Dell UltraSharp U2412m
Response Time : 8 ms
Brightness : 300 cd/m2
True Resolution : 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz
Color Support 16.7 million colors
e-IPS (Enhanced IPS - 2009)
The out of the box colors are subtly off. For example skin tones, appear pinkish, grass looked a tad washed out and some reds are over exaggerated.
Tendency to display noticeable ghosting in many fast paced games. Even when in game mode, it occurred from time to time. It was never enough to be distracting and unless you are actively looking for it you may never notice it.
When watching movies but still exhibits ghosting every now and then. Even when calibrated, the monitor's blue shift did creep in every now and then for movies.
(hardwarecanucks - We consider it to be a bridge between high fidelity, expensive professional grade monitors and the run of the mill panels that use TN technology. It may take a bit of massaging to get this monitor to play nice.)
HP ZR2440w
Response Time : 6ms
Brightness : (typical) 350 cd/m²
Image Contrast Ratio : 1000:1 / 2000000:1 (dynamic)
True Resolution : 1920x1200
Color Support 16.7 million colors
e-IPS (Enhanced IPS - 2009)
I/O Ports, Signal Input : DVI-D, DisplayPort, USB 2.0 upstream ( Type B ), USB 2.0 downstream, HDMI, Audio line-out, SPDIF output
(earned a score of Very Good from pcworld)
Asus PA248Q
Response Time : 6ms
Brightness : 300 cd/m²
ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) : 80000000:1 - (750:1 according to digitalversus)
True Resolution : 1920x1200
Color Support 16.7 million colors
I/O Ports, Signal Input : HDMI , D-Sub, DisplayPort, DVI-D, Audio Output : HDMI 1.3, Earphone jack : 3.5mm Mini-Jack, USB Port(s) : 1 x upstream, 4 x downstream
The World's First Monitor with Four USB 3.0 Ports
I have already seen the digitalversus review that compares the PA248Q with the PA246Q . (still an improvement over what is an award winning monitor already - Editors' Choice Award from cnet, etc.)
The Asus PA248Q is not a wide gamut monitor at the usual 16.7 million colors.
There is no way the Dell UltraSharp U2412m is better, that is totally subjective, and quite erroneous if I do say so. "The U2412M just can't compete against Dell's own U2410 or many other 24" IPS-based displays on the market, nor was it ever meant to." (hardwarecanucks)
digitalversus even mentions that on the Dell U2412M you can't get rid of the reverse ghosting, as one of the cons in their review !
The HP ZR2440w has USB 2.0 ports. 97% (CIE 1931) color gamut, 72% (CIE 1931) color gamut, HDCP, 84% (CIE 1976) color gamut. "Grayscale performance could be better. No auto-pivot. Slight motion blur" - pcmag. "Its color gamut isn't as wide as it's predecessor's" - proreview.
"the Dell U2412M which is perhaps the ZR2440w's most logical competitor. It uses a very similar panel (LM240WU8-SLA2) to the ZR2440w and is another IPS + W-LED offering in the 24" sector."
"The HP ZR2440w showed an average display input lag of 20ms. The similarly spec'd Dell U2412M was low at 9.4ms average."
"The lag of the HP ZR2440w screen has been categorised as CLASS 2. This should be fine for most moderate gaming still but for those wanting to play fast FPS it might prove an issue in some cases."
"The ZR2440w has a RRP of £378 GBP (inc VAT) and can be found for ~£345 in the UK. This does put it a little more expensive than the popular Dell U2412M (£270) which is bound to draw comparisons, and is at the end of the day fairly similar in most areas."
- tftcentral.co.uk
The Asus PA248Q has USB 3.0 ports. It comes Pre-calibrated, having been pre-calibrated to minimize the color different to Delta E < 5 (Delta E is the difference between colours requested by the source and those displayed onscreen) right out of box. The PA248Q delivers 100% sRGB color reproduction, and 72% NTSC color reproduction.
Yes, we pretty much all know that the contrast ratio is moderately sub-par on the PA246Q, needs improving, and that's what the PA248Q accomplished, even if only marginally. The colour accuracy should be enough of an incentive to make up for that slight shortcoming.
All in all I just spent another few hours updating my knowledge of IPS and its Pros and Cons, and when comparing the specs of the monitors of the Dell UltraSharp U2412m and the HP ZR2440w which you, MenacingTuba, showed us. I have to say that I'm disappointed, still. I had previously dismissed the Dell UltraSharp U2412m early on in my research - I haven't changed my mind about that one, it's not even in the same category of my want list.
However, the HP ZR2440w gave me food for thought. That is, until I realized its shortcomings were essentially that it was a monitor which had much in common with the Dell.
I would of wished you had found something for me to seriously consider but this isn't the case - I guess I'll just have to be waiting for the launch of the Asus PA248Q before I can readily make any stronger move in the purchasing of my next display ! Thanks for trying to help though.