ASUS MT276HE - 27" Wide LCD Monitors - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this monitor to use specifically for gaming as my current PC monitor just wasn't fast enough for gaming. My main monitor is designed for photography, graphic design or similar uses where color accuracy is more important than speed. Before I go into detail, let me just explain why I gave four stars instead of 5. I feel perfection should be hard to get. Now back to the review. The monitor is well packaged. When I received the monitor, I first tested my PS3 games and no surprise, games look fantastic. I do not really see any ghosting which I do see in my Dell U2410. Contrast and colors look great. Blu-ray movies also looked great. I was surprised at the audio as it was louder and cleaner than I expected for a 3 watt speaker. You can not turn the bass all the way up to the highest setting because the audio starts to distort but it does provide decent bass a couple of notches down. Fortunately my monitor arrived without any dead pixels. The mesh covering the speakers are an interesting choice. Nice if you like flowers but you don't really notice it unless you are paying attention to the detail.
Now the next test was connecting it to my PC. This monitor has three inputs, two digital (HDMI) and one analog (VGA). I tried the HDMI input and no surprise, the colors don't look as great as my Dell U2410 but that is to be expected since this panel is a TN 6-bit panel. It doesn't look bad but it is definitely IPS quality. The screen is a matte screen and not glossy which helps if you work in a room with direct sunlight. Glare sucks on glossy screens and so I avoid them at all cost. Glossy screens do add more contrast but in my opinion, the contrast on this monitor looks amazing.
The monitor runs pretty cool. I used to own a Dell 30" monitor and in the summertime, it made my office get really hot. Since this monitor also has an LED panel, it should use less electricity than a traditional CCFL panel.
The game I play most often is Street Fighter IV (but in a month, that will change when Super Street Fighter IV comes out). I just love how clean and smooth it looks on this screen. There is literally no lag on this monitor. I also tried Unreal Tournament 3 on my PC and wow, the game looks terrific on this monitor. This monitor is definitely my favorite monitor for gaming.
Keep in mind that since the two digital inputs on this monitor are HDMI, you may have a problem initially when you connect your PC to this monitor as it may detect it as an HDTV instead of a PC monitor. You will need to turn off overscan correction on your graphics card settings. This will get rid of the black bars on the side of the screen
The bezel on this monitor is a bit big which means those with ATI graphics cards who want to try out Eyefinity may not want to go with this monitor.
The monitor includes a handy little remote. I am personally not a fan of the credit card sized remote controls which the Asus monitor includes as they tend to get lost easily and due to its size, you can not put a great description of what each of the buttons do. The HDTV does have a slot to hide the remote but I would have rather preferred a slightly larger remote. I sometimes forget what each symbol means but I am sure after a while, I'll get over that.
The monitor includes a 3 year warranty which is rare for computer LCD monitors. Hopefully I won't have to use it but its good to know its there if I need it.
Now for some cons. First of all, I generally like to view my Blu-ray movies at 24 frames per second since that is what movies are generally filmed at. This monitor does not support 24P, or at least when I set it to 24P on my Sony Playstation 3, it loses sync when I play a Blu-ray movie. Since this monitor came out in late 2009, I was expecting it to support 24P. Also the monitor stand can not be tilted. Since I use this as a second monitor, it doesn't line up with my Dell 24" so tilting would have been nice. For the price this monitor goes for, I was hoping it would allow tilting. The volume also does not go low enough. This is a problem because it is in my office and my walls are not thick enough and so I have to wear headphones to make sure I don't wake up my 2 year old son when he is napping. All of the buttons are on the top of the Asus monitor except for the power button. All of the HDTVs in my house have the buttons located in the same section so when I want to power on or off the Asus monitor, I sometimes accidentally reach for the top. I know this is a minor detail but I just wanted to point this out.
Overall I really like this monitor a lot and am happy with my purchase. There are some other features to this monitor which I haven't mentioned yet but its nice that it has a headphone jack for when you want to game at night when everyone in your house is asleep. It has SPDIF output for when you need thumping audio through an audio receiver or a sound bar. I don't expect I'll ever use that but its good to know its there. It is not a very portable monitor but since it doesn't weigh much, you could technically use it for lan parties and such. This monitor is a keeper and I hope it lasts me a long time. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I will do my best to answer them. If I could give a more accurate score for this monitor, I would rate it a 4.5.


