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  • Conficio - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    just saying!
  • Samus - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Heh, yeah I agree. One of the reasons I still have a 5 year old NEC is because everything else 24" <$300 is 1920x1080.

    I need that extra screen real-estate, 120 pixels is an entire row of icons.
  • kkwst2 - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    You can find the Dell U2412M for less than $300. It is e-IPS, which has compromises but is pretty decent.
  • synaesthetic - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    I use the U2412M and I love it, despite the compromises one must take for eIPS--mind you, I'm not a photographer and I actually play a lot of games, but the input lag is low and it doesn't ever feel "slow." The viewing angles are fantastic, great for when folks cluster around the PC to watch videos. :)
  • Kel Ghu - Saturday, July 7, 2012 - link

    Agreed. I'm also mainly a hardcore gamer, but I do a little photo editing too. And you just can't beat the U2412M for the price. With a little calibration, it's really that good. It's not as good as a "real" IPS nor a TN panel. But it retains like 80% of the qualities of both systems!
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    +1 for 16:10 --voted with my wallet
  • TheCrackLing - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    You have the min/max backwards for some of the monitors in the graphs.

    BenQ VW2420
    Asus PA246Q
    NEC PA271W
    NEC PA301W
    DoubleSight DS-277W

    Are all backwards, and because of this it's causing the sorting on the graph to be a bit off.
  • JarredWalton - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Fixed. Probably just an error in the data in Chris' spreadsheet.
  • rahvin - Friday, July 6, 2012 - link

    Jared, can you weigh thing without the stand attached. Might seem a strange request but I use a 2 monitor arm that uses VESA mounts but the system has a weight and size limit. I purchased 22 inch originally to stay under the weight limit (and I'm looking for a better monitor for the main monitor) but ASUS doesn't seem to care to tell anyone what the monitor weighs without the stand as I've looked everywhere.
  • goinginstyle - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    You guys know this has been replaced by the PA248Q at a much lower price of $339.
  • cheinonen - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    The PA246Q had already been requested, and arrived, when the PA248Q was announced. It also an sRGB monitor as opposed to AdobeRGB, so a better comparison for it might be the Dell U2412M, whereas the PQ246Q competes with the Dell U2410. Using such a similar model number is annoying, but really they're complementary products and not competitive ones.
  • Leyawiin - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Yep - its coming to market late this month (and I think I'm going to pop for one at that price).
  • Spoogie - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    There are serious quality control issues with this model. On my second one in six weeks. 1) humming noise, 2) flickering, and 3) goes blank randomly for 1-3 seconds. The first one did both one and two, the second one has all three problems.

    I'd return it if I wasn't past the 30-day return window.
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    mine was perfect
  • Devo2007 - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    It appears you are missing the results for this monitor in the "Calibrated for Print Average Delta E" graph..
  • cheinonen - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Sorry about that, fixed it now, not sure how it got left out.
  • funkforce - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Fantastic review! Even better than many on sites dedicated to TFT-reviews only.

    I hope there are a lot more of these to come and I would really like to see more on:

    What progress has been made in the last years and what are the top monitors in each field/technology today for non-pro users?
    (PVA/MVA/AMVA vs. IPS/eIPS vs. TN technology/best in class.)

    What would be the best non-TN panel for gaming today?

    Does performance differ a lot on the HDMI and DVI-output on the same panel? (In cases where both exists)

    Would it possible to manufacture a LED, 120hz, IPS/VA, 2560x1440, with minimum input lag, near accurate colors and good blacks in the near future?
    Will OLED make this a reality?

    On most comparison sites for shoppers there are a lot of customer reviews that are mentioning problem with backlight bleeding on most IPS panels.
    It would be awesome if you could get an extra retail sample of every monitor you review to see if there's a big difference between to identically named panels.
    (I know a guy that bought two would be identical LG screens from the same store where one was manufactured in China and the other in Poland and they differed a lot).
    Although I understand if it would be an unreasonable wish.

    I just bought a LG IPS236V and it has some backlight bleeding in both the lower left and right corner. It has a gamma setting that goes from 1.8-2.6 where the default 2.2 and above unfortunately only emphasizes the problem. Only the very bright setting of 1.8-2.0 (lower is brighter) result in very little bleeding but blacks are not so dark as one would wish.
    It has several options greyed out, like black level and white balance no matter if you use an HDMI or DVI Cable. Is this normal and do you see it on lot of screens during your reiviews?

    Many thanks in advance!
  • funkforce - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    You can disregard my last question about the white balance and black level. Totally missed that page in the manual about it only being available on DSUB and HDMI.
  • rickon66 - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    I applaud them for building a computer monitor 16:10 and not a TV set 16:9. Thank You ASUS!

