
Monoprice Announces 27-Inch 2560 x 1440 Monitor for $390 - mtgx
http://www.tested.com/tech/pcs/452766-monoprice-announces-27-inch-2560x1440-monitor-390/
======
keithwarren
Am I the only one who would rather see more work around thinner bezels for
better multi-mon experiences? Seeems like all the large panels have at least
an inch to inch and a half bezel space; two next to each other and the non-lit
area get obstructive.

~~~
citricsquid
[http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-
peripherals/monitors/g...](http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-
peripherals/monitors/gaming/LS23MUQHB/EN)

check these out

~~~
corin_
Really nice product, awesome to use, but pretty pricey.

------
rogerbinns
Dear display industry,

Please please please increase vertical resolution. I look back on the days of
16:10 fondly and wish we could end up back there or better.

~~~
ars
Get the Asus PA248Q.

It's a calibrated IPS monitor, 24" 1920x1200 (i.e. 16:10).

I have one and it's great.

~~~
ericabiz
I have both an HP LP2475w (24" 1920x1200, IPS) and a 27" 2560x1440 monitor--
the same resolution as mentioned here. (I didn't want to deal with potential
dead pixels and scaling issues, so I forked over the $700 for the Asus PB278Q
instead of buying the off-brand.)

Honestly, I hate using my HP now. It's a great monitor, but the 2560x1440
resolution on the Asus is _amazing_. Side by side, the Asus knocks the HP out
of the park.

TLDR: It is not worth the downgrade in screen size and resolution _just_ to
get a 16x10 aspect ratio. You will never regret going for the 2560x1440
monitor instead.

~~~
lmm
It's a pain to cart around, but I love my 10-year-old 2048x1536 CRT, and am
alternately amused and saddened that modern displays still have a smaller
smallest dimension.

~~~
jdboyd
I had one of those at home. I took the hit on resolution and color to go LCD
because the LCD's at work didn't make me feel as tired as the high-res CRT at
home did.

~~~
lmm
I had the opposite; for a long time LCDs gave me headaches, I think because
they were all 60Hz. (Recently I've bought a laptop with a 120Hz display, which
doesn't give me headaches).

------
zanny
These 27" 1440p displays are still only 110 PPI. Compared to tablet screens
surpassing 300 PPI, reading on lcd monitors becomes so painful when you get
spoiled on those tablet screens.

I'll be interested in 1440p when the displays hit 22 - 24" inch range and the
PPI approaches 150. I'd really like to wait for 4k resolution displays to take
off, and get shrunk down to 27". That would be much more reasonable pixel
density. Using classic displays (or heavens forbid, an 800p laptop at 17") is
just so jarring compared to my 250 PPI tablet.

~~~
rorrr
You don't really need 4K at 27", even if your vision is very good you
shouldn't sit that close to your monitor. 4K is awesome for large sizes, 32"
and up, I would say.

~~~
jfb
Nonsense. More pixels is always better.

~~~
rorrr
For larger displays - yes. For smaller - not really. After a certain density
at a given viewing distance you stop seeing the difference, but doubling the
density requires 4X more powerful hardware (and battery) to keep up.

------
dantiberian
One thing to be aware of is that all of the cheap 27" monitors I've seen
(including the Monoprice one) have a DVI-Dual link cable only. If you have an
old Macbook Pro then it will have a port for this built in, modern Macs don't
have this and PC's may do.

I tried to skimp and buy a cheap passive Dual-Link DVI - Display Port adaptor
but it didn't work so I had to buy an active one. I'm pretty sure that Dual-
Link DVI adaptors have to be active and they start at $70
[http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&c...](http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=6904&seq=1&format=2)

~~~
patrickpkt
There always seems to be a compromise with these. The 27" Auria from
Microcenter has several different inputs (display port, hdmi, dvi), but the
included stand is short and non-adjustable.

------
mixmastamyk
The $64k question... How can I get one at 20-22" ~ 200+dpi? Like the IBM T221
from ten years ago? Every geek site I go people are on their hands and knees
begging to get their hands on one at any price.

27" is too big for my desk and would rather not have to move my head side to
side to see everything.

