Large LCD Monitor Recommendations for the 2011 Holiday Season
Friday, October 21, 2011 at 8:35AM At least among my colleagues, I seem to be the one of those who are pushing the boundaries of using large LCD monitors – those above 24-inch in size. You may be looking to upgrade this year, so I’d like to share my experience with my two purchases this year: the 27-inch ZR2740w and to 30-inch HP ZR30w.
THESE ARE BOTH GREAT MONITORS
Let’s this that out of the way, I really enjoy using these monitors. Easily they are both the best LCD monitors I have ever owned and have no reservations in recommending them.
SPEC COMPARISON
| ZR2740w | HP ZR30w | |
| Diagonal Size | 27 inches | 30 inches |
| Aspect Ratio | 16x9 | 16x10 |
| Resolution | 2560x1440 | 2560x1600 |
| Pixel pitch | 0.233 mm | 0.2505 mm |
| LCD Technology | IPS | IPS |
| LED Backlighting | Yes | No |
| Tilt angle | -5 to +35° | -5° to + 35° |
| Swivel angle | ±45° | ±45° |
| USB ports | 4 USB ports | 5 USB ports |
| DVI-D | Yes | Yes |
| DisplayPort | Yes (supports HDCP) | Yes |
| HDMI | Yes (supports HDCP) | No |
| Weight | 10.5kg (23.1 lb) | 13kg (28.6 lb) |
| Power Consumption | 120W (maximum) 95W (typical) <2W (standby) | 185 (maximum) 130W (typical) <2W (standby) |
| Price (as of 2011-10-21) | ~$720 US | $1,100 |
THOUGHTS
For both these monitors, the first thing you will notice is how bright the displays are and the colors seem very crisp. Both of the monitors I purchased had zero defective pixels – but your mileage may vary.
Notice that despite being smaller, the 27-inch ZR2740w has almost as many pixels as the 30-inch ZR30w – which means that the ZR2740w display has a higher resolution (as you can tell from the pixel pitch in the table above).
The ZR2740w has a LED backlight – this doesn’t have any visual difference to me, but at least it allows the ZR2740w display to be thinner.
RECOMMENDATION
I think this is simple – the ZR2740w packs almost as many pixels as the ZR30w into a smaller, lighter device with more support for display inputs and consumes less power and costs $400 less. If you are looking for a larger display for the next few years my #1 recommendation would be the ZR2740w .
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