PC Peripherals Dell Ultrasharp U2311H - Should i buy it? (Opinions please)

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unixguru said:
I am just adding my opinion :- OP should go with a 1080p monitor simply because at 5 feet ( the distance I sit when gaming on my 21.5 inch monitor) away, unless you have exceptionally good eyesight, the benefits of 1440p is hardly noticeable! I got the data from this excellent chart

resolution_chart.png


A couple of friends and me noticed that we could notice very little difference between 720p and 1080p and this because of the limitation of the human eye, and because I game from a somewhat high 5 feet away from the monitor. If OP buys a 27 inch monitor, he has to game from around 3.5 feet away to gain the benefit, and full benefit from 1440p is achieved around 2.5 feet away from the monitor.
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This chart cannot be applied for LCD monitors. This was posted for LCD TVs by Bale a long time back.
 
Re: dell ultrasharp u2311H should i buy it??? opinions please

titana said:
i got the dell ultrasharp u2311h a week back...am very impressed...major upgrade over my previous tn panel
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+1. impressive panel. :) huge upgrade from my 17" CRT :rofl:
got it for 14.5k
 
@ cranky and bale. Yes the chart is for video on HDTV but I do not understand why PC games should be any different. On my 21.5 inch display, 720p looks like puke when set as the display resolution in windows. But in games I have played which include BioShock, UT3, HL2, World in Conflict, COH and others, the difference is hardly noticeable. In anime, the difference is virtually non-existent This article on CNET also notes that difference between HD resolutions (720 p vs 1080p) is noticeable only at < 1.5 times display size. So my point is that 1440p on a 27 inch is useless if you are going to be gaming 5 feet away. On the other hand If you are like cranky and game at around 2-3 feet away from the monitor, it could make a difference.
 
^^ In gaming it matters big time, I can actually make out small polygons (especially in fast moving games) at 720p resolution on my 23". WRT to video you are spot on, I hardly notice a difference between 720P and 1080P on my monitor. Another area is in-game text gets screwed at non-native resolutions, its a total downer if you are playing any sort of RPG's...
 
unixguru said:
@ cranky and bale. Yes the chart is for video on HDTV but I do not understand why PC games should be any different.
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Forget articles and demo a larger display personally. Video/ TV and game/ pc usage are totally different things. Higher res in games will add more detail unlike video wherein the detail is at a preset limit.

Edit: @Doc, I think you have misunderstood my posts about why I have not got a bigger screen. I don't have a 580 SLI going to waste, devastatingly so.
 
@unixguru, the reason for the difference is sensory perception. When gaming one is essentially part of the on-screen action, so the senses are much more active. I can clearly make out the difference between 1920x and 2560x. Lower than 1920x is not really tolerable due to pixel tripling. Remember that 1920x has about half the pixels of 2560x.

The chart that you have is actually a screen size/distance meter for moving video. What is says is that if you have a 480p video running on a 40" screen, you need to be 12 feet away to avoid pixelisation. For the same screen size and a 1080p signal, you only need to be 6 feet away. As you see the chart starts at 24" and at that screen size pretty much everything below that is nearfield viewing (under 5 feet).

When gaming with high levels of detail pixelisation is pretty common at low resolutions. You can see this in outlines and fast action scenes, known as 'jaggies'. If you run low-res video into a high-res screen, you get this effect. Of course when running any display at its native resolution the dot pitch is of much more critical importance to viewing distance than the screen size. This is exactly why a 30" 2560x monitor is fine at 2 feet but a 33" 1920x one is not.
 
@cranky. Sorry for the trouble, but could you do a blind test (not literally!) on your 30 inch display between 1080p and 720p when you are gaming five feet away? Also could you give me the exact model of your display. I checked again on my Benq G220, I could hardly notice any difference in HL2 and portal. Unfortunately I have only a radeon 4650 and it cannot run bioshock and UT3 at 60fps at 1080p. I was planning to go for a 6850 which should be enough for 1080p in current games and 720p for the future with no apparent loss of quality. But as you say, in games with high detail, it seems to make a difference. So your opinion is very valuable in deciding whether to go for 6850 or splurge on a higher end card!
 
Sorry - mine is a 3008WFP which is 16:10. And since I live alone, not really sure how to do a blind test. Not sure how to do a blind test of a monitor :P

Anyway I can tell you this - I run NFS Shift at 1920x1200 and 2560x1600, and the higher resolution is pretty noticeable.

