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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cheinonen - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
The last time I find the U2711 (non-refurbished) for sale was early December, and that was for $849 without a coupon. It used to be on sale more often, but not much recently, and so most people are going to be paying $1,000 or so for it. Comparing an occasional sale price to a list price of $729 is apples to oranges.Lemure - Saturday, March 17, 2012 - link
Those claims are wrong, any LCD with input lag of around 10 and under are all extremely quick. The HP zr series ips panels along with the dell 23" e-ips and NEC e-ips all have low input lag and are great for gaming. And if input lag was such a huge issue you would not bother to buy an LCD in the first place, you would be buying the Sony fw900. So unless you are competing at the highest levels of CS or Quake, such a difference is unnoticeable.IlllI - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
"If you can provide links to any other 2560x1440 27" displays with IPS panels that cost less than $700, let's see them."i kindly direct you to this topic http://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/reviewed-400-25...
supposedly have same ips panel that apple display has.
maybe you guys can do a professional review of one, since the other reviews are in a different language.
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
I am waiting eagerly with gleeseanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
i was actually going to make a reference to the catleap.the sales price (at korea) is 250 dollars for 27 inch and i think all catleap monitor *could* be set to 90+ Hz which is actually bounded by the graphic card.
i cancelled my U2711 shipment few days ago decide to give this monitor a try. with Dell i am paying about 900 dollars (tax + env fee) which would bought me 2 of those 27 inch monitor.
and yes, i fully agree with Snowshredder102. we are not talking about black friday price. and paying MSRT is probably not a smart thing to do to purchase anything. ESPECIALLY with DELL. their stuff goes on sale every other week. the U2711 has been around 700 since last year, if not the year before.
seanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
for some reason, i highly doubt anandtech site will review a non-US market display. actually this webiste once made a statement that they only review what vender provides to them (with VERY few exceptions, the thinkpad review was one of them, and PSU comparison was another)anandtech is great source to learn new technology and hardware performance. However, i wouldn't use it for any serious system comparison due to conflict of interest (or i think). i doubt they will put any unfavorable words for vender provided machines and i am pretty positive there is some financial reasons.
with that said, i will do my own review on OC once i receive the monitor.
Crazyeyeskillah - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Jared is right on all accounts. I bought the zr30w because there is absolutely no noticeable input lag. It performs about on par with my sony fw-900 crt. The lack of included scaler makes this possible.As for pricing, the only monitors in this price range come from korea named shimian and catleap. You have to buy them from one of two ebay sellers and there are no returns or warrantees. you have about a 1/4 chance of getting a defective product for about 4-500$ so it's a crapshoot.
I'd really like to see how this compares with my zr30w with the addition of the LED lighting. I think the zr30w is the best gaming monitor on the market with nothing even remotely close. The lack of lag, an ips panel, size, gamut, resolution and brightness are astounding even when compared to the 2200$ paw.
seanleeforever - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
those monitor technically can be exchanged for free except shipping back to korea will set you 100 dollar easy.i am scheduled to go to Korea for a month long business trip, so i am actually thinking about checking it out there and ship it to U.S. the price as far as i know is 250~550 depend on the version you get (8 bit vs 10 bit).
apparently all catleap panel can handle up to 100 Hz
the 250 dollar version doesn't have any OSD, but a bit more expensive versions do.
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Key word some.The catleap panels are not designed to do any refresh rate besides 60 hertz. Some catleap panels can be overclocked and a good amount of people were getting 85 to 97 hertz.
That said it appears the day of overclocking catleap panels are over since they newer manufactured ones (but still same model number) is using a new revision for a part and this part can only do about 60 to 67 hertz.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1225919/yamakasi-catlea...
Click on "OC vs. Non-OC Monitor Internals (Click to hide)"
Roland00Address - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
While I agree it is a crapshoot and there is a chance you may get a product that breaks soon after the first few weeks you are vastly overrating the chance of a dead of arrival.http://www.overclock.net/t/1215866/reviewed-400-25...
This thread had 2 out of 96 people have a DOA or item was not shipped. Of those 2 they actually did not post in the thread detailing their experience, instead just answering the poll. (It is completely possible these items took forever to ship and thus they answered the poll the item did not shipped.)
Furthermore if the item is DOA you can use Ebays or Paypal buyer protection program to get a refund.
Now if the item has 5 or less dead pixels you are out of luck them unless you pay return shipping, since all the vendors advertise the 5 dead pixel policy and they advertise the item is new in a box. Furthermore if the item dies in 3 months you are out of luck, you may be able to get the original manufacture to cover it but you would be responsible to ship it back to South Korea. If the item breaks in 18 months you will be out of luck...etc
So in sum a crapshoot, but a crapshoot with good odds. I would not recommend this deal to everyone, but if you know what it is going in then it is a good deal.