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doctorfrog
Mar 14, 2007

Great.

I have a Dell U2311H that's been a champ for some time, but started flickering a week ago, and now only stays on for 1 second, even when disconnected and supposed to be showing the test pattern and some menu options. I'm going to drag it into work also to check it with my work PC and its cables. I'm not a genius but I'm 90% sure it's something busted on the monitor, and the flashlight test doesn't indicate an inverter.

I can't find a dang thing about warranty service on it since Dell's site only speaks in terms of service tags, but it's at least 6 years old at this point and I figure unlikely to be within even a generous warranty period. I figure I'm on my own to repair it (no) or replace it (sigh, yes), if someone wants to quickly gut check me on that.

I paid around $400 for it way back when and I'm hoping for something significantly better this go round for well under that price. I have an old but apparently reliable 660Ti (outputs DVI and DisplayPort) so I can do GSync (a thing I've never heard of until now) since I play games on it fairly frequently.

I've been browsing this thread the last couple days and have seen some recommendations I've been eyeballing:
  • S2417DG - this looks good but pushes the wallet a little hard at $400. (I didn't have a kid 6 years ago and this is harder to justify now.)
  • U2515Hx - it's apparently an improvement on my old one in every way, doesn't have GSync, but is a good hundy less than the above ($300). I wonder though if LED monitors still have that flicker.
  • U2417H - more of a lateral upgrade but even cheaper, but my gut tells me $50 is worth getting the U2515Hx over it. I think.

In between half-decade gaps of technology buying, I tend to flounder every time I surface to buy something new, so a little counseling here could help. PM me to help me narrow down my needs if I'm being too dense for a fast-moving thread.

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willroc7
Jul 24, 2006

BADGES? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' BADGES!

eames posted:

have you checked what revision your screen is? (label near the connectors, A00 to A04)

It's an A04.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
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B-Mac posted:

I checked online and it wasn't listed anymore. Called the closest store and it was OOS and the guy said it was discontinued. Hoping the Walmart one works out.

Thank you for following up and telling me, not trying to send anyone on a wild-goose-chase here :shobon:

S2417DGs all around then :yarr:

Concurred
Apr 23, 2003

My team got swept out of the playoffs, and all I got was this avatar and red text

Maybe this is the wrong thread but my brother gave me his older dual monitor desk mount. It has a bracket on each arm with screw holes but the monitors I have don't fit on either side and the screw holes don't line up.

Do I need to purchase a compatible bracket so they will fit or is there a chance the mount is just old and won't work at all? I have a CFG70 and Dell U2412M.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Concurred posted:

Maybe this is the wrong thread but my brother gave me his older dual monitor desk mount. It has a bracket on each arm with screw holes but the monitors I have don't fit on either side and the screw holes don't line up.

Do I need to purchase a compatible bracket so they will fit or is there a chance the mount is just old and won't work at all? I have a CFG70 and Dell U2412M.

Unless it's a total oddball thing, most monitor stands/arms fit VESA mount holes in the monitors. There are different sizes, however:
http://www.ergotron.com/en-us/support/vesa-standard

You may have 75x75mm and need 100x100mm or something like that. There's generic adapter plates like this that provide more holes than you can usually use to adapt one to another as long as they're standard sizes:
https://smile.amazon.com/Mount-World-Universal-Adapter-Medium/dp/B0036L5RJY

Concurred
Apr 23, 2003

My team got swept out of the playoffs, and all I got was this avatar and red text

Rexxed posted:

Unless it's a total oddball thing, most monitor stands/arms fit VESA mount holes in the monitors. There are different sizes, however:
http://www.ergotron.com/en-us/support/vesa-standard

You may have 75x75mm and need 100x100mm or something like that. There's generic adapter plates like this that provide more holes than you can usually use to adapt one to another as long as they're standard sizes:
https://smile.amazon.com/Mount-World-Universal-Adapter-Medium/dp/B0036L5RJY

Ah yeah, looks like both monitors are VESA 100x100 but I don't think the mount brackets are the right size.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
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Concurred posted:

Ah yeah, looks like both monitors are VESA 100x100 but I don't think the mount brackets are the right size.

Are the holes on the bracket farther or closer to center than the monitor holes? If closer, it's probably VESA 75mm.

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Jun 15, 2017

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Concurred posted:

Ah yeah, looks like both monitors are VESA 100x100 but I don't think the mount brackets are the right size.

