Planar PX2611W 26-Inch Widescreen Digital/Analog with Height Adjust Stand (Black)

Comment: This panel does not strain my eyes at all. After years of using a 20" 1600x1200 TN panel - Samsung's SyncMaster 204B - and a laptop with even smaller pixels, the Planar PX2611W is very easy on the eyes, even compared to good CRTs. It's still a good idea to look at something far away for a while every now and then, and it's probably a good idea to try to get your eyes level with the top of the monitor (a bit hard to do since it's taller than common, small, monitors for office and gaming - one side note: the only extra that comes with the Planar besides an array of cords is a short user's guide, which is fairly comprehensive but does not include the usual ergonomics information; you're obviously paying for the components of the actual monitor). The only problem I found was some blur in newer 3D games with low amounts of movement and subtle colors, but this is counteracted by the new frames showing up faster, and if your games incorporate motion blur or feature lots of fast movement you shouldn't be bothered by it. The "maximum response time" is given as 5ms, which is great, but I don't know if that's black to black or gray to gray (which is what most people use).

In gaming terms, this panel reputedly is about half a frame slower than a CRT. My simple photo test (1/125 second shutter speed, points observed at the same level) showed it was faster, in terms of getting an image onscreen, than the native panel of a formerly high-end gaming laptop / 10 pound 'desktop replacement' with a TN panel: the Asus G2S-B2, also with the 1920x1200 16:10 aspect resolution (though not running at 60Hz but slightly above it, at 62Hz. There was noticeable tearing to the point where the actual frames seemed different at times (reviewing the pictures again, they actually seem the same) - this was probably due to my simply plugging in the supplied HDMI to single-link DVI-D cable (supplied along with other cables including VGA and single-link DVI-D); I'm not sure if the monitor actually has a dual-link connection, but it's advertised as being able to run 1920x1200 at up to 75Hz) and not doing anything to the laptop's settings such as setting up the second monitor. The refresh rate reported by the Planar was slightly above 58Hz. When plugged into a regular desktop with the DVI-D cable it stayed perfectly in sync (reporting 59.9Hz). Portions of up to about three frames were visible at a time on the laptop and the monitor, which is not surprising (at shutter speeds lower than 1/125 is quickly becomes harder to get a picture I can easily examine). I cannot say which monitor fades frames in and out more quickly; sometimes it seems to go either way, though I felt the Planar was better (than a 8ms g2g TN panel, again).

So far I have found (all at 60Hz):
Slow-moving, highly colorful games (such as emulated arcade games, and many casual games should follow) have no problems. The graphics in such titles generally don't move across the screen quickly enough to blur noticeably, even with extreme contrasts.
Quake III Arena had no apparent problems. Colors were amazing and I saw no blur trails (though I wasn't really looking for them, instead moving the viewpoint around rapidly to shoot my enemies), and my eyes were not strained despite rapidly view movement. This game simply requires entering two lines in its console to create a custom width.
Valve's Portal looks and plays great, but I was able to bring up some apparent blur trails, such as a row of blue dots on a light, low-contrast gray floor, or the vertical corner of a gray wall against a lightly-colored background. This was noticeable when sidestepping, a slow movement that is somewhat uncommon in Portal and other 3D games (especially when you're a portal-flinging fiend with no time for walking). I turned off motion blur to increase the possibility this would happen; most people who are playing Portal have powerful enough graphics cards that the motion blur is a standard feature (it's featured in the earliest trailers, before even the heroine was introduced, after all). I did not test it with motion blur enabled, but that probably masks it effectively.

I have not done any critical photography color calibration (yet) with this panel, nor have I run it above a 60Hz refresh rate at 1920x1200. However, I immediately noticed the colors were slightly off, and that's due to it normally being set for a "text" mode. There are "movie" and "gaming" modes; this is different from the usual where gaming modes disable extra processing done in a monitor or television for movies before output to the panel, resulting in a lag between your source and the output; the Planar is cheaper and faster than some other monitors due to not having much processing, I've read; I believe it. Set to the sRGB color space, things immediately improved. Dimming the brightness followed by a quick gamma calibration (after setting the color temperature, if needed, to match your ambient lighting) solved the rest.

