Customer Reviews

Hewlett-Packard 30-Inch Lcd Monitor (EZ320A8#ABA)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been using this monitor for four months now and plan to get a second in the very near future. The colours are true, display is sharp and bright. And there is nothing like working on a big screen.

It delivers exactly as promised with one very minor shortcomming, like all 30" monitors on offer at the moment it only works at full resolution, there is no scaling chip to support downgraded resolutions. This does not matter if you are using it with a graphics card that can support the full resolution as the issue is known and the cards will do the scaling if necessary.

The only practical limitation is that you cannot plug this monitor into a machine that does not support its native resolution. This is not a likely to be a problem as you are not likely to buy it unless you have a machine that can drive it! At the moment the graphics card settup will set you back almost as much as the monitor or more if you have an SLI setup.

I looked at the Dell and Apple alternatives. The HP is somewhat cheaper and has both a built in DVI switch and USB 2.0 hub. According to the specs you can only drive dual link DVI over 15 ft of cable but I have this working fine over a 50 ft cable driven by an nVidia 8800 GTS.

Technology. There are several types of TFT LCD (thin film transistors liquid crystal display) technologies. The lowest-cost technology, TN (twisted nematic) which is used in all LCDs priced below $400 is known for its relatively poor color accuracy and color shift depending on the viewing angle. This is not critical for e-mails and document processing but is important for photo and video editing. These panels are typically built internally with only 6 bits per channel and physically cannot reproduce 24-bit color depth. Thanks to interpolation (dithering) and other hardware tricks they can approximate some of the colors and can reach up to 70% of the NTSC color gamut. The next step up is VA (vertical alignment) technology which reaches up to 100% of color gamut due to 8 bits per channel, but still has some color shift depending on viewing angle. The best and most expensive technology is IPS (in-plane switching). It offers the best color accuracy and practically no color shift dependence on the viewing angle. Partly due to problems with color shift caused by large difference in viewing angle between the center and the edges of the screen, 30" LCD displays are all made with IPS technology. This partly explains 2.5 - 3x price differential with TN-LCD 27". HP LP3065 uses S-IPS ("super-IPS") panel. The only flavor of IPS technology which is considered better than S-IPS is H-IPS. That one is found in professional monitors which cost several thousands of dollars, in some cases up to five thousands.

The only disadvantage of higher end (VA and IPS) panels is a slower response time, typically 5 to 12 ms compared to 3-5 ms of TN panels. This makes no difference for office applications or graphics / photo editing but may have negative impact on gamers. HP LP3065 has specified response time of 12 ms (5 ms average gray to gray).

By the way, it is inherent in design of IPS panels that dead pixels are black. Bright dead pixels seem to be extremely unlikely. Dell, by the way, takes advantage of this benefit which comes at no cost to them by stating that their high end monitors are covered by "no bright pixels" policy. In reality, it is almost like travel agent charging extra for no rain guarantee in Arizona in July.

Information on the internet. LP3065 was introduced in the late 2006 and was based on LG.Philips LCD panel LM300WQ1 which it shared with Dell Ultrasharp 3007. That panel had 300 cd/m2 brightness and 92% of the NTSC color gamut. Some time around 2008 HP changed its specifications to 370 cd/m2 and 102% of NTSC color gamut, which suggests that they may have upgraded their panel to LG.Philips LM300WQ5 which is also used in Dell's top of the line Ultrasharp 3008. However, model number did not change and there is a lot of confusion in the data on the internet. Many of the tests and reviews were based on the early version of LP3065 with less advanced panel. In general, one should keep in mind that while there are about 5 to 8 various 30" monitors on the market, they all share about 3 LCD panels produced by either LG.Philips or Samsung. The difference is mainly in the number of inputs (and associated electronics) and user interface.

Inputs and resolution. The only type of input is dual-link DVI with 2560x1600 resolution (WQXGA) (3 switchable dual-link DVI input ports). This format is supported only by newer high end graphics cards. The reason why only digital dual-link DVI interface is provided is because this high resolution, combined with 60 Hz vertical frequency, requires such high speed of data transfer from the graphics card that neither single-link DVI interface nor analog interface can support it. With single-link DVI, the monitor supports only 1280x800 resolution. There is no scaler chip inside, and therefore no other resolutions are natively supported. Standard analog VGA connector is not provided (HP evidently decided that electronics needed to support lower resolutions and lower-end connectors will not be needed for their target customers for this monitor and decided not to include it. Dell included every possible connector in their Ultrasharp 3008, and the consumers have to pay extra $400 - $500 for this "convenience", all other parameters being more or less equal). It is not possible to connect this monitor to a blue-ray player, playstation, etc. When computer boots up and shows BIOS configuration-related text, it is initially is displayed in 1280x800 which then becomes full resolution as Windows progresses with the boot up process. Since there is no scaler chip, there is also no on-screen user interface / menu. The only on-monitor adjustment is brightness. Everything else can only be adjusted through graphics card interface, but preferably should be set up during color calibration and never changed.

