EggXpert

I'm tired of seeing people come in here asking for recommendations for an LCD panel and then hearing people start suggesting brand names such as HP, Dell, or Gateway, saying something on the lines of "well I used this HP and it was the great!."

Alright, that's nice. Unfortunately, its not good enough to recommend an LCD panel to someone based on that alone. 

Fact: Samsung and LG make the best TFT LCD panels on the consumer market.

Fact: Samsung, LG, and Hanns-G, and in most case, NEC make their own TFT LCD panels

Fact: In most cases, HP, Dell, Gateway, and Sony do *not* make their own TFT LCD panels. 

Example: if you buy an HP monitor with a specific model number, you may be getting a Samsung, LG, or Innnolux panel. The latter is a low quality panel manufacturer, and will not be as high quality as the two former manufacturers. This is why you'll find discrepancies in reviews on monitors made by a specific brand, and even discrepancies in a specific panel model. However, you'll notice that almost all Samsung and LG panels receive very high ratings on newegg. This is why.

What should this mean to you?  In almost 100% of cases, when you buy a Samsung or an LG panel, you get a Samsung or LG panel. When you buy anything else, you run the risk of getting a low quality panel manufacturer. The only way to figure out who makes your panel is to take it apart and check the back of the TFT, or to check the panel's info in Everest. The only other exception I know of is Hanns-G, which I won't comment on since I don't know enough about them and don't want to sway people in the wrong direction.

I endorse Samsung and LG, as they manufacture their own panels. They are the top tier LCD manufactuers, and everyone else is either 2nd or 3rd place behind them.

Want to know who makes your panel? Do a quick search in one of these sites:

http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

LCD Panel Technology Explained:

Very good read on panel types:

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=641&page=1

Summary as quoted from pchardwarehelp.com:

• S-IPS/H-IPS panels are generally considered the best all around panel type, but they are more expensive and very few are made. High end, expensive.
• S-PVA/MVA panels offer better color reproduction and viewing angles than TN panels, have slightly worse response times than TN or S-IPS, offer the best contrast ratios, may suffer from color shifting or input lag and have higher availability than S-IPS panels. Mid range, fair price.
• TN panels are very cheap and have the fastest response times, but suffer from inferior color reproduction, contrast ratios and viewing angles. Low end, inexpensive.

Examples of threads I hope to avoid in the future by posting this one:

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/permalink/361864/372323/ShowThread.aspx#372323

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/381120.aspx

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/permalink/361864/372323/ShowThread.aspx#372323

I like to give credit where credit is due, so I'll admit that a lot of this was mere google searching for the right key words. Some of this information was found here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032932407

There was also another thread which discussed panel manufacturer trends in depth, but I've since lost that link and can't find it again. 

Mods, please sticky this thread or put this information where it won't get buried by other posts, and feel free to add or modify anything as necessary.

COOKIE ?    WHERE COOKIE ?

Me LOOOVE Cookie !

UHNNN ?  No Cookie...me sad.... 

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While I appreciate the insight on manufactures, not sure I like the way LG does business, though.

Business Tech 12-nov-2008 ran an article titled "LG, Sharp, Chunghwa admit to LCD price fixing". http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10095219-92.html  And it's not the first time LG has been nailed for bad business practice. I think a year earlier or so, they were involved in CRT price fixing.

 Guess it's easy for me to find other companies to do business with.

nokei:

While I appreciate the insight on manufactures, not sure I like the way LG does business, though.

Business Tech 12-nov-2008 ran an article titled "LG, Sharp, Chunghwa admit to LCD price fixing". http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10095219-92.html  And it's not the first time LG has been nailed for bad business practice. I think a year earlier or so, they were involved in CRT price fixing.

 Guess it's easy for me to find other companies to do business with.

That is strange when LG out the whole bunch it one of the top leaders in LCDs.

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i really like my acer...is it using someone else's screen?

svakanda:

i really like my acer...is it using someone else's screen?

 

Yes. Typically a lower quality manufacturer, since it is a budget panel. 

I really like the Acers I buy for my clients, until I put them next to my Samsung panels and see the difference. I only buy Acer when someone wants a lot of screen real estate on a budget and they don't care for quality, but with anything above $800 on a build, I go Samsung. The screen will look great till you put it next to a Samsung panel and see the difference, but as long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters. I suppose in the end, you will always be happy because you got a good deal, since Samsung panels are typically more expensive than Acer panels.

XtremeRevolution:

Fact: Samsung and LG make the best TFT LCD panels on the consumer market.

Fact: Samsung, LG, and Hanns-G make their own TFT LCD panels

Fact: In most cases, HP, Dell, and Gateway do *not* make their own TFT LCD panels.

what about NEC?  do they make their own LCD panels?

i pretty much buy only NEC for my clients and the quality seems consistently excellent.

thanks,

david

besonen:

XtremeRevolution:

Fact: Samsung and LG make the best TFT LCD panels on the consumer market.

