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HP ZR2740w - High Resolution IPS that Doesn't Break the Bankby Chris Heinonen on 3/16/2012 1:15 AM EST
119 Comments
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Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThese monitors have been floating around the $700 price range for some time now. Not a fan of a 16:9 monitor for that price, this monitor also has terrible response time for anyone that plays any games. I don't see anything really special about this. Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkPlease define "terrible", because in my experience less than a frame of lag is nothing. I have an older S-PVA (Dell 2408WFP) with about three frames of lag. My personal threshold is around 20ms before it starts getting bad, relative to an S-IPS 30" display. Based on Chris' measurements I would guess I could get away with ~35ms delay relative to a CRT.
As for your comment in regards to price, you're smoking something:
$600 27" LCDs have been around for a long time, but they were all 1920x1080 or maybe 1920x1200. If you can provide links to any other 2560x1440 27" displays with IPS panels that cost less than $700, let's see them. I can't recall ever seeing anything like that for this price, outside of the HP ZR2740w. Reply
Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI've heard people claim that an input lag above 10 starts getting bad. As for the price you're looking at FULL retail. I've seen these monitors for sale on a number of places. My U3011 has an MSRP of $1500, I bought it for $1150 on sale and during that time the u2711 was at $750. I've seen brand new HP 2560x1440 IPS monitors for $650. Sales come by decently often, you just have to put some effort in scoping out deals. Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkA periodic sale is one thing, a normal price is another. The ZR2740w might go on periodic sales for under $550 given the current MSRP. It's good to see the base price well under $1000 for one of these displays for a change. Reply
esse09 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkHello Jarred,
the U2711 retails for the same price as the ZR2740w.
Based on your own reviews i'd say you should suggest picking the Dell monitor instead of this one as far as bang for the buck is concerned. What do you think? Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIt depends what you're after, really. The U2711 currently goes for more like $830+ based on what I can find:
That's a full $200 more than what we can find the ZR2740w selling for, and it's not all sunshine and roses for the U2711. It has excellent colors, more connectivity options... and more input lag/processing lag. Tom's Hardware measured lag at 98ms (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ultrasharp-u27... but I measured it at just 16-18ms (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/4). I'm not sure which is "right", so I'll leave that to you.
If you don't need the extra inputs or high color gamut, and you'd prefer to save $200, I'd take the HP. If you can get the Dell on sale for $630, however, I'd probably go that route. Reply
Mitch89 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - linkI'm a big fan of the U2711, I've used two of them on a video editing suite I built and they are gorgeous. They are AU$899 here in Australia, and despite the fact they cost more here than the US (despite our dollar being higher...) they are easily worth the money. Reply
Ramiliez - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkMagical number for 60Hz panels is 16,7 ms
Common monitor refresh rate is 60Hz that means every 16,7 ms image is refreshed therefore response time (crystal color change + input lag) below 16,7 ms is useless
For 120Hz panels the magic number is 8,3 ms Reply
mathew7 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkPlease don't confuse refresh rate and input lag.
Input lag means the time for a pixel on the wire to be shown on screen. If a monitor waits for a whole image before refreshing it's panel, then yes, you will have 16ms input lag. But this will be for the top-left pixel. The bottom-right will be less, as the panel refresh nowadays is much faster than accepted refresh rate.
And 0 input+processing lag is desireable for any fast-paced action. It's not useless, it's ideal. And don't forget also the rendering time.
PS: your comparison is like saying that if your car's top speed is 100mph, then there is not reason for you to drive more than 100 miles. Reply
imaheadcase - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkInput lag is only as bad as the person who uses the monitor notices.
I have a U2410 24inch and don't notice a difference in gaming with it vs a 120hz monitor. Reply
cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThe last time I find the U2711 (non-refurbished) for sale was early December, and that was for $849 without a coupon. It used to be on sale more often, but not much recently, and so most people are going to be paying $1,000 or so for it. Comparing an occasional sale price to a list price of $729 is apples to oranges. Reply
Lemure - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkThose claims are wrong, any LCD with input lag of around 10 and under are all extremely quick. The HP zr series ips panels along with the dell 23" e-ips and NEC e-ips all have low input lag and are great for gaming. And if input lag was such a huge issue you would not bother to buy an LCD in the first place, you would be buying the Sony fw900. So unless you are competing at the highest levels of CS or Quake, such a difference is unnoticeable. Reply
IlllI - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link"If you can provide links to any other 2560x1440 27" displays with IPS panels that cost less than $700, let's see them."
i kindly direct you to this topic http://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/reviewed-400-25...
supposedly have same ips panel that apple display has.
maybe you guys can do a professional review of one, since the other reviews are in a different language. Reply
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI am waiting eagerly with glee Reply
seanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linki was actually going to make a reference to the catleap.
the sales price (at korea) is 250 dollars for 27 inch and i think all catleap monitor *could* be set to 90+ Hz which is actually bounded by the graphic card.
i cancelled my U2711 shipment few days ago decide to give this monitor a try. with Dell i am paying about 900 dollars (tax + env fee) which would bought me 2 of those 27 inch monitor.
