[Nnimrod]

Looking for a good quality, 24-26" display, 1080p, no need for bells and whistles. Primary use case is general use, casual programming, blender, etc.

I don't really play any games where refresh rate matters.

I say VA just because I kind of want to try one, never had one before.

 

[ZealotKi11er]

Usually, good VA come with all the bells and whistles + high price.

 

[digitalfrost]

Samsung makes their own panels and have some of the best gaming monitors so I would expect their office monitors to be good as well.

 

[ttnuagmada]

The only reason to consider a VA over an IPS is if IPS contrast bothers you. They're otherwise inferior.

 

[8800GT]

The only reason to consider a VA over an IPS is if IPS contrast bothers you. They're otherwise inferior.

This. Unless you're gaming and want that better ratio, IPS is better. Especially for office scenario's.

 

[Nnimrod]

This. Unless you're gaming and want that better ratio, IPS is better. Especially for office scenario's.

IPS may well be better, but I do have a reason for being interested in VA specifically. I keep my room quite dark, and I like to turn the brightness on the monitor down a bit as well, which helps with eye strain. However turning the brightness down lowers the contrast quite a bit, hence the interest in a higher contrast screen.

As it happens, I also have a crt, and while it's certainly a dimmer display over all than either of my lcds, the contrast is still great, and it's readability is better for a given total brightness. But maybe it's just that my lcds suck, idk. I have a cheapo asus TN, and an old Qnix PLS.

 

[Jedi Mind Trick]

IPS may well be better, but I do have a reason for being interested in VA specifically. I keep my room quite dark, and I like to turn the brightness on the monitor down a bit as well, which helps with eye strain. However turning the brightness down lowers the contrast quite a bit, hence the interest in a higher contrast screen.

As it happens, I also have a crt, and while it's certainly a dimmer display over all than either of my lcds, the contrast is still great, and it's readability is better for a given total brightness. But maybe it's just that my lcds suck, idk. I have a cheapo asus TN, and an old Qnix PLS.

I feel that, biggest reason why I try to get VA (and OLED) panels exclusively these days. IPS looks fine with some ambient light, but man, do they look (relatively) awful when they are the only source of light in the room.

The only issue I can see with looking for a lower end (1080p60hz) VA panel is that the response time is going to be really bad and lead to a lot of ghosting.

Samsung does make good panels, but I've had mediocre luck with their QC as of late (though mostly in the TV realm).

 

[Leopardi]

The only reason to consider a VA over an IPS is if IPS contrast bothers you. They're otherwise inferior.

The current generation "nano IPS" panels have made this advantage even clearer. There was a downshift from 1200:1 panels to 700-900:1 panels, so the additional contrast from 2500-3000:1 VA will be very visible and it looks nicer even in daylight.

 

[Transient Gamer]

I got a 32 inch VA panel on my DELL monitor. Rig in sig.Not the best, but a good satisfactory performance gaming monitor for me ( a great x-mas gift from wifey). Its curved, and I would not go without it now that I'm used to curved! It may be worth investigating!
Anyway, I play in the dark and like the VA panel. My gaming at 1440P/144Hz is also good enough for my senses, dont see or feel any ghosting.
I was an IPS guy before and took a risk on trying a VA and that worked. DELL has deals online and Best Buy that are also offering the same deals as a reseller. Maybe they have something in your price range?

 

[LazyGamer]

To me, whatever 'advantage' there is to VA panels is largely beaten out by:

• Poor text rendering. This isn't all VA panels (but most!) and also affects all OLED panels. Most IPS panels do not have this issue.
• Extremely poor response times for darker shades - yes, you get more contrast, but good luck making out anything that's moving! Also causes an 'inky' smear with certain text and backgrounds. Once seen, cannot be unseen.
• Color / gamma shifts off-angle - VA doesn't lose contrast sharply when shifting off-angle like TN, but the colors do change
• Nearly impossible to calibrate accurately - had two different VA panels side by side, both suffering from all of the above issues, and could never get them both calibrated even close (nevermind the same!) using a hardware calibration tool.

