AOC d2357Ph
Ratings:
3/5
Price: $320
Website:
http://uk.insight.com
AOC d2357Ph
AOC d2357Ph
is unbelievably thin with LED backlight, Full HD resolution and an ability of
displaying passive 3D, plus glasses and clip-ons in the box. It also has one
advantage – you can detach the bottom of the stand and lay the monitor as if
it’s a frame.
Unlike most
3D passive screen, d2357Ph is able to convert 2D contents into 3D. Its work
seems following a rule that if it adds a little depth to everything, your smart
brain will fit the gaps. You can also adjust 3 parameters for effects but this
is not explained in the manual and it’s really complicated to do the adjustment,
We noticed
that it didn’t add much thing to gameplay in Crysis
while in movies; it improved some scenes but spoiled some others. It appears
effective in photos, especially landscape-types. However, content intended for
3D is much better. Sadly, the effective turns counterproductive because you
often find yourself seeing depth where there shouldn’t be depth.
You need
specialized software lie TriDef to benefit the best
from 3D in games; however, it’s not on included CD. You can download a 14-day
trial from TriDef’s website but we prefer the
accompanied copy. There’s no particularly configured profile for d2357Ph. You
need to use Side-by-Side (Parallel) mode to watch 3D in games, photos or
movies.
To play Crysis using TriDef, we had to
select side-by-side mode manually, by using complex touch-sensitive control.
Many game menus looked blurred with activated 3D but in-game depth effect was
pretty convincing. It didn’t resolve our crosshair well – we saw 2 ones and
couldn’t decide which one should be concentrated.
You can
connect a Blu-ray player to watch 3D movies as long as your player supports the
latest HDMI 1.4 standard. Unlike previous 3D AOC panels, d2357Ph automatically
recognizes 3D and changes modes. However, we couldn’t notice convincing depth
effect by previous models’ side-by-side mode.
2D visual
quality is not too bad. LED backlight is bright and even with a slight blue
cast washing out colors on default configuration. To fix this, we change Gamma
setting from 1 to 3, which seems to improve contrast
and increase warmth. Viewing angle is good for a TN screen but you have to
adjust the tilt of the stand to get the best contrast.
d2357Ph’s
slim design is impressive but the bezel is as thin as it appears. Our Windows
desktop stops 12mm from the edge even though the bezel is 5mm thick. It’s also
unsteady on the stand.
d2357Ph’s
may amaze some people but 3D ability, while more flexible than that of Nvidia’s 3D Vision, is not as impressive. 120Hz refresh
rate is sorely ignored. If you want to dabble in 3D, it’s one of better value
choices though image quality is not that impressive compared to budget IPS
screen like VX2336S-LED of ViewSonic.
Overviews
Consideration: Passive-3D ability is not as good
as that of 120Hz screens and cheaper IPS monitors own better visual image.
23-inch
LCD widescreen:
1,920x1,080; inputs for VGA, HDMI; detachable stand;
2xHDMI display extra
Samsung S27A950D
Ratings:
5/5
Price: $651
Website:
www.ebuyer.com
Samsung S27A950D
The 27inch
screen seems to start at its big stand, keeping power connectors and video
inputs. The stand and the back is cover in brushed metal matt while the front
is glossy black. This made of plastic yet that’s why the price is on the same
level with Apple’s ones.
3D requires
active glasses, but they aren’t provided by 3D Vision of Nvidia.
Samsung’s glasses are lighter and use a tiny watch battery instead of a fixed
rechargeable battery. However, the screen supports 120Hz refresh rate so you
can buy a separate 3D Vision kit if you already own an Nvidia
card. Replaced glasses of Samsung costs about $133 why a 3D Vision kit plus
glasses costs nearly $204.
Samsung
bundle 3D TriDef software with the monitor. You
have to configure differently depending on distinctive graphic cards.
S27A950D’s installation software places a shortcut on the desktop, allowing you
to choose 3D styles. ATI card’s users get the best deal because S27A950D run
mostly smooth with AMD cards in our tests. However, Nvidia
users have to face some big challenges.
With AMD
card, you can use Windows’s own Direct3D standard to play game and found Crysis very smooth and immersed due to 120Hz refresh rate.
With Nvidia card, you need to set TriDef
on side-by-side mode. Then you switch to 3D manually by using touch-sensitive
controls beneath the screen. The glasses won’t switch on until you do this.