Colors simply look great. There's no dead pixels, and using a simple program to check that I brought up very vivid pure blues, reds, and an almost-neon-lime green (just as it should be). White is actually white with only the most barely visible blotches. There's no color shifting, and I didn't see any brightness shifting normally, just the usual very faint amount from the edges due to the CCFL backlight. Default brightness is so good that the laptop's display barely registered in my camera next to it at first (using auto ISO), and ~30 percent brightness is good enough for me in the monitor's current location; that only helps the already well-controlled (so I think) backlight bleed.

The Planar did not detect some sources, such as the 640x480 @ 30Hz output of the venerable XRGB-2 upscaler, connected with the VGA cable (it's always possible I could fix this later), but very similar resolutions are listed as being supported in the back of the manual. My old SyncMaster 204B supported it, and if the Planar doesn't that is an inconvenience. When you use 4:3 ratio sources, you ought to open the monitor's menu and set it not to stretch the picture (this is also a good way of using games without widescreen support, like many old computer games).

I'm not so sure what's going on with the menu, actually. I read a review criticizing the control joystick (a little knob); I find it pretty easy to use, though it's possible to click the wrong thing. What I don't like is that many menu items simply can't be moved to, even though there are directional arrows indicating it should be possible to move to them. I hope to clear that up soon.

My panel reports its firmware revision is 1.00PGGK0

Just to give an overall summary: All aspects of the picture are great, except for blurring in some games; it's fast for gaming, it's very bright, it's big and easy on the eyes, and it puts all other monitors I've used to shame, especially cheap LCD screens. Though apparently it's around three years old, it puts even many new screens (including anything you'll see at the big box retailer) to pasture. The package contents are pared down to the minimum, so you should make sure you find good information elsewhere on ergonomics and setting it up - for this set, the basics are changing the "DV mode" (first menu item), color temperature if need be, brightness, and then calibrating the gamma of your computer system. People who have and need colorimeters will know what to do with them.

Comment: I am very pleased with my purchase of the Planar PX2611W monitor. While I am not an imaging professional, I still appreciate accurate color and wide viewing angles. At the same time, I am a gamer, who was not completely happy with my previous monitor, the Samsung 244T. The Sammy had beautiful colors, contrast and connectivity, its only real fault was INPUT LAG (not to be confused with pixel response time), causing a definitely perceptible delay, especially noticeable in fast-paced games, like FPS's, which I play a lot of. I decided against a new TN-panel based LCD display, due to viewing angles and washed out colors. I decided against a new PVA-panel based LCD display, because they all suffer more or less from input lag. That left only the more expensive IPS-panel based LCD displays to choose from. In the end, I settled on the Planar PX2611W, as the comparable NEC's were much more expensive, and the Doublesight was no longer available. I briefly considered a comparable Viewsonic, but it too was rather expensive ($200 more), even though it does have a nicer stand than the Planar, it didn't seem worth the extra money.

Pro's: H-IPS based LCD panel, beautiful picture, good contrast ratio, excellent viewing angles, fast pixel response time and extremely low input lag, comparable to TN-panel based LCD's.

Con's: Limited stand adjustability; swivel and tilt is nice, but I would have liked more height adjustability. Now using a riser to get the height I want. Limited number of inputs (not a con for me personally, but some folks might want to use their monitor for more than just their PC).

Other thoughts: Excellent monitor for the price. Should please most users, especially gamers wanting a high-end monitor, or anyone who wants high image quality and viewing angles, without breaking the bank.

Comment: Amazing picture, worth the extra money to get the higher quality LCD display. You won't be sorry you spent the extra money for this 26 inch monitor.

Comment: I find no compromises with this display, period. For years, I waited for LCD technology to improve enough to pull me away from my very color accurate, very responsive (and very heavy, very power-hungry) CRTs. The IPS panel in this Planar represents the technological leap I'd been waiting for--and it was worth the wait! No dithering colors like 6-bit TN panels. No painful refresh rates like PVA and MVA panels. No color shifts or viewing angle limitations, either. That last point is crucial--how can you accurately adjust the colors on one of your photos if the colors shift when you move your head? How would you know which angle is "right"? This monitor lets me do it all: accurate color for photography, accurate gamma and geometry for reviewing patient x-rays and CT scans, and fast refresh rates for watching DVDs.