To me, VA (and derivatives like PLS and whatever Samsung is calling their VA LCD tech now) is only really truly suited for media consumption, and really for TVs where per-pixel sharpness isn't an issue and where most media can be buffered a bit to give the panel's precharging routine time to deal with the inherently slow VA dark color transition delays. If color, text sharpness, and responsiveness across all brightness levels are a priority, IPS is still king.

 

[ttnuagmada]

The current generation "nano IPS" panels have made this advantage even clearer. There was a downshift from 1200:1 panels to 700-900:1 panels, so the additional contrast from 2500-3000:1 VA will be very visible and it looks nicer even in daylight.

In the scheme of things though, PC VA panel contrast honestly is pretty bad too. I have a 32in CHG70 as my main display on my office PC, and while it's better than an IPS, it still leaves A LOT to be desired. I bought a C1 last year for my living room, and I've shifted to playing most games on it just because the contrast is so much better. Comparing IPS contrast to VA at this point is basically "really really bad" vs "Pretty dang bad" after getting used to an OLED.

 

[ttnuagmada]

To me, whatever 'advantage' there is to VA panels is largely beaten out by:

• Poor text rendering. This isn't all VA panels (but most!) and also affects all OLED panels. Most IPS panels do not have this issue.

I've been using a C1 here a lot recently, and there is no way I'd called the text rendering "poor". 99% of people wouldn't even notice anything wrong with it on the WOLEDs. The QD-OLED's do have some issues due to their odd pixel arrangement though.

 

[Nnimrod]

Any thoughts on these new LG displays? $280 on amazon, and it seems to be more or less what I want.

LG 24” UltraGear™ Full HD Gaming Monitor | LG Canada

Get more information on the LG 24GQ50F-B. Click for pictures, reviews, and tech specs for the LG 24” UltraGear™ Full HD Gaming Monitor

www.lg.com

 

[Nnimrod]

Any thoughts on these new LG displays? $280 on amazon, and it seems to be more or less what I want.

LG 24” UltraGear™ Full HD Gaming Monitor | LG Canada

Get more information on the LG 24GQ50F-B. Click for pictures, reviews, and tech specs for the LG 24” UltraGear™ Full HD Gaming Monitor

www.lg.com

edit: for ****s and giggles I checked my best crt (17" flat screen trinitron from 2002 or so) with this tool, and it's just comical how perfect it is. No discernible aberration in any of the tests. There are drawbacks of course - the geometry isn't perfect. It's pretty good for what it is, but not perfect. LCDs are inherently perfect by comparison. LCDs are also available and don't require expensive powered HDMI to VGA adapters.

 

[Shardnax]

IPS may well be better, but I do have a reason for being interested in VA specifically. I keep my room quite dark, and I like to turn the brightness on the monitor down a bit as well, which helps with eye strain. However turning the brightness down lowers the contrast quite a bit, hence the interest in a higher contrast screen.

As it happens, I also have a crt, and while it's certainly a dimmer display over all than either of my lcds, the contrast is still great, and it's readability is better for a given total brightness. But maybe it's just that my lcds suck, idk. I have a cheapo asus TN, and an old Qnix PLS.

Contrast ratio should actually stay relatively stable across the brightness range with black levels improving as brightness decreases. The CRT won't win on maximum brightness but black level should easily best IPS, TN, or VA.

 

[Nnimrod]

I ended up getting a low end LG IPS because it was dirt cheap, and amazon can have it here real quick. Hopefully in a few months more compelling screens will be available.

 

[Blameless]

Extremely poor response times for darker shades - yes, you get more contrast, but good luck making out anything that's moving! Also causes an 'inky' smear with certain text and backgrounds. Once seen, cannot be unseen.

Not all VA panels are slow and someone looking for a best VA panel probably isn't going to be looking at those with terrible transition times; though small and 1080p probably isn't very likely to be a good VA panel, admittedly.