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ASUS MT276HE - Rich Connectivity for Limitless Entertainment. Full HD 27 inch W large screen enhances both working efficiency and entertainment with rich input and output ports.

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Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP 30-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor Review

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(More customer reviews)I've only had this monitor for about a week so far, but it is amazing. Super bright, clear, dynamic image. Has a ton of inputs.
The 3008 has inputs for VGA, component, HDMI, 2 DVI inputs, S-Video, and composite. And best of all, it's got an input for DisplayPort which is what the next standard will apparently be. Because it has a built-in scaler, it can handle just about anything you plug into it.
Along with the graphics work I do, games look great also. Playstation 3 looks awesome!
The screen is so large that at normal viewing distances it practically fills your view.
It's also got a USB in, so you have 4 extra USB ports, 2 on the side of the monitor and 2 at the input panel. The side panel also has a built-in card reader.
Very happy with it so far.

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Super large 30-inch display with amazing 2560 x 1600 native resolution, TrueColor Technology producing 117% of the NTSC color gamut for superb color reproduction and extensive connection options put this monitor in a class all by itself. The fast 8 ms response time (grey-to-grey) typical, and incredible 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio lets you view images, documents, graphics and video with extreme detail, vivid color and fluid motion. The UltraSharp 3008WFP features Dell TrueColor Technology supporting 117% of the NTSC color gamut for superb color representation resulting in deeper, more vibrant reds, greens and blues. Moreover, the UltraSharp 3008WFP can support up to Adobe98 color standard which is widely used in desktop publishing. Combined with a dynamic contrast ratio of 3000:1, blacks are darker and vibrant colors pop off the screen for life-like movies, photos and games. The UltraSharp 3008WFP supports higher definition than HD Television and comes with an integrated HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connection. HDMI delivers crystal-clear, all-digital audio and video via a single cable, dramatically simplifying cabling and helps provide the highest quality home theater experience.

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Smart Buy 30IN LCD 2560X1600 1000:1 ZR30W Dvi-d Dp 7MS S-ips U.s Review

