Hanns.G HZ281HPB 27.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor

[wapcatlet]

I'd been thinking of going for the Iiyama B2712HDS but having seen a fair few people happy with their Hanns.G i'm leaning towards going for one of them instead.

Could anyone tell me if it does 1:1 pixel mapping with 1080p via HDMI or is it stretched? Anyone tried any other video resolutions? 720p, 576i/p? (Not sure I'd ever feed it either but nice to know how it handles it)

Ta

I was seriously considering the B2712HDS. It's got some very good reviews but I wanted those extra pixels (1200 instead of 1080).

I briefly connected the HZ281HPB to my PS3 which is usually connected to my 40" Samsung tv. There were no black bars at the top and bottom of the display. I opened the menu and tried switching the aspect ratio from "Full" to "Fit" but I couldn't see any difference which may suggest that there is no 1:1 pixel mapping or it could also suggest that I don't know what I'm doing and I need to change something on my PS3, not the monitor. I haven't had chance to try it since.

I did play a hi-def movie (via the PS3) and it appeared in letterbox format as I expected complete with black bars at the top and bottom. It looked very good indeed.

If anyone else has tried this monitor on a PS3 or an Xbox then I would be interested to know how they got on.

 

[Kelt]

Not sure what the above means but if there is anything i can try out for you ill be happy to help. My xbox is connected to it as well as my pc and it auto detecs which in use awesome

Taken from wackypedia...

1:1 pixel mapping is a video display technique used in some devices, such as LCD monitors. A monitor that has been set to 1:1 pixel mapping will try to display an input source without scaling it, such that each pixel received is mapped to a single native pixel on the monitor. This will result in a black border around the image (windowboxing) unless the input resolution is higher than or the same as the monitor's native resolution. This technique is helpful if it is desired to stop a video from being stretched or distorted by the monitor.

I take this to mean if you run a game at less than the monitor's standard rez, if it has 1:1 PM then you will see black borders.

 

[Zitron]

Thanks guys

Taken from wackypedia...

1:1 pixel mapping is a video display technique used in some devices, such as LCD monitors. A monitor that has been set to 1:1 pixel mapping will try to display an input source without scaling it, such that each pixel received is mapped to a single native pixel on the monitor. This will result in a black border around the image (windowboxing) unless the input resolution is higher than or the same as the monitor's native resolution. This technique is helpful if it is desired to stop a video from being stretched or distorted by the monitor.

I take this to mean if you run a game at less than the monitor's standard rez, if it has 1:1 PM then you will see black borders.

Yep basically means as above where the original format (1920x1080 i.e. 16:9) is displayed rather than stretching the picture vertically to fit the slightly different format of the screen (1920x1200 - 16:10).

I was seriously considering the B2712HDS. It's got some very good reviews but I wanted those extra pixels (1200 instead of 1080).

I briefly connected the HZ281HPB to my PS3 which is usually connected to my 40" Samsung tv. There were no black bars at the top and bottom of the display. I opened the menu and tried switching the aspect ratio from "Full" to "Fit" but I couldn't see any difference which may suggest that there is no 1:1 pixel mapping or it could also suggest that I don't know what I'm doing and I need to change something on my PS3, not the monitor. I haven't had chance to try it since.

I did play a hi-def movie (via the PS3) and it appeared in letterbox format as I expected complete with black bars at the top and bottom. It looked very good indeed.

If anyone else has tried this monitor on a PS3 or an Xbox then I would be interested to know how they got on.

Thanks wapcaplet. That's strange, it certainly sounds like the "fit" option would be the one from looking at the manual. Maybe it's only available on some inputs or only in video mode *shrug*. Does seem odd though so yeah if anyone else has tried it, it would be nice to know. I'll be going from the 226BW like you did.

Not sure what the above means but if there is anything i can try out for you ill be happy to help. My xbox is connected to it as well as my pc and it auto detecs which in use awesome

Cheers. As above if you could see if the full/fit option has any effect when fed an input from your xbox that would be grand.

 

[Kelt]

Yeh, would be nice to know if this monitor supports 1:1, (doubt it), or if it doesn't, what the PQ is like with non-std rez's.

 

[Ph4lanx]

I've used the Windows 7 calibration wizard and the colours look so much better now.

Here are a couple of photos but they don't really do it justice.
The flash has washed out the colours on the first picture. I turned it off for the second photo.

wapcatlet, apart from the fact that your setup shots have made me want to buy this monitor now (I'll be ordering when I get paid!), can I ask, where did you get your desk from? I need to get a new desk and yours looks sturdy and well-made!

Unless anyone else cares to tell me their opinions on desks too (Sorry for thread hijack, but you have a nice looking setup there wapcatlet!)

 

[wapcatlet]

Thanks Ph4lanx.
I bought that desk 15 years ago as a flat pack from MFI (Made For Idiots). It is pretty solid. The desktop is an inch thick.

 

[wapcatlet]

Yeh, would be nice to know if this monitor supports 1:1, (doubt it), or if it doesn't, what the PQ is like with non-std rez's.

I temporarily changed my PC desktop resolution to 1920x1080 last night to see what would happen. A black bar appeared at the top of the screen but not at the bottom.

I switched Aspect Ratio in the monitor menu between "Fit" and "Full" expecting the picture to stretch (when "Full") and shrink with black bars (when "Fit"). The single black bar remained at the top of the screen regardless of the Aspect Ratio.

What does this mean? I don't know yet but I just thought I would mention it.

