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back to article Ten affordable mid-sized Full HD monitors

Monitors don’t age very well; growing, as they do, dimmer and yellower as time passes. Premium panel technologies are now also considerably cheaper than they once were, so if you haven’t updated your display in a while, the chances are it’s now more than a little bit rubbish. I’ve taken a look at ten of the best affordable …

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      1. G4Z
        Reply Icon

        Re: 24 inches..? Is that all?

        I did read it yes, no need to be a twat about it.

        IMO those things you talk about IPS screens and viewing angles are just not that important to me. Pretty much any monitor now will give an acceptable display free from ghosting. The monitors I have really are nice screens to look at with no dead pixels or backlight bleed. As far as resolution I want a big monitor at 1920 x 1200 because 2560 x 1600 just means I need more grunt for games and when I have 2 monitors additional desktop space isn't really a concern.

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        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: 24 inches..? Is that all?

          You really need to work with an IPS screen for a while and you'll never want to go back to a TN display. It solves one of the big problems of flat panels vs CRTs (colours changing as your position moves) and helps a lot with the other, which is colour accuracy.

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    2. A.A.Hamilton
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: 24 inches..? Is that all?

      2nd para. of review starts with the words "...TN display...". Enough said.

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    3. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      What more do you want?

      "I have 2 of these bad boys"

      Congratulations

      "What more do you want?"

      Accurate colour reproduction is always nice for colour monitors, and that's before you move your head a few degrees off-axis. There's a noticeable colour shift across the screen of even small TN monitors simply because they subtend a non-zero angle within the user's field of view. The pixel density is poor by today's standards. About the only thing it's got going for it is that it's not 16:9.

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  2. Nigel 11

    After-sales service critical for me

    My choice is greatly influenced by past experience of various manufacturer's after-sales service. I'm prejudiced towards Iiyama and Philips. With Iiyama, warranty service has been completely hassle-free on the rare occasions it's been needed ... and I've never yet had a Philips monitor fail in warranty, and very rarely even many years after.

    YMMV? Any other good recs or war stories about warranty service?

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  3. Nigel 11
    Alert

    Upgrade??

    These monitors have been affordable for a couple of years now ... serious screen-users probably have a pair of them by now. State-of-the-art is 2560x1600, but they don't come cheap! (Personally I really wish you could still get affordable 1920x1200, the extra vertical pixels make a lot of difference ... but I understand why PC monitors have converged on HDTV format. They probably sell ten HDTVs for every high-res monitor. )

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Once you've had 27 inches you never go back...

    People still buy small monitors? I can heartily recommend the Dell U2713HM... 27 inches of 2560x1440 goodness, calibrated out of the box, 3 years warranty, for £430. Save up the extra couple hundred, you won't be disappointed.

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    1. Nigel 11
      Reply Icon

      Re: Once you've had 27 inches you never go back...

      More like an extra £300! The question in my mind is whether I'd prefer one 2560x1440, or two 1920x1080 plus ~£120 still in my pocket. (There's also the miser's option, one new 1920x1080 for £150 and keep the old monitor as a secondary display).

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    2. dajames
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      Re: Once you've had 27 inches you never go back...

      ... 27 inches of 2560x1440 goodness ...

      A monitor that's 2560 pixels across should be 1600 high, or 1920 high if you don't want widescreen.

      As someone remarked upthread: 16:9 is for tellies!

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    3. Paul Horstink
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: Once you've had 27 inches you never go back...

      I agree, am very happy with my 27"Apple Cinema display, same 2560x1440, but a 'bit' more expensive than the ones reviewed here...

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    4. sibster
      Reply Icon
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Once you've had 27 inches you never go back...

      Once You had dual head you never go back..

      and i really cant justify buying 2*27" of goodness

      *Paris / dual head, you figure it out

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Any recommendations for...

    A larger than 24" Monitor?

    I'm looking for something bigger tan my current 4:3 19" monitor. From what I can tell, that means bigger than 24" widescreen to get more vertical space.

    Bit confused by IPS Dell, or LED Samsung. There's a big price difference.

    Thanks

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    1. Callam McMillan
      Reply Icon

      Re: Any recommendations for...

      IPS and LED are two totally different things. IPS I don't entirely understand (Someone on here may be able to explain) but it is to do with the display panels construction. LED refers to the backlighting of the display. Thus you can have a display from either Dell, Samsung or a number of other manufacturers with one, the other or both of the features you mentioned.

      One thing to caution you with. Avoid cheap Samsung IPS monitors. A friend of mine bought five and had three go wrong within a matter of months!

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  6. Select * From Handle

    i have 2 BenQ XL2420T

    They are amazing....the title of this post though is balls... Firstly "Full HD" 1920×1080 monitors for a start have been around for ages. . Secondly "AFFORDABLE" ? really? my BenQ monitors Burnt a huge hole in my wallet and social life (as i couldn't spend money for months). "Affordable" should be changed to "desirable". Lastly "MID-SIZED" my two BenQ monitors take up an entire work desk THEY ARE HUGE!