and yes, i fully agree with Snowshredder102. we are not talking about black friday price. and paying MSRT is probably not a smart thing to do to purchase anything. ESPECIALLY with DELL. their stuff goes on sale every other week. the U2711 has been around 700 since last year, if not the year before. Reply
seanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkfor some reason, i highly doubt anandtech site will review a non-US market display. actually this webiste once made a statement that they only review what vender provides to them (with VERY few exceptions, the thinkpad review was one of them, and PSU comparison was another)
anandtech is great source to learn new technology and hardware performance. However, i wouldn't use it for any serious system comparison due to conflict of interest (or i think). i doubt they will put any unfavorable words for vender provided machines and i am pretty positive there is some financial reasons.
with that said, i will do my own review on OC once i receive the monitor. Reply
Crazyeyeskillah - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkJared is right on all accounts. I bought the zr30w because there is absolutely no noticeable input lag. It performs about on par with my sony fw-900 crt. The lack of included scaler makes this possible.
As for pricing, the only monitors in this price range come from korea named shimian and catleap. You have to buy them from one of two ebay sellers and there are no returns or warrantees. you have about a 1/4 chance of getting a defective product for about 4-500$ so it's a crapshoot.
I'd really like to see how this compares with my zr30w with the addition of the LED lighting. I think the zr30w is the best gaming monitor on the market with nothing even remotely close. The lack of lag, an ips panel, size, gamut, resolution and brightness are astounding even when compared to the 2200$ paw. Reply
seanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkthose monitor technically can be exchanged for free except shipping back to korea will set you 100 dollar easy.
i am scheduled to go to Korea for a month long business trip, so i am actually thinking about checking it out there and ship it to U.S. the price as far as i know is 250~550 depend on the version you get (8 bit vs 10 bit).
apparently all catleap panel can handle up to 100 Hz
the 250 dollar version doesn't have any OSD, but a bit more expensive versions do. Reply
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkKey word some.
The catleap panels are not designed to do any refresh rate besides 60 hertz. Some catleap panels can be overclocked and a good amount of people were getting 85 to 97 hertz.
That said it appears the day of overclocking catleap panels are over since they newer manufactured ones (but still same model number) is using a new revision for a part and this part can only do about 60 to 67 hertz.
Click on "OC vs. Non-OC Monitor Internals (Click to hide)" Reply
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkWhile I agree it is a crapshoot and there is a chance you may get a product that breaks soon after the first few weeks you are vastly overrating the chance of a dead of arrival.
This thread had 2 out of 96 people have a DOA or item was not shipped. Of those 2 they actually did not post in the thread detailing their experience, instead just answering the poll. (It is completely possible these items took forever to ship and thus they answered the poll the item did not shipped.)
Furthermore if the item is DOA you can use Ebays or Paypal buyer protection program to get a refund.
Now if the item has 5 or less dead pixels you are out of luck them unless you pay return shipping, since all the vendors advertise the 5 dead pixel policy and they advertise the item is new in a box. Furthermore if the item dies in 3 months you are out of luck, you may be able to get the original manufacture to cover it but you would be responsible to ship it back to South Korea. If the item breaks in 18 months you will be out of luck...etc
So in sum a crapshoot, but a crapshoot with good odds. I would not recommend this deal to everyone, but if you know what it is going in then it is a good deal. Reply
flowrush - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link"nothing even close" is wrong. There are plenty of other monitors exceeding its performance, particularly the 120hz refresh rate. I'll take an Acer GD235HZ ANY day over the zr20w. 30" is way too big for fps games I play anyhow. 'Gaming' monitors are all relative to what type of games you play. In super fast twitch fps games like Quake/Unreal/Tribes, you're going to easily notice the difference in smoothness and seeing whats going on around you during dynamic fights requiring constant 180+ degree turns. And you don't need a $2200 fw900 to get a great crt. My CPD-G520 is just as good as the fw900, except it doesn't hold the wide resolutions (un necessary for gaming, 4:3 or 8:5 is fine by many). and can be had on craigslist for less than $100. Reply
thunderjunk - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThe best part of the article is the Buy.com add at the top of the page. Selling this monitor for $888.99. I noticed it RIGHT after i read "... a street price that comes in at $700 or below..."
I then immediately facepalmed. Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkHa... unfortunately, we don't control the linked in ads or where the prices come from. Many places sell it for under $700, so boycott Best Buy. :-) Reply
Chapbass - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI know its popular to bash best buy, but thunderjunk clearly said buy.com, not best buy... Reply
Kjella - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkHehe I've had the same thing at our national version of pricewatch... I just searched for best prices for component X, then I get an ad out on the side offering the component for a much higher price. It's like "come to us, our prices are SO much higher". That's what you get with keyword advertising. Reply
ComputerGuy2006 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkid pay over 2k easily for a monitor that does 2560x1600 @120hz.
If they can do higher resolutions on TV's or higher DPI on phones, why cant we get a legit monitor with a better res then 2560x1600 or a better refresh rate then 60hz? Reply
bobsmith1492 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThat's 11Gbit/sec (24-bit color x 2560 x 1600 x 120), a lot of data to process... on a 1920x1080 TV it's only 6Gbit/sec.