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(More customer reviews)After a few hours playing with my new ZR30W, the results are in!
I've tested images and gaming of the ZR30W versus the other monitors on my desk; the LG W3000H 30", BenQ G2400W 24" and Viewsonic's VX2265WM 120Hz 22". I have not yet color calibrated the screen with my Spyder 3 Elite.
First impressions:
The ZR30W came in a real nice thick quality well packed shipping box.
The Bezel around the screen is just a tad thicker than I was imagining in my head, just a few millimeters shorter than the LG W3000H. One positive to the HP bezel though is it's the same width on all four sides which is helpful if you ever want to do portrait multi-display.
The stand is nice and wide with a decent heft. Just plain matte black plastic, the LG's is a little fancier and has a piano black gloss base.
There is not as much vertical adjustment on the HP as I would have wanted. Especially for us taller people, it's nice to have a screen that can raise pretty high. The LG stand allows another inch or two height here, so the LG wins the stand department. Neither can do portrait mode, you would need a much beefier stand design to reach that tall.
The HP has a nice aluminum strip around the entire edge of the display , adding a nice quality touch. These 30" panels are very deep though, for multi-display gaming overlapping the displays bezels will be a bit tougher. I have removed the LG's bezel before and there was significant space savings to be had with the bezel removed for surround gaming. I haven't done this yet to the HP as to make sure I have a long term fully functioning display before voiding any warranties. Although if removed properly, i don't think the manufacturers could notice that the bezel was removed.
The HP has just 4 buttons out front, on/off, source and dim/bright buttons. That's all I need. The LG has a LED on/off toggle for the power indicator and a way to turn off the beeping sound as you make bright/dim adjustments. The Hp doesn't make any menu noise, it let's you know you have reached the min/max in brightness by simply blinking the power LED. The HP's power LED also goes off after a few seconds which I like.
On connectivity, the HP has the LG beat. The LG has a single DVI-D connector, while the HP has DVI-D and Display port. While I think DVI-D isn't going anywhere soon, it's nice to know you have the option for Display port if those future graphics cards are DP only. Both monitors have two under monitor mounted USB ports and two on the side.
My HP arrived with zero dead/stuck pixels just like my LG. It appears the quality control on these higher end panels is much more stringent over the cheaper panels. I've read a few reports of early ZR30W's exhibiting some sort of audible buzzing noise from the power supply when brightness was reduced. My HPZR30W is silent at any brightness setting. Either I got lucky, or more likely HP resolved the issue that a few early monitors had. The build date of my HP is May 2010.
Now for picture quality:
The instant I turned the ZR30W right next to my LG I could see there was an improvement in image quality. The LG uses the LG LM300WQ5 panel, but I believe the HP uses a newer revision of the basic LM300WQ5. I have not taken the monitor apart yet to confirm this. The largest difference that I can see appear to be the back lighting. The ZR30W exhibits much purer whites. You can really tell that there are some high-end wide color gamut CCFL's in the HP. The LG look's to have a greenish/tan tint to it compared to the HP. I cannot stress it enough how good the whites look on the HP.
For color reproduction in standard sRGB color-space, both are very similar. The HP might have a tinge more saturation or "pop" to the colors over the LG, which in itself looks very good. The TN panels next to the IPS look just dreadful in comparison.
Contrast ratio's are still very good, very similar between the LG and HP. Although, with the HP's purer white's, the contrast seem's more crisp in the transition from white to black. Pixel response times appear to be identical using test images. Ghosting to my naked eye appears to be identical to the LG, which never had a huge ghosting problem to begin with. These are quite fast IPS panels and to my subjective eye don't ghost any more than the Viewsonic 120Hz TN panel using the same test image.
Input lag appears to be imperceptible, just like on the LG. This is thanks to the lack of a scalar which I find a very good feature. I only run 2560x1600 resolution so I need no extra electronics that would add input lag. you would neither want the LG nor the HP for PS3/Xbox 360, but that's not what it's designed for. You would need a good test setup to accurately gauge input lag that is below one frame. Moving minimized windows quickly across the desktop cannot match the fluidity of the 120Hz panel, but that is expected. You can't win all the categories! (Hello OLED?)
Both the HP and LG can only do exactly 60Hz, sorry movie editing guru's. I've adjusting both manually and at different resolutions, but they both just go signal blank when fed a 50Hz signal.
In conclusion, I thought it was going to be hard to beat the LG W3000H in image quality. The ZR30W has surpassed my expectations. The pure whites, excellent colors, limited ghosting and very low input lag make this the best display I have ever used. The LG is off to Ebay and my order for two more HP ZR30W's has been placed for nVidia Surround. The unfortunate side effect of going 7680x1600 3x 30" is that I realized I need a larger desk. After viewing quality displays like these, you do realize just how poor the image quality of TN panels are and both of mine will also be off to Ebay.

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30-inch Wide-Aspect Active Matrix TFT, 178/178 (H/V) viewing angle, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 370 nits brightness, 7ms response rate, 0.2505 mm pixel pitch, 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz native resolution, S-IPS Panel

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NEC MultiSync PA271W-BK-SV 27-Inch LCD Monitor Review