There is a built-in USB hub with one input and 4 outputs. It works great for connection of keyboard and mouse. Since USB ports are all located on the left-hand side of the screen and are recessed by about an inch (so they are kind of on the back), access is not very convenient for "non-permanent" connections. One factor that simplifies access to the USB prots is that monitor can be turned on its stand by some 30 degrees in either direction without moving the stand or lifting the monitor.

Fit and finish. Unlike nearly all other HP monitors which are glossy and reflective, this one has matte screen finish ("hard coating (3H) anti-glare treatment of the front polarizer", according to the LG.Philips panel spec). I find it great as you do not see reflections of objects behind you in the screen. It is a big heavy monitor which is tricky to assemble and move around by one person. The stand is steady, range of adjustments are more than adequate, and overall impression is solid.

Colors. Monitors with this technology color accuracy MUST be color-calibrated in order to realize their advantages over cheaper TN LCDs. This can be done by using special software and colorimeters which are readily available starting from about $100. Any complaint in customer reviews about colors, color saturation, and color shifts should be discarded unless there is a clear statement that the monitor was calibrated prior to the assessment. My monitor had a color shift to greenish-cyan before I calibrated it. After calibration, the colors are excellent. Our brain has some ability to do its own internal color correction, so one can get used to and not notice shifted colors, but once you load a calibrated color profile the improvement is quite impressive.

Part numbers. Many resellers sell it as part EZ320A8#ABA, while specs on the HP web site are for EZ320A4#ABA. Neither HP pre-sales support nor technical support were able to answer the question about the difference, and could not even find A8 in their database. Interestingly, the monitor which I ordered directly from Amazon (it looks like Amazon sometimes but not always sells it directly) as A8 part in fact turned out to be the A4 part. Go figure.

Overall impression. Very large, but not unreasonably large. Easy to get used to. Dot pitch is a little smaller than Ion 17", so the images on the web and text may appear to be on the small side. Colors are excellent after calibration. After I work for an hour with this new monitor and go back to my other computer with dual 17" Dell Ultrasharps, my first thoughts are: what tiny screens and how crappy are the colors! At full brightness, the screen is so bright that it hurts the eyes (interestingly, even at highest brightness the colors remain solid and clear, blacks are black, and contrast is excellent). I had to decrease the brightness almost all the way down to get it to the level which I got used to work with. So far, no regrets.

There are two reasons to buy a large monitor. The first reason is to display a larger and easier to see version of the same image. The second reason is to display more. If you want it for the first reason, then this monitor is NOT for you. You are better off getting a 22" or 27" monitor. These monitors have the same resolutions as the standard 20" and 24" respectively. Images appear larger on them. Sure, you can increase the font size on your current monitor, but the only way to get larger web page images is to get larger pixels.
If you want to see more, then the HP LP3065 with its stunning 4 million fine pixels is definitely the monitor to show the most on screen. For the multi-tasker, you have room for all the opened apps without much overlaps. For the number crunching type, you can see an 86 row by 39 column spreadsheet in readable 10 point text. Although you can get 20% more pixels in 28% more areas by buying two 24" monitors at a lower price, the downside is the gap between monitors.
With the pixel count and screen size of four 15" laptop screens in one continuous spread, this monitor is ideally suited for graphic application.
Some may doubt the need for a hi-res monitor for photo editing, but today's entry level cameras have more than 7 million pixels, courtesy of the mega-pixel war among camera makers. Even this gigantic monitor cannot display the entire photo at its actual pixel size.
This monitor is bright. It is great for office environments. In my study at home, I usually turn the brightness all the way down in order to read black on white text comfortably.
One word of caution, this monitor does not have analog VGA input. It requires dual-link DVI connection, which is not available on low-end display cards. This is because the monitor has no video processing capability to perform scaling. Input must be in its native 2560x1600 format. All 30" monitors released prior to Oct 2007 operate in native mode only. This includes the pricy Apple Cinema HD and the popular Dell 3007WFP-HC. Scaling must be performed by the display card in your PC. It cannot be used to display HD content from your set top box, BlueRay player, or game console. It is strictly a PC monitor. On the other hand, with more than twice the pixel as a 1080p panel, why would anyone watch the relatively low-res HDTV on it?
After using it for over 1 year, it still works fine with no problem. I would rate it 5 stars if its color is not over saturated. Fortunately, I can reduce its saturation for Adobe applications.