It looks like DVI does 1.65Gbit/sec per wire pair, with 3 pairs in a standard DVI cable (4.95Gbit/sec) and 6 pairs in a dual-link DVI (9.9Gbit/sec). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interf...
So, even a dual-link DVI cable couldn't support 2560x1600x120Hz. Looks like it's time for triple-link! :-) Reply
Juddog - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkDisplayport could handle it though. 17.28 Gbit/s for the newest standard. Reply
B3an - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkDVI???
It's not 2005 anymore :)
Theres Display Port 1.2 and HDMI 1.4 now. All my 2560x1600 monitors have both. And higher end AMD cards have had both as well for some time. The 6000 and 7000 series have DP 1.2 which should be able to handle 2560x1600 @ 120hz. Reply
Zoomer - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIt should be able to handle 90 Hz at this resolution, though. And the panels should be able to handle it, too. Reply
paohyean - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkNice monitor..
I own a U2311H and I like the included USB Hub..
I just attach my webcam, Bluetooth key and wireless keyboard/mouse receiver onto it..
Reduces a lot of the cable clutter.. Reply
EnzoFX - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThe first/early HP 30" displays did the same thing with handling the input, I don't think it scaled though. Anyways, it made for great low input lag. I remember it being one of the lowest if not the lowest for IPS displays, and probably still is, since now you have pretty advanced features and scaling stuff. I love the idea of this. I suppose I could simply rely on something else when I really need input flexibility. I only dislike the bezel HP uses =P. Reply
EnzoFX - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link*since you have more advanced features/input handling/scaling stuff these days... I meant to say. Reply
darkswordsman17 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkhttp://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1675393
Comes with caveats though (eBay sellers, they ship from Asia, so returns/exchanges are gonna be a pain), but seems most people are having pretty good experiences. Reply
Zoomer - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkAlso a lower binned panel (A-) vs A++. Reply
ypsylon - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkRunning it for some time now. Bought it for equivalent of 830 USD but that is the problem with products coming from USA to Europe. Oh joys... ;p
Best LCD I ever owned. The only problem I can't find with it is too high lumination - 380cd. Far too much for IPS matrix. 250 cd should be more than enough. Despite that I still love it. Lack of OSD - not an issue after calibration. Running it at lowest lumination. 99.9% imaginable task can be done at this settings. But when you crank up brightness (if you doing CAD or 3D modeling) then it hurts eyes, still it is better than 30" model from the same family which uses CCFL not LED. I was split between Dell 27" and this little beast. Went with HP for 3 main reasons: LED not CCFL, smaller power drain, pivot. For those who whining that matrix is too slow for gaming blah, blah, blah. Have you ever played with monitor equipped with matrix different than TN? 10-12ms on IPS with 1000:1 is perfect matrix. Never, not once noticed any problem with that setup. Games, movies, job. It deals perfectly with anything I can think of. Response time is important with TN. While marketing slogans on TN shout : Response time: FTL or Contrast ratio: 958000000:1. That stuff is only for idiots. Like I said. HP ZR2740w is excellent, not perfect, but still supremely fine product. I'm not a person who will whine about it being 16:9 and not 16:10. A non-issue for me, and I never was interested in 120Hz model. Reply
JohnBooty - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link"The only problem I can't find with it is too high lumination - 380cd. Far too much for IPS matrix. 250 cd should be more than enough."
Do LED backlights get dimmer over time, like CCFL backlights?
With CCFLs, you definitely want to buy one with more illumination than you'll ever need, since the maximum brightness will fade considerably over time - the 300cd CCFL monitor you buy today might only be able to produce 200cd after a few years of heavy use.
But I'm unclear as to whether this is an issue with LED backlighting. Reply
Tetracycloide - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkLEDs definitely fade over time. They're supposed to last longer than CCFLs though but I'm not sure what that means in terms of illumination. Assuming they fade at the same rate relative to their lifespan it means LEDs will fade but fade more slowly but that's a pretty big assumption. Your guess is probably as good as mine but I can say for certain that LEDs do fade. Reply
Swirlser - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkMy apple 30s are 6 or 7 years old now, so those res's have been around quite a bit more than a few years.
Pretty cheap looking and performing monitors, but I guess they are priced as such. So an adequate option for those not pushed on finer details.
(wish apple didn't stop making the 30s, hate to think that a decade on when I need new monitors I'll possibly be downsizing!) Reply
Tchamber - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI have this unit's little brother, the ZR24, and I love it. Viewing angles are great from this line. I do like that mine has an OSD, though. I think it's funny that the OP said it's too much money for a 16:9 monitor, when it has much more resolution than 99.9% of monitors out there :) people always say 1920x1080 is too little, now 1440 is too little too... Reply
Visual - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThe 16:10 variant would be 1600 px vertical, and 30 inch diagonal. It is quite understandable why anyone with a brain would prefer that. And there have been several such 30" monitors reaching similar price to this 27" so the OP is right about it being too much money, hopefully some nice discounts will appear for it though.
People were using 1600x1200 15 years ago on 20 inch CRTs. Getting less vertical resolution now is really sad.
If a 10" iPad can have better resolution, I don't see how you can think this one is OK. Reply
iieeann - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkOuch, still a retarded 16:9 product. When will a 16:10 27"-30" IPS monitor come out...