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(More customer reviews)Test conditions: Snow Leopard 10.6.6 in 64 bit mode on a Mac Pro with NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics card using DVI cable, second computer is a Power Mac G4 tower with ADC to DVI connector
Conflict of interest: NEC provided the display for the purpose of the review and then offered to the reviewer at a significant discount from the retail price.
Few photographers or videographers have physical darkrooms these days. Instead, their darkroom exists largely in their computer. This virtual darkroom has two points of visual access: the display and some output mechanism such as a printer or TV screen. But all of the creative work is done through the display, making it the single most important part of the process. It is much more important that having the fastest CPU. With this in mind three years ago, I purchased a NEC announced the LCD2690UWXi, a 25.5" display that was available with its own calibration software (SpectraView II) and a specially calibrated colorimeter.
I have been extremely happy with my NEC display, but technology marches on. So I was particularly interested to learn that NEC had released a new 27" display, the PA271W-BK-SV (BK stands for black; SV stands for SpectraView) that improves on their previous impressive product. I was even happier that NEC agreed to provide AAUG with an evaluation display to review. At the risk of spoiling the ending, allow me to say that I have not been disappointed.
Ergonomics: The PA271W display is attached to a stand that allows it to be moved up and down over a 5" range, rotated 360 degrees about a vertical axis and 90 degrees about a horizontal axis. The latter allows the display to be used in landscape or portrait orientation. The display also tilts back. The available range of movements makes it easy to find a comfortable viewing arrangement.
Connections: Cables included with the display are a power cable, a DVI-D to DVI-D cable, a DisplayPort cable (not mini), and a USB cable. The PA271W is capable of handling 10 bits per color channel, although the DVI cables can only transmit 8 bits. A display port connection can transmit 10 bits per channel, but Apple's OS X only supports 8 bits per color channel. Based on comments from NEC's technical support staff, very few mini display port to full size display port adapters work well with this NEC display, Apple's included. NEC recommends MonoPrice's "Mini DisplayPort Male to DisplayPort Female Adapter" part # 5714 ([...]; $4.25 plus $1.56 for 1st class shipping) if you want to use the mini display port on your Mac. I have been using the DVI-D cable with my Mac Pro with no problems.
Also included in the box are screws for mounting to a wall bracket and a CD with the manual. Although the PA271W is available as a stand-alone display with no dedicated calibration software or hardware, I reviewed the model with these included. The colorimeter is manufactured by X-Rite for NEC, which then custom calibrates it. The software, SpectraView II, is a NEC product. More about this in a moment.
Setup is straightforward, regardless of whether you're using DVI or display port. The PA271W supports two video input streams from two computers, although both must be digital. If you have a computer with only VGA graphics, you can purchase the PA241W, which does support analog input. You can switch between your two inputs on either the PA271W or the PA241W with a button on the front of the screen. Interestingly, you can run a USB cable from each computer into the back of the PA271W and then output a USB to a single keyboard and mouse. Then, when you switch between input streams, you also switch keyboard inputs. So you have one keyboard, one mouse and one display for two computers. As the Barefoot Contessa says, "How cool is that?"
Of course, the real point of all of PA271W is the image on the display, and that is outstanding. At 2560x1440 pixels, this display has a high resolution for its size. Its color gamut is 97.1% of the Adobe 1996 RGB color space. This compares with 73% for the Apple 30 inch Cinema HD Display and 83.2% for the Apple 27 inch LED Cinema Display. For those of you who think that you can edit photographs with a MacBook Pro, the 2010 15 inch MacBook Pro displays only 75% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. These data come from [...].
Having a display with a great image is only part of the equation. The display must be calibrated and profiled. SpectraView II is the software supplied with the PA271W-BK-SV that performs this task. It is very easy to use and comes with excellent documentation. The process takes about 5 minutes or so from start to finish, except on the very first usage when you need to make some choices about your configuration. One of the settings is target for which there are several default choices as well as the ability to create a custom configuration. I use the Photo Editing target which has a white point of 6500 degrees Kelvin, a gamma of 2.2 and an intensity of 140 cd/square meters. It is possible to set multiple targets and have respective calibrations. This is very useful if you work in both still photography and videography, where the white point setting are quite different (6500 vs. 9300 degrees Kelvin). Most videographers work with ECI/NTSC color space rather than the Adobe 1986 color space. Note that I prefer to use the Native color gamut for the display rather than the Adobe RGB gamut. In any event, you can apply the appropriate calibration and profile for the work that you happen to be doing at the moment. There are a number of other preferences that you can set, although I found that the defaults generally worked for me. All of these are well documented in the SpectraView II documentation as well as in text supplied on the SpectraView interface. If you're stumped about something, you can call NEC's technical support staff, which I found to be excellent.
You may wonder why you should use SpectraView II instead of a calibration/profiler package by DataColor or X-rite. SpectraView II writes its output to a 14 bit color look-up table (LUT) that allows the display to achieve its high gamut level. Other calibration tools will achieve good results, but the gamut will not be quite as wide. I recommend purchase of SpectraView II with the PA271W even if you already own another calibration product.
One of the nice touches on the PA271W is the ability to display the input from the second video stream as a picture with picture (PIP) or picture beside picture (PBP). PIP can be done with buttons on the lower right bezel, or with software called MultiProfiler that NEC supplies on its web site. The software solution allows you to easily choose between PIP and PBP, as well as the size and position of the second display in PIP. I've found that PIP is most useful when I'm tracking the progress of a program on my second computer while working on my Mac Pro.
MultiProfiler has quite a few other capabilities, including the ability to quickly switch between several standard color gamuts (your calibrated profile, Adobe RGB, sRGB, High Bright and Full). If you're viewing files destined from web display and not in Photoshop at the time, you can switch to sRGB and see how the image will look when displayed on a generic display and then switch back to your calibrated display. You can also use MultiProfiler to control settings for the power-on LED on the front of the screen, and more importantly for the correction level that is applied to the brightness of the image on the display. This refers to the amplification that the display applies so that the brightness on the sides of the display is the same as that in the center. The default setting is maximum correction, which is the setting that I use. I've had this display for one month now and find the light extremely uniform.
The NEC PA271W-BK-SV is not an inexpensive display, especially when you add the shipping required to get it to Anchorage. What distinguishes this display from the less expensive displays manufacturer by HP or Dell, some of which have an even wider color gamut, is that the NEC display is guaranteed to work with Macs. The tech support staff has Macs in their lab, so that you can be certain that the display will in fact work with your Mac. In reading the threaded discussions on the HP and Dell web sites, it's clear that neither company explicitly supports their display on Macs.
If you are serious about color management and quality, I highly recommend the NEC PA271W-BK-SV. You could select the PA241W-BK-SV if one of your video streams will be analog or if you prefer a smaller display.

