1920x1200 LCD monitors roundup

[amirm]

TIA, I can't really comment on future products. I hope you understand. You should really make your choice based on current capabilities. For me, even if there is a new MCE release, I can always use my current MCE as a very nice PC. It is not like dedicated CE equipment which has no other use if a better model comes out .

Generically speaking, Windows Vista version of Media Center will be more capable but you have to wait a while to get that.

On thin clients, this is going to sound very pro-MS and I don't mean it to be , but if you have the luxury of waiting, Xbox 360 would be a knock-out choice. It will have superb fidelity, able to even play HD content, and of course, gaming comes for the ride. If you can't wait, current solutions such as Linksys work fine too. I expect to see other nice remote nodes coming next year.

Amir

[amirm]

Originally Posted by btmedolin

IFirst, I already have a new high-end pc running XP Pro SP2. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought there is not an upgrade path to Media Center Edition from regular versions of XP. I don't want to buy a new pc, just to be able to watch TV on my L2335.

Second, Media Center Edition can only access over-the-air HDTV at this time.

Correct on both counts. Maybe you can sell your PC to someone else .

Amir

[Trancethereal]

Amir,

Thanks... and I understand your position on future products.

I currently have *cough cough* modded XBMC that works wonders. So, for me, that is somewhat of a preview as to what can and should be done if the correct design goals are given any considerations.

I was hoping to establish some formal best of breed approach if one was to start today or in the next 60 days...

If waiting till Nov. (hint hint??) is more appropriate, I can do that.

[irkuck]

Acer to deliver 24-inch wide screen LCD monitors in October. Acer is set to begin launching its 24-inch wide screen LCD monitor (AL2416W) with a 6ms response time to the global market early in the fourth quarter, according to the company.
Set to be priced at NT$ 28,800 (US$871) in Taiwan, the new 6ms response time 24-inch widescreen model features a native resolution of 1920×1200, and a contrast ratio of 1000:1.

http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20050921PR208

[randall]

Originally posted 10 months ago -- now on the streets for under $1700. Any first reports?

Originally Posted by amirm

I just saw the brand new Samsung 242MP at CES. It was driven by a computer but it had a really nice image.

Here is the announcement. Note the stated high contrast ratio (1000:1) and 500 cd2/m brightness.

I hope the price that I saw in Mac Central of $4400 is wrong. Otherwise, the exta 1" over the HP is going to cost you almost twice as much!

I will try to get one to test....

Amir

[quadad]

And what about the Acer 24" ? I don't see it on their web site or elsewhere, just lots of announcements.

[irkuck]

Originally Posted by randall

Originally posted 10 months ago -- now on the streets for under $1700. Any first reports?

10 months old??? Better forget this prehistoric stuff Only brand new Samsung 244T is now
worth talking about:

http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/P...018_0000201236

[martyj19]

Originally Posted by irkuck

10 months old??? Better forget this prehistoric stuff Only brand new Samsung 244T is now
worth talking about:

http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/P...018_0000201236

I agree -- the 244T looks like a major winner. Does not look like anyone has it yet however, even though the press release says it is "shipping".

[stephenC]

The press release does not mention HDCP in the 244T. Do you really want to spend money now on a monitor that is not HDCP compliant given the Vista announcements? I don't. This may just be an oversight on Samsung's part, but to me that's an important bit of information on a new monitor.

[martyj19]

Originally Posted by stephenC

The press release does not mention HDCP in the 244T. Do you really want to spend money now on a monitor that is not HDCP compliant given the Vista announcements? I don't. This may just be an oversight on Samsung's part, but to me that's an important bit of information on a new monitor.

The manual, which is about the only information that is available right now, does specify that it is HDCP compliant.

[stephenC]

Thanks, marty. That is very good news.

[spade111]

Ok, just a quick note, picked up the Acer Al2416WD today, am writing this message on it as we speak. Will post an in depth review of the unit tommorow at some point.