This is an excellent monitor. The native resolution for the LP3065 is 2560 x 1600 pixels. Straight out of the box, the picture quality is top-notch. I have mine set up to show the highest possible color depth, and the results are impressive. Casual computer users may not see much merit in spending a fair bit of money for a big screen, but I assure you that artists and gamers will covet this. The picture is extremely sharp from edge to edge, with absolutely no color separation, ghosting, or flicker. You cannot ask for a better monitor for your computer.

While no one can deny that 30 inches of LCD real estate is an awesome thing to behold, there are a couple of things that need to be considered before purchasing this monstrous monitor.

The first thing you must take into account is the size and weight of the monitor. This is a big display and you will need a very open, sturdy place for it. Be very careful about removing the monitor from the box as it is very easy to accidentally damage the surface of the display. No matter how strong you are, I recommend getting a friend to help wrestle the monitor into place. It is not impossible to lift, but connecting the monitor to the stand can be a daunting task with only one person.

The other thing to consider is the way this monitor works. It ONLY displays an image 2650 x 1600 pixels in size. When you first connect it to your computer and boot up, you will note that the screen stays very black. During the boot process, the BIOS messages are not delivered to the monitor in its native resolution, so you will not see anything until the OS takes over and kicks off the video drivers. Luckily, my video card had two connections, so I basically had to connect both the LP3065 and the old monitor at the same time to force the resolution setting on the big screen. It wasn't simple and it was very confusing. For a while I thought the monitor was broken, but it wasn't.

Finally, there is only one control: the brightness. I would suggest turning it down all the way and let your video card manage the picture.

This is truly an outstanding monitor. I require high-resolution and high color performance for critical graphic analysis and have used a great many CRT and flat pannel monitors. I find that the HP LP 3065 to have amazing resolution and color performance; better than similar models from Apple or Dell. You will need a high-quality dual-channel video board to drive it and it can take input from up to three computers. I will need more time to determine its durability but I have four of them and will buy more.

Overall a good monitor but even after using my monitor profiling system the colors are excessively saturated. The Samsung 305T 30 inch monitor has much better color.

If you are doing color critical work I would be concerned. However, if you are doing general work, surfing, or gaming this is a great product.

I bought one of these about 2 years ago, installed it at my office. If like me you do a lot of work with spreadsheets, word processing and web browsing, often simultaneously, you will be absolutely bowled over by the convenience of having all that real estate (2560x1600 pixels) at a no-compromise, very comfortable dot-pitch and overall image quality. Eureka! Thank you HP! In a sense, I ended up paying twice what I thought it would cost me, because it only took a week before working on anything less became intolerable. So, I had to buy a second unit for my home office. But I have no regrets. If I had the decision to do over again, knowing what I do now, I'd probably be willing to pay $4000 for the pair of LP3065s. I took the trouble to write this review because I was shocked to find a significant fraction of reviews being lukewarm or worse about this product. Granted, it's not for everyone. But if you often work with multiple applications running simultaneously, and your budget can possibly afford this monitor, you should run, not walk, to get yourself one (or two).

If you're looking at this, you've probably done your research already. I'll sum it up. Basically this is virtually the same as the Dell 3007WFP-HC (not the 3007 and not the 3008). It's good for nearly everything but not the absolute best 30" (That title belongs to the NEC or the Dell 3008 at the time of this writing). On the other hand, it's reasonably affordable. Why do you need a 30" LCD? Well, if you need a color-accurate LCD, these use S-IPS panels (instead of TN or PVA). That's good for color accuracy (although it may need calibrating). S-IPS 24" panels exist but they're about half the price of this. Considering this gives you a lot of pixel real estate, it's great for the digital photographer who wants to use an LCD.

Quality of this monitor prompted me to write my first (short and sweet) review ever.

Paired with a Matrox M9125 Dual-Link PCIExpress x 16 video card, installed in a Dell Optiplex 760 with WinXP.

Sharp, bright, clear, unbelievable.

I use 4 21" monitors at work, and I would prefer this as single monitor replacement (or maybe dual if I can figure out desktop space. Vertically stacked would be awesome).

$1000 at HP.com for the monitor, but deals can be had elsewhere as well. (Bought 3 for work).

I have considered buying a 30-inch monitor for years. Got this one yesterday and am very impressed. Performance-wise the HP can't be beat (by Apple, Dell and LG as the only competition). Assembly and setup were a breeze--Just connected the monitor to the stand and connected power and DVI-D. It needed no further tweaks. Colors, brightness, response time and viewing angles are tops. I replaced a 24--inch S-IPS panel so I already had good color reproduction and viewing angles, but his panel is even better--images really pop and text is razor sharp. I cannot overstate how useful and visually stunning the increase in real estate from 1920x1200 to 2560x1600 is. Finally, I can view and edit photos of my kids with accuracy and ease. And no dead pixels. I even appreciate the under-stated form of the monitor. The whole thing is just perfect--well worth the price and the wait. And now I can add my old monitor as a second display at work. Win-win!