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NEC MultiSync PA271W-BK-SV 27" 2560 x 1440/60 Hz 300 cd/m2 1000:1 6 ms 0.233 mm LCD Monitor

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Apple Cinema 30-inch HD Flat-Panel Display Review

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(More customer reviews)In all likelihood, you are reading this review with two separate goals in mind. First, you want to make sure that nothing is horribly wrong with the lyrically-beautiful, breathtakingly-enormous 30-inch Cinema Display. After all, it is only natural to worry that its intoxicating attractiveness is counterpoised by some hidden, yet devastating, flaw. Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief: it is flawless. Indeed, it represents the very essence of perfection in both function and form.
Second, you are reading this review in a desperate attempt to find some way to justify the purchase of a 30-inch Cinema Display. Perhaps you need to justify it to your thrifty spouse, and are trying to find a reasonable answer to that inevitable question, "but why do you NEED a 30-inch monitor?" Or perhaps you must justify the purchase to an emotionless manager, who is unable to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of this gargantuan monitor. Fortunately, previous reviewers have outlined a number of possible justifications that you might find helpful: a larger monitor improves work efficiency, reduces strain on your eyes, can double as a TV set, etc. Simply select the justification that will be most convincing to your target audience, and don't take no for an answer. I wish you luck.
However, never lose sight of this fact: you do not need to justify the purchase of a 30-inch Cinema Display to yourself. Even trying to do so is dangerous, since in all probability you will be unable to justify spending $1800 on an enormous monitor when you have a perfectly serviceable monitor already. Yes, I'm sure that some people have a genuine need for a 30-inch monitor, but (be honest with yourself) you are almost certainly not one of them.
And more to the point, any attempt at justification is irrelevant. This monitor is not about need, or utility, or functionality, or productivity, or other such tedious concepts. It is about sheer, unabashed, covetousness. You want it. You must possess it. You feel an inexplicable, unjustifiable compulsion to buy it. The vast expanse of the 29.7-inch viewable area haunts your waking thoughts, and appears in your dreams as a luminous vision of perfection that is always just out of reach.
Don't question it. Just buy it.
A year ago today, I did exactly that. Twice. Now, looking at both of my 30-inch monitors in front of me, I feel that I have come closer to true contentment than most people do in a lifetime. Is that shallow? Maybe. But I don't think so. And I'm willing to bet that you don't either. If you did, you would have stopped reading this review a long time ago.