The USB hub does work, contrary to the other review below. The upstream port is located on the back, tucked up and behind the plastic facade along with the DVI and VGA ports. It is hard to see (I needed a flashlight) but it is there. Endure the minor pain of wiggling the supplied USB cable into it once, and you'll forever have convenient access to 4 USB 2.0 ports on the left edge of the screen.

It would be nice to have a white-balance preset so that I could choose, say, 6500K. But I was able to work around that and get it calibrated nonetheless.

Overall, this is a terrific display.

Comment: I bought the Planar PX2611w to complement my NEC LCD2690WUXi in a dual monitor setup. The Planar acts as the secondary monitor and is used quite frequently, but not always. Since it only serves as a secondary monitor, I felt it not necessary to spend an additional $400 - $500 on another NEC LCD2690WUXi. This is actually the second Planar monitor I have purchased, the first being the 19" PX191 (S-PVA panel) back in 2002. It still works up to this day which is a testament to their PX series. I am actually glad Planar is experiencing some level of success outside of their bread and butter line of LCD displays for the medical industry.

I find the black levels of this monitor to be very good, definitely superior to what a typical TN panel is capable of. Out of the box color accuracy is decent enough, but it is best to use a colorimeter to adjust colors if accuracy is important. I must point out that this monitor is wide gamut so greens are a little oversaturated; using a colorimeter can mitigate the over-saturation slightly, but not eliminate it. This should not deter most people from looking at this monitor unless it is imperative that their livelihood is dependant on precise sRGB colors. In those cases I would recommend the 24" NEC LCD2490WUXi which is one of those rare wide screen monitors that have standard color gamut and the best pure white color reproduction of any monitor in production. The backlight of the PX2611w is pretty consistent across the screen. Only in a dark room with no lights and a black ground on the screen did I see any indication of backlight bleeding (And it was very, very minor. Maybe I got lucky).

Just to correct a couple of statements made by others before me. This monitor uses an H-IPS panel not an S-IPS panel. It is the same H-IPS panel used in the NEC LCD2690WUXi. The NEC has a higher price tag because it includes additional electronics to improve color consistency and overall image quality. The Planar also not have the A-TW filter found on the LCD2690WUXi which purpose is to reduce "white bloom glare" when viewing the monitor at an angle.

Input lag is not really caused by the lack of processing power in the panel itself. Instead it is dependent on the timing of video signal received from the video card and sent through the internal electronics of the monitor and finally on the screen. The NEC LCD2690WUXi has plenty of processing power in it's electronics to improve color consistency and general image quality. The extra processing actually increases input lag which is why it's average input lag is rated at 32ms (2 frames) based on reviews. 32ms of input lag is considered average and acceptable for all but the hardcore gamer. The LCD2690WUXi is actually geared towards the graphics professional.

There are no "official" reviews of the Planar PX2611w that tested for average input lag. However, a respected member of[...], ToastyX, did performed his own tests on this monitor and has found input lag to be less than 8ms or less than half a frame. That makes this one of the fastest IPS panel monitor (if not the fastest) in market and an excellent choice for hardcore gamers who are willing to step up to higher quality IPS panel monitor instead of TN panel monitors.

One word of caution, this monitor has a known color banding issue with console games set to 1920 x 1080 resolution. However, there are no such issues when playing PC games or when watching Blu-Ray or DVDs from any source. Since I do not play console games, this defect is not included as part of my rating. I have not notice any ghosting during game play.

I must take 1 star off from my rating due to the limited height adjustment of the monitor stand; my Planar PX191 has a much more superior stand which allows for much more wider range of movement, but it is not compatible with the PX2611w. Therefore, I was forced to purchase a Rolodex monitor stand to place the PX2611w on which would allow me to increase the height of the monitor to line up with my LCD26900WUXi.

After owning this monitor for a little over a month, I would definitely recommend this monitor to individuals that are willing to spend extra money on a high quality monitor. It does not have much in terms of extra features, but that is a non issue for me.