Also keep in mind that as of today performance growth is exponential and not linear. So if you get (for example) a 6950 or 5850 the card that replaces it say two years down the line will be two orders of magnitude quicker (not three times). When I bought my 4870x2 it was pretty much the fastest thing out there for 2560x, late 2008. Now it is easily outclassed by a card costing half as much.

Let's not derail the thread though, I think enough damage has been done to it already. Good Luck.
 
unixguru said:
@cranky. Sorry for the trouble, but could you do a blind test (not literally!) on your 30 inch display between 1080p and 720p when you are gaming five feet away? Also could you give me the exact model of your display. I checked again on my Benq G220, I could hardly notice any difference in HL2 and portal. Unfortunately I have only a radeon 4650 and it cannot run bioshock and UT3 at 60fps at 1080p. I was planning to go for a 6850 which should be enough for 1080p in current games and 720p for the future with no apparent loss of quality. But as you say, in games with high detail, it seems to make a difference. So your opinion is very valuable in deciding whether to go for 6850 or splurge on a higher end card!
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I moved to a U3011 a couple of weeks back. And I set PES 2011 at various resolutions at 1-2 feet (normal sitting distance) and at 5 feet (playing PES when a friend came over). There is definitely a difference between 2560x1600 vs 1920x1200. It is noticeable at 5 feet.

There is another example you can look at. Have you noticed the iPhone 4 screen vs iPhone 3GS screen at normal using distance? The resolution bump makes a marked difference.
 
Guys I am planning to get the U2311 and pair it with my xbox 360.
I see that he monitor doesn't have HDMI, but it does have a display port. Is there a HDMI-to-Display port converter available, does it work good or are there issues ? Any other alternatives to this setup ?
 
abbY said:
Is there a HDMI-to-Display port converter available, does it work good or are there issues ? Any other alternatives to this setup ?
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All the digital video signals are interchangeable AFAIK so yes a converter should be available. Not sure about the availability in the local market though.

Your best bet is a HDMI to DVI converter. Most recent GPUs being retailed these days have a display port out so a display port cable can be connected from the GPU to the display without having to replug the cable each time you switch to the X360 from the PC and vice-versa.
 
abbY said:
Guys I am planning to get the U2311 and pair it with my xbox 360.

I see that he monitor doesn't have HDMI, but it does have a display port. Is there a HDMI-to-Display port converter available, does it work good or are there issues ? Any other alternatives to this setup ?
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No.

HDMI --> Displayport = ~150$ Converter (Cheaper to get a GPU with DisplayPort)

DisplayPort --> HDMI/DVI = ~10$ Converter

HDMI --> DVI = ~$2 Converter. You might have gotten it free with your GPU. This is your best option as Gannu suggested.
 
If anyone is still going to but the Dell U2311, this bit of info should be interesting (if you dont know already)

The IPS panel in the DELL U2311 isn't a true 8-bit panel but rather a 6-Bit panel with AFRC (Advanced Frame Rate Control). Now, most people won't notice any difference but if you concentrate properly, you can notice a slight difference. AFAIK, the initial batches had a true 8-bit panel but Dell shifted tp the 6-bit one presumably to save cost.
* Some people have said that the 6-bit panels are causing the whites/grays to appear grainy
So, if possible, try to get a U2311 with this panel (true 8-bit one) - LM215WF3-SLA1

But there will still be a pretty significant improvement over TN panels. If you're going to use this panel with OSX, then you'll need to do whats mentioned here to make sure that the display doesn't show any banding/artifacts since dithering is enabled in OSX and is done by the GPU so it might conflict with the dithering done by the monitor. www.tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/psychtoolbox/message/10369

Source : LCD and TFT Monitor News
 
Let me get this correct

XBOX360 (HDMI out) ---> HDMI_to_displayPort converter ---> monitors display port

Will this configuration work good ?

What about the sound ? The above setup should route the sound to the monitor, wheras I want it to get rotued to my Edifier Speakers.
 
abbY said:
Let me get this correct

XBOX360 (HDMI out) ---> HDMI_to_displayPort converter ---> monitors display port

Will this configuration work good ?

What about the sound ? The above setup should route the sound to the monitor, wheras I want it to get rotued to my Edifier Speakers.
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Like I mentioned, the HDMI_to_Display port converter is expensive and hard to find. Why not use Hdmi to DVI and connect to monitor. And use separate audio cable to connect to the Edifier speakers.
 
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