HP LP3065: A new contender for the 30" throne
by Jarred Walton on March 22, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Viewing Angles
Viewing angles are one of those specifications that have become very inflated by the manufacturers. The basic requirement is that the display has to maintain a 10:1 contrast ratio in order to qualify as "viewable". The reality is that most LCDs are unfit for viewing outside of about a 45° arc. The good news is we really doubt that most people would want to view a display from anything more then a 45° angle. We used our camera to take shots from head-on as well as from the left and right sides at ~30° angles, showing how brightness and contrast ratios are affected in off-angle viewing. We also took pictures from above and below at ~30° angles. Links to the viewing angle images of previously reviewed LCDs are available for comparison below:
Acer AL2216W
Dell 2405FPW
Dell 2407WFP
Dell 3007WFP
Gateway FPD2485W
The HP LP3065 comes in first place when it comes to viewing angles. Within a 60° viewing arc, the colors remain very true. This is one instance where the updated panel on the HP LP3065 clearly ranks ahead of the Dell 3007WFP. Meanwhile, the TN panel on the Acer AL2216W offers an extremely limited viewing arc, especially in the vertical plane. We wouldn't be too concerned about viewing angles personally, as outside of the Acer display all of the LCDs are generally acceptable for use within a 60° viewing arc, both horizontally and vertically. Even the Acer panel is usable provided your eyes are in roughly the same vertical plane, as it suffers mostly in the vertical viewing angle.
Anyone who is seriously concerned about accurate colors is going to want to view pretty much any display from a direct front angle, and that tends to be the most comfortable position as well. That's one of the reasons we don't really worry too much about viewing angles. However, some people might work in environments where off-angle viewing is more important, so it's not entirely meaningless. Unfortunately, the manufacturer viewing angles tend to be exaggerated to the point of being useless, as the standard 10:1 contrast ratio is not acceptable for actual use. 100:1 is good enough, and maybe even a bit lower, but a 10:1 ratio is not at all practical.
Viewing angles are one of those specifications that have become very inflated by the manufacturers. The basic requirement is that the display has to maintain a 10:1 contrast ratio in order to qualify as "viewable". The reality is that most LCDs are unfit for viewing outside of about a 45° arc. The good news is we really doubt that most people would want to view a display from anything more then a 45° angle. We used our camera to take shots from head-on as well as from the left and right sides at ~30° angles, showing how brightness and contrast ratios are affected in off-angle viewing. We also took pictures from above and below at ~30° angles. Links to the viewing angle images of previously reviewed LCDs are available for comparison below:
Acer AL2216W
Dell 2405FPW
Dell 2407WFP
Dell 3007WFP
Gateway FPD2485W
 |
| HP LP3065 |
The HP LP3065 comes in first place when it comes to viewing angles. Within a 60° viewing arc, the colors remain very true. This is one instance where the updated panel on the HP LP3065 clearly ranks ahead of the Dell 3007WFP. Meanwhile, the TN panel on the Acer AL2216W offers an extremely limited viewing arc, especially in the vertical plane. We wouldn't be too concerned about viewing angles personally, as outside of the Acer display all of the LCDs are generally acceptable for use within a 60° viewing arc, both horizontally and vertically. Even the Acer panel is usable provided your eyes are in roughly the same vertical plane, as it suffers mostly in the vertical viewing angle.
Anyone who is seriously concerned about accurate colors is going to want to view pretty much any display from a direct front angle, and that tends to be the most comfortable position as well. That's one of the reasons we don't really worry too much about viewing angles. However, some people might work in environments where off-angle viewing is more important, so it's not entirely meaningless. Unfortunately, the manufacturer viewing angles tend to be exaggerated to the point of being useless, as the standard 10:1 contrast ratio is not acceptable for actual use. 100:1 is good enough, and maybe even a bit lower, but a 10:1 ratio is not at all practical.
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Renoir - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
That sounds like a very reasonable assumptionStill looking around for confirmation but I thought the ICT only affected analogue connections. If it does indeed affect digital connections then why are current software players not allowing full res over non HDCP compliant dvi ports given that no current discs have ICT enabled? We should be able to answer most of these questions when you get that laptop. I very much look forward to the review.
JarredWalton - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
Bad news... the laptop is single-link. :(I'll still be able to test HDCP on a non-HDCP display, though. I've got a 2405FPW so we'll see what happens. Could be the software companies enforcing something that isn't strictly required?
chakarov - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
Hope this could help you:http://www.behardware.com/articles/656-1/hdcp-prot...">http://www.behardware.com/articles/656-...ion-is-n...
Renoir - Sunday, March 25, 2007 - link
That link seems to confirm what I said which is that the ICT only applies to analogue connections and HDCP is always required for full res over a digital connection. At first Jarred I thought you might be right in that the software companies may be implementing something that isn't strictly required but the article linked shows that standalone units operate in the same way suggesting that that's the way it's supposed to work.chakarov - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
In the specs:http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06a/3820...">http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm...382087-6...
And even in the detail specs:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/1262...">http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/1262...
There is no mentioning of HDCP support.
There is nothing officially written.
May be there is a reason?
JarredWalton - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
Interesting... I'm sure I saw HDCP there when I was working on the review, and I can find numerous web links where it says HDCP is supported (at single-link resolutions). I wonder if they updated the page recently to remove HDCP?Renoir - Friday, March 23, 2007 - link
Well the review states HDCP support and Loyd over at extremetech said that he was told by HP that the display "offers HDCP at full dual-link bandwidth". This information is what I'm basing my questions on although the fact that HDCP isn't mentioned in your links merely confirms that the situation is clear as mud. Clearly someone is either misinformed or spec sheets have been poorly writtenmi1stormilst - Thursday, March 22, 2007 - link
I have delt with a number of companies when trying to help friends and family with store bought PC's and there is no question that HP is second to none with tech support. If you own a HP system use the online chat support...it is excellent.leousb - Thursday, March 22, 2007 - link
To buy a monitor this huge just for gaming is IMHO a complete obscenity.OrSin - Thursday, March 22, 2007 - link
People been saying the asme thing about BMW, 65" tvs and pretty (but dumb) women.In the words of bart "We do what we like"