It's possible some spacers or additional hardware is needed to mount them properly. Might require a visit to the hardware store or picking up that adapter plate which has a lot of that included with it.

Concurred
Apr 23, 2003

My team got swept out of the playoffs, and all I got was this avatar and red text

Paul MaudDib posted:

Are the holes on the bracket farther or closer to center than the monitor holes? If closer, it's probably VESA 75mm.

Looks like the bracket on the monitor stand is too bag, the holes on the monitor are closer together than the holes on the bracket.

Erwin
Feb 17, 2006

Anyone have opinions on a 4k monitor vs an ultrawide for software development? Currently I use a 27" 2560x1440 and a 24" 1080p hooked up to a macbook pro, but the smaller one is giving up the ghost, so I'll either get a 4k or an ultrawide for the main display and slide the 2560x1440 one over. My last job was a quant shop where I had 4x 1080p monitors, so I'm addicted to screen real estate. I also play games using the same monitors if that makes a difference.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
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Erwin posted:

Anyone have opinions on a 4k monitor vs an ultrawide for software development? Currently I use a 27" 2560x1440 and a 24" 1080p hooked up to a macbook pro, but the smaller one is giving up the ghost, so I'll either get a 4k or an ultrawide for the main display and slide the 2560x1440 one over. My last job was a quant shop where I had 4x 1080p monitors, so I'm addicted to screen real estate. I also play games using the same monitors if that makes a difference.

Software development is embarassingly parallel (or at least scales very nicely). The ability to have multiple screens open at the same time scales well at least to 3 regular monitors, and it's handled natively by Windows. Dr Paul prescribes triple 27" 2560x1440p GSync monitors on an Ergotech stand, or at least the knockoff 27" 1440p 60 Hz generic and some doritos.

DisplayFusion and other tools can split your ultrawide in half though, if you want to go that way.

4K isn't worth bothering for yet, at any less than 32" IMO. My 27" 4K is nice for photo/video editing but my 1440p is a way better all around monitor thanks to GSync, and even at 60 Hz the ppi and refresh are plenty good for normal programmer stuff. Day-to-day, I run my 4K monitor at 1440p because multi-ppi doesn't work all that well.

(note that not all monitors do integer and/or non-integer scaling well, Dell is just really on the ball)

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Jun 15, 2017

Erwin
Feb 17, 2006

Paul MaudDib posted:

Software development is embarassingly parallel (or at least scales very nicely). The ability to have multiple screens open at the same time scales well at least to 3 regular monitors, and it's handled natively by Windows. Dr Paul prescribes triple 27" 2560x1440p GSync monitors on an Ergotech stand, or at least the knockoff 27" 1440p 60 Hz generic and some doritos.
I actually do have a triple monitor setup right now. The 27" in the middle, the failing 24" to the right, and a stalwart HP L2335 on the left that I bought for a ton of money in 2006. It's chugging along wonderfully and I just can't bring myself to replace the poor little fella. While working I have a macbook pro connected to only the 27" and the right 24" since the L2335 doesn't have more than one digital connection. When not working my Windows machine is connected to all three.

Maybe I'll find another use for the antique and upgrade to 3x 27". What's the impact if I get two 27" gsync monitors and use them with my current 27" that doesn't have gsync? I assume I can play games on one of the gsync monitors?

Edit: or one g sync and two non g sync? G sync seems like a waste on two of three.

Erwin fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jun 15, 2017

xPanda
Feb 6, 2003

Was that me or the door?
Has there been any word about new 5k panels? I'd instantly buy a >30" 5k gsync monitor, even at great cost. It'd last ages.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
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xPanda posted:

Has there been any word about new 5k panels? I'd instantly buy a >30" 5k gsync monitor, even at great cost. It'd last ages.

I'll take a OLED 5K 32" GSync at 75 Hz :circlefap:

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
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Erwin posted:

I actually do have a triple monitor setup right now. The 27" in the middle, the failing 24" to the right, and a stalwart HP L2335 on the left that I bought for a ton of money in 2006. It's chugging along wonderfully and I just can't bring myself to replace the poor little fella. While working I have a macbook pro connected to only the 27" and the right 24" since the L2335 doesn't have more than one digital connection. When not working my Windows machine is connected to all three.

Maybe I'll find another use for the antique and upgrade to 3x 27". What's the impact if I get two 27" gsync monitors and use them with my current 27" that doesn't have gsync? I assume I can play games on one of the gsync monitors?