~~~
mtgx
You need a 4k resolution for that (3840x2160). I think you'll see them next
year. I doubt it will be more than $2,000. Might even be just ~$1,000.

~~~
mixmastamyk
I'd settle for the res stated in the article.

------
jsankey
If you're a bit paranoid about quality/support for some of the cheaper 27"
monitors out there a good compromise is to wait for the Dell U2713HM to be on
sale. It's regularly 30% off which brings it down to ~$500 (+ GST in
Australia, AUD and USD are comparable). I'm happy with mine!

~~~
trustfundbaby
How does it work with the Apple Dual Link display adapter?

~~~
wmf
With modern monitors you might as well skip the dongle and go DisplayPort.

------
cj
These look the same as these no-brand korean monitors I got off ebay for $334.
It's a great monitor. I've been using two of them for months.

[http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-FIRST-
FSM-270YG-27-LED-2560x1440...](http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-FIRST-
FSM-270YG-27-LED-2560x1440-WQHD-S-IPS-DVI-Dual-HD-Computer-
Monitor-/140881234581)

There's a blog post about them here:

[http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/the-ips-lcd-
revolut...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/the-ips-lcd-
revolution.html)

------
turtlebits
Microcenter sells one @ $399 with the same warranty but has
DVI/HDMI/VGA/DisplayPort. I'm assuming same panel as it is also IPS LED.

[http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_...](http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor)

~~~
justin66
> Microcenter sells one @ $399 with the same warranty

No, according to your link Microcenter is selling with a one year warranty.
The OP article indicates Monoprice will use a three year warranty.

I wonder how likely a monitor like this is to fail in year two or three.

~~~
justin66
I am mystified as to why someone deemed that correction worthy of a downvote?

~~~
nmcfarl
Honestly, I down vote on the iPhone all the time, by accident. I'd assume that
if I was you...

~~~
justin66
Ah, interesting. Thanks.

------
stevenkovar
I would highly recommend <http://overlordcomputer.com> for a comparable
product.

They were originally a reseller of the Korean small batch monitors and decided
to seek their own distribution channel. The company is focused around gamers
(hence the questionably cheesy name), offering an "overclocked" model capable
of reaching 120Hz refresh rate (which lets you play games at 120 frames per
second), but I use their ME model (60Hz, but multiple inputs, including
Display Port) for my office. I had nice screens before, but the Overlord
screens have blown me away so far. The real estate is fantastic.

~~~
peterhajas
Kind of confusing product line. What does "Grade A" vs "Grade A-" mean?

~~~
stevenkovar
In the display world, Apple, Dell, and Samsung pretty much get top pick of all
display panels being created for 27" IPS screens; so other brands have to
settle for panels that aren't rated at A+ (which means no dead pixels, no
ghosting, no light bleed, etc). Most A- and A panels might have a small
(nearly indistinguishable) amount of bleed or one dead pixel.

The reputable resellers or new brands offering these screens typically offer a
'Pixel Perfect' guarantee at a small up-charge ($20-ish) to guarantee the
screen was inspected and had no dead pixels in the warehouse before shipping
to you.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I did substantial research before
purchasing.

------
jtreminio
I was excited when Anandtech announced that Nixeus would be selling a 27" @
2560x1440 for $430 4 months ago. I bought one as soon as they went on sale,
and when I started my new job I asked them to buy me another one. Now I have
dual 27"ers. I will never be able to go back to smaller screens and less
resolution.

I can have my IDE split my files into two panes @ 120 character widths and
they'll comfortably fit in a single monitor, including the sidebar containing
the tree. This is great for TDD!

Unfortunately it appears the price has jumped to $620
(<http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=1218348>). They have been sold
out since they started, so I'm guessing they just want to match demand.

------
georgemcbay
Looks like these are back ordered until March. Bummer.

I was considering jumping on the 27" Korean monitor bandwagon a few months ago
when it was all the rage and decided to wait and now it seems like the prices
have gone up across the board, like monitors that were just about $300 before
are now $450+.

~~~
CamperBob2
Yes, the prices are definitely higher than they were at that time. The deal a
few months back was too good to be true. It has to be. I keep waiting for the
FSM-270YG I bought for $350 to catch fire and burn down my house, but it
hasn't happened yet...

