.. I can't yet justify splashing out for a new monitor when I already have the samsung. Without directly comparing image quality side by side with a better screen then I don't feel like I'm looking at a poor quality display when using it
If you're going to be gaming on the pc using that monitor it might be worth noting the 8ms response time. Think that's the very limit for gaming without ghosting or at least a little @8ms. But it's a nice monitor nonetheless
Using the monitor myself and I can highly recommend it; response time isn't an issue in the slightest, the only thing you'll notice initially is that in the corners there seems to be noticeable backlight bleeding, but after the first few hours of using it I actually haven't noticed it once since (probably just got used to it). It isn't major or anything, but something to note. I'd give the monitor a 9/10 definitely. Fantastic image quality.
the backlight bleeding, i'd expect, is the infamous IPS issue. i notice it when looking from above-ish angle on my U2711. about display lag, it's actually one of the lowest monitor. http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2311h.htm anything below 30ms is perfectly fine and unnoticeable. even though TN panels may say they have 2ms response time, the low quality built-in scaler and processing chips may add a low to it.
Seems like there are trade-offs. I want quality and can handle the lack of audio from the Dell. It would be nice to have the connections and audio and remote control of the Samsung. I also find it difficult to conceive the lack of HDMI on any monitor/TV today. There are work-arounds for these issues and if the quality is good enough I am willing to do just that. But its nice to have the functionality from the get go. Thanks to all the feedback so far. It is much appreciated.
You can easily adapt DVI to HDMI. Usually even with audio, but given the Dell's lack of speakers that wouldn't do you much good. I'd get the Dell (or any other model with a great panel) over anything TN-based in a heartbeat. Image quality is what counts in the end.
Yes.. known IPS side effect, although it's not back light bleed, it's a viewing angle problem with dark tones.
You're right; when you look at the corners directly the bleed mostly disappears, so it is definitely viewing angle related.
The light comming from the panel isn't uniform in all directions. This is actually caused by the anti-glare coating scattering light. This isn't quite like a view angle problem since that is related to colour inversion. This is strictly a brightness issue when viewed off center. Difference in brightness is most noticable on a pure black screen and almost unoticable on white or coloured screen. This issue is dominant on large format displays since any given part of the screen would be viewed off center unless you are sitting very far away.
It's not, because the Apple IPS screens do it as well, and they have no anti-glare coating. It's definitely a viewing angle problem with blacks - as if the LCD becomes less opaque at sharp angles. I can only imagine that it's got something to do with the polarising angles of IPS screens, hence NECs much missed use of the A-TW polarising film which cured the problem.
Took the plunge and went with the Dell Ultrasharp u2311H. I will still give myself grief over the lack of HMDI and Component connections but I'm hoping the quality will make up for it. The sound from the PC won't be an issue it's just the audio from the PS3 to the speakers. Can't wait for the delivery...
has the monitor arrived yet? if so, how are you finding it? I'm struggling to choose between this and the u2410... i'm not sure i can justify £100 for the difference, although it would be nice to have the extra space as my current monitor is 1920x1200 and i'd rather not step down.
Yes, the monitor has arrived and is a thing of beauty. It is also £200 cheaper than the u2410, not £100. I wanted the 24" but had a tight budget. It is the best monitor I've ever had. Straight out of the box the colours are amazing. I have so far only changed the default brightness from 75 to 35. The DisplayPort works brilliant with my 5770 in Ubuntu, XP and Win 7. Videos are amazing and my photos have great quality that I never noticed before. I hook my PC direct to my speakers so am glad Dell spent all their energy for this monitor on the picture quality. I've used the DVI to connect to my PS3 with a DVI-HDMI cable. For the sound I connected my PS3 component cable audio to my speakers. The Blue-Ray movies are even better than on my 32" HDTV. Simply stunning and you get great viewing angles which is awesome for chillin' and watching a film. And the games look amazing. All my favourite games look great! I love this monitor even more than I thought I would. It looks and oozes quality. For the money I could not have bought anything better - I actually feel like I got a bargain!! (I bought the Rev 01 version from PCBUYIT).
This was the monitor I was planning on getting. Hadn't seen any reviews on it anywhere, glad to see that its good, hope you enjoy it!
Get it for Christmas. You know you deserve it! I was using a samsung 23"TV after my CRT gave up the ghost but this is in a different league. Even XP looks crisp. I also have Win 2000 Pro in a virtual box in Ubuntu and on full screen it looks wow at 1080P. The only down side was not having more connections such as HDMI but a few cables solve that problem. Just make sure you're not on his naughty list...