    Any monitor larger than 23" @1080p = FAIL!
  • Olaf van der Spek - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Right. 4:3 @ 1920 x 1440 or 2048 x 1536 would be even better. :p
  • synaesthetic - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    I'd pay a lot for a 1920x1440 24" monitor!
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    i just wish such a display was available
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    +1 for 16:10 --voted with my wallet
  • Corporate Goon - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    Just wanted to leave my two cents as I've owned this monitor for about six months now.

    I've generally been very impressed with this monitor - I have a wide variety of needs and I find it fits most of them. I do some semi-pro video and photography work but nothing too fancy (photoshoots for local bands, that sort of thing), play lots of games and do some Netflix watching and the like. I've been very pleased generally with the Asus display - the colours are great, and a huge step up over my TFT display I had before. I've also noticed no ghosting issues at all in games and movies (I initially replaced my 'old' 24" TFT with a BenQ MVA panel and while the contrast was incredible, the streaking and ghosting was a major distraction).

    My only major complaint about the display is the poor black levels relative to newer LED-backlit screens. Compared to my old TFT/CCFL display the Asus is about on par, but it can't hold a candle to the newer TFT/LED and MVA/LED screens.

    I've recommended the screen to a couple of friends who are in similar boats to me - people who use their computer for entertainment, but are also reasonably serious about using it for art/video/photography.
  • Leyawiin - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link

    "there is no game mode or overdrive for enabling faster response from the display"

    ASUS's term for Overdrive is Trace Free. Its permanently active in this model (can't turn it off or change the degree).
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    A very astute observation -- thanks for posting this insight
  • dishayu - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    There are so many cheap 27 inch korean IPS 2560x1440 resolution displays on ebay that sell for under $400. They utilize panels from LG, the same ones used in Apple's cinema display. I would REALLY like to see a legitimate review of them. I'm quite inclined to buy them but i don't want to end up wasting 500 of my bucks. If only Anand could review them somehow?

    Here's an ebay link. (this is the pixel perfect model, which comes with a guarantee of zero defective pixels)

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/CROSSOVER-27Q-LED-Perfect-...
  • rsgeiger - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Basically the only way Anand can review it is if you bought it and sent it to them. They only review what companies send to them for review. They dont buy their own gear.
  • prophet001 - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    It would be nice to see a review of something like that. However, I think it's safe to say that it's not that cheap because it has the same quality as other similarly spec'd panels.
  • dishayu - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Doesn't apple's 27 inch IPS cinema display cost something in vicinity of 1000 dollars?

    I just randomly linked this one as it was the first to turn up in my search results. There are monitors selling for around 360 mark as well. And 299 if you don't want a 0 defective pixel warranty (replacement only for 5 bad pixels or more, a couple of pixels out of 3.7 million might not even be noticable at this pixel density but i don't know that for sure)
  • cheinonen - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Anand did a quick look at one last month and some numbers on it. As mentioned, they're import units that are going to be lacking much of a warranty or dead pixel replacement or anything else. They also all seem to lack DisplayPort inputs (DVI only), any sort of adjustable stand, much of an OSD or control beyond brightness, and use panels that aren't quite as high grade as the main manufacturers, which is how they get the costs down to this.

    Unfortunately it's beyond my means to go buy everything for review, even if it is a $350 unit, and I do have serious reservations myself when thinking about recommending a unit that will lack a warranty or much ability to exchange it for a new one in case it is defective.
  • Zoomer - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link

    It's A- instead of A+. And there's no point in a "pixel perfect" screen; extra money is being paid for nothing. They are rated A- for a reason.

    The boards convert DVI to eDP internally, so DP support might be possible with a little hacking.

    Credit card warranty should cover these monitors, and risk of defective units can be mitigated through the same.
  • madmilk - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index/5885?cPage=2&a...

    It's not really a full review, but it has the important stuff.
  • jabber - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    ...just a shame it looks like it came from 2003.
  • Sunny129 - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Chris,

    Is the Dell U2410 on your list of displays to test? I would love to see a review of a display that directly competes w/ the ASUS PA246Q, namely the Dell U2410. You're already reviewed the Dell U 2412M, so if you choose to review the ASUS PA248Q in the future, there's already a Dell U2412M review to compare it to. the ASUS PA246Q on the other hand is the only display of its kind to be reviewed here yet (to my knowledge), and so we need another review of a display that's as much of an apples-to-apples comparison as possible (something w/ at least a true 8-bit panel, 1920 x 1200 res, ~$500 price range, etc).