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Includes: DVI cable, FireWire 400 cable, USB 2.0 cable, and DC power. Apple 30" LCD Cinema Display - This huge 30" computer monitor is perfect for the prosumer and professional alike. Imagine multi-tasking with multiple full-size windows open simultaneously, or editing video with a super-wide timeline! It has a native resolution of 2560x1600, and a contrast ratio 400:1, for stunning quality on a Mac G5 powered computer.Brightness - 400 cd/m2 Viewing Angle - 170 degrees horizontal / 170 degrees vertical Antiglare Hardcoat Screen Treatment Kensington Security Port User Controls - Display Power, System Sleep, System Wake, Brightness and Display Tilt Connects to a Macintosh via a digital DVI connection Macintosh system requirements -Power Mac G5 and NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL graphics card (offered as CTO option for new Power Mac G5 customers and as a kit for current Power Mac G5 customers (M9593G/A) PC capable only if Windows PC is equipped with a dual-link DVI graphics card (some resolution adjustments may be required)

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30IN Ws LCD 1000:1 2560X1600 LCD3090W-BK-SV Blk Dvi with sensor &sw Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great price/performance color calibration monitor. Very happy with results - we use it in our film production company - allows us to 'know' with confidence that we are looking at the same color as our post-house. Knowledge is comfort.

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NEC MultiSync LCD3090W-BK-SV LCD Monitor LCD3090W-BK-SV LCD Flat Panel Displays

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Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC 30-inch WideScreen Flat Panel Monitor Review

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(More customer reviews)It's big, bright, fast, beautiful and did I mention it's big? I mean two side-by-side magnified A4 documents big. The $1100 price is great too compared to other 30" models.
The reason why this monitor is considered obsolete by Dell is the complaints from videophiles about its lack of connectivity options. Specifically, dual-link DVI is the only way in. So, if you are planning on connecting game machines or BlueRay drives or HD cable boxes via HDMI, you are out of luck. But, why would you want to do that? Even full HD video only goes up to 1920x1080. This monitor does 2560x1600. It makes a lot more sense to pay $800 for a 42" 1080p LCD TV, which is bigger and better for viewing video anyway. This is an ultra-high-resolution monitor, pure and simple, and I love it for doing a good job there.
===== Added 11/29/2008 =====
As the channel runs low on stock of this monitor, the Gateway XHD3000 30" Widescreen HD LCD Monitor becomes a better value. The latter, however, does not employ the S-IPS panel from LG, which is generally considered the best and most expensive LCD technology as of 2008. This is another reason why some 30" monitors are still a good buy in my mind even though 24" models are selling for under $300 nowadays. Those cheap monitors use TN panels, with poor color, contrast and viewing angles. Smaller S-IPS monitors (e.g. HP LP2475W 24in LCD Monitor 1920X1200 and Planar PX2611W 26-Inch Widescreen Digital/Analog with Height Adjust Stand (Black)) still cost $600+ and are becoming scarcer by the day due to the competition from its cheaper cousins. Even Samsung, which holds the patents for the middling S-PVA technology, has been introducing TN models.

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Manufacturer Part# DN829Dell Part# 222-7175Max Resolution: 2560 x 1600 / 60 Hz Image Contrast Ratio: 1000:1

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Dell UltraSharp U2711 27-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor - Max Resolution 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had this monitor for a month now and I've to say that it's phenomenal. I was using the Dell 2405FPW for 5 years until the U2711 was released, almost matching the resolution of the 30-inch (2560 by 1600), at almost half the price. It's a bargain.
The resolution is outstanding at 2560 by 1440. Yes, there's 160 pixels missing from the bottom compared to a typical 30-inch, but coming up from 1920 by 1200 it doesn't really matter.
The colours are vibrant, which is great. The text is a bit smaller, of a size you typically see on 13-inch laptops. It took me a while to get used to the smaller font size.
This set is still non-glossy. But apparently, Dell has applied some anti-glare coating. I've read on forums that some customers disliked it but I've no problem with it - I didn't even detect it was there.
Compared to a 24-inch (1920 by 1200px), the U2711 isn't much taller, it's much wider. I can fit two webpages, 1024px each, and still be able to see icons on the desktop.
Backlight bleeding is barely noticeable. It means if your widescreen movies still show the letterbox black bars, you'll be less distracted.
The U2711 also works well with my PS3 via HDMI. I'm not sure of the audio capabilities but I use a 2.1 speaker plugged in with a 3.5mm jack. One thing to note is you'll have to set the audio settings on your PS3 to output 2.1 sound to make sure they output all the sound, dialogue, effects, surround, etc.
Gaming on the PS3 is very enjoyable. The games are upscaled and there's a notch of graininess. Not really an issue unless you're sitting really close. Everything looks snappy and I don't notice any lag but I'm don't really play FPS games.
Note that this monitor would require a decent graphics card with dual-DVI output. If you want to game at the maximum resolution, then you need a powerful card.
This is a huge physical monitor. My table is really small and it took up almost half of it. But not regrets.
I managed to get this LCD at US$690 equivalent in Asia, Singapore. It's well worth it. This set is going to last me for a long time, until the slimmer LED version comes out in who-knows-which year.
I would recommend this monitor to graphic designers, photographers or anyone who multi-task a lot.
- For Mac Users -
I'm using this on a Mac Pro and have powered it on two graphic card, not both at the same time. It's plug and play, no drivers required.
On the ATI Radeon X1900XT, you won't be able to see the dual boot screen if you hold Alt after the startup (that's if you're using Boot Camp). On the ATI Radeon 4870, it works just flawlessly.
- For technical reviews, just visit the links in my comment section. I found and used them while researching on the U2711.

