AOC i2353Ph - IPS for a nice, low price
by Chris Heinonen on January 30, 2012 12:40 AM ESTOSD and Initial Readings
The OSD for the AOC does a good job and has all the controls available that you need. In making my initial settings and measurements, I noticed that the selection of the sRGB color setting really reduces the level of light output from the display. Since the sRGB standard calls for a specific level of light (120 nits), this is actually a reasonable thing to do as pushing the backlight level to be really high can cause color shifts on displays. From the OSD I was able to configure everything I needed for the display, including a single custom white balance control that I used later to set the 100% white value as close to D65 as possible.
For the AOC review, I made a couple of changes to the equipment used for reviews. I have added a new i1Pro spectrometer to my testing equipment, and so it will now be used for all monitors reviews I do going forward. This meter has also recently been tested in the NIST approved lab by SpectraCal to ensure that it has an average dE of only 0.4 and a maximum dE of 1.0 across the color spectrum. Spectrometers are also much less susceptible to drifting over time than a tristimulus meter (e.g. the i1Display2) would be.
The downside of the i1Pro is that it does not do a wonderful job with low light levels (below 20% stimulus), and so for the dark uniformity and brightness uniformity measurements I will continue to use my i1Display Pro meter instead. The color accuracy might not be as good as the i1Pro, but the light level readings are better for these tests. Hopefully in the future I will be able to profile the i1Display Pro using the i1Pro, which would provide the accuracy of the i1Pro with the speed and low light handing of the i1Display Pro. Because of these changes some of these dE readings might look better, or worse, than you would expect, but these new numbers will be more accurate going forward.
Uncalibrated, the AOC has a dE of right around 5 in the sRGB mode. This number looks very good compared to other monitors, but remember we are using newer, more accurate test equipment and the only other display on the chart measured with this is the HP LA22f. The worst part of the uncalibrated result is that the largest error occurs with pure white, which you are likely to have on your screen a fair amount of the time. Overall, however, this is a good number to see. Hopefully the calibration can further improve on this, but starting out at a dE of 5 is very nice.
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imaheadcase - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
NOPEkmmatney - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Seriously. I would happily pay $100 more for this same display as a 24" monitor, with 1920 x 1200 resolution.piroroadkill - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
So, you want a Dell U2412M then?Alexo - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Hi Chris,You wrote:
> I’ve been using a Dell FPW2005 IPS display for years now
How does this monitor compare to your FPW2005 (or to the larger 2209WA)?
cheinonen - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
The Dell has more input lag, lower resolution, and no HDMI inputs or speakers, but has a very nice, adjustable stand which I like on my desktop (I can put it high enough to get over my speakers), as well as the ability to rotate to portrait mode for document editing. I didn't do a head-to-head as I'm finding the resolution on the Dell to be very limiting at this point, and would much prefer a 27" or 30" display for my desktop. I would have been fine with replacing the Dell with the AOC for a general purpose display, as for photo editing I have a different display I use, and I have a 24" Sony CRT sitting here for hard core gaming if I need no lag.anactoraaron - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
I would love to see you guys review this eIPS panel. I know you are limited to what you are given to review, but I have been checking this one out for awhile now.mr2kat - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
My mainstay monitor is the Dell 2408 although I have a couple of IPS monitors (U2310) which are calibrated for photo-edit work. The AOC i2353 is a great buy at the price-point. The base can be wall mounted (there are locating holes in the base) however the base contains the controls and power supply connector, so you can't omit the base altogether.The lack of vertical adjustment means that for most usages you will need a shelf or a couple of phone directories to elevate the monitors to an ergonomic height. I also note the front bezel on the monitors is flimsy and has rippled slightly so there is a gap between bezel and the display.
When I'm working on documents I like to rotate the Dell monitors. Of course the AOC has no rotate function but with the narrower monitor a rotate isn't as effective as with the Dell. I also note the AOC does not have a DVI-D to HDMI cable included in the box (when will people stop shipping stupid SVGA cables?).
Gaming? I play Portal 2 and Serious Sam III and I don't have a problem with lag - but I'm old, so younger people might see this as a problem.
This monitor needed calibration because out of the box it was blue biased. Once calibrated the results were excellent - I use the monitors for web design and video. I also found that some computers (about 30%) really needed the profile loaded from the AOC disk in order to properly setup the display.
I had never heard of AOC before this monitor, however I am suitably impressed. The power brick runs, at most, just mildly warm to the touch regardless of usage. So I will be buying more of these.
Sabresiberian - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Thanks so much for reviewing an AOC product, especially this one.You see AOC products listed often by etailers, and their price is attractive but I'm guessing most people are like me and shy away from them because, well, "cheap is cheap". Sometimes, though, it's not cheap, it's inexpensive, and that appears to be the case here.
A very nice find!
;)
jaydee - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
If I recall correctly, AOC had a pretty well regarded CRT business back 10-15 years ago, so I've always associated them with quality, though up until now their LCD's were a bit of an unknown to me.annnonymouscoward - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
"IPS has never been the first choice for people when it comes to gaming due to slower reponse times than a TN display" - I think the 60Hz limitation, which applies for IPS and TN, is the primary limiting factor. GTG is 8ms vs 2ms, while new frames come every 16.7ms."The lag is a little bit too high for hard core gamers" - 1 frame is arguably tolerable even for the hardcore. And if it's not acceptable for someone, then I'd say the only thing acceptable for that person is a CRT at >80Hz.
-1 for 16:9. :P
btw I had to register a new account with "annnonymouscoward" instead of "annonymouscoward", since anandtech spontaneously decided I'm a spammer.