Samsung has had competitively fast 27"+ VA panels (that have a small spike for dark transitions that's not far off what most IPS panels manage) since 2020 and AUO's new panels should start to show up by the end of this year.

 

[Pictus]

The first thing to check before purchasing any monitor/TV is whether it uses PWM for backlight dimming.
PWM can cause eye strain, nausea and headaches...

Why Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) is such a headache

Explanation of PWM, when and why it is bad, and possible solutions

www.notebookcheck.net

At least avoid the low frequency PWM models.
Check the reviews, flicker free usually means PWM free.

The Monitor Reviews: Best of 2022 is super complete, all important aspects are covered.

Other good sites:

Monitor Reviews | PCMonitors.info

Detailed reviews from a range of monitor manufacturers. A focus on gaming monitors as well as those suited to general-purpose usage, movies and colour work.

pcmonitors.info

Reviews of Monitors and Displays from TFTCentral

Expert monitor and display reviews with in depth analysis, testing, results and measurements. In depth, thorough and experienced

tftcentral.co.uk

https://www.prad.de/test-kaufberatung/testberichte/test-monitore/

 

[Nnimrod]

The first thing to check before purchasing any monitor/TV is whether it uses PWM for backlight dimming.
PWM can cause eye strain, nausea and headaches...

Why Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) is such a headache

Explanation of PWM, when and why it is bad, and possible solutions

www.notebookcheck.net

At least avoid the low frequency PWM models.
Check the reviews, flicker free usually means PWM free.

The Monitor Reviews: Best of 2022 is super complete, all important aspects are covered.

Other good sites:

Monitor Reviews | PCMonitors.info

Detailed reviews from a range of monitor manufacturers. A focus on gaming monitors as well as those suited to general-purpose usage, movies and colour work.

pcmonitors.info

Reviews of Monitors and Displays from TFTCentral

Expert monitor and display reviews with in depth analysis, testing, results and measurements. In depth, thorough and experienced

tftcentral.co.uk

https://www.prad.de/test-kaufberatung/testberichte/test-monitore/

I hadn't thought of PWM being a problem... if I notice such symptoms I'll check and see if the screen I got is. But I don't want to check first, because that might induce placebo effects. LG does advertise many models as being flicker free, but not the one I just bought. I didn't figure it meant anything, because they didn't say what flicker free actually meant.

I got the 22MK430H-B today. I wasn't super pumped with the selection of small (24" at most) displays, and I was tired of looking. So I figured why not just buy a cheapo and then I can address this issue again in a couple of months, since a bunch of new models usually come out in the fall.

Super short review - All things considered, it's excellent. $107 on amazon for a 22" 1080p 75hz IPS display? I expected 3 dead pixels, weird backlight bleed, and a tilt adjust mechanism that just lets the screen slump forward. Nope, none of those.

I'll only mention the flaws:
- Stand and bezel look cheap - they're non-glossy and extremely simple. The bezel is, by modern standards, quite wide. On the plus side, there's only one logo cluttering the bezel.
- No height adjust
- Blacks on the bottom end do tend to run together. I can't tell the difference between 0%, 1%, and 2%. 2% vs. 3% is discernible.
- Same for red and blue. I can't tell the difference between 0% through 4% of pure red or blue. Green doesn't have this problem, and holds up all the way down.

This amount of money 10 years ago, even not adjusted for inflation, may be able to buy a 22" LCD monitor, but it would be an awful display by comparison.

 

[Athlonite]

I'd be looking at some of the ViewSonic VA models around the VX2457MHD not only are they fairly cheap they've also got good specs and perform well

Pros

• It delivers ultra-fast response time.
• 92% of the sRGB color coverage area makes sure the color accuracy on screen.
• It features black stabilization for supreme display performance.
• The connectivity options are plentiful and excellent.
• It offers a maximum refresh rate of about 75Hz.
• It also comes with two built-in speakers.
• It is the most affordable gaming monitor considering the number of features it is offering.
• It is also Freesync enabled