------
ernestipark
In case anyone doesn't know... Monoprice is an incredible site with high-
quality, budget products and really good customer service. The fact that these
cheap monitors are now backed by a company I trust makes a big difference.
(Don't work for them... just a satisfied customer).

~~~
wpietri
Yes! From Monoprice's low prices, I figured they'd be selling junk. But a
friend recommended them highly, so I tried them out. Now they're my go-to
place any time I need cables. And overnight delivery is a flat $5 in CA.

------
joe_the_user
What I'd be curious about is when PC laptops with equivalent resolution are
going to arrive?

~~~
wmf
High-DPI doesn't work in Windows (officially it does work, but if you try it
you'll find that every app is broken), so that's effectively an unsellable
product.

~~~
Negitivefrags
Really? I find that it works significantly better then the crazy Apple
approach.

Not a single problem with it.

~~~
gcr
Crazy? What is apple's approach?

Windows' approach is by just upscaling each window, which makes things blurry.

Linux' approach is by letting you set the DPI in dozens of config files (eg
one for GTK+, one for QT, ...), but at least the end result looks "reasonably"
what you want.

~~~
Negitivefrags
Windows upscales applications that do not support scaling automatically. This
gives it perfect backwards compatibility. Windows applications that do support
arbitrary scaling just get to see the world as it is, and also work perfectly
because they have been designed to do so.

The Apple approach is some kind of misguided middle ground. Applications are
fooled in to thinking that they are rendering on a "normal" sized screen but
they are actually rendering 2x2 blocks for every single pixel. Then the whole
screen is resized in to whatever resolution that it actually has.

Lets say you pick the "Looks like 1920 by 1200" option (why not just give me a
percent scale?). The app thinks it's rendering at 1920 x 1200, it's actually
rendering at 3840 x 2400, and then the thing gets scaled down to 2880 x 1800.

Can't you just let the damn app render at the actual resolution of the screen
and give it a percentage scale?

~~~
jfb
Have you seen the results? It's crazy, but it _works_ , and has the added
advantage of not having to wait until "just next year" when all existing
applications will be ported to our New Hot Vector Based display tech.

~~~
benjarrell
Sounds like waiting for apps to support retina displays :)

------
moystard
Did anybody try playing with this kind of monitors? Is it any good in terms of
ghosting and refreshing?

~~~
moystard
I am going to answer myself :

Apparently some models are good for gaming. Must be privileged a model with a
single input to avoid input lag, and a model with a potential overclock: In
that regard, the Yamakasi Q270 SE seems to be the one standing out.

------
bonaldi
Misread this as 17-inch at first and got excited. Really want an external hi-
dpi retina-type display

------
simonh
I was in the market for a new Mac in December. Our old machine was a 24" iMac
1920x1200 which was great. My default choice was a new 27" iMac, but trying
one out in the store I found the resolution was so high that the menus,
buttons and icons were too small and fiddly. They'r gorgeous displays, but the
usability isn't there, especially since this machine would be used by other
members of my family, some with significantly degraded eyesight.

My ideal would have been a 27" display at the same DPI and aspect ratio as our
old iMac, the same panel just cut a bit bigger, but those don't seem to exist.
In the end I went for a mac Mini with a Dell 24" at the same 1920x1200 as our
old monitor.

~~~
gte910h
As to your first point, you can turn all the sizes of that stuff way up in the
settings.

~~~
simonh
My understanding is that you can set a 'virtual' screen resolution and the
system will interpolate everything in the same way that computer games do, but
at a significant reduction in display quality. I don't think OSX supports
changing the system font size or display element sizes directly.

~~~
gte910h
Dock item sizes are controlled in the Dock Prefpane

If you want to go the resolution: They're set per user, so only the people
with reduced vision need the more visible resolutions

<http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html> can change fonts all over the
place for MOST apps.

------
Osiris
I hope this is a trend towards higher resolution monitors and displays in
general.