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Experience a revolutionary screen performance with the DellTM UltraSharpTM U2711 27-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor. With an outstanding resolution of 2560x1440 (WQHD) pixels, this monitor delivers stunning detail, depth and responsiveness. Coupled with a dynamic contrast ratio of 80000:1 and a fast response time of 6 ms, you can enjoy great color intensity such as deep blacks and bright reds, razor-sharp graphics and text. Additionally, with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, this monitor produces brilliant color and excellent detail for high-definition graphics. Furthermore, with a color gamut of 110% provides vibrant, true-to-life color across all display modes. Equipped with 4 USB ports and a media card reader allow easy connection of peripherals like cameras and game consoles. Designed for comfort and convenience, this monitor is equipped with height-adjustable stand, tilt and swivel features that make it easy for collaborative viewing. In addition, the In-Plane Switching technology (IPS), allows superb color consistency whether you're sitting in front of the display or standing off at an angle. With all these features and more, the DellTM UltraSharp U2711 27-inch widescreen monitor lends distinctive style and sophistication to your desk and compliments your lifestyle. Dell branded monitors undergo exhaustive testing for performance, reliability, durability and compatibility with Dell systems.

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NEC LCD3090WQXi-BK 30-Inch Widescreen High Resolution LCD Monitor Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had this monitor for ~2 years now and love it.
I use it for both FPS's/games and critical color with with pictures, development work, etc. It handles all of this without the slightest trouble- games are fine, no ghosting at all, that I can tell.
The only issue I've had is that if you're working on mainly black backgrounds- if you look _really_ hard, you can see lots of subpixels that are partially active- it's as if the liquid crystal is partly, but not entirely rotated.
Most of mine are green and only seem to be on the right side of the screen. If I'm using anything but black, I can't see them.
This has never caused me trouble and I don't see it unless I'm really looking for it, so I've ignored it/
I don't know if this is just MY monitor or if this is a more widespread problem.

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30" - LCD - 2560 x 1600 - 16:10 - 6ms - 0.251mm - 1000:1 - Black

