I think my Dell 2005FPW is showing its age: I’m starting to get some rolling when the monitor is first powered on. It’s had a good run but I think I need to buy something or at least be prepared to buy before it becomes more problematic. I’ve resisted buying a new monitor because 1) if it’s not broken don’t fix it and 2) their has been little offered on the monitor market to encourage me to buy. There has been tremendous stagnation in the display world with regard to resolutions. I also strongly favor non-TN displays. The Dell 2005FPW uses PVA but IPS seems to have largely won out as the better display technology. Here’s the specs of my current monitor:

• Dell 2005FPW – 20″ 1680×1050 PVA 16:10 (0.258 mm pitch)

What I have found is that in that size range there has been little improvement in resolution. I suppose this is understandable since 1080 is the number of lines considered to be HD and if you are watching HD content it is nice to do so without upsampling. So what I have found is the following size/resolution pairings:

• 1920×1080 16:9 – screen sizes 21″- 32″ (0.24mm – 0.31mm pitch)
  • by far the most common resolution
  • 17% pixel increase from what I have
  • I don’t think there is any reason to go below this resolution, except for aspect ratio
• 1920×1200 16:10 – screen size 24″ (0.27mm pitch)
  • as far as I can tell you can’t get this resolution in any smaller monitor
  • 30% pixel increase from what I have
• 2560×1440 16:9 – screen size 27″ (0.23mm pitch)
  • I don’t think I want anything this big
• 2560×1600 16:10 – screen size 30″ (0.25mm pitch)
  • also too big

So I could take a very modest increase in pixels with a 1920×1080 resolution or a more significant increase with the 1920×1200 as long as I’m ok with a much bigger screen and bigger pixels.

As for some specific models here is what I have been looking at:

• LG IPS234V-PN Black 23″ – LED IPS 1920 x 1080 14ms – $160
• Acer H236HLbid 23″ – LED IPS 1920 x 1080 5ms – $170
• Dell UltraSharp U2412M -$370 retail / $280 sale
  • 24″ 1920×1200 8ms LED
  • e-IPS, native 6-bit + ARFC, 68% AdobeRGB (tested)
  • review: Dell U2412M – 16:10 IPS without Breaking the Bank
  • contrast: 1121:1 / 1112:1
• Dell UltraSharp U2413 – $600 retail / $500 sale
  • 24″ 1920 x 1200 6ms (GTG) LED
  • IPS w/ PremierColor, 99% AdobeRGB (claimed), 79% AdobeRGB (tested)
  • review (27″ model): Dell U2713HM – Unbeatable performance out of the box
  • contrast: 986:1 / 1001:1
• ASUS ProArt Series PA246Q – $500 retail / $420 sale
  • 24″ 1920 x 1200 6ms GTG
  • P-IPS, native 8-bit + ARFC, 98% Adobe RGB (claimed), 106% (test)
  • review: ASUS PA246Q 24″ ProArt Monitor: No Adjustments Needed?
  • contrast: 654:1 / 645:1
• HP ZR24w
  • S-IPS