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shadow85Hi PCM2. I recently got the Philips BDM4065UC 40″ 4K monitor, to compare it to my LG 31MU97.
I was immediatly struck by the difference in color quality of the panels. The LG looked far better, the colors were more vivid, and even the blacks looked far more realistic. Why is this the case?
I was quiet dissapointed because I was hoping to keep the Philips 40″ because of its size, but I have decided to keep the LG and sell the Philips.
Is it because the LG uses a nice 10 bit AH-IPS panel whilst the Philips uses a 8 but VA panel. The difference is like night and day.
PCM2I don’t know how much that would have to do with the panel type, specifically, or how you have set it up. I’d recommend trying some of the alternative ‘Gamma’ settings on the Philips.
It is hardly surprising that the LG 31MU97 would look more vivid, however. It is a wide gamut model which natively covers the Adobe RGB colour space. Unless you are running that in its sRGB emulation mode, the output you’re looking at in the desktop environment and games (designed with the sRGB colour space in mind) will simply look massively oversaturated. On the Philips many shades will look far less saturated and perhaps ‘washed out’ in comparison, but that’s simply because they are being displayed more faithfully.
What do you mean by blacks looking more ‘realistic’? Do you mean that black and near black shades stand out from one another better? That’s something that VA panels can struggle with due to ‘black crush’, as noted in this thread. Or do you mean they appear deeper? If that is the case then there is something wrong with your Philips unit or how it’s set up.
shadow85I tried mucking around with the settings on the Philips but nothing I tried could make the colors look as vivid as the LG or even close to it. I don’t have a calibrstor nor have I ever tried one so I can’t calibrate it atm.
I meant the blacks are much deeper on the LG, when I was playing Evil Within (Darkish game) it felt alot more realistic because the black levels looked so much better on the LG. On the Philips everything feels very washed out. I may try playing around with the settings a bit more on the Philips otherwise I will have to sell it.
PCM2If pure black or indeed very dark shades in general are deeper on the LG, something is wrong with your Philips. It’s a physical impossibility if that monitor is performing as it should. Or alternatively you may have it at a bit of an ‘off’ angle which can make the screen appear slightly flooded. Again I’m not surprised about the colours given the difference in colour gamut, it’s an apples and oranges comparison.
shadow85If I got a calibrator, should this make the colors look better on the philips?
I want the colors to look as strong as they do on the LG. Also on the Philips, it feels like there is a thin white sheet covered on the screen which makes it feeled washed out in comparison to the LG.
PCM2As I’ve explained, a lot of this likely comes down to the colour gamut. That is dependent on the backlight type and can’t be addressed by calibrating the Philips. There could be additional issues related to the setup which could be addressed by calibration, however. Try running the LG in its ‘sRGB’ preset which should emulate a similar colour space to the Philips, then compare.
shadow85Ok I will try this when I get home from work.
shadow85Ok so I realised my LG was using a custom color mode that made colors look more saturated/vivid. So then I changed it to the sRGB mode aswell as the philips, and now they looked more similar. I don’t remember what settings I changed in the LG to get it looking so vibrant.
Would you know what sort of settings I should change in the Philips to make colors look more vivid even if it is unrealistic?
PCM2It is not physically possible for the Philips to display some shades that are as saturated as the LG running its native colour gamut (as it does in ‘Custom Color’). You could try some of the ‘SmartImage’ presets on the Philips (twiddle the joystick left) such as ‘Photo’, ‘Movie’ or ‘Game’ as they usually feature enhanced saturation.
shadow85I did try some of the smartimage presets but I did not really like any of them. Ill keep trying some more settings, I have got close to the LG custom settings by changing on the philips contrast to 70, brightness to 50 and color temperature to 5000.
I was trying to check the color temperature on LG but it was set to custom. I dont know what custom setting it is set to, because on the philips there are only a few possible color temps to chose from.
PCM2The preset colour temperatures are often some way off the actual values, so it’s best to go by eye rather than what the monitor is reporting. I agree that the ‘SmartImage’ presets usually leave a lot to be desired.
shadow85Yea atm I am using the sRGB mode, which seems to look the most decent so far for but still is not as vivid as the custom mode on my LG. Only thing is that opening white background windows is super bright because brightness is locked at 100% on sRGB mode on the philips.
ufomanHello,
are there any significant changes between AMVA panels used in Benq EW2440L, Iiyama XB2473HSU, Dell S2440L and Benq GW2450HM? I was able to find exact panel part ID only for S2440L and GW2450HM, and they don’t differ in specs very much…PCM2Hi ufoman,
The S2440L uses a completely different panel with a glossy screen surface, the AUO M240HVN01 V0. As with the GW2460HM, at least the original revision, this is a regular AMVA panel rather than a newer ‘AMVA+’ model. Viewing angles, colour gamut and responsiveness are all weaker. The BenQ EW2440L and Iiyama XB2473HSU use the new ‘AMVA+’ panels with slimmer bezels and better all-round performance. Sometimes BenQ revises their products without notice, so it’s possible that the GW2460HM now uses a new AMVA+ panel, but I can’t confirm that.
ufomanMany thanks for your answer, PCM2. It’s quite sad they manufacturers fail to offer us more choice with the screen coatings. Even if I tend to do more office work than gaming, I would really like to have a glossy surface option. At least the matte coatings are not as rough as they were a few years ago.
Also, can you tell me if there is a difference in screen coatings between EW2440L, EW2740L, and XB2483HSU? I’m tempted to choose the Iiyama, but then, I’ve heard on Polish forums too that Iiyamas tend to have more dead pixel issues than usual, but sadly, Benq models sorely lack in terms of ergonomics… there is never a perfect choice, is there? I’d have already chosen P2414H, but the glow would probably annoy me to no end…PCM2The EW2740L has the lightest matte surface (which some would describe as ‘semi-glossy’). The 24″ models use a light matte surface that most users find quite agreeable but which isn’t quite as light.
And yes, I couldn’t agree more that a greater choice of screen surfaces for products is desireable. And that the number of glossy options is pitiful currently.
ufomanI would not mind a regular TN-like matte surface, as that’s what I have currently in the Samsung T220. I pretty much just gotta decide if I should go with Benq or Iiyama at this point, unless there is an IPS-based monitor I might have overlooked.
Can’t edit my above post anymore, so here goes: how about Benq BL2401PT? I can’t make it out from the prad.de review, but I’d reckon that it might use coarser coating than the more consumer-oriented models. The reason that I ask about all of these is the pricing – none of these monitors I’ve mentioned cost no more than 160-170EUR 🙂
PCM2You mean the BL2410PT? That may also now feature a new panel, possibly AMVA+. I’m not really up to speed on that one, but the original model was similar to the original GW2760HM but with an ergonomically flexible stand. If you’re happy with ‘TN-like’ matte surfaces you should find any of these options fine for the screen surface, really. And if you did go for the BL2410PT you’d be able to confirm for me more about the newest revision! 😉
ufomanI’ve found some info that someone has asked Benq for the panel model used in early production models of BL2410PT (it was M240Q003 V1 back then). Monitor’s latest revision is also known to be flicker-free, and monitor is advertised as such on the Benq website.
PCM2Yes, the GW2760HM’s panel is also accompanied by a flicker-free (DC) modulation circuit. So I’m still not sure whether they’re using a new AMVA+ panel or not. I may be able to find that out from some of my contacts at BenQ at some point.
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