    Try this title:

    10 big ass desirable monitors to make you wet, but ultimately you should get the BenQ 1's because the colours are so vibrant that they will burn your eyes out! The rest of the extras (2ms, 120hz, hdmi sockets) are just a bonus!

    Subtitle:

    Your wallet will hurt..!!

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  7. Silverburn
    Holmes

    Suggestions for next monitor article

    ...a review of 27" 2600x1440 models please.

    Ones with win8 touch certification would be a bonus (no, please don't ask...it's not my idea...).

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    1. Dave 126 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Suggestions for next monitor article

      I've just being trying to track one down on the net.. about a year ago a brand - can't remember if it were Hanns G or Hanspree or neither- released a monitor that used the same panel as the 27" (or maybe 30") Cinema Display for half Apple's asking price, but I can't find it. It was said to be good, but the backlighting was quite as consistent as the fruity one.

      Can anyone jog my memory?

      >Ones with win8 touch certification would be a bonus

      Consider this, perhaps: Leapmotion.com/product a £50 Kinect-like controller, that traces your fingertips. Just an idea, wait for its release and in-depth reviews.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: Suggestions for next monitor article

        Maybe you are meaning the 30" LG, don't remember the model off hand. It was the same as the Apple one, it was a S-IPS, but only Phillips/LG sold it. They sold it BEFORE Apple Cinema and for a much cheaper price. Knowing those 2 things made the choice of the Apple Cinema to be naive at best, however people still bought it.

        Apparently, without doing any research at all, I assume it was too good and Apple had them pull it, or Phillips/LG didn't want to ruin Apple's late to the party celebration. Again, I'm guessing at that, but the vanishing of that monitor for no known reason and not having it replaced by a similar, has me thinking that. I'm not sure how licensing works with IPS, but Phillips/LG are the creators of IPS. So if you want a good x-IPS panel, look there first.

        I almost bought 2 of those LG's in 2009, sometimes wish I had. The only thing comparable is higher up were you meet the prices of Lacie, Eizo, etc... I'm holding out for now, there really isn't a great monitor I can find under 2000usd, and I can't justify paying more than 500 for a monitor. I want CRT resolutions and refresh rates in a LCD!

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        1. Silverburn
          Reply Icon

          Re: Suggestions for next monitor article

          Answering my own question...

          Apparently the all-in-one Lenovo ideacentre A720 has a 27" touch screen (I can't find the resolution specs tho') with Win8.

          http://shop.lenovo.com/gbweb/gb/en/learn/products/desktops/ideacentre/a-series/

          All fine and dandy, but I'm looking for the panel on it's own.

          *Edit: Turns out it's only 1920x1080. Boo. Turns out I want the XPS One 27 for 2500x1440 with touch.

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      2. polandro
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Up

        Re: Suggestions for next monitor article

        You were thinking of Hazro - the H27WB is £360 at Overclockers.co.uk. <Gasp! But Spie's gone hasn't he?> You need to research it a bit as there are different versions and that one is the stripped down basic one. Looks nice on my desk though.

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  8. Zot
    Stop

    Multiples of 1080

    Doesn't the resolution need to on 1080 or twice that to display true HD pixels properly? These reviews are for HD monitors, so you don't want a vertical size of 1200 for HD films.

    2 x 1080 maybe...

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    1. Dave 126 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Multiples of 1080

      1200 vertical pixels is fine for films... you just get black bars top and bottom- not a bad place for your media controls to sit, as it happens.

      You are often going to get black bars anyway, because some films are wider than 16:9. Plus, older TV content is more 4:3.

      (smug, sat a laptop with a 17" 1920x1200 screen)

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      1. Mage Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Multiples of 1080

        Or subtitles

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      2. Zot
        Reply Icon

        Re: Multiples of 1080

        So the aspect ratio is correct? Or does it put black bars on the left and right as well?

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        1. Boothy
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          Re: Multiples of 1080

          Full HD is 1920x1080 which is 16:9 ratio.

          1920x1200 is 16:10 ratio.

          So same width in pixels, just more height. So assuming the vid is 1080p, width is same, so just black bars top and bottom. And as pointed out, this is useful for subs and controls, as they don't get in the way of the image itself.

          If you use a higher res monitor, then you just scale to fit.

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  9. Sooty

    My old monitor is ageing rather well

    It's older than "HD", so it is actually a decently high res, I can't see any obvious problems with it going dim/yellow, it's ridiculously thin for an older lcd panel, pretty thin for a modern one, and most importantly it's 4:3!

    So useful for working on a computer rather than just watching films. The only minor issue is that it's old enough to not be HDCP compliant so my blu-ray drive doesn't like it.

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  10. Daedalus
    Alert

    Shave us!

