eIPS: A Viable Budget Alternative to TN

I was quite pleased to see that IPS monitors are coming way down in price to where I can recommend them even to friends that are very budget conscious on their displays. I’ve been using a Dell FPW2005 IPS display for years now (and no longer want to recall how much I paid for it when it came out), but it has been a pleasure to work on since I got it. That you can now buy a display with higher resolution, lower lag, and more power efficient backlighting for less than half the price is a very good direction for displays.

In terms of performance, the AOC comes down right in the middle of the road. The lag is a little bit too high for hard core gamers, though I found it to be acceptable for casual gaming myself. The color gamut is also probably too limited for people that need it for editing photos professionally, as it can’t quite encompass the full sRGB colorspace, though the average and median Delta E values were more than acceptable. However, as a general purpose monitor for doing work I found the AOC to do a very good job of that. The matte screen means you won’t be dealing with reflections in a lit room, but you will be limited on adjustments due to the design of the stand.

For the price (currently $190 shipped online as I write this), the AOC is a good deal in my book. Users with specialized needs will want to look elsewhere, but those who are just after an affordable, well performing, general use monitor (or a secondary display) should go ahead and give it a look. It won't rival the color quality of the high-end displays, but it's definitely a step up from many inexpensive TN-based LCDs. If you've been looking for a good alternative to TN that won't break the bank, eIPS is the current best option.

Gaming and Power Use
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  • cheinonen - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    Not sure why that chart imported incorrectly, but it has been fixed. Thanks!
  • baba264 - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    I've recently changed to an IPS panel as well (HP ZR2440w) and the difference in gaming image quality has been impressive, especially in Batman Arkham City.
  • jabber - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    As I wanted to see how the new low cost IPS panels fared. I have to say I really like it. Looks as good as if not better than my Samsung PVA panel and as a work monitor its really good.

    Calibration was pretty much spot on out of the box. All I had to do was turn down the brightness a bit.

    Definitely a nicer alternative at the cheaper end over TN.
  • Pino - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    Who is the panel supplier?

    Does this AOC monitor use the same LG e-IPS panel found on the Dell and LG 23" e-IPS monitors?

    Just bought myself a LG IPS236V:
    http://www.lg.com/us/computer-products/monitors/LG...
  • Sabresiberian - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    Panel manufacturer is LG:

    http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/panelsearch.htm

    ;)
  • Sabresiberian - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    Bleh the link just goes to the search page. If you put in "AOC" it will list the models with the screen manufacturer and type TFT has available.

    ;)
  • bobny1 - Friday, March 23, 2012 - link

    Aoc is a long time supplier of lcd displays. I remember when they started selling their name brand monitors at staples. I just went out and bought one today to replace my dell 2005 lcd, which could not play blueray movies out of my new dell xps8300, due to hdcp compliance. My first impresion is WOW. This panel is amazing!. bright, crisp, accurate colors, easy on the eyes, no lagg, no back light bleeding that i can see, deep enough blacks, superb viewing angles, I can't tell about games because that's not my primary use but what else can you get for under $200 bucks. I compare it to the LG e-ips in the store hooked up to the same xps8300 and the AOC is a lot better in my opinion.I have it hooked up hdmi to hdmi and the adjustments are limited but all i had to do was lower the contrast a bit and stretch the screen to fit the screen in the catlyst control center. I love it!
  • SInC26 - Sunday, April 22, 2012 - link

    This AOC monitor uses the LG's e-IPS LM230WF3-SJC1.
    AOC does manufacture some of their own panels, but not for this monitor.
  • Mikuni - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    I don't like this trend lately with 23" 1080p LCDs, it's a long way backwards from 1920x1200; the vertical size difference is a lot for most desktop use.
  • kmmatney - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link

    I agree. I have both a 24" 1920 x 1200 and a 23" NEC eIPS 1080P monitor next to each other The 24" inch monitor is better for everything. Maybe movies are slightly better at 1080P, but it's really only a small improvement. Everything else is better with more vertical screen space. While 1080p isn't terrible, its still a step backwards. There are still a few 1920 x 120 displays out there, and I will stick with those for now.

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