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HP L2335: Low Response Time and High Resolution LCD

 by Kristopher Kubicki on July 8, 2005 7:00 AM EST
49 Comments | Add A Comment
49 Comments

Application Analysis

The core of our LCD benchmarking comes from real application analysis. We play with a lot of monitors and it gets easier for us each time to pick out problems with an LCD just by using the right application. Here are a few quick looks at some demanding full screen applications. We already ran ColorVision's OptiCal software, so all of our monitors are calibrated and adjusted to the same curves.

High Definition Video - We played the WMV9 1080p and 720p versions of "Under Sea Adventure" to give our monitor a little taste of high definition video. Our other HD video playback has been done unscaled, but cropped in order to view the HD image quality in all its glory. With the last batch of LG.Philips LCDs, we were able to view WMV9 at 720p unscaled (because the monitors supported 1680x1050 resolutions), but this is really the first time that we will see 1080p unscaled. Like all other displays that we have seen to date, the L2335 does not support DVI-HDCP, so don't plan on watching video from your receiver on DVI just yet. Component connectors do work fine for this, however. Image quality was outstanding. Even though we have black bars across the bottom and sides, the image is still unscaled and takes up enough of the screen to really give an awesome experience.


Click to enlarge.

The Matrix Reload, The Matrix - This dated, but useful, benchmark still gives us the ability to test FMV on the display. With such a large resolution, watching 480p unscaled is not particularly viewable, since it takes up such a small portion of the screen. Using the signal zoom in the display actually yields pretty decent results, although the screen was almost identical to playing the movie in full screen mode from the software DVD player. We could not detect a washed out look in any of the scenes that we checked during our analysis; all seems well in Matrix-land.

World of Warcraft - WOW, infamous WOW. Since I had approximately five hours to kill before my queue for Battle Grounds, I took the opportunity to take the display at 1920x1200 through Stratholme (all of it). Gaming at a resolution like this really doesn't get any better; for the first time, I feel like I finally have enough space to lay out all of the icons, and the X800 Pro is more than enough to keep up the FPS just fine. Even in some of the more LCD-unfriendly areas, like deserts, we could not detect the "washed-out" look. It seems as though HP hit the nail on the head for the contrast ratio and brightness.


Click to enlarge.

Max Payne 2 - The extreme light and dark transitions in Max Payne still provide us with the sufficient criteria to benchmark transient response time; specifically, we can focus on the light and dark extremes. Like the last few displays, we again had no problems with the color curves and no problems with the black and white transitions. There were periods in the game where we noticed the response time playing catch up, but as far as LCDs go, this was one of the better experiences that we've had.

Photoshop CS - Again, nothing but praise for this monitor. Once we had the image profile loaded, the HP L2335 was actually very pleasant to work on because we could work within an entire 1200x1200 or 1600x1200 image that was wholely contained in the display - without scaling. Even if you are not totally convinced that LCDs have the ability to replace CRTs for high quality image manipulation, at least the resolution is high enough to rival CRTs.


Click to enlarge.


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  • Gatak - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link

    #32

    You are still wrong. A TFT need 12-14bits resolution per colour channel to be able to resolve the same levels as a CRT monitor.

    The reason is simply because a TFT is linear in its response whereas a CRT is not (Gamma). The TFT must compensate for the gamma curve, which requires up to 14bits resolution (or more if you use higher gamma than 2.2).

    So, these 14 bit LCDs/TFTs are the only ones getting _CLOSE_ to CRT native colour resolution. A CRT is inherently analogue too, which means it can utilize the 10bit resolution per channel that many modern graphics cards can produce (Matrox, ATi). Remember this is 10bit is with the gamma compensation already applied. For a TFT to reach the same resolution they would need much more than 14bits!

  • Therms - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link

    Just wanted to add that one of the biggest games of the summer, Battlefield 2, does not properly support widescreen.

    The best it can do is basically a zoomed 4:3 image which results in a display with the top and bottom parts of the picture chopped off. This means that widescreen users actually see less than standard 4:3 screen users.

  • semo - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link

    is there a big problem right now with all those different aspect ratios out there?

    i hear that 16:9, 16:10 and 15:9 are pretty much the same/compatible. why all the standards in the first place anyway?

  • DragonReborn - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link

    Hmm...interesting. I was definitely ready to buy the 2405...no way to really compare the two, huh? I game, but nothing crazy, and just want a nice big screen. Probably save the $300 and get a nvidia 7800 instead of the 6800... =)

  • Gioron - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link

    "Also keep in mind that a 21" Trinitron has about the same viewable area of a 19" or 20" LCD."

    Mostly true, but you need to specify whether its widescreen or not, since you lose a bit of area on a widescreen display.

    Screen area on a standard 4:3 display with a 20" viewable diagonal is 192 in^2.
    Screen area on a widescreen 16:10 display with a 20" viewable diagonal is only 180 in^2. (If I haven't managed to screw up the math...)

    If I were being pessimistic on your statement, a 19" widescreen would have a bit over 160 in^2, while a CRT with a 20" viewable diagonal would have 192 in^2. I wouldn't consider that "about the same".

    The other thing that some people need to consider is whether you'll be displaying a lot of 4:3 content, in which case you throw away annother 20% of your viewable area to black bars along the side (unless you fill it out and distort the image). Admittedly, this isn't a huge factor for computer use, since most gaming and desktop resolutions can be adjusted to be correct, but its something to consider if you know you're going to be doing a lot of picture viewing or have video sources that are fixed at 4:3.

  • Pastuch - Saturday, July 9, 2005 - link

    29 - Posted on Jul 8, 2005 at 5:59 PM by svi

    But most engines stretch or clip a 4:3 picture to produce widescreen output. Source is an exception, and a big one, but you can't make a generalization like that based on a single case where widescreens are better.

    Rebuttal:

    I wont be buying BF2 until they add Widescreen support. EA WAKE UP! All of the following games have official support for widescreen: Halflife 2, CS Source, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, Far Cry, Doom 3, GTA: San Andreas PC, and I've heard Dungeon Seige 2 will be fully compatable as well.

  • KristopherKubicki - Friday, July 8, 2005 - link

    SilthDraeth: Icecrown Alliance. Biggest waste of money and time grumble grumble... ... er... Yeah I mean it's a fun game!

    kmmatney: Supposedly. Somehow I got suckered into an NEC NDA over a *year* ago which I may even still be bound to. NEC had some neat stuff to show me concerning LED backlit LCDs and medical-grade LCD monitors, but unfortunately NEC also has an elitist mentality that has completely barred them from competing on a retail level with anyone. 10-bit panels are not new, I actually saw my first one at *Comdex 2002*. Fortunately I just made a friend at Eizo and I will definitely be asking them for this display.

    Thanks!

    Kristopher

  • kmmatney - Friday, July 8, 2005 - link

    There are LCD panels out now that surpass CRTs in image quality and color reproduction. See the links:


    http://www.warehouseexpress.com/news/digpop/698.ht...

    NOte the spec: 16.77 million from a palette of 1.06 billion

    Also see:

    http://www.nec-lcd.com/english/whatsnew/press05030...

    These are the real enthusiast monitors for graphic artists.


  • MrEMan - Friday, July 8, 2005 - link

    Does anyone know if either HP or Dell has anything involvement at all with the design of their respective monitors?

    If they don't then I believe the credit should go to the monitor manufacturers and not the companies whose only involvement is to slap their name on the case.

  • SilthDraeth - Friday, July 8, 2005 - link

    Kris what server on WOW do you play on? I play Deathwing, a pvp server, Alliance side.
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