Who makes the better monitors

[junktv]

Not sure if this has been asked before but figured it was a good question to ask here since everyone here works on them. Out of all the brands and price ranges who do you guys think uses the best designs and parts now?

Mainly asking because i'm in the market for a new one. So far i've been looking at a hanns-g led and 2 acers one being led and the other not. I notice the led monitors are using laptop type power supplies now so i wonder how long they will last.

[Topcat]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

My Dell 2709W has been dynamite!!

[mariushm]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I don't see Eizo monitors popping up with issues... don't mean they're good, but it's a Japanese brand and more on the high end of monitors.
Same with some NEC monitors...

[c_hegge]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

All of my monitors are Samsung. I've had one get bad caps, but given good caps, they seem fairly reliable.

[Scenic]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I've bought a Samsung 2333T (23" 1920x1080) about a year ago.

Caps in there are the usual Samwha/Sam Young junk. I'm gonna run it till it shows signs of probs, then replace them.. Mainly doing that because I haven't really had first-hand experience with one of my new-bought devices dying from bad caps later. I either got rid of them before it happened or they didn't have crappy caps to begin with lol

Kinda sucks that you can't seem to get a 2333T anywhere now They were a total steal for the price/performance ratio. I mean.. what the hell.. a 23" Full-HD PVA monitor for 99eur/130usd !?! That's usually still TN crap territory..

[mariushm]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

Well I have a Samsung T240 and a Samsung 2494HM on the desk .. the T240 is about 2 years old and the other about 1 year.

The second works great but the T240 has some flickering issues with its lamps... on a gray background with some moire I can see then light fluctuate when this happens.
I don't know, it's either caps dying or the lamps... one day I'm going to open it and see.

So what can I see, Samsung makes some good monitors when it comes to price for performance and the quality of the lcd matrixes is generally good on all but the cheapest models. But the CFL models at least will eventually have issues.
The new led based ones, I don't know what to say about those.

[mockingbird]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I haven't seen one LCD brand that used reliable caps in their screens...

Phillips has the longest warranty of all of them, but their warranty service isn't the greatest from what I hear...

[toastygoodness]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

in general go for IPS panels.
there are really only a few panel mfg for monitors today - LG.Phillips, AU Optronics, Hannstar, Samsung/Sony.

I prefer NEC IPS displays myself, though Acers are great if you have to be cheap.

[Scenic]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I haven't seen one LCD brand that used reliable caps in their screens...

The two NECs I've seen in person had Chemicons everywhere. The SMPS controller died before the caps did..
They weren't quite what one would call low end models though..

edit: @toastygoodness you forgot the ECS/PCChips (or should I say Asus?) of LCD displays: CMO / Chi Mei

[mockingbird]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

NEC isn't common here... The last time I had a NEC it was a Multisync CRT which could take CGA/EGA and VGA.

Anyone know where I can buy a beige LCD?

[junktv]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

Looks like i need to research more. I'm checking out this hanns-g since it was in stock. One thing that annoys me is the viewing angles, anything other than head on and it changes the color tones. It is clear and i like that it puts off no heat but not to sure on this brand.
The 2 acers 23" they have under $175 are the others i was looking at but they only had the one in stock. The way they have the display set up has a line of dual 4' fluorescents above it so hard to realy get an idea on image quality.

[Scenic]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

One thing that annoys me is the viewing angles, anything other than head on and it changes the color tones.

That's exactly why I went for the PVA Samsung I mentioned above. Doesn't really matter at which angle I look at it, it still looks mostly normal, unlike the TN LG next to it where all colors go nuts. The brightness does shift noticeably, but that's not as bad as the image looking like a half-negative IMHO

Tried to take a photo of it, but my phone cam doesn't like taking photos in rather dark rooms (it's almost 4 AM) without using 2-3 seconds exposure (notice the "ghetto" smiley)
Having to hold the phone totally still for a couple seconds is harder than it sounds at first..

If you want the best from all LCD panel types (good response time, color accuracy and viewing angles), go for IPS. They only have one problem: the price.
I took a trade-off with the PVA panel monitor, which was the response time. Cost me less than half of a good IPS monitor though :P

edit: Hanns-G / Hannspree is generally OK. Nothing special. They love to use Su'scon crapcaps though..

[ratdude747]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

NEC isn't common here... The last time I had a NEC it was a Multisync CRT which could take CGA/EGA and VGA.

Anyone know where I can buy a beige LCD?

the same place you buy spray paint... Beige computers are a thing of the past anymore...

[Scenic]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

NEC, Eizo and Fujitsu(-Siemens?) still have a few models, but they're anything but cheap..

- Fujitsu E-Line E22W-5 (22" 1680x1050)
- NEC MultiSync E222W (22" 1680x1050)
- Eizo FlexScan EV2333WH-GY (23" 1920x1080)

The NEC and fujitsu cost 170usd upwards.. the Eizo goes for 299eur / ~392usd
forget about it..

[mockingbird]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

the same place you buy spray paint... Beige computers are a thing of the past anymore...

It's not me. I have a customer who is obsessed with only having beige. I thought about spray painting... Think about that for a second... White on black is different from spraying black on white. I'd probably need a few layers and I have never done anything like that before.

NEC, Eizo and Fujitsu(-Siemens?) still have a few models, but they're anything but cheap..

I've looked into this before and I've seen some vague indications that of some of the models available here, there are beige equivalents that are only available in Asia...

I wonder if Apple has any beige screens... They still sell that color.

[yyonline]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

My 24" NEC appears to have Rubycon capacitors in the power supply, from what I can see through the vents. Then again, it is the crazy expensive professional series LCD, so I'd expect it to use good stuff. I previously had Dell/Sony Trinitrons. I was serious about photography at the time, so color accuracy was a priority for me. It's going on 3 years old and I've had zero issues with it, so I've never opened up the case to check out the components in more detail.

I bought a refurbished Dell 1907FP for my workbench PC. I opened the case to do a preventative re-cap before running all the cables around my bench. I was surprised to find all Rubycon, Chemicon, and Nichicon caps inside. I reassembled it without changing a thing.

[acstech]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I vote Samsung. I've yet to replace one, under warranty or otherwise.

[mockingbird]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

Those Samwha capacitors are better than CapXon or Taicon, but they last less than 5 years.

[smason]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I've repaired many different makes/models, including a few Samsungs.
The Samsungs seem better built than the LG and HP units.
Some of the better Dells are quite well-built too.
If I were buying a new monitor today it'd likely be another Samsung.

[shovenose]

Re: Who makes the better monitors

I prefer Dell monitors.