I am still using the old dell 2709W. Not an IPS but i keep it because of 16:10. Reply
DanNeely - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkat least five years ago (Dell 3007); not sure if it was the first 2560x1600 monitor; but Dells model number scheme at the time baked in the year making it easy to date. Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link30" with 2560x1600 have been out for years, but they usually cost nearly twice as much as the 27" pendants. Vote with your pocket if you are serious, I am fine with 16:9 in this size range (though I go 16:10 below that). Reply
dcollins - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkGet over it already, 16:10 is gone. 16:9 has become the standard whether you like it or not, so you should start getting used to it. Move your Windows taskbar or OSX dock to the side, that gives you ~80px. If you absolutely MUST have vertical resolution, do what my buddy does: buy two smaller monitors and use them in portrait. Learn to adapt. Reply
Sabresiberian - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkYou are clueless. 16:10 is far from gone, in fact several companies have released new 1920x1200 screens in the last few months. 16:10 is also the standard in a 30" display.
Apple is releasing a new notebook this year which will be 2880x1800, 16:10. Asus has at least one product coming out with a 10.1" 1920x1200 display.
There are people all over the internet complaining about 16:9 monitors these days. You can't go to a hardware review site without seeing a growing numbers of people posting about how they think 16:9 is trash for a monitor. Reply
cheinonen - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkRight, but those hardware review sites (like here) are a representation of a very, very small slice of the monitor buying population. For that small slice, and professional designers and other people, there are still 16:10 panels being produced with their associated price premium. For most people, they're plenty happy with 16:9 panels and the more affordable price with them, and I really wish the comments didn't get filled with this endless diatribe every single monitor review. Reply
EnzoFX - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkJust get a bigger 16x9. The argument is dumb IMO once you're at this high resolution. Reply
piroroadkill - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIf you're going to talk about affordable 27" 2560x1440 panels, you're missing the whole point: the Korean domestic market monitors: The Catleap/Shimian whatever other name monitor. Uses a 2560x1440 LG panel and can be had for ~$400 SHIPPED. Reply
piroroadkill - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkSorry, just so I don't leave people hanging, yes these are real, no they are not a scam, yes sometimes they have a couple of dead pixels, but that's perfectly acceptable:
Pixel perfect guarantee: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-YAMAKASI-CATLEAP-Q270-... Reply
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThese are monitors are usually being shipped from South Korea (if they are not shipped from South Korea then they were shipped from South Korea to a US ebay seller who then shipps it to you), they are not meant for the US so dealing with a warranty would be a pain in the ass since you would have to ship the monitor back to South Korea. It is unclear if a third party warranty such as square-trade would honor these monitors since these monitors were not meant for the US.
All these monitors are Glossy. They use a LG S-IPS panel LM270WQ1, same one found in the Apple Cinema Display. Just because they use the same panel does not mean the rest of the monitor parts are of the same quality (PCB, Capacitors, etc)
You need a spare monitor/pc power cord since they naturally come with the South Korean power cord. The transformer the panel uses though is both 110 and 220 so all you need is a US computer cord.
There are several brands out there that use the same panel
Achieva Shimian -QH270-Lite also known as QH270-IPSBS, No Glass, Speakers, No Scalar, only Dual Link DVI Input, Easy Access Vesa Mounting
Achieva Shimian -QH270-IPSB, has tempered glass (tempered glass is unprefered since sometimes dust gets between the panel and the glass), no speakers, no scalar, only dual link dvi input
Yamasaki Catleap Q270 There are five versions of this monitor. All these versions have a vesa mount but you must rip open the case to access it.
4 of the versions without a scalar and only dvi-d. How these monitors differ is no glass no speakers, no glass with speakers, glass with no speakers, glass with speakers
The 5 version has a scalar and has dvi-d, hdmi, vga, and speakers. A scalar will introduce more input lag.
Crossover 27Q LED and 27Q LED-P. Once again no scalar only dvi d. The P version has a stand that can pivot.
Finally there are the Motv M270LED Q7 and Pcbank 3VIEW PB2700, I do not know much of these two models and there are less user experience on these models at overclock.net and hardforum.
These monitors can have up to 5 dead pixels. If they have more than 5 dead pixels they are considered defective under South Korea consumer protection laws. That said the e-bay (re)seller will be shipping you a new item in a box, if these panels have more than 5 dead pixels you can send it back but return shipping is on you and that is about a hundred bucks. You can always pick a listing with a "pixel perfect guarantee" but that does not mean you are going to have no dead pixels, instead the e-bay seller prior to shipping you a new in box item is going to open the item count the number of dead pixels and if there is less than 5 he will send it out to you. If there is more than 5 pixels he is going to get a refund from his monitor seller.
I want to repeat that this is not a scam but you are taking a very big risk.
If the monitor dies, you will have no stateside US warranty. The internal components are most likely not of the same quality of the major US brands since in south korea these monitors retail for 250 to 300 US (prior to shipping.)
If the monitor has dead pixels>5 you can get a refund but you will be the one who is paying return shipping. Reply
piroroadkill - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI'm glad you added such detailed information - I still think it's probably worth the risk for almost half the cost of competing monitors from elsewhere.
Most cheap monitors come with a 1 year warranty which is usually not much use anyway, unless you get something like a Dell with a 3 year on-site advanced-swap warranty (like my U2410, and I've used it once), then it's nothing to panic about, since you're unlikely to use the warranty in the first year anyway. Reply
Tetracycloide - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkWhat does 'A scalar' mean in this context? Reply
piroroadkill - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkA scalar would take an input and resize the video stream.
I'm guessing without it will only do 1:1 based on the DVI input. Reply
Tetracycloide - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThanks. Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkScalers are needed to support any non-digital, non-native resolution input. So if you want VGA or HDMI for instance, a scaler is necessary. (It's necessary for HDMI because HDMI needs to be able to accept 720p and 1080p streams as a minimum.) Because scalers handle other items, you also get an OSD (on screen display) for changing monitor settings. I don't know that I've ever seen anything 1920x1200 or lower resolution without a scaler, but for a while no one had a 2560x1600 scaler available so all the early 30" LCDs did without. Reply
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkAs Piroroadkill and JarredWalton explained a scalar allows the monitor to show an input that was lower or higher to be rescaled to the screen. Many people run their monitors at some non native resolution (often to make the text bigger for they don't know how to increase DPI) because of this it is very common to see 1920x1080 monitors run at some nasty resolution such as 1024x768 or 1366x768 so that text would appear bigger. A scalar will take that 1366x768 and then stretch that input to the monitor real resolution.
All digital monitors with vga inputs will have a built in scalar. Furthermore every monitor that has a resolution greater than 1080p that has hdmi has a scalar in it, since only hdmi 1.4 (and the monitor states its supports fast hdmi since many 1.4 devices don't implement the entire standard) can't display resolutions greater than 1920x1200. Because of this almost every monitor on the market has some form of scalar built in. Scalars kinda idiot proof computers and cause less resturns.
Scalars do have some bad sides though because it is not a feature you can turn off. Scalars introduce more video processing into the monitor thus driving up costs as well as increasing the amount of input lag the monitor has. You get more lag even if you are driving the monitor at is native resolution. Newer scalars that are recent though are usually much better than scalars from 5 years ago.
Most nvidia and ati cards do support gpu scalaring in their drivers (if you enable this feature), what this does is the operating system see the monitor as the desired resolution, but the video card will then resize the display and send the resized display to the monitor. Thus most hard core pc gamers that complain about input lag don't care if a high end ips don't have a scalar. If you want to plug your x-box or ps3 into your monitor you need a scalar though.
One big deal about not having a monitor with a scalar is some video cards and some bios won't allow you to see the bios prior to windows boot since the bios is broadcast at a lower resolution. This isn't a problem when you are loaded into windows since you can use gpu scaling or use 1:1 scalaing, but it can be a PITA if you don't have a second monitor which has a built in scalar. Reply
cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThere is very little chance this panel would be reviewed for a few reasons:
- There is no company to provide a sample for review, as there is no US Distributor
- I'm not in the market for a 27" panel right now, so I'm not going to buy one for myself
- Even if it performed well, with no service and support in the USA, there is no way I could feel comfortable about recommending it to a reader. It would be too much of a crap shoot to say it's worth it.
If someone wants to take that risk and try it out then they are free to, but until it's something that is sold in the US with a company behind it, it's not something I would be writing a review of. Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThis is an okay monitor if you must have LED backlighting, don't care about connectivity or OSD. Because for 30€ more, I can buy the Dell U2711 which is superior in everything, but energy consumption (because of CCFL backlight).
I'm glad I could catch a Samsung S27A850D at 540€. Has everything I need. :-) Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link"With no HDMI port, there are also no speakers in the HP either." That explanation is wrong. DP can transmit audio singals as well and some displays offer extra 3.5mm connectors for audio to their monitors. :-) Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkAnd another thing: "High gamut displays running sRGB content can sometimes look oversaturated if your applications aren't color space aware." Most WCG monitors offer sRGB modes. My old HP w2408h does, the Dell U2711 does, most NEC and Eizos do.... Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkBut with no OSD or scaler, obviously there's no color mode select. Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkYes, but the statement in the review makes it sound as if that is a problem with all WCG monitors. Of course it doesn't apply to this model, because it doesn't even have WCG to begin with. But saying this is a plus because WCG monitors are oversaturated when most offer perfectly fine sRGB modes in their standard-OSD sounds to me like someone is looking for ways to promote this mediocre monitor. :-) Reply
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI reviewed quite a few wide color gamut monitors back in the day that lacked an sRGB mode. Laptops with wide color gamut often have this issue as well (Dell Studio XPS 16 RGB LED for example). But before you try to imply that we are saying all WCG have problems, let's just look at the article text:
"For many users, [77% gamut is] actually not a problem and could even be seen as a plus. (High gamut displays running sRGB content can sometimes look oversaturated if your applications aren't color space aware.)"
