Windows 10: Need Help Purchasing New Monitor

I've spent more hours than I care to admit trying to find a monitor, but I did make a purchase.

One of the most discouraging aspects to purchasing a monitor is the high percentage of returns based on issues that should have prevented them from ever being sold. With IPS panels it's light bleeding which should have been resolved by now since it's not a panel defect. Most say it's poor Quality Control but it could happen during shipping so I think it's more of a design and/or assembly issue. Either way, considering how many of them have the problem, you would think the manufacturers would put 2+2 together.

Last night a friend called and both of us ended up purchasing the Samsung U28E590D, which Steve C mentioned earlier in this thread. The projected delivery date is Saturday. It was already one of the monitors I considered but didn't jump on it strictly due to the TN panel. But for $249, free shipping, and the fact if anything goes wrong I can return it to my local Best Buy, it was worth trying.

I don't want to mark this thread as solved just yet, so I'll report back here in a week or so, whether the outcome is good or bad. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Almost forgot but Steve C commented about the HDMI ports "I doubt that its HDMI inputs support 2.0, required to get 60 Hz at UHD."

Somewhere, someone mentioned one of the two HDMI ports is 2.0 so I downloaded the manual and sure enough "An HDMI cable that supports 3840 x 2160 at 60 Hz will work when connect with HDMI 2." So at least you know it's there in case you need it.

 

bobkn suggested the Samsung monitor, I have a Viewsonic VP2770

 

bobkn made that comment

 

Good luck with that TN panel man, for my uses they just can't cut it. Color reproduction and display brightness are two areas where I find them lacking the most. If you are a big gamer and need the fastest response times you'll probably be happy with it.

Most of the time ones eye problems result from a high brightness monitor setting, you might keep that in mind.

 

Sorry about that Steve... my bad *Smile

Railtech, although I knew I would be taking a chance with another TN monitor, trying something that's otherwise better all the way around than what I'm using now may be worthwhile. The problem with my current monitor primarily has to do with blurry fonts which began when I installed Windows 10 and set the display setting to 125%. But the new monitor will let me up that setting to 150% which is supposed to take care of that problem. If I'm not happy with the results it will be easy to return and I'll restrict the next attempt to an IPS panel.

 

I've been using the new Samsung U28E590D that bobkn recommended on a regular basis and it's a keeper. I'm sure there are better monitors out there, but this one is so much better than the Samsung it replaced, the two can't compare. I tried the Windows 10 display setting at 150% but 175% is more to my liking. The blurry font issue is completely gone... fonts are crisp and clear. The 28" screen worked out well with the same (low profile) homemade stand I was using, the overall height is less than 1" taller than the 24" monitor it replaced.

If I had any gripes it would be the typical off axis viewing angle of the TN panel. Seems to be the same as my prior monitor which didn't really bother me so this one won't be any worse. Still, at $249 from Best Buy and free shipping, it's a bargain and better than I hoped.

I'll probably use this one for 2-3 years. By then, I figure the production quality of IPS montiors will improve... and hopefully the price will drop... along with the exchange/return rate.

Railtech, when you said display brightness was one of the areas where TN panels lacked, were you referring to it being too bright or not bright enough? Asking because the new monitor was so bright that both brightness and contrast had to go below 50%. I'm guessing because this is LED backlit and my prior monitor wasn't.

Thanks again everyone.

 

Yes on the brightness question. The TN monitors are over bright which you have already discovered. You can dim the display but that works against contrast so is not a good trade off. Striking a balance between brightness and contrast brings out the richness of the color spectrum. That is where IPS monitors have the distinct advantage. VA panels run a close second to IPS in this area. I also run my panel at 175% as I am in agreement with you on that looking the best.

Bottom line is if you like the display then all is good. For me, I got used to using professional grade monitors many years ago so a lesser quality display just looks terrible to me and so I shy away from them. Of course that means I have to save my dollars longer to get what I can live with as well! Enjoy the new display, Samsung makes a quality display so you should get some good use out of it.

 

Thanks Railtech. It took multiple tries between brightness and contrast but I think I'm good now.

Marking this thread as solved. Thanks all!