S
Stan Starinski
Fantastic product.
It's an IPS HD Display for under $300 - if I were in charge of a
graphic-related company on tight budget, I'd buy these monitors in high
volume. Upto this Summer2010, IPS monitor would rack up close to $1000,
those from Eizo cost several $THOUSANDS.
People with professional background in Engineering, CAD/CAM, Photography, or
other Graphic Art/Design need no further explanation.
For those who have no professional knowledge - here's a brief intro:
Majority of cheap monitors today are still TN-type (Twisted Nematic),
they've fast response times (dynamics) suitable for gaming, but not for
serious Graphic work b/c they're destroying colors, have awful backlight
artifacts and if you look from a side (at over 170* degrees) it can be seen
as awful white blemishes, color bleeding/blending, etc. - unsuitable for
professional work, but since they're very cheap consumers think they're
"OK".
But this Monitor is one of the few, early crops of IPS (not TN) displays
that emerged in the year 2010 at reasonable prices. Looks like IPS-panel
manufacturers have finally reduced costs. This HP monitor is not really HP,
and many others are not what the label/box says, read this fact:
Despite myriad of LCD Display manufacturers, there're only a HANDFUL of
actual LCD panel manufacturers, they just get repackaged/distributed under
other names. Most of the panels come from Japanese-rooted co's, and
manufactured in Korea, increasingly in China, some high-end in Japan and
(USA - for really high end, medical & military use).
So this HP is not really HP - the panel is "LG Electronics". It is a great
panel under $300, we're talking ISP (not TN) type!.
However do NOT use this monitor for very fast, video intensive Gaming if
your demands are extreme, it's OK for gaming, don't get me wrong response
time is under 8ms so it's OK, but you have to understand that IPS is meant
for professional Graphic work, and while improvement in response time in IPS
within past several years has been amazing, some TN panels are still faster.
I still recommend this Monitor for EVERYTHING, including heavy gaming - I
just proved it at home, and read other people's reviews in terms of gaming.
I bought it however for other work (CAD Design & Photography).
Of course Eizo or other highend IPS are still out of reach for this monitor,
but look - $300. An Eizo can set your wallet off by $1500 at least!
AND OTHER POINT - HP HAD FORESIGHT TO INCLUDE "DISPLAY PORT"!
For those who don't know what it means, it's the successor of HDMI, it's the
newest/hottest port for professional Monitors, HDMI will probably remain
default choice for entertainment/TV's for awhile, but DisplayPort is
superior and is taking computer industry by storm, and slowly encroaching
into TV's also, DisplayPort allows multiple monitors hooked to the same
serial chain, unlike HDMI's obsolete interface, DisplayPort has better
bandwidth, etc. - you can educate yourself.
Don't complain too much, b/c this Monitor offers other ports as well, I know
some will complain on lack of HDMI, but me - I don't miss obsolete HDMI, my
nVidia card has DisplayPort and it's amazing.
BACKLIGHT IS CFL, NOT LED! Ohh please don't be shocked! Rage about LED
displays is directed at clueless customers who only care for brightness, low
cost and thin profile I know you're reading this & are getting shocked. CFL
backlight in a "professional display"? Here's a clue for nonprofessionals:
LED's are unable to be flicker-free at brightness below 100%, because they
cannot be dimmed by simply reducing voltage - they must drop certain voltage
across junction, it's a more or less fixed value. The way dimming is
achieved is by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). I don't have time to explain,
this is not an Engineering forum. Just take my word for it - LED backlight
displays, although being the staple/default choice for currently produced
laptop & thin models, are bad for professional's eyes, and so is CFL of low
quality, This HP is using high-quality CFL (I saw somewhere, they use
50Khour bulb?), you can Google/AltaVista for yourself and discover what
other people are discovering recently - there's a group of people whose eyes
& heads develop severe fatigue from LED bright lit monitors that industry is
pushing down our throats, b/c it's costs them less to produce & recycle, and
consumes little energy in laptops/netbooks. This display is CFL and
believe me you will like it.
TAKE THIS ADVICE SERIOUSLY:
NEVER ALLOW HP TO SET ITS DEFAULT BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST - LIKE MOST
MANUFACTURERS THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL OUR EYES.
If you spend 10-12 hours/day looking into computer monitors, and been doing
it for decade(s) and care about your health, you know what I mean. Don't let
this thing to rise above 30-40% brightness, contrast should be higher -
50-60-70% than brightness.
Default setting is almost 90% brightness or something which really destroys
quality, but Hp just did what everyone else is forced todo - bright monitors
sell better in stores, once you bring home and work in the evening in
properly dimmed room, you know it's bad for the eyes, so reduce brightness,
most important - excess brightness destroys quality in terms of COLOR GAMUT.
Excellent price for this product. LG panel repackaged/rebadged as HP, with
HP custom Firmware & Enclosure.
Looks like an eye candy, also, though most important thing is performance.
not looks, the monitor is always "in your face" so it matters. Comes wit
more cables than I even need.
Dell introduced its own model following same "cheap IPS" philosophy, weeks
after HP, but I still prefer HP. I used to swear by ViewSonic, and not
shortly but for many YEARS I would only go with ViewSonic. But for that
matter, I also used to be fixated on IBM Thinkpads. Things change, no more
Thinkpads for me & no more ViewSonics - perhaps some companies get so
accustomed to highlevel status, that eventually they lose the "edge".
I actually wonder how is it possible to manufacture this thing for under
$280, unless they make in 100,000+ quantities.