*Could* be seen as a plus, *sometimes* look oversaturated. In other words, it depends on the specific monitor and settings available, as well as the intended use. Reply
Oxford Guy - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkA better way to state it is:
Like most displays on the market, it only has a standard gamut white LED backlight, so it is listed as being able to display 99.9% of the sRGB color space and 77.2% of the Adobe RGB space. The sRGB space is the smallest gamut standard for display purposes, although it is the dominant space for general computing at this time. The Adobe RGB space is larger, but few games offer Adobe RGB content and it is generally limited to specific professional and prosumer usage, such as high-quality printing, photography, and art. General-purpose monitors that offer coverage beyond sRGB should have an effective sRGB emulation mode to avoid oversaturated colors when viewing sRGB content, such as most of the web. Some monitors, such as the Dell U2410, offer accurate sRGB emulation modes. Reply
bryanlarsen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkAwesome, these monitors pivot, which is rare for monitors this large. Two of them set up in portrait mode would make an awesome crazy dual screen setup! Reply
kasakka - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkSince you'll be relying on color profiles for accurate colors, I'm guessing by the time you open any app that doesn't support them (mainly games) you will have tinted colors. I don't know how bad it is with factory settigns, but my Dell 3008WFP is pretty awful if you don't use a custom calibration setting set with the OSD. Reply
hechacker1 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIt depends on the game, but most games that use fullscreen will reset your LUT and mess up the color calibration.
It's unfortunate, since the games don't have to do that, but they all seem to do it.
However, there are software work-arounds. My spyder 3 comes with a utility that loads the icc profile every minute just for that reason.
Or you can use DisplaycalGUI to load the profile on demand. Most games will only clear the LUT when they launch, so you can just reload the profile after. Reply
PPalmgren - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkYou know, a lot of people are still skeptical of input lag and I can say for certain that it is a factor having bought an S-PVA panel around 2006/7. While you show all the theoretical factors to these skeptics, I have an idea for a somewhat objective real-world performance test that you could show people, and also manage to have a little fun in the meantime.
Ever play those clicky games where you have to click things rapidly? Play them 10 times, alternating, on a very high input lag monitor then on a low input lag monitor. Avarage the scores, and you might be surprised. I'd actually be willing to do this and am curious now that I thought of it. My desk has a 24' TN panel for games and a 24' S-PVA panel beside it. The lag on the PVA panel was the determining factor for me buying my TN panel. As someone with a past as a competitive gamer, I wonder if my scores will show any validity? Reply
Southernsharky - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link300 is about as much as I will pay for a monitor. Reply
Makaveli - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI agree bro,
$300 was alot for me when I was 12 too. Reply
dcollins - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI am 25, employed in IT and $300 is still a lot of money. Don't be a snob. $700 is hard to justify for a monitor if you're not in a profession that demands color accuracy. Reply
Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThe prices are certainly steep; however, my mindset on this is if I'm going to stare at the damn thing for 8+ hours a day it better look nice. Reply
cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIt also depends on what you are working on. If I'm dealing with massive Excel spreadsheets all day, for example, being able to see everything on screen at once, at a reasonable size, might mean that I cut out 10-15 minutes a day of scrolling back and forth to see my data. Add that up over a year or two, and it can be quite easy to justify the price of a high resolution monitor over even a pair of lower resolution ones.
I don't own a 27" monitor at this time, I usually use a 20" in portrait mode and a 24" CRT that sit on my desk, but I have to say that after having a 27" monitor around for a while, it did help with productivity and I would love to keep one around. Figuring out if its worth the cost is up to you, though I wouldn't say its limited to color accuracy at all. People that needs lots of space - working with Excel, programming, anything really could benefit. Reply
tumbleweed - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkThere is a lot more to these kind of monitors than color accuracy. My big problem with non-IPS panels are the limited viewing angles. Unless I hold my head in just the right spot, readability goes out the window. It's possible to make TN monitors with wide viewing angles, but hardly anyone does it.
You can find some 24" IPS monitors for #300-400 these days, and they're well worth it to me. I have the HP zr24W at home (the 24" version of this monitor's previous generation). It's one of the best computer equipment purchases I've ever made. One of the things you use 100% of the time on your computer is your screen. Don't skimp on this! You may not need a 27" monitor, but the 24" version of this is much more affordable, and still worth it. Reply
dcollins - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI stare at a computer screen all day every day for work. For my job as a programmer there is simply no way I could justify the 2-3x purchase price of IPS panel displays over TN. I fail to see how viewing angles matters at all since I am sitting directly in front of my screens, not more than 60 degrees off center.
I hate having a crappy TN panel on my laptop, but for my desktop, two Asus's like these get the job just fine for under $170 each: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... . Reply
AnnonymousCoward - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkIt's your choice: drive a car that costs $400 less and get a quality monitor, or drive that +$400 premium car. The monitor might last you 10,000hr, which is a 4 cent/hr premium. That's easily worth it to me. Reply
whitehat2k9 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI guess you and I have different definitions of "breaking the bank." Reply
colonelclaw - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI don't know anything about this HP, but with regards to your suggestion about using 2 Dell U2412Ms I can definitely give that idea the thumbs up. Having read your recent review of the Dell I bought 4 for my office. Now that they have been all calibrated I can say that they are spectacular, and for what I do (3D artist) working on 2 monitors is preferable to one single large one. Reply
Adul - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI have 2 of the ZR24w monitors on my desk now and my GF had to out do me and got two of these HP Z2740w on her desk. I love both monitors and both look great. I am going to have to borrow hers for some gaming this weekend :) Reply
xenol - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkWas it wrong of me to think "doesn't break the bank" immediately meant <$500? Reply
PrinceGaz - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link1. The built-in resolution scaling.
