AOC i2353Ph - IPS for a nice, low price
by Chris Heinonen on January 30, 2012 12:40 AM ESTUniformity and Contrast
The dE numbers for the AOC have looked good so far, but all of those are for the center of the screen, where backlighting should be the most even and the image should be at its best. To make sure the monitor will give a good overall experience, we also take a set of 9 measurements across the screen using the Gretag Macbeth color chart and see how it does.
The color uniformity across the monitor is surprisingly very good, with very little deviation across any of the colors. The grayscale doesn’t perform quite as well, with the center having an average dE below 1, but a couple other measurements hovering in the range of 2-3 dE. Even the two worst locations still maintained an average dE of 2.55 or less, and the majority of all the results were below 2.0 dE. Overall it has very uniform color across the display.
Since LCD panels are all lit by their backlight to provide color, any errors across the screen can often be traced back to a backlighting system that is uneven and causing those color shifts. As we look at the brightness level across the display when the center is set for 200 nits, we see the drop-off at the bottom of the screen. If the LCD panel itself is behaving the same no matter the location on the screen, the different amounts of light can easily cause the shifts in color that we saw in the last test. Here the locations that had the worst dE uniformity also have the worst brightness uniformity, which is likely the root of the problem.
Once we have found the issues with the brightness, we check to see how well the backlighting system handles darkness across the display. With the AOC there seems to be significant light leakage in the corners of the display, with black levels that are very, very high for the display. I’ve recently seen LED backlit models with good control of the backlight that can get down to very low black levels, but the black levels in the AOC remain high. Some of this is due to the IPS panel, which typically has higher black levels than other panel types. It also could be an area where corners had to be cut to make the aggressive price point that AOC targeted. Regardless of why, the absolute black level is not going to please people that are adamant about deep, dark blacks.
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cashkennedy - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Might want to clarify that its too much lag for FPS gaming, as Im pretty sure a latency that small in an RPG or strategy game is not going to have any effect.Jedi2155 - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Where did you get the idea that 5ms GTG response time is too much for gaming? The more important consideration IMO is input lag.mathew7 - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
He said "The lag is a little bit too high for hard core gamers". He measured it at 16ms delay compared to CRT. This is not pixel response that every manufacturer wants and declares it low. Input lag is not specified by manufacturers, and only some reviews (this included) actually measure it.As for categories, FPS is not the only category that benefits from low lag. Racing is another and I'm not talking about the NFS series where a mistake slows you down a bit (in Underground 2 a friend of mine managed to win once by riding each wall in each turn), but where a mistake ends your race (sims).
Samus - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Still no reason to replace my $400 Doublesight DS-2700W 27" PVASabresiberian - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
Umm - who suggested it would be?therealnickdanger - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
No one, he just wanted to brag.jleach1 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Back in the grand turismo days, you used to be able to buy a super car, change the transmission tuning to all acceleration, and the tape the controller stick to ride the wall for Le Mans races.Those were the days... (feeling nostalgic here...not to cheat.)
JonnyDough - Monday, January 30, 2012 - link
I for one, think that 5ms is too slow for gaming. I won't buy a monitor for a gaming system over 3ms, 2 is preferred. Even some movies can show some ghosting at 5ms. I can tell the difference.jleach1 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I haven't seen a display with that low of lag. The value of a manufacturers advertised display lag is a joke at best.aguilpa1 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I have 3 120Hz Alienware OPTX2310's with rated 3ms refresh rates. It is true that the way manufacture's measure those rates is less then accurate but since it is true of all monitors it is still a good idea if your gaming to get the fastest timings even if it turns out to be more like 5 or 6ms on a 3ms rated overall. You can tell the difference. Also I believe the 2310's even have a better gamma (mid 70's) then this AOC does which is very disappointing for an IPS panel.