~~~
wmf
It's not. Monitor resolution peaked in 2004 and then went down. Also, much of
the cost reduction since then appears to be due to quality reduction, not
efficiency.

~~~
GIFtheory
Actually, most of the cost reduction is probably due to LCD manufacturers
getting busted for price fixing:
[http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/november/lcd-price-
fixi...](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/november/lcd-price-fixing-
conspiracy).

------
virtualwhys
Meh, for the traveling programmer probably weights a ton.

I've got a 23" LG here, weighs 6.5 lbs. with adapter ;-)

Of course, if I was rooted in one place, I would love 2 27" monitors, the more
screen real estate the better

------
Urgo
Be careful.. maybe my experience isn't typical but I bought one of these 27"
Yamakasi Catleap monitors off ebay about 4 months ago and its already
unusable. For a month the monitor was flickering and now the left half of the
screen is dimmer then the other because the LED burnt out or something. I
replaced it with a dell. More costly but at least I have a three year
warranty. Maybe if monoprice gives that it'd be worth it. The display was
nice, but man I wish I didn't cheap out originally. :(

------
ck2
If you wait for the right combination of discounts you can get the Dell
U2713HM for $500 or so.

With their 3-year advance replacement warranty and non-glossy screen, you want
the dell for $100 more.

~~~
DoritosMan
The Dell has an Anti-Glare coating. These look sharper because they don't have
one.

------
modeless
From Monoprice on the warranty: "we are guaranteeing these monitor will have
less than 5 dead pixels. [...] By comparison, the industry standard, even for
industry leaders like Apple and LG, is 10 dead pixels or even more."

Is this true? None of my Apple devices have ever had a dead pixel, but I
always assumed that even one dead pixel would be enough to convince the Genius
Bar to give me a replacement. Anyone have first-hand experience with dead
pixel warranty replacement on Apple devices?

~~~
dmoy
They're probably all LG panels under the hood[1]. Different resellers have
different pixel policies, and they can be a bit hard to keep track of.

On these size screens, Apple won't replace <11 dark (dead-looking) or <9 light
(stuck-looking) pixels. HP's policy is about half that. Lenovo is like 4 or
something. Some of the other manufacturers have even more complex policies
which depend on the position of the stuck/dead pixel.

And in practice, if you complain well enough in the store, Apple may replace
for you even if you're under the line.

[1] When I say "they", I mean these 27" IPS panels, whether they're from
Apple, Dell, HP, or some random Korean company.

~~~
potatolicious
I have a Dell IPS display largely because they have a pretty liberal stuck
pixel guarantee:

[http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?c=us&cs=19&#...](http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~topic=premium_panel)

tl;dr: full replacement within even just 1 bright pixel if the display is an
UltraSharp (IPS), same dark pixel policy as rest of their monitor line.

This is better than even Apple's policy. Long story short I think I'll be
buying Dell monitors for the next while.

~~~
moepstar
The problem with Dells return policy - at least according to much i've read
about it on the interwebs - is that they indeed have a pretty liberal policy
regarding returns, but you seem to be almost guaranteed to receive an already
returned (i.e. not new) display...

I've found this out because i wanted to swap out my U2711 which has some
issues when it's warm in the room - it might just go blank for a few seconds
and then go back on again...

However since that is quite seldom (sometimes once a week, sometimes 3-4 times
in an hour and then returns to normal) i've refrained from returning it cause
one could get an even worse model - or so i've read..

------
account_taken
Are these as good as the Apple Cinema Display? Still haven't found anything
with text as crisp my ACD (waiting for ACD retina). I've seen better for
graphics but not text. Dell Ultrasharps for example are awesome for graphics
and yes better than ACD but for programming the anti-glare on Dells is
annoying like looking at a vampire from Twilight in the sunlight.

~~~
awakeasleep
Boy will that be a rough day for my checking account. I think we're looking at
a multi-year wait though, considering the difficulty Apple is having shipping
27" iMacs with the same old display bonded to the front-glass.

I remain optimistic though. We won't need 300dpi on standard computer
monitors, because we sit so much further away from them. My current cinema
display still looks pretty decent compared to 'retina' portable devices.

------
dadro
These Korean IPS monitors are a solid value. I picked up a Shimian for $390
and it is the best monitor I've ever owned. TA Planet
(<http://stores.ebay.com/TA-Planet>) seems to be the preferred ebay seller. I
had a great experience with them. This monoprice deal looks very promising
too.