How does it compare with the scaling available in (for instance) nVidia graphics-card when driving digital displays over a DVI connection. Does 1920x1080 sent to the monitor look the same whether the scaling is done by the monitor or the graphics-card?
What about non-16:9 aspect-ratios; what happens if you send it a 1600x1200 signal? Is the aspect-ratio kept at 4:3 (so black bars down the sides) or does it stretch it to fill the whole screen? Can it handle 1280x1024, 1280x960, 1152x864, and also 640x480, and are they all displayed 4:3 or stretched to fill the 16:9 display?
2. Monitor calibration
Is the hardware/software for this available to hire, given it is quite expensive, is a one-off process for any monitor, and monitors tend to last for years? Reply
arjuna1 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkAt a $700 price point?? a little early April's fool joke, huh? Reply
cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkJust to address a lot of the comments at once, pricing on anything is relative. If all you can afford for a monitor is $300, then no matter how good a $700 monitor is, its going to cost too much. However, when all the existing 2560x1440 IPS displays (I'm not counting things that aren't sold in the USA) list for $1,000 or over, and someone comes in at $700, that is breaking the bank, relatively speaking. Any IPS/VA panel of this size, with this resolution, is going to be expensive at this point, but having one come out at $700 is a good move in the right direction. Reply
bji - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkYour post is accurate, except that I think you misunderstood the meaning of the phrase "breaking the bank". It means "costing too much", not "breaking a price barrier" which is what you seem to think it means. Reply
Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkBut cost is surely always related to performance, is it not? By your argument, paying $15 for a steak would be breaking the bank, because I can get a hamburger for $5. However, the OP and I would say that, because steaks normally cost $25, the price of this steak is pretty reasonable.
Therefore I say, "breaking the bank" always has to be a relative statement, because otherwise you couldn't buy anything about 500$ without "breaking the bank", which makes the saying useless. Reply
Owls - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkI have the HP ZR30W which I got last year and it's a phenomenal monitor. Well worth the $1k pricetag if you can swing it and I'm glad this one doesn't disappoint either. Reply
AnnonymousCoward - Friday, March 16, 2012 - linkDoes Delta E improve after software calibration, such as the nvidia color optimization wizard, or Calibrize? These tools are excellent, and I use them on every computer I use. I'm just curious if they lower Delta E. Reply
sellco2000 - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkI'm surprised no one mentioned the anti-glare on this monitor. I have a ZR2740 (and absolutely love it), but the anti-glare coating made text fuzzy for me. Maybe I was used to the non-IPS and larger pixel pitch of my prior monitors. I had to add an aftermarket anti-reflective sheet to it to make text sharp again. I feel like the choice of such an aggressive anti-glare was an almost deal-breaking flaw.
As far as the review went, I thought it was spot on. The color profiles matched pretty well with what I was able to get with my "I one color display 2" device. I think the simplicity is a huge advantage with this monitor (no speakers, no OSD, etc). Reply
pmeinl - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkFor me the aggressive anti-glare coating of all current IPS panels I have seen makes them unusable for text work (like programming).
I just bought a Samsung S27A850D (2560x1440, 730€ in Germany) which has a subtle anti-glare coating that does not cause the sparkle effect.
See http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1660116 Reply
cheinonen - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkI had three 27" displays here at the time, and the HP was in the bottom for AG coating (one specifically had more) and I never found it distracting, nor did my wife when she tried it out for a few days. I think some people are more sensitive to the AG coating than others, but I'm just not that sensitive to it. Now the coating they use for passive 3D, that is almost always a deal breaker for me, much more than AG coating. Reply
lid - Sunday, April 01, 2012 - linkI agree. I also purchased a ZR2740 and almost returned it because of the insane sparkle effect from the antiglare coating. I thought my monitor was defective until I read up about it, and the consensus seems to be that all 27" monitors, except for the Apple Cinema Display which does not have an antiglare coating, exhibit this effect. I noticed a similar effect on a Dell U2711, but not quite as bad. My ZR2740 died (assumed power supply failure) and I received a replacement with the same effect, so it's not defective. After a few months I have almost become accustomed to the ZR2740 antiglare but it still bothers me for the first few seconds when I start using it. I've been using antiglare screens on MacBook Pros for years and never noticed this effect on them. I hope manufacturers start to make 27" displays with a less aggressive antiglare coating. Reply
mschira - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkThey are in a similar price range, so what is new?
Also I just got a HP ZR 30w with 2560x1600 pixels for about 1000 AUD.
So where is the barging with a 27" for 700?
M. Reply
p05esto - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkThis might seem like a dumb question.... but how much heat does the fisplay give off? I work in a pretty small office (10-x10') on a second floor and it gets pretty hot in here. My current 26" monitor use CFL backlight and after a while you can really feel the heat from the front and top of the monitor (makes my face warm actually). Do the LED backlights totally eliminate the heat from the monitor?
