HP ZR2740w - High Resolution IPS that Doesn't Break the Bank
by Chris Heinonen on March 16, 2012 1:15 AM ESTConclusion: Big Bang for the Buck
HP made a lot of choices to be able to get this panel in at this price point. For some people the lack of any analog inputs, or even an HDMI input, is going to be a deal killer as they might need those inputs for their use. Others might have issues with the lack of any OSD or scaling options, as you have very little control over the monitor.
This lack of controls also means that being able to calibrate this display is even more important than usual. The dE numbers out of the box were pretty high, with an average very close to 9, and there is no way to improve these without being able to do a calibration due to the lack of presets. If you are unconcerned with color accuracy then this won’t matter, but if you are then you’ll need to budget at least $115 for a basic calibration system (such as the Sypder4Express), or up to $450 for a spectrometer (like the ColorMunki Design) that can produce far more accurate results with LED backlit displays. Now you’re past the cost of other 27” displays, or even a 30” display, though you do have calibration gear that you can keep using with it.
Of course if you are going to do a hardware calibration of this display, you likely would do the same with any 27” model, so the cost of calibration tools might not matter to you. If that is the case then there is far more to like about the HP than to dislike. The lack of HDMI doesn’t bother me since you can always use an HDMI to DVI adapter, and until just recently there were no video cards that could do anything beyond 1080p over HDMI (at least while following the HDMI spec). The HP calibrated well, has a good but not exceptional contrast ratio, and has a nice ergonomic stand as well. The lag time was far better than I expected to see out of it, so it even works well for gaming.
After having a 27” high resolution display around for a few weeks, I really don’t want to go back. The extra space is so nice to have, letting me run Word on half the screen for writing this review while keeping Excel open on the other half of the display and still being able to see enough of each to be useful. For the price of the HP you could buy two of the 1920x1200 Dell U2412M displays that I most recently reviewed and have 25% more pixels available. For some people that will work better, as you can stash email and other programs on one and use the other for work, or more easily rotate one to portrait mode if you need that. For the way I work, I like the single, large monitor more but everyone has their own preference.
In the end, HP made some sacrifices with the ZR2740w to get to the sub-$700 price point, but they didn’t really sacrifice performance in the process. Short on inputs and features but long on performance, the HP ZR2740w LCD hits a new price point for high resolution 27” displays and hopefully signals the beginning of a shift in pricing for these monitors. If all you really want is a good display for your PC and you don't need to hook up multiple devices, the ZR2740w is an excellent choice. For such users we recommend it with very few reservations and present HP with our Bronze Editors' Choice award.
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Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
These monitors have been floating around the $700 price range for some time now. Not a fan of a 16:9 monitor for that price, this monitor also has terrible response time for anyone that plays any games. I don't see anything really special about this.JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Please define "terrible", because in my experience less than a frame of lag is nothing. I have an older S-PVA (Dell 2408WFP) with about three frames of lag. My personal threshold is around 20ms before it starts getting bad, relative to an S-IPS 30" display. Based on Chris' measurements I would guess I could get away with ~35ms delay relative to a CRT.As for your comment in regards to price, you're smoking something:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...
$600 27" LCDs have been around for a long time, but they were all 1920x1080 or maybe 1920x1200. If you can provide links to any other 2560x1440 27" displays with IPS panels that cost less than $700, let's see them. I can't recall ever seeing anything like that for this price, outside of the HP ZR2740w.
Snowshredder102 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
I've heard people claim that an input lag above 10 starts getting bad. As for the price you're looking at FULL retail. I've seen these monitors for sale on a number of places. My U3011 has an MSRP of $1500, I bought it for $1150 on sale and during that time the u2711 was at $750. I've seen brand new HP 2560x1440 IPS monitors for $650. Sales come by decently often, you just have to put some effort in scoping out deals.JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
A periodic sale is one thing, a normal price is another. The ZR2740w might go on periodic sales for under $550 given the current MSRP. It's good to see the base price well under $1000 for one of these displays for a change.esse09 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Hello Jarred,the U2711 retails for the same price as the ZR2740w.
Based on your own reviews i'd say you should suggest picking the Dell monitor instead of this one as far as bang for the buck is concerned. What do you think?
JarredWalton - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
It depends what you're after, really. The U2711 currently goes for more like $830+ based on what I can find:http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0039648BO
That's a full $200 more than what we can find the ZR2740w selling for, and it's not all sunshine and roses for the U2711. It has excellent colors, more connectivity options... and more input lag/processing lag. Tom's Hardware measured lag at 98ms (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ultrasharp-u27... but I measured it at just 16-18ms (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2922/4). I'm not sure which is "right", so I'll leave that to you.
If you don't need the extra inputs or high color gamut, and you'd prefer to save $200, I'd take the HP. If you can get the Dell on sale for $630, however, I'd probably go that route.
Mitch89 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - link
I'm a big fan of the U2711, I've used two of them on a video editing suite I built and they are gorgeous. They are AU$899 here in Australia, and despite the fact they cost more here than the US (despite our dollar being higher...) they are easily worth the money.Ramiliez - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Magical number for 60Hz panels is 16,7 msCommon monitor refresh rate is 60Hz that means every 16,7 ms image is refreshed therefore response time (crystal color change + input lag) below 16,7 ms is useless
For 120Hz panels the magic number is 8,3 ms
mathew7 - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Please don't confuse refresh rate and input lag.Input lag means the time for a pixel on the wire to be shown on screen. If a monitor waits for a whole image before refreshing it's panel, then yes, you will have 16ms input lag. But this will be for the top-left pixel. The bottom-right will be less, as the panel refresh nowadays is much faster than accepted refresh rate.
And 0 input+processing lag is desireable for any fast-paced action. It's not useless, it's ideal. And don't forget also the rendering time.
PS: your comparison is like saying that if your car's top speed is 100mph, then there is not reason for you to drive more than 100 miles.
imaheadcase - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Input lag is only as bad as the person who uses the monitor notices.I have a U2410 24inch and don't notice a difference in gaming with it vs a 120hz monitor.