New monitor

[Kelron]

I'm thinking of getting a new monitor, ideally around the £150 mark but I'll go higher if it's worth it. I want a good quality one this time as I have 2 cheap 20" monitors currently, one has poor colour reproduction and the other has significant backlight bleed which is a pain in the arse for dark scenes in films and games.

Size, I'm looking at 22-24" 1920x1080. I also want it for my PS3, with that in mind it would be nice to have one with either a DVI and HDMI connection or 2 HDMI that will let me switch inputs at the press of a button. I'm wondering if it would be better to look for one sold as a TV as they come with a remote and Freeview (which I might use) as standard, depends on the price and whether it provides good enough quality for close-up gaming and general PC use.

I've picked out a few that seem to fit the bill from Ebuyer, but I'm not too well informed when it comes to monitors.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169099
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161554
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/170084

[Kadayi]

When I was looking for a 24" monitor a while back I did look favorably upon the Iiyama Prolite 24". Ultimately I wanted a 16:10 monitor so I got a Dell 2410 instead, but for your purposes I'd say the Iiyama is a good fit.

[ComradePenguin]

I was recently in the same boat as you and I went for the LG IPS231P. There is a report that it's bad for gaming due to a slow response time but I and others who have it haven't had any problems so I suspect they had a duff unit. It uses an IPS panel rather than the normal TN which has far better colours and generally looks nicer. It's the type of panel that a lot of people who do graphic design work and such like use. I'm very happy with mine and it puts any TN panel I've seen to shame. Sadly it only has one DVI which would make it a pain to use with your PS3. I currently swap cables but I'm looking to see if anywhere does a decent DVI switching box.

If you're prepared to go up to the £200 mark the Dell U2311H is very well thought of. Same panel as the LG but better backlight and it has display port in so you could potentially use that for your PC and DVI for the PS3.

On the freeview front, if you don't want HD you can always get a PlayTV for the PS3. They go for around £20 2nd hand and it would let you record as well.

[CMaster]

I often find PC PRO's A List is a good place to start, especially with hardware you aren't sure about. I gather that these days your average LCD screen is much better than it used to be - certainly, it was very possible to pick up something completely duff if you just went out and bought based on a price/specs/size comparison. It's best to see them for yourself if possible (see what your local PC world etc have on display) or at least seek the opinions of people who have done good thorough testing.

[TillEulenspiegel]

I'm quite happy with my LG W2361V.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165288

[Kelron]

That Dell monitor looks nice, but the inputs might be a problem. Adapters add to the cost, and it looks like the inputs are on the underside of the monitor, meaning the weight of the adapter might end up pulling the cable out. Same goes for a number of other options that looked promising. The other option is to use a switchbox, but it seems the cheaper ones are prone to connection and image quality problems, while higher end ones are far too expensive for my purposes.

I've been reading some reviews which suggest I might be better off aiming my budget around £200 for a good quality screen anyway, if I want to avoid the same issues that annoy me with my current monitors. I'm curious as to how much benefit I'd see from an IPS panel for gaming and general use, given that I don't do graphic design or anything similar.

[Untitled]

After using a 22" TN panel for a few years, switching to my current 24" dell IPS was a breath of fresh air. Everything from web pages to movies look better, and this is a gaming PC so I thought I might have problems with the response time but not at all. This is the monitor I have. I really would recommend an IPS panel, as long as the response times are below 8ms gray to gray.

The best thing about this panel type is the colour stays the same whatever angle you look at the monitor from, I wouldn't be able to live without it now.

[Kadayi]

After using a 22" TN panel for a few years, switching to my current 24" dell IPS was a breath of fresh air. Everything from web pages to movies look better, and this is a gaming PC so I thought I might have problems with the response time but not at all. This is the monitor I have. I really would recommend an IPS panel, as long as the response times are below 8ms gray to gray.

The best thing about this panel type is the colour stays the same whatever angle you look at the monitor from, I wouldn't be able to live without it now.