The glass
screen is very reflective and just the slightest reflection can cause trouble
for 3D effect, so it’s better to turn the light off. For 2 cards, reflection on
water creates dark bits sparkling and distracting. Gun’s crosshair is a problem
too; you can turn it off in game and open 3D laser vision by using on shortcut
but it’s not as ideal as if having gun with own laser vision.
3D Blu-ray
movies are also interesting on S27A950D. In Ice age 3, the fur was really impressive
and far objects seem farther unless blurring is stopped, which exactly ruins 3D
effect when you look closely.
S27A950D’s
basic image quality is quite surprising. It’s a TN monitor which is nearly
regarded as an IPS one because of too vibrant colors, it even has good viewing
angle. The thing matter is the screen is too bright, which has been proved when
we used meter software, it blurred images considerably.
Our first
impression when seeing S27A950D was that it was not worth the design but we
were wrong. It’s a wonderful monitor and the best is the price, which is a bit
high for such a 27inch but actually great value if you consider the excellent
design, versatile 3D inputs. No matter did you think 3D is an advertising
trick, you will be impressed when seeing such an attractive monitor with those
features plus superb visual at that price. It wins our Best Buy award.
Overviews
Consideration: Superb image quality, versatile 3D
capabilities, and an appealing make S27A950D become the Best Buy award.
27-inch
LCD widescreen:
1,920x1,090 resolution; inputs for DVI, HDMI; 1 DisplayPort; headphone output
ViewSonic
V3D245
Ratings:
3/5
Price:
$509.47
Website:
www.ilgs.co.uk
ViewSonic V3D245
We’ve seen
3D monitors using 3D Vision technology of Nvidia
before, but they only work in 3D once connected to PC. With Viewsonic’s
24inch V3D245, the transmitter is built inside the screen so it works with
separate HDMI 1.4a devices like Blu-ray player and Playstation
3.
V3D245
looks cheap and the glossy plastic black finish plus the stand are easy to get
scratched and dusted. Touch-sensitive controls are a bit complex in use, and
you can only adjust contrast and primary brightness, with color temperature
controls offering an odd choice of sRGB, Bluish,
Cool, Native, Warm and User.
There is a
Dynamic Contrast option as well as an option increasing response time, but we
left them disabled because they often make fuss with image quality. Dynamic
Contrast may lead to distracting transitions in brightness, while overdrive
technology designed for lowering response time may cause input lag.
Despite all
above, the image quality is good. LED backlight is bright and reasonably even.
Besides, there’s a slight yellow cast adding warmth to the images but makes the
flesh tones a little jaundiced. Vertical viewing angle is not perfect yet as
long as you carefully tilt the screen, its contrast will be still accurate and
the anti-glare finish helps to reduce refection from backlight.
HDMI1.4a
input only allows 1080Hz at 24Hz, which is good for movies at 24fps but makes
games lagged. Reducing resolution down to 720p gives you 60Hz but less details,
and really suitable for PS3.
Extremely
smooth gaming from PC requires 1 Nvidia card
connected via dual-link DVI cable enclosed. With this, you can run the monitor
in full resolution at 60Hz (120Hz with 60Hz for each eye). However, not all
games work well with 3D Vision. For example, in Diablo III, isometric view
meant the background still stayed fainted though trees and emerging sections
reinforced 3D effect. However, in-game health bar, ability bar and radar map
still lay on a separate panel just like the cursor. This made clicking objects
harder because of feeling of things detached.
In Just
Cause 2, 3D effect was much clearer. The glasses considerably dimmed the
images, and while 3D effect looked great in the close-up – especially in beach
scenes with amazing water effect – faraway scenes seems like a painted
backdrop.
On Blu-ray
Avatar, each scene had various details and fast response time of V3D245 meant
we didn’t see much crosstalk, where an eye sees another eye’s images. Nonetheless,
we found the glasses uncomfortable and they tightened our heads. It’s good when
they can be charged by USB so you don’t have to replace the battery.
While this
screen is a progress compared to other 3D Vision supporting we’ve watched,
because it can be used with independent devices, in fact you are paying twice
much for additional size.
Overviews
Consideration: 3D capabilities are complete but
there’re other better monitors.
23.6-inch
LCD widescreen:
1,920x1,080 resolution; inputs for VGA, DVI; 3.5mm
audio input; headphone output