Edit: or one g sync and two non g sync? G sync seems like a waste on two of three.

There's no disadvantage for most use-cases. I like to turn off my second sceen when I game, especially with ULMB (makes the screen darker). Doing one GSync screen is totally fine for most gaming. You do want to avoid multi-PPI, where some windows are at a higher resolution-per-inch than others. In my experience this does not work well at all. Run all your screens at the same resolution/size if at all possible. Get some cheapo 60 Hz IPS monitors for the outsides (heck you can probably Surround that at 60 Hz in some games).

What's your GPU?

Erwin
Feb 17, 2006

Paul MaudDib posted:

What's your GPU?
GTX 970.

..btt
Mar 26, 2008

Paul MaudDib posted:

You do want to avoid multi-PPI, where some windows are at a higher resolution-per-inch than others. In my experience this does not work well at all. Run all your screens at the same resolution/size if at all possible.

I dunno why people say this. Despite minor issues in a few poorly coded apps I've been running two monitors at different ppi, resolution and scaling for years, it works just fine.

Desuwa
Jun 2, 2011

I'm telling my mommy. That pubbie doesn't do video games right!
The only super major gotcha with multi-DPI is some applications aren't per-monitor DPI aware so if you have two windows on two different monitors one of them will look awful, but even browsers support per-monitor DPI now. The moment you have anything other than 100% DPI scaling you're going to need to put in some work, but it's definitely worth it. I put in a lot of work to get Firefox to behave just right and scale/not scale what I wanted, and I only keep it open on one monitor.

..btt
Mar 26, 2008
In my experience, apps that are not aware get scaled automatically, at least on windows 10. The issues are with apps that are aware but handle it badly.

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.
Anyone able to provide a decent comparison between the Dell S2716DG and the AcerXB271HU


Most reviews seem to flop back and forth between the two (dunno if thats sponsorship or just people's own bias)


They seem to be fairly similar in price and spec and narrowed it down to pulling the trigger on one of them

CyberPingu fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Jun 15, 2017

thegoat
Jan 26, 2004
24" 144hz paired with a GTI1080. $250~$300.

Do I need G-Sync? Recommendations?

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

thegoat posted:

24" 144hz paired with a GTI1080. $250~$300.

Do I need G-Sync? Recommendations?

What resolution are you after?

thegoat
Jan 26, 2004
1080p is fine

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#X=0,30433&W=1500,2400&r=192001080&H=120,240

a mate of mine has the asus one at the top of that list and its very nice.

thegoat
Jan 26, 2004
That's what I was looking at. Just needed someone else to recommend it. Thanks

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.
God i wish i could make a decision as quickly as you could :)

B-Mac
Apr 21, 2003
I'll never catch "the gay"!
Anyone have recommendations for a color calibration tool? I don't do a ton of photo editing, thought my wife might start with the newborn in the house and her interest in picking up a DSLR for family stuff. I see they can range from $70 (Colormunki Smile) up to $220 (i1 Display Pro).

eames
May 9, 2009

B-Mac posted:

Anyone have recommendations for a color calibration tool? I don't do a ton of photo editing, thought my wife might start with the newborn in the house and her interest in picking up a DSLR for family stuff. I see they can range from $70 (Colormunki Smile) up to $220 (i1 Display Pro).

Whatever hardware device you buy, https://displaycal.net is great open source software for color calibration, for the most part much better than what comes bundled with the device. They also have active forums that may answer your question.

I bought an Eizo EX3 because it's identical to the Spyder5 but cheaper and without the software.

doctorfrog
Mar 14, 2007

Great.

Updating my earlier post. I've been shopping around a bit and I think I'm best off with a 1080p panel replacing a busted Dell U2311H.

New monitor is being paired with a GTX 660TI. It's a fairly low-end video card I'm not in a hurry to replace. I play older and low-demand games, my work is sometimes with color but I'm not an artist, I edit a lot of text and I also watch movies.

Browsing through this thread and PCPartPicker:

Asus VG248QE seems to be very popular. I think my card will output DVI-D which will let me use the higher refresh rate. ~$250 price point is good.

Dell S2417DG specs and reviews got me all excited but the high resolution and my weak card means endless tweaking of old games to run at high resolutions and refresh rates and squinting at unscaled text... so maybe next system build. Plus, it's expensive. A fine aspirational model otherwise.

Otherwise, a Dell UltraSharp IPS at under $300?

