Monitor upgrade from 22inch TN TFT to 24inch IPS

[Konovalov]

Due to real life constraints I haven't been around here for a while nor have I been able to invest any time in the DCS series or FC2. Yep, that's what happens when you become a dad for the first time. :)

 

Now that things are settling down at home with the little one I need to get back into flying. So here I am sitting in front of my Samsung SM226 22inch (1680 x 1050 res) widescreen TFT TN panel monitor and things look just a little dull. The time has come for more screen real estate, better colours, better image quality, and better monitor ergonomics in terms of adjustments to height and possibly the pivot option for portrait photos.

 

Right now a couple of monitors catch my eye. They are the Asus PA246Q 24.1" Professional ProArt Widescreen P-IPS LCD Monitor which I can find for £400 here in the UK. Second option again in the 24 inch 16:10 aspect ratio (1920x1200 resolution) is the Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" Widescreen LED to be released here in the next few days and is priced at £300.

 

Has anyone had any experience with the Asus PA246Q? Are there other candidates in the 24" 16:10 IPS screen? Will I see a significant improvement in the whole experience and the sense of immersion from my existing screen to one of the two 24" screens mentioned above in titles DCS BS, A-10C, and FC?

 

P.S. I'd really love to move 2 steps up to the Dell U2711 27inch beast that I have spotted with only a 1 year warranty priced at £500 but I fear that this would require me to replace my GTX460 Super OC card as my guess is that it wouldn't cope too well with the 2560x1440 resolution of the Dell.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Konovalov

[-odin-]

There is people around here who knows alot more than me about this, but hasn't IPS panel very slow response time, which makes them not the best choice for gaming?

[Rahvin]

I'd recommend an Eizo (or samsung, if you're penny pinching) S-PVA panel. Viewing angles are similar to IPS, switching times are better, the Eizo's have low input lag and often better back-lighting.

 

On the other hand, I am somewhat of a monitor snob :-S

[Succellus]

Konovalov:

Only 2 things are impostant in a monitor:

A good image

And above all response time. For a monitor, anything reaching 2.5 should be automatically discarded.

I don t know how much space you have, but maybe you should consider some led TV... some have below 2.5 ms and mayby are cheaper.

[cichlidfan]

P.S. I'd really love to move 2 steps up to the Dell U2711 27inch beast that I have spotted with only a 1 year warranty priced at £500 but I fear that this would require me to replace my GTX460 Super OC card as my guess is that it wouldn't cope too well with the 2560x1440 resolution of the Dell.

 

When I got the U2711 I was running it on a GTX470 and it does a decent job. I am not a frame rate nut so I can't give specifics but without cranking the settings up all the way and only running the one display the 470 did fine. Running both the 27 and the old 22" with Helios and exported MFCDs did create a performance issue but it was still playable unless there was a lot going on.

 

It is a really sweet display.

 

Your mileage may vary, of course!;)

[Rahvin]

Actually, 10-12 ms is still plenty fast reaction time.

Of course, it depends on what value they are giving. Reading tests and checking screens out in scores is something you should absolutely do, otherwise you may end up disappointed or paying too much

[Succellus]

10 to 12 is absolutely too low if you play a fast paced game like fps for example you ll have a lot of ghosting.

[Rahvin]

In fact, I have such a screen (two, actually, EIZO S1910), and I have no perceivable ghosting in any FPS or other situation. With some early, non-overdriven PVA and IPS panels, ghosting was an issue, as repsonse times were in the 20s and 30s or even 50s of miliseconds. But today ghosting isn't a problem with most screens, unless you get color-optimized screen for the graphics market. These are priced outside the average gamer's budget though.

The super low refresh rates are only possible with TN panels, which have are useless for anything else, as they have horrid viewing angles, often terrible backlighting, few and badly calibrated colors, and all too often poor true contrast.

But again - the spec values are all crap - only buy screens you've looked at yourself.

[Succellus]

Good to know it has evolved, but i would be wary anyway if its a TV. Today all monitors should be ok

[Konovalov]

Well I went with the Asus ProArt PA246Q for £401 including shipping. Couldn't justify spending £500 plus as I want a 120GB SSD soon also. Hopefully this monitor will be great for both the DCS series and FC2 along with my photography. :)

[Kuky]

I just purchased this exact same monitor and was also wondering if anyone has experience with P-IPS monitor... but anyway, I think ghosting should not be an issue as this monitor is rated 6ms and 24" I have right now is 5ms and I don't find it an issue at all.

 

Reason I went for P-IPS this time was because in LockOn and DCS the sky looks like crap up high, I can clearly see gradients of blue especially up high... I hope this is not an issue with the game textures itself otherwise I'm going to be pi**ed off I bought professional grade panel and I can still see gradients in game... so fingers crossed

 

So anyway, if you're still reading forums and come across my post, can you comment on how happy are you with this monitor?

[Kuky]

I got the new monitor today, it's Asus P-IPS ProArt 24.1" PA246Q, I can tell colors are definitely better but I can still see these gradients in the sky when up high... granted they are less pronounced but I can still see them faintly... it must be the game engine and the way sky is coded.

[wess24m]

I think monitor/led tv standards have come a long way, I picked up a 3D 37 inch led tv at walmart for 400 bucks and it works great. The only thing I had to do is put the tv into game mode and it fixed any lag issues. Haven't had any issues with ghosting or blur or any of that.

[Kuky]

I found out today I have 1 dead pixel on my new monitor... I don't notice it most cases but if in game the area where dead pixel is, is the cloud or bright sky, it's noticeable.

 

I looked for what policy ASUS has on dead pixel and I'm not happy to read they don't allow returns for monitors that have up to 5 dead pixels, according to ASUS this is acceptable and not faulty... so I don't plan on ever again buy ASUS monitor because of this and don't recommend anyone to buy ASUS monitor either.

 

I bought a professional type monitor and it has dead pixel... I've had 5 different LCD's so far all SAMSUNG and none has dead pixels. I know it can happen on any monitor but not to accept returns for straight out faulty monitor with dead pixel is not acceptable policy.

 

ASUS monitor... never again :thumbdown: