Decent budget monitor?

[chakkman]

Hey,

 

as the Thief games and The Dark Mod vastly benefit from monitors with a good background lighting, meaning, a monitor without, or with minimal background bleeding, clouding, or IPS glow, i wanted to ask if anyone knows a decent 24" budget monitor, which doesn't suffer, or doesn't suffer that much from the mentioned phenomenes. I use this monitor for quite a while now (must be 6 years now, or more): http://www.chip.de/artikel/BenQ-G2220HD-TFT-Monitor-Test_43328296.html It was a very cheap monitor (i think i paid 120 or 130 € for it), and, the background lighting is pretty good, no clouding in the edges, no glow (after all, it's a TN panel, and, i think the thing called IPS glow is only happening on IPS, and Samsung's PLS panels), and the lighting is pretty consistent, and unobtrusive too. Mind you, the monitor is a bit dim, and it doesn't get excessively bright, even on 100% brightness. More current monitors get brighter, but, maybe that's part of the problem?

 

Anyway, so, after years of using this thing, i recently ordered a Samsung PLS monitor, for 132 €, this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01BCF0006/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Turned it on after putting it together, and, was very fond of what i was seeing. Nice picture, sharp and bright. Was very happy first. Then, as i know that it is a lighting sensitive game, i started TDM. Jeez, horrible. Big clouds in all edge, and, especially in the lower left edge. So dramatic that it was hardly possible to see wall, or floor textures in dark places. I could also switch to any setting i wanted, also manually adjusted brightness, contrast, and colours, it helped nothing, those clouds totally destroyed the experience. Ok, sent it back, heavy-heartedly, because the picture otherwise was really good. Ordered this ASUS monitor, which is a TN panel, because i expected a similar experience to my old BenQ monitor: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B014RKZ81O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Turned it on, picture seemed so-so. No realy improvement to my BenQ, actually, the opposite, i found it a bit worse, and it had a really bright glow, already visible on the desktop too. Booted TDM, to see what the background lighting is like there. One word: Terrible. Don't buy this monitor if you want to play any game, which is a bit more dark, or even, when you play normal games.

 

I'm seriously wondering. Did monitors in that price segment get worse? Seriously, my BenQ seems better than both of those. The Samsung had a better picture by default, and was also more sharp, but, completely messed up when the picture became darker. I wonder, did anyone make the same experience? Can you recommend a similarly priced screen? I know there's also some BenQ 24" for that price, but, i'm really a bit scared now... i don't want to order another monitor, just to send it back again...

[Oldjim]

This 25" monitor is excellent and is heavily discounted to be cheaper than the 24" model - it has an IPS screen which is a snip for just under £150 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Z1OIMCS/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_dp_1

Just to add - I bought this for my better half as part of the major computer rebuild (read that as start from scratch) as she needed excellent colour/contrast reproducibility for her art work

I see that you are using Amazon de so this is the link https://www.amazon.de/iiyama-XU2590HS-B1-Zoll-LED-Monitor-schwarz/dp/B00Z1OIMCS/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1505746502&sr=1-1&keywords=XU2590HS-B1

Edited September 18, 2017 by Oldjim

[Bikerdude]

@Chack, i have done a lot of monitor research over the years so i feel your pain. That monitor Jim linked to sets a good base benchmark, but as you have spotted IPS glow is a pain for dark games. So moving what you and I need to be looking at is S-PLA or S-MVA panels. Benq along with some other manufacturers do these but you will pay a bit more for them. These monitors have extremly good black levels, so the trick is finding one with good gamut, response times and for me a matt surface.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Bikerdude

[Oldjim]

I can't speak for the monitor I linked to but my monitor https://www.amazon.co.uk/iiyama-XUB2790HS-B1-ProLite-Adjustable-Monitor/dp/B00HY77VPO/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1505819804&sr=1-1&keywords=iiyama+XUB2790HS doesn't have a light bleed problem and I assume it is a similar screen - just bigger

I have played most of the Dark Mod Games on it as well as Thief 4

Edited September 19, 2017 by Oldjim

[Bikerdude]

@jim, did a check and you have an AH-IPS based panel. This is considered hi-end ips, so im guessing that along with the matrix backlight are whats giving you the better blacks.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Bikerdude

[Oldjim]

So does the 25" one I linked to in the first reply

This is the panel spec for each of them

 

Diagonal 25"; 63.5cm

Aspect ratio 16 : 9

Panel AH-IPS LED, matte finish

Native resolution Full HD 1080p, 1920 x 1080 ( 2.1 megapixel)

Brightness 250 cd/m² typical

Contrast 1000 : 1 typical

Contrast 5 000 000 : 1 ACR

Response time 5ms

 

Diagonal 27"; 68.6cm

Aspect ratio 16 : 9

Panel AH-IPS LED, matte finish

Native resolution Full HD 1080p, 1920 x 1080 ( 2.1 megapixel)

Brightness 250 cd/m² typical

Contrast 1000 : 1 typical

Contrast 5 000 000 : 1 ACR

Response time 5ms

[chakkman]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I will gather some more, until i can make a decision. Unfortunately, also, my budget is pretty tight, and, i'd be willing to shell out 150 € max, which probably limits the options much. If i don't find a decent monitor in that price range, i rather stick to the BenQ 22" i linked to in the OP. The original thinking was that i would like to get a 24", which is about as good as the 22" i have now, but, the 2 i ordered, and described were both worse, regarding the background lighting. I really don't know how BenQ did it for this monitor, there's really hardly a issue with black, or dark screen content (only a very small "surrounding" around the surroundings of the monitor is a tad light up). The "magic" is probably that it doesn't get too bright, and that it isn't too big, hence doesn't get the issue of having to brightly illuminate a big area.

[chakkman]

So, to dig this up and conclude: I bought a BenQ Zowie RL2455T from Amazon in the end, which was on a sale for about 140 €. No lighting issues in the corners of the screen, only some subtle lighting on the borders of the whole screen, like on my older BenQ monitor (BenQ seems to do it differently, as i read, they light the screen consitently with LED's build into the frame), which is acceptable. The colours also seem alright, and it's even a bit more sharp, and has a better reaction time than my old screen. I had to fiddle with the picture a bit, to find a good setting, the colour profile seems to be the best, ad most natural (to me) on the Standard setting, and i turned down the brightness a bit, which is also beneficially to the lighting in dark games like TDM.

 

Anyway, quite happy with this monitor now. For the price, i really think it's alright. Only has 60 Hz, but, that's alright for me, as my computer is a bit older, and i can't play newer games in outrageous fram rates anyway.

Edited February 20, 2018 by chakkman