Leaning towards the Asus above. I'm a bit concerned about replacing a Dell IPS display with a TN. But then I'm worried about going with a cheaper IPS display that's doesn't match up in either gaming performance or image quality. Unless I'm missing something the Asus seems to be worth the consumer gamble.

AVeryLargeRadish
Aug 19, 2011

I LITERALLY DON'T KNOW HOW TO NOT BE A WEIRD SEXUAL CREEP ABOUT PREPUBESCENT ANIME GIRLS, READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE!!!

doctorfrog posted:

Updating my earlier post. I've been shopping around a bit and I think I'm best off with a 1080p panel replacing a busted Dell U2311H.

New monitor is being paired with a GTX 660TI. It's a fairly low-end video card I'm not in a hurry to replace. I play older and low-demand games, my work is sometimes with color but I'm not an artist, I edit a lot of text and I also watch movies.

Browsing through this thread and PCPartPicker:

Asus VG248QE seems to be very popular. I think my card will output DVI-D which will let me use the higher refresh rate. ~$250 price point is good.

Dell S2417DG specs and reviews got me all excited but the high resolution and my weak card means endless tweaking of old games to run at high resolutions and refresh rates and squinting at unscaled text... so maybe next system build. Plus, it's expensive. A fine aspirational model otherwise.

Otherwise, a Dell UltraSharp IPS at under $300?

Leaning towards the Asus above. I'm a bit concerned about replacing a Dell IPS display with a TN. But then I'm worried about going with a cheaper IPS display that's doesn't match up in either gaming performance or image quality. Unless I'm missing something the Asus seems to be worth the consumer gamble.

The VG248QE is garbage, it has one of the worst 144Hz TN panels around. If you're not going to go with the S2417DG then I'd go with an Ultrasharp IPS.

DrDork
Dec 29, 2003
commanding officer of the Army of Dorkness

CyberPingu posted:

Anyone able to provide a decent comparison between the Dell S2716DG and the AcerXB271HU


The pros and cons are pretty simple, really:

Dell S2716DG:
-Made by Dell, so good QC and the best warranty service you can get.
-TN panel, so colors aren't as nice and you'll get some color shift. That said, it's one of the nicer TN panels out there, so it's not nearly as much of an issue as it is for most TN panels.
-Looks pretty business-classy like.
-144Hz
-$500(ish)

Acer XB271HU
-Made by Acer, so while QC has been better recently, still not as good as Dell, and the warranty service is adequate, but not excellent.
-IPS panel, so excellent colors and no color shift.
-Has 2 more USB3 ports.
-More of a gaming motif, particularly the stand.
-144Hz native, vast majority can overclock to 165Hz
-$700(ish)

Of the above, the only part that really matters is IPS vs TN and $500 vs $700. The Acer has a nicer panel at the end of the day. But a reasonable amount of people don't believe it's $200 better. Take a look at the reviews on TFTCentral and it should help you figure out if it's something you care about (I don't remember if they did a review for the XB271HU or just the XB270HU, but most things should apply between both, except that the QC, panel uniformity, and Hz are a little better on the 1 than the 0).

Green Gloves
Mar 3, 2008

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

The VG248QE is garbage, it has one of the worst 144Hz TN panels around. If you're not going to go with the S2417DG then I'd go with an Ultrasharp IPS.

doctorfrog posted:

Updating my earlier post. I've been shopping around a bit and I think I'm best off with a 1080p panel replacing a busted Dell U2311H.

New monitor is being paired with a GTX 660TI. It's a fairly low-end video card I'm not in a hurry to replace. I play older and low-demand games, my work is sometimes with color but I'm not an artist, I edit a lot of text and I also watch movies.

Browsing through this thread and PCPartPicker:

Asus VG248QE seems to be very popular. I think my card will output DVI-D which will let me use the higher refresh rate. ~$250 price point is good.

Dell S2417DG specs and reviews got me all excited but the high resolution and my weak card means endless tweaking of old games to run at high resolutions and refresh rates and squinting at unscaled text... so maybe next system build. Plus, it's expensive. A fine aspirational model otherwise.

Otherwise, a Dell UltraSharp IPS at under $300?

Leaning towards the Asus above. I'm a bit concerned about replacing a Dell IPS display with a TN. But then I'm worried about going with a cheaper IPS display that's doesn't match up in either gaming performance or image quality. Unless I'm missing something the Asus seems to be worth the consumer gamble.