    We buyers of monitors want screens that are so shiny we can see our own reflection, and that of everything in the room behind us, no matter how dim! We want screens that look magnificent in the store and are total bollocks to use! Where are the reviews of these properties?

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  11. Dave W
    Flame

    Scores

    So five monitors share equal first place at 85%.

    Five more monitors share equal sixth place at 80%.

    Is the competition really that close?

    I'm no closer to being able to chose my new monitor now than I was 20 minutes ago.

    I'm sorry El Reg, I'm not a habitual flamer; but please give me more specs and numbers. Tell me how many dvi/rgb/dp connectors the screen has, also please give me a review score that doesn't end in a zero or a five.

    Finally, the BenQ XL2420T gets 85% at £290 - also the AOC i2353Fh gets 85% at £130. Is the BenQ really more than twice as good in order to justify the price? Is it really so impossible to pick between these two that on a scale of one to 100, they both get exactly the same marks?

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    1. Ivan Headache
      Reply Icon

      Re: Scores

      You must remember that El Reg only does serious reviews on cameras and cars.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Gimp

    Retina

    Will be interesting to see when some of this Retina technology Apple are using will make its way onto standard displays.

    Love or hate Apple, I doubt even the most ferocious Apple hater could deny that the high DPI displays look lovely.

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  13. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Or buy used Dell

    Get ex-lease Dell 1680 x 1200 monitors that were built as their Pro line.

    So are IPS, lots of inputs, big heavy adjustable bases, portrait mode etc - and they cost half as much as a new cheapo BenQ/Asus 1920x1080 crap

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Full HD is bullshit. Down-vote.

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  15. John Vickers

    Hello again.

    Interesting response to my posting earlier.

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  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm pissed off with cheapo Monitors with narrow viewing angles

    but I am *very* satisfied with my HP ZR2440w moinitor that provided 178% and crystal-sharp graphics via HDMI.

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  17. Luiz Abdala

    2010 is calling back.

    Samsung T240M is 24" 1920 x 1200, takes DVI, HDMI, RCA for your vintage VHS, and analog Tv tuner with coaxial cable. Did nothing change in 3 years? I dont care if its a TN panel, to fit in my tiny den. There are no angles but straight up front. There was a newer version from samsung, where you'd be back at 1080. Fail. It was cheap then.... out of stock now.

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  18. Sarah Davis
    Coat

    16:9

    16:9 is great for anyone who could cover all their computing needs with a Tablet, but for me they are completely useless. How about doing a review of 'Professional Monitors' and only include 16:10's

    :)

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    1. mikejs
      Reply Icon

      Re: 16:9

      Someone wake me when decent 4:3 or 5:4 monitors are available again. Something running 2560x2048 at around 22" would do very nicely, thanks.

      16:9 or 16:10 is just too wide for a proper multi-screen setup. ("proper" = more than 2...)

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  19. GBE

    Poor resolution.

    A 24" monitor with 1920x1080 pixels is rather crappy resolution (90dpi). IMHO, anything less than 100dpi is simply unacceptable, and I'd really like at least 120dpi for something I'm going to use more than a few minutes a day. Maybe other people like being able to see individual pixels, but I'd rather not. (Sorry about the imperial units.)

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  20. Sam Therapy
    Flame

    Keeerapp!

    My ancient Iiyama happily displayed 1600 x 1200 before it rolled over and died. Why the actual fuck would I want to spend money on something that's worse?

    Right now I'm using a naff Philips monitor somebody gave me, until such time as I can get the readies for a decent new monitor. The article itself was useless; the comments were a damn sight more help.

    Could do better, El Reg.

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  21. Mark Major
    Boffin

    Frameless Viewsonic?

    Am I missing something? The 'ViewSonic VX2370Smh-LED' (Number 10) review says, "Its frameless design lends it a distinctive minimalist appearance"? To me, the frame looks the same as all the others?

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  22. Displacement Activity
    Meh

    Que?

    Sorry, got to add to the 86 comments...

    Monitors don’t age very well; growing, as they do, dimmer and yellower as time passes.

    Wrong. My 12-year-old near-perfect £600 CRT is going on the skip today, as it has just started to flicker occasionally (Mitsubishi Diamond Plus, 22", 1280x1024). This replaced my near-perfect Hitachi 21" CRT (also 1280x1024), which lasted about 10 years (cost about £1000 in ~1991).

    The only replacement I've got lying around the office is a cheap 24" Philips 244E (1920x1080). It's pretty much unusable for development work. Lots of real estate, but it doesn't have the pin-sharp clarity of a good CRT.

    Any why are you reviewing affordable monitors? I though this was a site for IT professionals? Your readers sit in front of a monitor all day, every day. Nobody in their right mind is going to save a couple of hundred quid on a second-rate monitor.

    Another review, please: good monitors, for text-based work, that I can sit on front of all day long. We don't all sit around watching DVDs at work.

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  23. cortland
    Stop

    I'll stick with my older monitors; they can be rotated for full page views. And they're already paid for. Heh!

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