I have the same and it's a beauty (plus 16:10 ratio = win), and robust as hell but I use it for when I work at home for photoshop/illustrator/CAD so that goes some way towards justifying the price tag (I got mine for about £400). It's a little out of his price range. Someone recommended the slightly smaller model and I'd agree with that if he's prepared to stretch to it, as these are good monitors.

[Kelron]

A switch box seems like the simplest way to solve the input issues, and it would be handy for switching audio too. But I've had a look and I can't find anything that fits the bill (2 DVI or HDMI and separate audio inputs) for a reasonable price.

[Kelron]

It looks like a switch with DVI and audio will cost half as much again as the monitor, so that's out. Having trawled the net for reviews of other reasonably priced IPS panels, the Dell U2311H seems like the best of the lot. I can get that + a HDMI switch and cable for my graphics card for about £215, how does that sound? (Note: I currently have a HDMI-DVI adapter to plug my PS3 into my monitor, I'd just use that on the output from the switch instead.)

I'll have to sort something else out for the audio but that stuff is dirt cheap and I'm sure I can figure it out on my own.

[ComradePenguin]

Sounds like a good solution. IPS really is rather lovely and worth the extra in my opinion. Out of interest what HDMI switching box are you looking at? I may need to be using my PS3 with the monitor a lot more when I move in a month or so.

[Kelron]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0020426AG

Cheap and basic, but the majority of the 300-odd reviews say it works fine.

[Kadayi]

You won't regret getting the Dell U2311H Kelron. The IPS screens are fantastic, colour quality is excellent and the build quality is robust, plus the stand is very flexible.

By default the screen menu keys make a noise, but you can turn that off under the options.

[celt]

I feel like the underated gem of the monitor world is Hanns G with their 28" monitors running for $300ish. I got one 3 years ago and it hits all my marks: huge size, low price, great quality. I don't know if they have any new competition nowadays, but when I bought mine it felt like they were just blowing through their competition and setting a new standard by offerering such a monitor at such a price.

No, I don't work for them. =)

[Kelron]

Bought the Dell, arrived this evening. Picture is fantastic, thanks for the recommendations. I keep knocking the power button but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

[ComradePenguin]

Bought the Dell, arrived this evening. Picture is fantastic, thanks for the recommendations. I keep knocking the power button but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Excellent. Glad to hear you're getting on with it. IPS really is great even if you're not doing colour sensitive work. Did you also get the switching box and if so how is that working out?

[Kelron]

Just waiting for the cables to arrive.

[Kadayi]

Bought the Dell, arrived this evening. Picture is fantastic, thanks for the recommendations. I keep knocking the power button but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Heh yeah I kept doing that initially, it's pretty discreet. Glad you're liking it. If it's anything like the U2410 it will get naturally toastie at the back, but that's standard. Word of advice is wake up fully before turning the monitor on as it's 400 lumens which is about 25% brighter than most monitors meaning it can be a tad 'aggh my eyes!!' if you've just gotten up.

[Kelron]

Excellent. Glad to hear you're getting on with it. IPS really is great even if you're not doing colour sensitive work. Did you also get the switching box and if so how is that working out?

Just plugged it in and it works great, no noticeable loss of image quality so far (although I was messing with it while typing this and the switch started playing up and flicking between inputs, will have to see if it keeps happening). I have a dual monitor setup and it switches between single and dual monitor mode automatically, not sure if that's a feature of the graphics drivers or Windows, but it didn't do it before when I was just pulling the DVI cable out.

For the audio I'm using a headphone/speaker switch I had lying around, it works exactly the same if you do everything in reverse.

[Ian]

Was it this one you went for in the end, Kelron?

And're you still liking it?

I'm looking at a monitor upgrade myself, and while that's probably pushing the upper limit of what I'd planned to pay it does look pretty good. My current monitor is tiny and I've had it for...... nearly ten years, I think. I can justify treating myself. (Just about.)