 

[Mharv]

Been also looking for a 27" and considered the HG but in the end went with
Iiyama Prolite E2710HDS with hdmi, both screens look very similar, disable sound in OSD, for the pc, various settings for internet, games (AvP is impressive on this size screen using xfx 5770 , movies, sports and much more and vga for the 360 with the sound inputs to logitech Z323 aux in, much better than the onboard speakers 2x2 w awaiting for dvi-d for the 360 to attach for hopefully better pic qual,
great for films, and games and i dont mind 1080, old DG 2442 was 1200, infact hard to tell....imho the B2712HDS had no usb hub, headphone socket or audio out, and slightly over my budget,

 

[Colin The Grey]

Mine just arrived a while ago.

Quite impressed with it, 0 dead pixels as far as I can tell, image is stable, turned all the lights off and set it to an all black screen - can't see any sign of bleed at all.

Build quality is a fair bit better than I expected - the design of the screen is very good for a "budget" monitor.

Played a couple of game for a bit - no discernable ghosting at all.

Brightness was way way too much lol - dropped it down to 40 and set color mode to user defined. All in not bad at all.

Just loaded up Avatar on Blu Ray and have to say the HD is better than it was on my old monitor - a Dell 2408WFP.

Overall very pleased with the Hanns.G, would reccomend to anyone looking for a good large Lcd for general gaming and windows use.

 

[Colin The Grey]

For those wondering if this is a worthwhile upgrade from a 24" - the answer imo is definitely yes.

Quite surprised actually at how much larger the screen feels - and with the larger screen size I dont have to lean forward to read small print anymore.

If I get a chance I will borrow my mates calibration kit he uses for his monitors and see if I can calibrate the colours etc, if I gain much improvement - I will post the settings I end up with here.

Colin

 

[wapcatlet]

If I get a chance I will borrow my mates calibration kit he uses for his monitors and see if I can calibrate the colours etc, if I gain much improvement - I will post the settings I end up with here.

Colin

Colin, you might want to try this site for calibrating your monitor. You don't have to install anything. It might not be as sophisticated as your friend's kit but I found it very useful.

Lagom LCD Monitor Test Pages: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

The "Contrast" test page proved to be quite challenging but I got a decent result after several tweaks of the brightness and contrast levels.

 

[cyclops12]

Mine came today
cant test it till thursday though

 

[Colin The Grey]

Thanks for the link wapcatlet, giving it a try now.

 

[Zitron]

I temporarily changed my PC desktop resolution to 1920x1080 last night to see what would happen. A black bar appeared at the top of the screen but not at the bottom.

I switched Aspect Ratio in the monitor menu between "Fit" and "Full" expecting the picture to stretch (when "Full") and shrink with black bars (when "Fit"). The single black bar remained at the top of the screen regardless of the Aspect Ratio.

What does this mean? I don't know yet but I just thought I would mention it.

Well that's interesting, looks like it will do it on some input configurations. Which input was that on, DVI?

 

[Colin The Grey]

After a few hours messing around with colour settings etc and using the site you linked earlier I have arrived at what I feel is pretty decent settings for my eyes anyway

In the monitor controls I have set the following:

Brightness: 45
Contrast: 50
X-Contrast: OFF
Colour setting to User and R, G and B values set to 75.

Everything else left at default values:

Then using the NVidia driver desktop colour settings:

Brightness and Contrast at 50%
Gamma at +0.60.

These settings seem to give me the best results on the Lagom LCD test pages.
Next week I'll borrow my mates Spyder calibration tool and see what results I get with that.

 

[wapcatlet]

Well that's interesting, looks like it will do it on some input configurations. Which input was that on, DVI?

Yes. I've got it linked via DVI.

 

[wapcatlet]

After a few hours messing around with colour settings etc and using the site you linked earlier I have arrived at what I feel is pretty decent settings for my eyes anyway

In the monitor controls I have set the following:

Brightness: 45
Contrast: 50
X-Contrast: OFF
Colour setting to User and R, G and B values set to 75.

Everything else left at default values:
Then using the NVidia driver desktop colour settings:

Brightness and Contrast at 50%
Gamma at +0.60

Thanks for posting the settings Colin.
I'll have to give it a try with "User" colour settings.

Right now I've got the colour set to "Cool".
Brightness: 28
Contrast: 50
X-Contrast: OFF

Everything else at default values.
ATI settings at 50% for both Brightness and Contrast. Gamma set to +0.60

 

[Colin The Grey]

My mate had a spare Huey Pro lying around, so I have it on extended loan for a while.

Just calibrated it with Brightness at 40, contrast at 75 in the monitor controls and it looks much better to my eyes.

In the Huey software I have set gamma of 2.4 and Color Temp at D75.

Colors look a lot better and no longer seem a tad washed out.

Now to work out how many pints it will take to turn the loan into a permanent trade

 

[Nefluw]

wow whats with the low brightness everyone? I'm having mine at 85 all the time haha

After a few hours messing around with colour settings etc and using the site you linked earlier I have arrived at what I feel is pretty decent settings for my eyes anyway

In the monitor controls I have set the following:

Brightness: 45
Contrast: 50
X-Contrast: OFF
Colour setting to User and R, G and B values set to 75.

Everything else left at default values:

Then using the NVidia driver desktop colour settings:

Brightness and Contrast at 50%
Gamma at +0.60.

These settings seem to give me the best results on the Lagom LCD test pages.
Next week I'll borrow my mates Spyder calibration tool and see what results I get with that.

thanks for the settings, gonna try them out.

 

[mysticsniper]

So people I have read the posts in this thread and I do like the monitor, but am still undecided if I should go with this one, or stump up the extra £30 and go for the Iiyama ProLite B2712HDS.

I know which ever one I choose it will be a huge differnce to my 19" Sammy which I have had for the past 8 years

Edit

When dealing with 27"+ monitors, would I be better off with 1900x1200, over 1900x1080??