I'm on a quest to remove and upgrade all heat emiting items from my office such as moving the PC to another room and fishing wires through the wall, LCD tv, LED light bulbs, etc.... the monitor is next.
If anyone could chime in on the real world difference of heat from a CFL to LED backlit monitor that would be great. Thanks. Reply
AnnonymousCoward - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkJust look at power consumption (watts). The efficient part is light output. For the same lumens, the difference in watts is the difference in heat. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkOne strategy for heat reduction is to minimize ambient light, making sure there is no light falling onto the panel, so you can reduce the overall brightness level of the monitor. Reply
seapeople - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkSometimes I wonder if all the people who go on reviews of 27"+ IPS displays and moan and groan about how much it costs also go to Corvette or Porsche websites and complain about the costs there, and how they can't "justify they cost" so they're instead going to buy a Camry.
Newsflash, if $300 is a huge sum of money to you, then don't bother reading top end monitor reviews and getting angry when you can't afford it... Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkI remember how much the Mac Portable cost, because it had an active matrix LCD. It was only monochrome and was tiny — but the screen was a huge advance, for huge money. Reply
Solidstate89 - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkIs there any chance of an Anandtech review of that new 27" Samsung PLS monitor with the beautiful matte?
I've only seen one review so far on HardwareCanucks, but they never go into as much detail as the monitor reviews here on Anandtech. Reply
cheinonen - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkReview samples seem to be hard to come by, but I'm trying to get one as soon as I can. I saw one at CES, and it looked quite nice. Reply
Solidstate89 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - linkThanks for the reply. Hopefully you guys can obtain one soon. I'm looking for a nice 27" monitor and the U2711, this HP monitor and the Samsung one are high up my list. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkThe early PLS monitors were not well-rated. Among other problems, they had poor contrast. I don't know if the tech has improved, but I think it has because as I recall, the most recently reviewed model on prad.de -- which may be the one you're talking about -- was well-rated. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkCheck the German version of the prad.de site with Google translate if you're a non-speaker. You may find the monitor you're looking for. Reply
The Ugly Truth - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkhttp://www.change.org/petitions/anandtech-forum-en...
Freedom of expression and freedom to have an online life outside of AT forums reach is all we ask. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link"Freedom of expression..."
There is no free speech, anywhere. No matter where you are, as long as there are a group of people -- government happens. When government happens, restrictions are placed on behavior. You won't find freedom of expression in the forums here or anywhere else. You'll only find degrees of it, and how well your agenda matches the agenda of the mods will determine how free you feel you are.
"and freedom to have an online life outside of AT forums"
This makes no sense, unless the forum implements some sort of slavery. Reply
Oxford Guy - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkUse Google translate:
Every monitor that comes through Anandtech should specify whether it uses PWM or constant control. Reply
cheinonen - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - linkThere was a good article at this at TFT Central as well (I try to read as much as I can) and adding a test for it was something I was hoping to get going soon. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkI read that, but I'd say the prad.de article is better. Reply
SantaAna12 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - linkEarlier this year you reviewed the Asus VA278Q. No mention of this? I ask because you presented it as an affordable quality 27 inch monitor with the same resolution to this one. As to the price of the Dell 27 the person saying "people are paying 1000.00$ for this monitor"........you must have money to burn. Reply
cheinonen - Monday, March 19, 2012 - linkThe ASUS was posted as being shown at CES, but hasn't started shipping or been reviewed by anyone yet. Once it starts to ship we will try to take a look at it. Reply
kenyee - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - linkThat would have made it an interesting display...the Dell looks better...least expensive 30-bit native display for high gamut... Reply
cheinonen - Monday, March 19, 2012 - linkFrom what I can find, the Dell also appears to be 8-bit + A-FRC for 10-bit, the same as the ZR2740w. Native 10-bit panels are very rare and expensive, as the 24" HP DreamColor with native 10-bit color costs almost $2,000. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link10-bit processing for a standard gamut white LED backlit display seems unnecessary. Reply
notathome - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - linkhttp://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/reviewed-400-25...
27" 2650x1440 for about $400. Yeah it has no features but, it will look great once it is calibrated. Reply
nastyemu25 - Monday, March 19, 2012 - linkI'd really like to see a review or something regarding these Yamakasi/Catleap Q270 monitors coming out of Korea. 27" LED 2560X1440 at an affordable price? yes plz
Why aren't any other manufacturers able to get something like this done? Reply
nastyemu25 - Monday, March 19, 2012 - linkOr maybe not a full review, maybe just some impressions or something... Reply
Mygaffer - Monday, March 19, 2012 - linkThey talk about how expensive these monitors are to make but that seems like so much smoke and mirrors. As far as I can tell these monitors have by far the highest margins on them of any type of monitor.
You can import from South Korea Catleap 27" S-IPS 2560x1440 monitors for $400 and less. Seeing as how they use very similar panels to the Apple Cinema display yet cost less than half as much shows you how much of a premium we are really being charged here. Reply
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - linkDoes it come with a flicker-free constant control backlight? Reply
Mygaffer - Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - linkWhy, does that add several hundred dollars to the cost? Mine does have brightness control. Reply