Nixeus NX-VUE27 27" Monitor: High Resolution for the Masses
by Chris Heinonen on September 20, 2012 6:10 PM ESTConclusion: Works Well, but Definitely Cuts Corners
As I mentioned in the opening, I didn’t want to recommend the import 27” monitors as I worried about their warranty and support issues. I've never had any comments or criticisms of their performance as I haven’t used one, and from the data that Anand ran on one they seem to perform reasonably well. Since the Nixeus has a warranty and user support, the issue really comes down to performance as well as pricing.
The main concern I have is the contrast ratios. Many people, including the Imaging Science Foundation, believe that Dynamic Range is the single most important aspect of any display; if everything on the display is muted then you won’t care if the colors are accurate or not. Of course movies and games demand this more than word processing and programming do. It really is the higher black levels that cause the issue on the Nixeus compared to other displays. Unfortunately it’s also an area that IPS doesn’t help with, as it typically has higher black levels than VA-based panels.
Beyond that, I found the performance to be pretty good. The input lag is a killer for gamers, and they will need to go with the HP ZR2740w still if they want a 27”, 2560x1440 display with low input lag. The OSD is the other thing that bothers me, but since I calibrated the display for a final time I haven’t had to get back into the settings, and I imagine it will be the same for most users as well. On the whole colors are good, the screen is sharp, and the glossy coating didn't bother me with glare too much, though I do work in a basement with no natural light and recessed ceiling lights.
The workmanship of the display is very basic and utilitarian and feels nowhere near as solid as a display from HP or Dell. The glossy finish picks up fingerprints easily, the stand is stiff and hard to adjust sometimes, and the protective film is still stuck in a couple of areas for me. With the original target price of $430 I had no issue recommending the Nixeus, but with the updated online price of $500 it isn't as much of a slam-dunk. It still sells for less than the HP monitor and offers an OSD and more inputs, but the HP offers a better contrast ratio, A+ instead of A graded panel, a better stand and build quality, and can be used for gaming. These aren't small differences, and they are more forgivable for $220 difference than $150.
In the end, the performance of the Nixeus is still good, and the price is better than anything you don't buy off eBay. For doing work, including the editing, writing, and posting of this review, it does a very good job. Unlike the imported Korean panels I don't have an issue recommending the Nixeus NX-VUE27; I just wish the price had come in at the original $430 target instead of the current $500 as that would make it very easy to recommend it to everyone. That said, if you don't need DisplayPort or HDMI inputs and you're willing to risk having problems, several of the other AnandTech editors have purchased 27" Korean LCDs and are quite pleased with the results; it's a gamble, but for many online buyers it has been an acceptable risk.
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sheh - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Too bad they kept the size and reduced the resolution rather than vice versa. :)Confusador - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
Amen! I really want this resolution, but can't stand anything bigger than 23"falko2904 - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
But that Dell is significantly lower resolution. It is only 1920x1080 (actually fine by me for what I would want). The class of monitors being talked about have 2560x1440 resolution.LIke I said, for my purpose, I actually like that Dell.
ikoss - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
Dude.. that's 1080p crap, not to mention not likely to be an IPS!DanNeely - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
It's listed as IPS on the spec page; might only be eIPS though.Sabresiberian - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
1920x1080 @ 27" might be fine for a TV across the living room, but it's crap for a monitor.RaistlinZ - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Poor contrast, poor color gamut, high input lag, high power draw, mediocre build quality.You get what you pay for.
cheinonen - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
I'm just going to suggest you didn't fully read the article or didn't look at similar displays in the results tables. The contrast was poor in comparison to the HP 27" display, but was close to the results from the NEC and DoubleSight panels. The color gamut is sRGB, exactly what it was specified for, and exactly what you get. The power draw was lower than all the other tested 27" displays, so that was good, and I commented plenty on the build quality.With input lag, other than the HP ZR2740w, which has no scaler, the input lag on all the other 27" models is almost identical (and the new review has the same issue). Whatever scaler is being used isn't incredibly fast, and combined with the response time of the display, the absolute minimum you are going to get is 1 frame. If you run at 1440p, you might get exactly 1 frame, but as I said, I have no way of knowing this. So in comparison to 27" displays, the lag, gamut, contrast, and power draw are either close to the same or better in most cases, with the build quality being the main issue in comparison.
sheh - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
...in case manufacturers scour the web for public opinion. :)Still waiting for hi-res in DPI rather than absolute number of pixels. And enough with 16:9. OLED aside, wanted: 3840x2400 in 24". If they don't start upping the DPI in desktop, soon enough cellphones will become higher-res (in pixels) than desktop monitors.
magreen - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
This.It's long past time for graphics drivers and operating systems to treat displays as a resolution independent output device, the way printers are. When you print a document to a printer that can print 600 dpi, it looks just like that same document printed on a 300 dpi printer except a bit sharper.
I'm so tired of having to blow up pdfs and word documents to much larger than their actual size because otherwise I can't read the smaller text (even if I put my face close to the monitor).