HP ZR2740w - High Resolution IPS that Doesn't Break the Bank
by Chris Heinonen on March 16, 2012 1:15 AM ESTConclusion: Big Bang for the Buck
HP made a lot of choices to be able to get this panel in at this price point. For some people the lack of any analog inputs, or even an HDMI input, is going to be a deal killer as they might need those inputs for their use. Others might have issues with the lack of any OSD or scaling options, as you have very little control over the monitor.
This lack of controls also means that being able to calibrate this display is even more important than usual. The dE numbers out of the box were pretty high, with an average very close to 9, and there is no way to improve these without being able to do a calibration due to the lack of presets. If you are unconcerned with color accuracy then this won’t matter, but if you are then you’ll need to budget at least $115 for a basic calibration system (such as the Sypder4Express), or up to $450 for a spectrometer (like the ColorMunki Design) that can produce far more accurate results with LED backlit displays. Now you’re past the cost of other 27” displays, or even a 30” display, though you do have calibration gear that you can keep using with it.
Of course if you are going to do a hardware calibration of this display, you likely would do the same with any 27” model, so the cost of calibration tools might not matter to you. If that is the case then there is far more to like about the HP than to dislike. The lack of HDMI doesn’t bother me since you can always use an HDMI to DVI adapter, and until just recently there were no video cards that could do anything beyond 1080p over HDMI (at least while following the HDMI spec). The HP calibrated well, has a good but not exceptional contrast ratio, and has a nice ergonomic stand as well. The lag time was far better than I expected to see out of it, so it even works well for gaming.
After having a 27” high resolution display around for a few weeks, I really don’t want to go back. The extra space is so nice to have, letting me run Word on half the screen for writing this review while keeping Excel open on the other half of the display and still being able to see enough of each to be useful. For the price of the HP you could buy two of the 1920x1200 Dell U2412M displays that I most recently reviewed and have 25% more pixels available. For some people that will work better, as you can stash email and other programs on one and use the other for work, or more easily rotate one to portrait mode if you need that. For the way I work, I like the single, large monitor more but everyone has their own preference.
In the end, HP made some sacrifices with the ZR2740w to get to the sub-$700 price point, but they didn’t really sacrifice performance in the process. Short on inputs and features but long on performance, the HP ZR2740w LCD hits a new price point for high resolution 27” displays and hopefully signals the beginning of a shift in pricing for these monitors. If all you really want is a good display for your PC and you don't need to hook up multiple devices, the ZR2740w is an excellent choice. For such users we recommend it with very few reservations and present HP with our Bronze Editors' Choice award.
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xenol - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Was it wrong of me to think "doesn't break the bank" immediately meant <$500?PrinceGaz - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
1. The built-in resolution scaling.How does it compare with the scaling available in (for instance) nVidia graphics-card when driving digital displays over a DVI connection. Does 1920x1080 sent to the monitor look the same whether the scaling is done by the monitor or the graphics-card?
What about non-16:9 aspect-ratios; what happens if you send it a 1600x1200 signal? Is the aspect-ratio kept at 4:3 (so black bars down the sides) or does it stretch it to fill the whole screen? Can it handle 1280x1024, 1280x960, 1152x864, and also 640x480, and are they all displayed 4:3 or stretched to fill the 16:9 display?
2. Monitor calibration
Is the hardware/software for this available to hire, given it is quite expensive, is a one-off process for any monitor, and monitors tend to last for years?
arjuna1 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
At a $700 price point?? a little early April's fool joke, huh?cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Just to address a lot of the comments at once, pricing on anything is relative. If all you can afford for a monitor is $300, then no matter how good a $700 monitor is, its going to cost too much. However, when all the existing 2560x1440 IPS displays (I'm not counting things that aren't sold in the USA) list for $1,000 or over, and someone comes in at $700, that is breaking the bank, relatively speaking. Any IPS/VA panel of this size, with this resolution, is going to be expensive at this point, but having one come out at $700 is a good move in the right direction.bji - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Your post is accurate, except that I think you misunderstood the meaning of the phrase "breaking the bank". It means "costing too much", not "breaking a price barrier" which is what you seem to think it means.Death666Angel - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
But cost is surely always related to performance, is it not? By your argument, paying $15 for a steak would be breaking the bank, because I can get a hamburger for $5. However, the OP and I would say that, because steaks normally cost $25, the price of this steak is pretty reasonable.Therefore I say, "breaking the bank" always has to be a relative statement, because otherwise you couldn't buy anything about 500$ without "breaking the bank", which makes the saying useless.
Owls - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
I have the HP ZR30W which I got last year and it's a phenomenal monitor. Well worth the $1k pricetag if you can swing it and I'm glad this one doesn't disappoint either.AnnonymousCoward - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Does Delta E improve after software calibration, such as the nvidia color optimization wizard, or Calibrize? These tools are excellent, and I use them on every computer I use. I'm just curious if they lower Delta E.sellco2000 - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
I'm surprised no one mentioned the anti-glare on this monitor. I have a ZR2740 (and absolutely love it), but the anti-glare coating made text fuzzy for me. Maybe I was used to the non-IPS and larger pixel pitch of my prior monitors. I had to add an aftermarket anti-reflective sheet to it to make text sharp again. I feel like the choice of such an aggressive anti-glare was an almost deal-breaking flaw.As far as the review went, I thought it was spot on. The color profiles matched pretty well with what I was able to get with my "I one color display 2" device. I think the simplicity is a huge advantage with this monitor (no speakers, no OSD, etc).
pmeinl - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
For me the aggressive anti-glare coating of all current IPS panels I have seen makes them unusable for text work (like programming).I just bought a Samsung S27A850D (2560x1440, 730€ in Germany) which has a subtle anti-glare coating that does not cause the sparkle effect.
See http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1660116