Highs - good white to black response, can go very bright, dvi, vga, very nice contrast and blacks, very nice and accurate colors, nice pixel structure - with only faint traces of pixel shimmer (much improved over previous panels), good shadow and highlight detail at the same time, impressive low resolution scaling, WMVHD looks good, very good detail in photographs.

lows - poor black to white response, the lowest brightness to which color gammut is correct is still quite bright (think greater than 200cdm), my particular unit suffers from uneven brightness control (ie: left side changes with brightness control, but not the right side - unsure if this unit is defective - will hear back from acer tommorow, so more on that later), not 16x9.... --->>> this thing is 16x10.

[MDK]

Originally Posted by spade111

Ok, just a quick note, picked up the Acer Al2416WD today, am writing this message on it as we speak. Will post an in depth review of the unit tommorow at some point.

Thanks for the info. Please let us know if you find anything else as you "kick the tires" on your new screen.
I'm thinking about this monitor for HTPC use. Anyone know how it will handle a 1080i signal over DVI? Will it accept such a signal and if so will it display 1 to 1 in a 1080x1920 letterbox or does it stretch things?
There seems to be far too little info out there on the North American version of this monitor. Even Acer's website doesn't say much. Best review I found thus far is for an earlier non-DVI incarnation of it:
http://www.behardware.com/articles/5...ides-6-ms.html

[JustinChase]

Originally Posted by spade111

Ok, just a quick note, picked up the Acer Al2416WD today, am writing this message on it as we speak. Will post an in depth review of the unit tommorow at some point.

Can you tell me if this monitor is HDCP compliant? I'm putting together a list of HDTV monitors, and want to include this information if I can find it. You can download my list here...

Please let me know if I'm missing any monitors or information, or have any errors. Also the HDCP column is blank at this time, as I just started looking for the info (which is about impossible to find)

Finally, any feelings on whether or not this is going to be necessary. Seems so, but it's hard to stay on top of all the changes.

[Morpheus_Rising]

Well, I was planning on starting a new thread for this but this place looks good. JustinChase - your chart is very similar to mine altough much nicer . I looked at 6 monitors so far, and I had 4 left to do. Once I was finished, I was planing on attaching my text file to the forum for everyone to read. You beat me to the punch. I don't know if you wanted to incorporate my info with yours.

Some info I couldn't find, so I left it blank. I'll add some comments and links later.

[Woodrow]

Morpheus_Rising,

I had to delete that last post of yours. It contained many links showing other than MSRP. Some of the links were alright. You can go ahead and repost the manufacturer links, but not any of the ones showing other than MSRP.

Thanks

[Morpheus_Rising]

The 4 models that I haven't looked at yet:

Philips 230W5BS
BenQ FP231W
Apple 23" Cinema HD
Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW

I didn't know about the Acer or the Sceptre models.

Comments:

Interestingly, both HP and LG have 21" / 20.1" LCD widescreen monitors (1680x1050). [HP F2105, LG M203W / LG M203WX].

LG has 3 other 23" widecreen montors - M2343 (1366x768), L2323AL (1280x768), L2300C (1366x768).

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For the LG, I first went to their Global site which has the model LG L2320AL, then I went to the LG US and LG Can sites which both have the model LG L2320A instead. There is a couple of small differences between the 2 models.

When looking at the pictures, there is a small box beside the monitor. At first I thought it was a speaker, since it looks like one, then I figured it was probably an external power supply (power brick). Well it is, sort of, it's called "Media Station box" and it has all of the connector ports on it just like the AVC box from the Sharp 45" LCD.

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The Viewsonic model is the only other model that has a power brick (and the second one that is HDCP - the other is the Samsung 244T).

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For the Samsung 244T, it's hard to find its true pixal response time. On the Samsung US site, it lists 6ms g-to-g and in another spot it is listed as 10ms g-to-g. On the Samsung Can site, it lists 25ms b-to-b. From this thread:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=966291

there's a debate about it. Some say it should be 16ms b-b not 25ms.

