Another LCD Monitor Question

I am looking to replace my aging PC set up and am looking at the different LCD monitors to replace my CRT. One that I found was the Hanns-G HW-223DPB 22" widescreen LCD display. This is the first time that I have heard of Hanns-G. The few reviews I have read seem to be favorable. They are decidedly better than the reviews about the Samsung 226BW, which very depending on which of the three variants was purchased. Also in the same price range, the Acer AL2216Wbd seems to fall between these monitors. The EIZO is out of my price range and I am not sure that I could tell the difference anyway.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Hanns is a 6 bit monitor only capable of displaying 262,144 colors, from a palette of 16.2 M colors. It uses dithering to display the other colors. Response times are much faster in this type of monitor. Fiine for gaming and business graphics; unacceptable for serious photo editing. In addition, this monitor only has a 70 degree vertical viewing angle, so monitor placement is critical. More expensive 8 bit or direct 12 bit panels do not have these limitations and can actually display a full 16.7M color palette.

Thanks Gene,

I am finding it hard to determine just how many bits the monitors are using to display color. Is there any way to determine just what the actual monitor specifications are? Or is that a rhetorical question? Are all the 8 or 12 bit monitors available only from specialty stores? I guess that the gamers have taken over this market, as if they could respond to a 2 milliseconds update when even their internet connection isn't anywhere near that fast.

Thanks again for your help.

Thanks Gene,

I am finding it hard to determine just how many bits the monitors are using to display color. Is there any way to determine just what the actual monitor specifications are? Or is that a rhetorical question? Are all the 8 or 12 bit monitors available only from specialty stores? I guess that the gamers have taken over this market, as if they could respond to a 2 milliseconds update when even their internet connection isn't anywhere near that fast.

Thanks again for your help.

You are not alone - one dead giveaway is the color spec - 6 bit monitors usually spec 16.2M palette size and neglect to tell you that they only display 265K colors at one time, and full 8 bit monitors (and higher) show 16.7M viewable. Also, the higher bit monitors show a slower response time.

I went through a few stores this afternoon and was totally frustrated. It started out with a Mac man in the PC department. He didn't want to talk about any other monitors than Apple. He didn't think those would work on a PC. He also told me that the HP monitors had 32 bit color. I'm glad I didn't believe him as I googled the models in the store and the were all TN technology. Ah! Good old 18 bit gaming machines. I found that the TN monitors listed the number of colors variously as 16M, 16.2M, and >16M. How's that for confusing the issue. I just found a Viewsonics that claimed millions of colors. Most of the reviewers don't know the difference between 6 bit and 8 bit color.

Back to the googling.

Thanks for your assistance..

Many on sportsshooter.com like the Dell Ultrasharp line, specifically the 24", but there is also a 20" with a .258 pixel pitch @ 1680 x 1050 / 60 Hz. The posts indicate that they calibrate very nicely. Here is a link:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-4688

By the way, you can use the Apple displays with a PC as long as your graphics card has DVI and supports the monitors resolution. Many on that site have elected to go with the 24" Dell instead and saved a bit of $$. Here's a link to the 24": http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-5647

Hope this helps,
Duane

Duane,

I looked at the specs for the Ultrasharp 2407WPF-HC and it looks good. The user reviews reflex the usage and only the gamers seem to have a dislike of this monitor. I can find nothing to tell me what the color depth is. I wonder why that is such a secret? At least it isn't TN technology. Dell says that it ships in 3-5 weeks. I don't see why it should take so long for a company that prides itself on promptness. The price is more than I wanted to pay, but I guess I will have to bite the bullet.

Thanks for your help.

Fred,

I'm glad you asked this question, since I'm in the market for a new display too. I looked at the Dell link Duane provided and under Tech Specs, it does note color depth as 24 bit. Did you find a price for it? Today it's showing 'call for latest price'.

Thanks
Cindy Bell

Cindy,

I couldn't find where it said what the color depth is. However, in the reviews that I read, only the gamers had complaints. I also didn't find any reference to using a TN technology, which is the infamous 6 bit/color or 18 bit color depth with dithering for the rest, sort of. I found the price at http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&k=2407wfp&cat=all. It is more expensive than many of the new PC's out today. Let me know if you don't find it.

I am going to order it tomorrow. I have the new PC. It is terrible how little documentation they give with the new PC's. Almost as if you can read their minds or they are trying to get you to purchase setup as well as the computer.

Fred

Cindy,

I couldn't find where it said what the color depth is. However, in the reviews that I read, only the gamers had complaints. I also didn't find any reference to using a TN technology, which is the infamous 6 bit/color or 18 bit color depth with dithering for the rest, sort of. I found the price at http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&k=2407wfp&cat=all. It is more expensive than many of the new PC's out today. Let me know if you don't find it.

I am going to order it tomorrow. I have the new PC. It is terrible how little documentation they give with the new PC's. Almost as if you can read their minds or they are trying to get you to purchase setup as well as the computer.

Fred

Fred,

I see, you're looking at the 24" dia LCD now. I don't see any color bit depth for that one, you're quite right. It's interesting that they claim a color gamut improvement from 72% to 92% but don't say whether they are referencing the NTSC gamut (common in mktg claims) or the human visual color gamut (the std reference in conference papers.) It looks like a beautiful product nonetheless!

Cindy

Just to bring you up to date. I ordered the Dell Ultrasharp 2407WPF-HC online on November 18th. The description on the Dell site noted a ship date of 3-5 weeks after placing the order. When I ordered the monitor, the receipt gave a ship date of December 16th. OK. That was 4 weeks, right in the middle of the estimate on the online catalog. I received an email on November 28th that the monitor had shipped and the delivery was expected to be December 3-5. It arrived Friday, November 30th. Folks, if I had to have a delivery schedule off, this is the way that I would like it to be.

By the way, I received more documentation with the Dell monitor than I did with my new computer. It was easy to set up and worked the first time I turned it on. The color appears to be better than my old CRT, a DiamondPro 2070. It takes up less room on my desktop than the old CRT, even excluding the expected loss of the bulging back. The fall-off as I move my head around is far less than it is on my HP Laptop and better than I expected. My next step, after I get my software moved over, is to calibrate it. So far, I have only good things to say about it!