Fact: Samsung, LG, and Hanns-G make their own TFT LCD panels

Fact: In most cases, HP, Dell, and Gateway do *not* make their own TFT LCD panels.

what about NEC?  do they make their own LCD panels?

i pretty much buy only NEC for my clients and the quality seems consistently excellent.

thanks,

david

 

Based on some quick research, it seems that NEC does make their own panels as well.

I believe SVA and Mitsbuishi branded panels are also made by NEC, including plasma TVs. NEC has been around for a fairly long time, but I can't comment much on their quality in regard to color or performance.  I know the 42" SVA HDTV plasma screen my parents have has worked flawlessly since they bought it 6 years ago.

I believe Sharp also makes their own LCDs, but they aren't very prominent in the mainstream LCD market. NEC has a slightly bigger presence, but they still aren't as prominent as some of the other manufacturers mentioned here.

Reading some of the reviews on newegg, this panel (which is just about the only real panel from NEC worth considering in newegg's inventory) is apparently just another TN panel like what you'd find from Acer. 

"Specs say 176-degree viewing angle. This is in reality just a regular TN panel. Actual viewing angle is closer to 160-degrees. Inaccurate colors and uneven brightness."

This Monitor is Excellent in everything but FPS Games 

Its your call really, but my impressions from the research I've done and the reviews posted here so far lead me to believe that *for the mainstream consumer market* NEC's panels aren't any better than Acer's panels. They do make some professional panels that are pretty awesome, but those also come at a price.

On a side note, I happened to come across another resource. I'll add this to the original post as well. 

This will describe the differences between the 3 most common LCD panel technologies.

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php

duder49:

How about laptops? Is it generally laptop manufacturers that make their own LCD screens, or do they contract those out? I only ask because I just bought a new Lenovo tablet, and your post piqued my curiousity.

Almost all laptops use outsourced panel manufacturers. You may find some that make their own, but its very rare. Its not like you have a choice of what built-in monitor to use with a laptop anyway. It would be difficult to determine what model of what laptop uses what panel unless you looked up the replacement part number for that specific screen, and even those can vary depending on upgrade options for a laptop, such as going from a 1280x800 to a 1680x1050 resolution display on the exact same 15.4" laptop.

I know some Lenovo notebooks use LG panels, but I really couldn't tell you unless you could get me the FRU # for the exact panel inside that laptop. 

XtremeRevolution:

Why is this not stickied anymore?

Anyone?

Tracer76:

Sorry Xrev next time just PM one of us and let us know so we can do it right away.

Sweet! Thanks buddy. 

13dcl:

So the Acer G24 is made by some one else even it's the only one with a Contrast Ratio of 50000:1???

I can't answer questions based on specific LCDs. I believe Acer makes their own panels, though I'm not 100% sure so I didn't state it as fact yet. When I do find out, I'll post it. Keep in mind Acer is not the only company who manufactures panels using ACM (Adaptive Contrast Management) technology to produce high rated contrast ratios. The LG W2261VG, the Samsung T220P, and the Samsung SM2494HS also support a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, to name a few. I do think Acer makes the G24 though. I'll look into whether or not Acer manufactures all of their panels.

XtremeRevolution:

13dcl:

So the Acer G24 is made by some one else even it's the only one with a Contrast Ratio of 50000:1???

 

I can't answer questions based on specific LCDs. I believe Acer makes their own panels, though I'm not 100% sure so I didn't state it as fact yet. When I do find out, I'll post it. Keep in mind Acer is not the only company who manufactures panels using ACM (Adaptive Contrast Management) technology to produce high rated contrast ratios. The LG W2261VG, the Samsung T220P, and the Samsung SM2494HS also support a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, to name a few. I do think Acer makes the G24 though. I'll look into whether or not Acer manufactures all of their panels.

Ya if you could look in to it, I got the G24 and it's my 2nd one the first the back light went bad with in a week and a half, rma it got a replacement, if this go's bad again I was going to look into LG or Samsung any way. I now thous two are top nosh.

Thanks     

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13dcl:

XtremeRevolution:

13dcl:

So the Acer G24 is made by some one else even it's the only one with a Contrast Ratio of 50000:1???

 

I can't answer questions based on specific LCDs. I believe Acer makes their own panels, though I'm not 100% sure so I didn't state it as fact yet. When I do find out, I'll post it. Keep in mind Acer is not the only company who manufactures panels using ACM (Adaptive Contrast Management) technology to produce high rated contrast ratios. The LG W2261VG, the Samsung T220P, and the Samsung SM2494HS also support a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, to name a few. I do think Acer makes the G24 though. I'll look into whether or not Acer manufactures all of their panels.

Ya if you could look in to it, I got the G24 and it's my 2nd one the first the back light went bad with in a week and a half, rma it got a replacement, if this go's bad again I was going to look into LG or Samsung any way. I now thous two are top nosh.

Thanks     

Well don't get me wrong here, but consider what I have to say. I don't think Acer makes the best quality products. Sure, there will be plenty of people here who will say their LCDs are great and that they have never had a problem with one, but having never had a problem with something doesn't mean that product is of great quality or that another product made by that manufacturer is of similar quality. I've sold plenty of them to users on a budget as well.