    Thanks,
    Eric
  • Makaveli - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    If they are going to review a U2410 which is a few years old now, they would also need to review the HP ZR24w both are IPS and real 8 bit panels compared to the 6 bit e-ips panel in the U2412m. i'm not sure what panel the replacement for the ZR24w is using only that its an LED panel, so people have complained about poorer blacks.
  • cheinonen - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Dell doesn't have a U2410 available for me to review, which leads me to think we might see a replacement for it in the near future. I asked but couldn't get one.
  • xKeGSx - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    Any word on the 27" variants of this monitor. Being the ProArt PA278Q and the non-calibrated and missing USB 3.0 ports VA278Q? Thanks Been reading for over 10 years now. Keep it up!
  • DeathBooger - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link

    I have two of these monitors. When I got them, one had a blue tint and the other had a red tint. Both cleaned up fine once I properly calibrated them with my Datacolor Spyder. They match up just fine once calibrated.
  • Leyawiin - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

    Other than a few minor changes they're practically the same monitor...only the PA248Q is much cheaper and has slightly better contrast.

    http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-monitor/asus-pa24...
  • Leyawiin - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - link

    Just submitted my order - time for a quality monitor for the first time in my life!
  • cheinonen - Thursday, July 5, 2012 - link

    As I mentioned above, they're very different monitors. The PA246Q is a 10-bit panel with a full AdobeRGB color gamut from CCFL backlighting, and the PA248Q is an 8-bit panel with LED backlighting and only the sRGB gamut. It's a more mainstream panel than the PA246Q so for non-print and photo editing users, it might be a better choice, but they aren't practically the same other than size, resolution, and vendor.
  • appliance5000 - Saturday, July 7, 2012 - link

    The reviewed monitor is an 8 bit panel interpolated to simulate a 10 bit panel - a little dubious.
  • Oxford Guy - Thursday, July 5, 2012 - link

    Is this actually a 10-bit panel?

    Also, since sRGB mode on some wide gamut monitors works (U2410) and is completely broken on others, whenever you review a wide gamut monitor you should separate its performance in terms of sRGB content and AdobeRGB content. The way you lump them together with a "color quality" chart makes little sense. For those dealing with sRGB content, having a monitor exceed the sRGB space can actually lead to poor quality if the monitor doesn't have an effective sRGB emulation mode.

    I would take a look at how prad.de and tftcentral separate sRGB and AdobeRGB modes in their reviews.
  • cheinonen - Friday, July 6, 2012 - link

    I will take a look at that. I've only had a couple come through with AdobeRGB support so far, so I haven't setup a separate test section for it, but I can do that in the future.
  • appliance5000 - Saturday, July 7, 2012 - link

    I hear you on the srgb - I have an nec p221w (which is an excellent spectraview compatible monitor for about $400.00. With hardware cal the delta e is well under 1 for adobe rgb at a brightness of 140 cd/m2. I highly recommend it)

    But, being a wide spectrum (97% adobe rgb) srgb seems tough to calibrate for print. My question is : Isn't s-rgb used mainly to proof for web use, particularly for non color managed environments, in which case a delta e of 3 - 5 is fine? The point being that most people pull a monitor out of the box and turn it on for 5 years - there's no way to know what they're looking at.
  • aranyagag - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link

    it clears eizo monitor test and other monitor tests which are supposed to weed out 8 bit monitors. Also I have an sRGB camera, which shows proper colours when the monitor is placed in rgb mode-- laparoscope.
  • Dug - Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - link

    I had always thought AdobeRGB was just a higher gamut allowing you to see for instance a raw file shot in AdobeRGB at its full potential. The problem is the assumption that this is better.

    I've found that most print shops don't have the correct profiles, don't use the embedded profile, etc.

    I've gone down the expensive road of getting the correct monitor, printer, and color profiling both to print myself.

    In all honesty its a pain in the ass with very little gain.
    If everything isn't done just right then you end up with dull colors.
    If everything is done right, there is a difference, but I wouldn't necessarily call it better. It may be more accurate, because you've been told it is, but it is subtle.
    If you have to email, show on web, print to a printer without correct profile, etc you've wasted all your time if using AdobeRGB.

    I kind of relate it to calibrated televisions. If anyone saw a true calibrated television, they probably wouldn't like it. It's very dull. Everyone likes a little extra contrast and run a little hot.

    Sense the entire world runs on sRGB, I say stick with it. There's less chance for error and it will look good on anyone's monitor and printer.
  • CrimsonFury - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link

    Still using my 8 year old Lacie 22" CRT until something better comes along. 4:3 2048x1536 @85Hz. Still waiting for an LCD with that sort of pixel density around 24" in size.

    I dislike 27" and above screens, I find them too large for a comfortable viewing position. Also on the high res 27" - 30" panels pixels per inch are still lower than my old 22" CRT
  • AnnonymousCoward - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link

    Looks like a great attempt at a quality monitor. But when are we gonna get past the 60Hz barrier??? At least 80Hz framerate would be so much better.
  • Integr8d - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link

    Chris, just curious; Which $1000 plasma did you look at that did CMS correctly? I'm in the market and have a PR670 available to get something dialed in:)
  • chenesis- - Tuesday, February 4, 2014 - link

    Hi great review.
    So, do you suggest to only calibrate this panel from Standard mode, allowing the vga lut doing the whole job?

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