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For the Dell model: Dell gets it's panel from Samsung and it's a 'stripped-down' version.

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That's pretty much all my info to date. So far, I'm dropping the Viewsonic and LG models because of the power brick and the Dell because the Samsung 244T is much better. The model that I like the best so far, is the Samsung 244T. It would probably take my another 2 weeks to look at the 4 other models (I'll probably look at the Acer and Sceptre models as well).

[MAB]

Is Apple 23" HDCP compliant? If not, mwsf may see an updated version.

[JustinChase]

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

The 4 models that I haven't looked at yet:

Philips 230W5BS
BenQ FP231W
Apple 23" Cinema HD
Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW

I didn't know about the Acer or the Sceptre models.

I think the Philips above is the same as the 230W5VS in the chart I have, but for europe; I think.

I added the BenQ to the chart (thanks for the heads-up)

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

Interestingly, both HP and LG have 21" / 20.1" LCD widescreen monitors (1680x1050). [HP F2105, LG M203W / LG M203WX].

LG has 3 other 23" widecreen montors - M2343 (1366x768), L2323AL (1280x768), L2300C (1366x768).

The 20/21 inchers are not 'true' Hi-Def. i.e. not 1920 x 1080 or 1200, so I ruled them out immediately, as I also did with the other widescreens you mentioned above. I am not considering non Hi-Def personally.

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

(and the second one that is HDCP - the other is the Samsung 244T).

Thanks for that info, I've updated the chart.

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

For the Samsung 244T, it's hard to find its true pixal response time. On the Samsung US site, it lists 6ms g-to-g and in another spot it is listed as 10ms g-to-g. On the Samsung Can site, it lists 25ms b-to-b.

I've tried to only list mfr stats, knowing they're probably all wrong, but I had to pick something.

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

(I'll probably look at the Acer and Sceptre models as well).

The Acer is brand new, and the Sceptre is apparently not available now, but may be in the future again, per Sceptre via email.

Thanks for the contributions. I've added your info to my chart, but have not looked up the (now) missing for the other monitors. I'll try to get to that tomorrow.

[Morpheus_Rising]

Morpheus_Rising,

I had to delete that last post of yours. It contained many links showing other than MSRP. Some of the links were alright. You can go ahead and repost the manufacturer links, but not any of the ones showing other than MSRP.

Thanks

Sorry about that. I bookmarked and then posted those links because they gave some extra information and some had user reviews. I didn't pay any attention to the prices listed. I'll repost the maufacturing links:


Viewsonic VP231WB:

http://www.viewsonic.com/products/de...eries/vp231wb/

Sony SDM-P234/B:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/+INT...anelLCDs_20%22

http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/ser...09n32180n45021

Samsung 244T (Black):

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Moni...24BRBABXAA.asp
http://www.samsung.com/ca/products/m...24brbabxaa.asp

Samsung 244T (Silver):

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Moni...24BRBASXAA.asp
http://www.samsung.com/ca/products/m...24brbasxaa.asp

Samsung 243T (Black):

http://www.samsung.com/ca/products/m...l/nb24bsab.asp

Samsung 243T (Silver):

http://www.samsung.com/ca/products/m...l/nb24bsas.asp

HP L2335:

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/m...335/index.html
http://www.hp.ca/products/static/mon...2335/index.php

LG 2320A(L):

http://www.lge.com/prodmodeldetail.d...&pagePerNum=50

http://us.lge.com/Product/proddetail...e=1&perPage=10

http://ca.lge.com/en/prodmodeldetail...Select+a+model


Philips 230W5BS (/00):

http://www.consumer.philips.com/cons...CSHQNHKFSESI5P

Philips 230W5VS (/27):

http://catalogs.infocommiq.com/AVCAT...348/T3/601.htm

That's it so far (I just did the Philips today. I got the stats for the Philips, so I might update my chart text file and re-upload it.)