I dont know why anyone never mentions this panel as in between of the Asus VG248q and the S2417dg but the Samsung C24FG70 seems like a decent priced option at $250. 1080P VA 144hz. Curved at this size is kind of dumb but you might like it who knows.

The design of Samsung and LG monitors are way more appealing than the gamer poo poo as well.

veedubfreak
Apr 2, 2005

by Smythe
Unless you plan on buying a new video card, you don't need those high refresh monitors. Go for a good IPS monitor.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

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veedubfreak posted:

Unless you plan on buying a new video card, you don't need those high refresh monitors. Go for a good IPS monitor.

Right now unless you want a first-gen 144 Hz TN like the VG246Q, GN246HL, or GN276HL, the first good monitor is probably the SE2717H. It's only 1080p and 27" is a bit big but it is IPS. FreeSync doesn't help if you have NVIDIA but it's better than having no sync at all, which is the alternative in that price bracket.

It would even be good with like a RX 560 (which are not totally wiped out most places) for like mid settings 1080p at like 45 fps or so.

edit: Sync range is 45-75 Hz though so maybe a 570 would be more appropriate.

Unfortunately, low-end NVIDIA stock is now hosed too, so "1060 and max it out" is no longer an option. Microcenter's stock now starts being $10,000 at quantity three, i.e. the store is limiting it to 2 per person, and even 1060 3 GB are now above $200.

I guess miners figured out that NVIDIA cards work pretty well for mining too.

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Jun 16, 2017

doctorfrog
Mar 14, 2007

Great.

Thanks for the responses. I'm still a bit muddled but getting somewhere, narrowing down to Dell IPS screens.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/monitor/#m=13&r=192001080&p=1

I have a pretty deep desk so I can push a 27" back pretty far which would mitigate the 1080p bigscreen blues. Generally though I'm fine with a 24" if it's a significantly better panel for a similar price or leaves a future upgrade path open.

The SE2717H Paul mentions fits the bill, though a bit big, it's unquestionably an upgrade over my old 23". It doesn't show up on PCPricePicker, is it an older piece? I do see it on Amazon for a decent price, but for multiple models: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=se2717h&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ase2717h

To settle this in one more round: budget's under $300, best Dell IPS I can get at 23" to 27", 1080p. Any help y'all can give me further is greatly appreciated.

wargames
Mar 16, 2008

official yospos cat censor
If you want to go ultrawide for under 300 the 29 inch from lg is nice

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025112&cm_re=29um67-_-24-025-112-_-Product

Volguus
Mar 3, 2009
Well, this talk about monitors is getting a bit boring. How about the new 4k Laser projector? It can create a 100 inches image just 4 inches from the wall. After I win the lottery and buy the thing, I'll let you know how it works and whats the refresh rate on this bad boy.

https://www.extremetech.com/electronics/250984-dell-announces-projector-uses-lasers-create-10-inch-4k-image

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

Volguus posted:

Well, this talk about monitors is getting a bit boring. How about the new 4k Laser projector? It can create a 100 inches image just 4 inches from the wall. After I win the lottery and buy the thing, I'll let you know how it works and whats the refresh rate on this bad boy.

https://www.extremetech.com/electronics/250984-dell-announces-projector-uses-lasers-create-10-inch-4k-image

$6k isnt that expensive...

CyberPingu fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Jun 16, 2017

Volguus
Mar 3, 2009

CyberPingu posted:

$6k isnt that expensive...

When compared to the alternatives, no, but at the moment it is a bit over my budget :).

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some dillweed
Mar 31, 2007

B-Mac posted:

Anyone have recommendations for a color calibration tool? I don't do a ton of photo editing, thought my wife might start with the newborn in the house and her interest in picking up a DSLR for family stuff. I see they can range from $70 (Colormunki Smile) up to $220 (i1 Display Pro).
It kind of depends on the calibration/profiling software you're using, but X-Rite's ColorMunki Display is still currently the best value for a colorimeter if you're willing to use free software packages like DisplayCAL and HCFR. You can get the same quality of results with a ColorMunki Display as you can with an i1 Display Pro, as they're literally the same hardware but with a different maximum speed limit set in the firmware. The ColorMunki Display/i1 Display Pro/i1D3 is still the best consumer-level colorimeter you can buy for accuracy at this point. The last time I checked, the general opinion of the various "colour experts"/calibration pros was that Datacolor's Spyder5 still hasn't caught up to X-Rite.

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