Replacement for Samsung P193+, Not happy with U2311H

[herhubby86]

I have an older Samsung P193+ S-PVA monitor that I love. Beautiful image, virtually no color or contrast changes as viewing angle changes, and easy on the eyes. The only downside is the resolution (1280x1024) which makes editing 1920x1080 video a little inaccurate (downscaling hides some image details).

So, I recently bought a Dell U2311H monitor. It was affordable and had good reviews, but I am not very happy with it.

For starters it is so bright it's like staring into the sun. I have the brightness turned down to 20, and it's still way too bright, especially with white backgrounds like word processing or surfing the web. The colors get funky if I go below 20, but it's still too bright even set at 0! (contrast is set at 75). I spend all day in front of my monitor, and staring at something that bright all day strains my eyes and gives me a headache. My wife had the same complaints last night, so I know it's not just me.

I thought IPS was supposed to be an "improvement" over S-PVA, but the viewing angles suck. The screen changes appearance just rotating side to side in my desk chair. If I'm standing next to the desk to discuss something that my wife is doing on the screen, it's so dark and washed out I can barely see it.

I haven't seen any dead pixels, but there is a fair amount of backlight bleeding through on black screens, especially if there is a bright object in the enter of the screen.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about the 1920x1080 aspect ratio either. If everything else were perfect I could adapt, but I think 1920x1200 would be nicer for computing purposes.

My primary uses are programming, office apps, and web pages. I also do a lot of work with photos and video editing, so accurate color is a must. I never play games so high speed isn't really a concern. I only use DVI so I don't need a bunch of connections. I also don't need speakers, USB ports, or other add-ons.

Basically, I want my Samsung P193+ with a higher resolution.

I am probably going to return the U2311H. Which monitor would you suggest as a replacement?

 

[ssddx]

you can dim the lcd lower than the onboard controls allow by using the graphic card settings menu. this is a common problem on some dell screens.

as for viewing angles... i love my old viewsonic pro series. 170deg+ viewing angle horizontal, great color, nice controls. they will set you back about $250-350 for the high end.

for reference my old vp201b 1600x1200 cost me $650 5 years ago. it still looks better than some new monitors. check them out!

 

[herhubby86]

you can dim the lcd lower than the onboard controls allow by using the graphic card settings menu.

I tried that, but it just makes the colors look weird, and still looks too bright even if set all the way to zero.

 

[lullabyte]

To fix brightness and colors do the calibration as shown at http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2311h.htm

Almost no monitor is perfect without calibration done...

 

[jaguarskx]

The viewing angles for the e-IPS panel is generally not as good as the expensive S-IPS or H-IPS panels. Apparently from what you are saying it is not as good as a PVA panel either. It is possible you could have a below average quality e-IPS panel.

I haven't really kept up with PVA panel monitors since my preference is IPS panels. What is your budget?

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

You should keep contrast at 50 if you are not doing calibration with a colorimeter.

This should be your problem (not brightness) Increasing contrast screws up the colours, everything look more white (bright) so its hard on the eyes and not colour accurate at that.