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(More customer reviews)I wanted to use a large monitor for my computer and initially purchased a Panasonic TC-L32S1 32 inch IPS lcd tv for this purpose based on recommendations out on the web. That TV was way to large to properly read documents and browse the web, no matter how fun it might have been to use for games. The pixel pitch is very important and sitting at a distance of 3 feet from a 32 inch tv does not work, as the pixels seem way to big. I wanted to find a better option that was a little smaller and this 27 inch monitor seems to be the perfect size. I sit about 2 feet away from it and even though it is considerably smaller than the 32 inch tv, it still feels MUCH larger than the 23 inch samsung monitor I also own.
I've been using this monitor for a week now and have noticed the following:
The native resolution is NOT too small for this size of screen. Some people complain that 1920 x 1080 is too little of a resolution for anything over a 23/24 inch monitor. I also use a laptop with a 17 inch screen with a 1920 x 1200 resolution and text on it can seem very small due to the small pixel pitch. After using this 27 inch monitor with a much larger pixel pitch, I can tell you that if you sit at normal distance from this monitor, you will not "notice each pixel" because of their larger size. Text looks large and sharp, but not lacking in detail. Of course, if you get very close to the screen you can see each pixel, but the monitor is meant to sit 2 feet away from you or more. At this distance, the resolution of 1920 x 1080 is more than enough for this size of a monitor.
The glossy screen finish on the monitor makes colors pop a lot, but might bother you if you have windows or lights behind you. I wanted a glossy screen monitor because I have no issue with the reflections of a glossy screen and prefer the pop that glossy screens give to colors. Direct sun light hitting the screen from the side is not much of an issue, as the anti-glare properties work pretty well. However, the screen can still be very reflective of things behind you. The brightness setting on the monitor should be set to half of the default setting, which is blindingly bright out of the box.
Response times on the monitor aren't the best I've experienced (even though listed at 2.5 ms) but are still decent. The low response times can only be achieved by turning on the "Video Overdrive" option, which is turned off by default. I have it on and did notice the motion blur decrease slightly on some motion tests. It is good enough to play games such as first person shooters, but its not the best performer I've seen in this department.
The black level produced by the monitor is not very dark, but the perceived contrast caused by the pop of the colors makes it a very pleasing image. The brightness setting on the monitor seems to only change the strength of the backlight instead of the brightness of the picture, so no matter what brightness setting you use, the black level stays pretty consistent.
The dynamic contrast ratio setting works very well compared to other TV's and monitors I've owned. It is very slow and gradual in adjusting the backlight depending on the scene instead of quickly changing like older tv's do. This makes it a much more seaming-less transition, much like your eye would behave when going from a very bright place to a darker place. I had it turned on for a little while, but decided to leave it off permanently because the monitor goes back to its blindingly bright backlight setting on bright scenes and it hurts the eyes at night time.
Like other monitors, it has pre-exisinting "Text" and "Movie" settings. These seem to just modify the brightness and contrast settings. I decided to leave mine at "Custom" and use the brightness at 50 and the contrast at 80. Setting the constrast any higher will cause white crush (not showing all the details of the brightest range of colors like white).
The color settings allow you to change between 9300k, 6500k, and sRGB. 9300k seemed way to blue, sRGB seemed a little too red and 6500k seemed the most pleasing. I'm unable properly test for the gamma accuracy, but with the Avia calibration tool, there seemed to be very little difference in the gamma/color accuracy of sRGB and 6500k settings.
You can also adjust the Red, Green, and Blue colors individually for better color accuracy. However, like other monitors, there is no Hue or Color Saturation setting to help you do this easierly (with less accuracy).
The viewing angles for the monitor are limited just like any other TN panel. If you sit in front of the monitor, you won't have an issue with the viewing angles. If you plan to have people using it to watch it from steep angles, you should get a different monitor, as the colors will change a lot if viewed from anywhere besides the center position.
In summary:
Great for:
-Great Pop of colors due to glossy screen
-Good size and easy to read text from at a regular distance
-Decent response times for games with Video Overdrive turned on
-Decent black levels due to the contrast caused by bright colors and glossy screen.
-Sturdy and attractive design (monitor does not wobble much on its stand like other big monitors of this size usually do)
Cons:
-Black levels cannot be adjusted very much and stay pretty much the same because the brightness setting is just the backlight strength.
-Limited viewing angle for accurate colors due to TN panel
-Turning the dynamic contrast setting on leads to the monitor using blindingly bright settings in some scenes.
Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase and recommend this monitor to anyone who is not bothered by regular TN panel viewing angles and want a good pop of color from their monitor. The color reproduction might not be as accurate as an IPS panel, but they are darn pretty and POP much more than any IPS panel I've ever worked with.
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