[Morpheus_Rising]

Trying to find information on the Philips model was strange. I first went to their Global site and they had no Monitor section (only LCD tv). I then went to the Philips US and Can sites and the samething. I then did a google search and found 2 Philips websites - one for the Philips 230W5BS and the one for the Philips 230W5VS. Comparing the stats, they look like the samething.

I did manage to find a review for the LG 232A:

http://www.techspot.com/

It explains the Media Station.

[Morpheus_Rising]

I did the BenQ FP231W today. I update my text chart with the Philips and the BenQ models but I have not uploaded the new file yet. I still have the last 4 models to do: Dell, Apple, Acer, and Sceptre. With the holidays, I don't know when I will be able to do those 4.

BenQ FP231W:

http://www.benq.us/Products/LCD/index.cfm?product=435
http://benq.ca/Products/LCD/index.cfm?product=435

The interesting thing is on the Canadian site, 2 items is different then the US site. On the US site, the viewing angle is listed as 176d H / 176d V and the luminance is listed as 250 cd/m2, but on the Canadian site they are listed as viewing angle 178d H / 178d V, and Luminance 280 cd/m2.

[Morpheus_Rising]

Today I was able to look up 2 more monitors:

Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...tegory_id=4009
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...tegory_id=4009

Apple 23" Cinema:

http://www.apple.com/displays/

I typed up the new info and added it to my chart, however I have not posted the updated version yet. I still have 2 more monitors to do - Acer, and Sceptre. Once I finished those 2 monitors and type up that info, I will post the new version. I still think the Samsung 244T is the best one so far, however it's missing 2 features I like - PIP and PBP.

[Morpheus_Rising]

Ok, I'm finally finished. I did the Acer AL2416W and the Sceptre X23SV Naga and typed the info to my text chart.

Acer AL2416W:

http://global.acer.com/products/monitor/1_series.htm
http://us.acer.com/acerpanam/page4.d...n&crc=61218241
http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4.d...crc=1640414276

Sceptre X23SV Naga:

http://www.sceptre.com/Products/LCD/...x23sv_naga.htm


Here is the updated text chart:

[Morpheus_Rising]

Checking the chart info, the best monitor is the Samsung 244T. The Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW is based on the Samsung 244T panel and it adds PIP and PBP. If Samsung were to add the PIP and PBP features as well as improve the pixel response time, it would be "the best" monitor. Hopefully Samsung will come out with the 245T model with these features.

[Maverick374]

Originally Posted by Morpheus_Rising

Today I was able to look up 2 more monitors:

Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...tegory_id=4009
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...tegory_id=4009

Can someone explain the difference between the 2 monitors here.. besides the price?
Thanks
Nate

[tenton]

Originally Posted by Maverick374

Can someone explain the difference between the 2 monitors here.. besides the price?
Thanks
Nate

One is from the Dell US site, the other is the Dell Canada site.

[Morpheus_Rising]

I just read a review of the Samsung 244T (Silver version) today:

http://www.overclockersonline.com/in...ticles&num=358

Going by the features of all the 23" - 24" 1920x1200 LCD monitors, I liked the Samsung 244T the best with only 2 features missing - PIP, and PBP. Now, after reading the review, I found out the 244T DOES have PIP! This is the more important feature of the 2, I can live without PBP. The only problem now is, after reading a couple of threads that talk about that no current video card is HDCP compliant, I hope Nvidia/Ati would release one this year.

[mariner888]

It seems that 23" models using LG panel are 48-60Hz capable, while 24" models using samsung panel is limited to 60Hz refresh rate.

[ivo welch]

(The Acer review at pc world was that it was really not very good. dell was the the best "affordable" monitor. the only one that beat it was significantly more expensive, even more so street-price.)

https://www.pcworld.com/reviews/sfch...200%3A0&hi_p=0

More importantly, are there any panels, shipping or announced, in the 27"-32" range that can do 1920x1080p? I wouldn't mind the limited pixel number (linux and dual-link is another interesting story), but would like some more space.

/iaw