------
colmvp
Anyone have any thoughts about the color quality? I wouldn't mind trying it
out but color accuracy is pretty important to me.

~~~
tomkinstinch
They are IPS panels, so color reproduction should be pretty accurate. Of
course it will always be better if you calibrate it yourself using something
like a Spyder colorimeter.

------
mikeevans
I bought one of these cheap 27-inch monitors at Microcenter a few months back.
It was a great display for the price (I paid $300), but after a couple weeks,
smoke literally started coming out of the power brick (which always seemed to
run really hot). Now I'm pretty wary of any of these cheap displays.

------
venomsnake
Now if only some entrepreneurial soul manages to import similar in Europe at
no more than 500USD.

~~~
kaolinite
[http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-019-...](http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-019-HO&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=)

I have that one, worth every penny.

~~~
danielwarna
My brother has one of those as well. He's been really happy with it so far.

------
nachteilig
The warranty is what makes this really attractive. I rolled the dice, getting
two from ebay, and managed to luck out.

Now I can recommend these to people who are less able to cope with dead
pixels, etc. Have to love monoprice for doing to monitors what they've done
for cables.

------
still
Have had a Catleap 27" monitor at that resolution for over a year now. Bought
for around $360 (including 3 day express shipping to Australia). Highly
recommended.

~~~
mr_luc
I'm loving my Catleap - I feel like buying a second one now that Airs can
drive 2 thunderbolt displays.

~~~
bengl3rt
Can they now?

<http://www.apple.com/displays/> still says that only MBP and iMac can do it.

~~~
paxswill
There's a thread on the AnandTech forums claiming it is possible:
<http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2251899>

~~~
mikeevans
That picture looks like a MBP though?

------
codysoyland
Can anybody confirm if these support HDCP?

------
drivebyacct2
I have a Crossover 27Q (similar to this, probably sourced from the same place
as other brands on ebay: Catleap, Shimian, wherever Monoprice is getting them,
etc). Gorgeous minimalist metallic shell. Swivel display. Adjustable height.
$375 from Ebay. Pixel perfect. I can't exaggerate how amazing these displays
are. They're the same LG panels used in Apple Cinema displays at nearly a
third of the cost. It's wonderful to be able to have three files up side-by-
side in Sublime without feeling cramped and have a Terminal and VLC stuck to
top.

So, yeah, if you're bummed about these not being available, there's tons on
eBay, alibaba, etc.

A few other tips:

First, Intel HD4000 can drive these displays but it _must_ be over
DisplayPort. Yes, this means that my Macbook Air (2012) with the Apple Dual
link DVI adapter works fine with it. However, my desktop with HD4000 mobo does
not have DisplayPort so I'm now driving it with an NVIDIA GTX660 over Dual-
link DVI.

Second, many of these displays output incorrect EDID information requiring
that you manually modeset in Xorg to get it to work with Nvidia's proprietary
drivers. (Nouvaeu seems to figure it out on it's own, but it's a bit of a dog
at that resolution).

Third, most of these lack upscaling support meaning you must be able to output
at its native resolution; no hooking an xbox up to one.

edit: Sorry to link downthread, but turtlebits stumbled upon one that might
not have these limitations/faults:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5040906> before anyone jumps on the ebay
link below.

~~~
StavrosK
If I can ask a few questions:

1) Are Ebay/alibaba retailers trustworthy? I'd hate to be shipped a lemon
(assuming they even ship outside the US).

2) Why must it be DisplayPort? Doesn't it support HDMI/DVI?

~~~
spatular
I've got my Crossover 27Q a month ago from this seller:
[http://www.ebay.com/itm/CROSSOVER-27Q-LED-27-2560X1440-PC-
Mo...](http://www.ebay.com/itm/CROSSOVER-27Q-LED-27-2560X1440-PC-Monitor-High-
resolutio-n-Monitor-QHD-DVI-
NEW-/190701182588?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c66ad1e7c)

Fully working, no dead pixels, slightly non-uniform backlight (it could be
seen only on black background). The display is really great for the price.

The only downside for me is glossy screen, but it seems there are no cheap
27'' korean matte displays.

~~~
StavrosK
Hmm, thank you. I thought about getting one, but I'm worried it's too
materialistic. My current screen is fine, after all...