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Dell UltraSharp U3011 30-inch Widescreen Monitor with PremierColor - Max Resolution 2560 x 1600- 16:10 Aspect Ratio - Contrast Ratio 1000:1 - Response Time 7 ms - Supports Digital DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, Composite Video - Built-in Scaler for Multiple Resolutions Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Looked at many monitors with reasonable color gamut in the 27-30 inch size which would be compatible with my late 2008 15 inch Macbook Pro (5,1). Main uses are photography, web design and general office productivity (office, writing papers, electronic medical records). I looked at the NEC 3090 series and the NEC and Dell 27 inch monitors as well. I have experience with the Barco and Eizo monitors at work in the radiology department (where the is also the occasional Dell). Here are the things that eventually sold me on this monitor.
1. Comes with displayport. This is huge on a Mac. It was simple to use a mini-displayport to displayport cable (about $15) to get the monitor working with my Macbook Pro. Full resolution off the bat with no sleep/wake issues, no software to install. There are some serious issues using DVI-D with the 2560x1600 screen resolutions on both the portable and desktop macs. Not the fault of the monitors, but the fault of Apple and their implementation of video cards. You could spend hours online reading about the problems with cables and adapters. Nobody seems to be able to get them to work reliably. Check the NEC site for the latest as they have posted technical bulletins on this issue and things may have changed. Price of the monitor was not an issue for me, but the potential time trouble shooting problems was. I hate computer maintenance and trouble shooting (which is why I'm on a Mac and wish I could ditch all the PC's in the office).
2. Good color gamut, comes reasonably well calibrated, easy to calibrate further with an x-Rite eye-one display 2. That IPS technology is heads and shoulders above TN screens for any serious photography work goes without saying. Covers a good part of the Adobe RGB spectrum (and all of the S-RGB spectrum). As of early 2011, the mac OS is not capable of 12 bit color from end-to-end (OS, software, hardware, output) and therefore to a certain extent, you can't use all the capabilities of the hardware calibration of the NEC Spectraview system at this point in time. People get pretty obsessed about this kind of stuff, but the bottom line is that most pictures are seen on computer screens which have never been calibrated and will not be as good as this Dell (or the NEC) nor can you control the lighting conditions under which someone will view one of your prints. Aside from the most demanding color-accurate uses (you're making commercials for coke, printing fine art for sale), this monitor will get you 99% of the way to where you need to be. No one will ever notice the last 1% (unless they're a geek on a photog forum with lots of spare time). If you really need the best in color management and have the hardware that can take advantage of this, go with the NEC, Eizo or other high end screen.
3. Lots of connection options. USB, speakers, HDMI/DVI-D (I don't use), etc. Some might consider it sacrilege to have these sorts of connections on a professional monitor. I consider it convenient. Less cable clutter.
4. Price. Not cheap, but it is about $1000 less than the NEC which uses the same panel, but different hardware (in fact all the high end 30 inch IPS panels come from the same manufacturer). Usually can be found for between $1150-1300.
5. Screen is NOT too big. I sit with my face about 2-3 feet from the screen. No neck problems so far. I do like the added screen hight that 1600 pixels gives you. Works well with the traditional 3:2 slr format. Also, by the time you add the menu bar and some of the control panels in Lightroom or Photoshop, you tend to loose a lot of working space on the widescreen (16:9) type monitors. I didn't like the feeling that I was working on a panorama the whole time. I worried that I would need to sit miles back, but this is not the case. No real drop off in brightness and the viewing angle is very good.
This is a much better choice if you were considering an Apple 27 inch display - Apple has a much, much inferior color gamut, reflective screen which can be an issue in bright rooms, similar price and lack of other connection options make the Apple somewhat limited. The Dell really was plug and play for me.
Hope this review helps and saves you some time (esp. if you have a Macbook Pro). Hard to go wrong with the Dell or NEC.
PS - No difficulties with Mid-2008 13 inch Macbook Pro. Somewhat of a surprise because of the integrated graphics, but no glitches. Full resolution w/ the minidisplayport to displayport adapter.

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Let your ideas play on a grand stage. Experience amazing wide-angle viewing and color consistency with the Dell UltraSharp U3011 30" Widescreen Monitor with PremierColor. Extensive connectivity features and customization via CustomColor mode make the U3011 an ideal choice for professionals in CAD/CAM, graphic design, photography, gaming and other fields where color precision matters. Designed for those who dream bigger. Bring your biggest ideas to life on the Dell UltraSharp U3011 monitor's stunning 30" (76cm) widescreen display area. See what you've been missing. With its 2560 x 1600 resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio, the U3011 enables a wide, generous viewing area with amazing views from any angle thanks to its IPS (in-plane switching) technology. Providing precise, industry-standard color right out of the box, the. PremierColor technology in the Dell UltraSharp U3011 monitor helps to ensure that you get reliable, true-to-life colors from day one. Incredible color accuracy: The U3011 monitor arrives factory-tuned to AdobeRGB and sRGB modes, so you can dive into projects fast without the need for extensive color calibration. For professionals in design, photography and other fields where color precision matters, the U3011 is compatible with 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB standards to help meet your needs for color accuracy. When you want to fine-tune to a customized color palette, CustomColor Mode lets you adjust color values to your personal preferences. Plus, you get superb connectivity across PCs, game consoles and more thanks to DisplayPort, audio connectors (supports 5.1 channel audio connection), two HDMI 1.3 and two DVI-D connectors with High-bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP). Easily manipulate the on-screen display with capacitive-touch switches for setup and screen optimization. Easily connect to peripherals or share content using component connections, four USB ports and a 7-in-1 media-card reader.

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