It's an IPS HD Display for under $300 - if I were in charge of a
graphic-related company on tight budget, I'd buy these monitors in high
volume. Upto this Summer2010, IPS monitor would rack up close to $1000,
those from Eizo cost several $THOUSANDS.
People with professional background in Engineering, CAD/CAM, Photography, or
other Graphic Art/Design need no further explanation.
For those who have no professional knowledge - here's a brief intro:
Majority of cheap monitors today are still TN-type (Twisted Nematic),
they've fast response times (dynamics) suitable for gaming, but not for
serious Graphic work b/c they're destroying colors, have awful backlight
artifacts and if you look from a side (at over 170* degrees) it can be seen
as awful white blemishes, color bleeding/blending, etc. - unsuitable for
professional work, but since they're very cheap consumers think they're
"OK".
But this Monitor is one of the few, early crops of IPS (not TN) displays
that emerged in the year 2010 at reasonable prices. Looks like IPS-panel
manufacturers have finally reduced costs. This HP monitor is not really HP,
and many others are not what the label/box says, read this fact:
Despite myriad of LCD Display manufacturers, there're only a HANDFUL of
actual LCD panel manufacturers, they just get repackaged/distributed under
other names. Most of the panels come from Japanese-rooted co's, and
manufactured in Korea, increasingly in China, some high-end in Japan and
(USA - for really high end, medical & military use).
So this HP is not really HP - the panel is "LG Electronics". It is a great
panel under $300, we're talking ISP (not TN) type!.
However do NOT use this monitor for very fast, video intensive Gaming if
your demands are extreme, it's OK for gaming, don't get me wrong response
time is under 8ms so it's OK, but you have to understand that IPS is meant
for professional Graphic work, and while improvement in response time in IPS
within past several years has been amazing, some TN panels are still faster.
I still recommend this Monitor for EVERYTHING, including heavy gaming - I
just proved it at home, and read other people's reviews in terms of gaming.
I bought it however for other work (CAD Design & Photography).
Of course Eizo or other highend IPS are still out of reach for this monitor,
but look - $300. An Eizo can set your wallet off by $1500 at least!
AND OTHER POINT - HP HAD FORESIGHT TO INCLUDE "DISPLAY PORT"!
For those who don't know what it means, it's the successor of HDMI, it's the
newest/hottest port for professional Monitors, HDMI will probably remain
default choice for entertainment/TV's for awhile, but DisplayPort is
superior and is taking computer industry by storm, and slowly encroaching
into TV's also, DisplayPort allows multiple monitors hooked to the same
serial chain, unlike HDMI's obsolete interface, DisplayPort has better
bandwidth, etc. - you can educate yourself.
Don't complain too much, b/c this Monitor offers other ports as well, I know
some will complain on lack of HDMI, but me - I don't miss obsolete HDMI, my
nVidia card has DisplayPort and it's amazing.
BACKLIGHT IS CFL, NOT LED! Ohh please don't be shocked! Rage about LED
displays is directed at clueless customers who only care for brightness, low
cost and thin profile I know you're reading this & are getting shocked. CFL
backlight in a "professional display"? Here's a clue for nonprofessionals:
LED's are unable to be flicker-free at brightness below 100%, because they
cannot be dimmed by simply reducing voltage - they must drop certain voltage
across junction, it's a more or less fixed value. The way dimming is
achieved is by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). I don't have time to explain,
this is not an Engineering forum. Just take my word for it - LED backlight
displays, although being the staple/default choice for currently produced
laptop & thin models, are bad for professional's eyes, and so is CFL of low
quality, This HP is using high-quality CFL (I saw somewhere, they use
50Khour bulb?), you can Google/AltaVista for yourself and discover what
other people are discovering recently - there's a group of people whose eyes
& heads develop severe fatigue from LED bright lit monitors that industry is
pushing down our throats, b/c it's costs them less to produce & recycle, and
consumes little energy in laptops/netbooks. This display is CFL and
believe me you will like it.
TAKE THIS ADVICE SERIOUSLY:
NEVER ALLOW HP TO SET ITS DEFAULT BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST - LIKE MOST
MANUFACTURERS THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL OUR EYES.
If you spend 10-12 hours/day looking into computer monitors, and been doing
it for decade(s) and care about your health, you know what I mean. Don't let
this thing to rise above 30-40% brightness, contrast should be higher -
50-60-70% than brightness.
Default setting is almost 90% brightness or something which really destroys
quality, but Hp just did what everyone else is forced todo - bright monitors
sell better in stores, once you bring home and work in the evening in
properly dimmed room, you know it's bad for the eyes, so reduce brightness,
most important - excess brightness destroys quality in terms of COLOR GAMUT.
Excellent price for this product. LG panel repackaged/rebadged as HP, with
HP custom Firmware & Enclosure.
Looks like an eye candy, also, though most important thing is performance.
not looks, the monitor is always "in your face" so it matters. Comes wit
more cables than I even need.
Dell introduced its own model following same "cheap IPS" philosophy, weeks
after HP, but I still prefer HP. I used to swear by ViewSonic, and not
shortly but for many YEARS I would only go with ViewSonic. But for that
matter, I also used to be fixated on IBM Thinkpads. Things change, no more
Thinkpads for me & no more ViewSonics - perhaps some companies get so
accustomed to highlevel status, that eventually they lose the "edge".
I actually wonder how is it possible to manufacture this thing for under
$280, unless they make in 100,000+ quantities.
