Gateway XHD3000 30-inch Wide-Screen

[Rob Williams]

Gateway, not content to let Dell and others hog the limelight in the display market, have recently launched their XHD3000 monitor. It offers a wide-range of connectivity options along with bright picture and an incredible upscaler. When said and done, this is one model we can heartily recommend.

You can read the full review here and discuss it here.

 

[sbrehm72255]

Impressive display to say the least, something I can only dream of owning myself, but we all have to have a dream or 2 I guess.............

I didn't notice if you tested the display with any FPS games or how it worked with them, but I could have missed it while I was cleaning up the mess on my KB.........

 

[Unregistered]

What kind of panel

Sir,


Thank you for this great review.

I was wondering what the panel type was on this monitor?

It sure is a *VA, but might wel be a P-MVA from AuOptronics no? If not may be a S-PVA?

Could you clarify please?

Thank you

CJ

 

[Rob Williams]

I didn't notice if you tested the display with any FPS games or how it worked with them, but I could have missed it while I was cleaning up the mess on my KB.........

For some reason, I didn't think to mention anything in the review as I focused on console gaming, but FPS gaming on the PC is also fantastic. During the time I had it here, all recent GPU benchmarking was completed on it, and I also played a little bit of Unreal Tournament III without issue. The colors are bright and despite the 6ms response time, I didn't notice a hint of ghosting.

I was wondering what the panel type was on this monitor?

I was unable to find this out before publishing, but I am awaiting a response from Gateway and I can fill you in. Sorry about not having the information in there!

 

[sbrehm72255]

Thanks for the update on UT3...........

 

[werty316]

Now that is one nice looking display and I can only imagine how a great FPS game like COD4 or HL2 would look.

/me likes and /me wants but the reality is I'll most likely never own one.

 

[Unregistered]

Look like an awesome display, I can only imagine playing Crysis or CoD4 in it.

 

[Rob Williams]

It sure is a *VA, but might wel be a P-MVA from AuOptronics no? If not may be a S-PVA?

Gateway got back to me but will not disclose what kind of panel it is. I am not familiar enough with all of the different panels to assume what it is. Sorry about that.

 

[sbrehm72255]

Easy enough to find out if they aren't talking (Gateway)................

Gateway XHD3000, 6ms G2G, 30"WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM300M1)

 

[Rob Williams]

Hah, CJ's assumption was correct. Nice find sbrehm!

 

[sbrehm72255]

Same basic panel that's in my el-cheapo Soyo, except mine is made by AUO ((M24E14 S-PVA) and not Samsung (S-PVA LTM240CS01).........

IAW the chart I was looking at Gateway uses mainly Samsung panels, at least on the better non-TN displays.

 

[Unregistered]

Panel

Thank you for the info, sbrehm72255

I did not get that the Gateway had a 6ms panel (P-MVA is a 8ms panel). 6ms G2G is S-PVA for sure. The biggest P-MVA monitors out there are still the 24 inchers from Viewsonic (VX2435wm) and LG (L245WP-BN).

It's said that the larger the panel the less MVA types have the edge. MVA have a better image quality when it comes to playing back movies from the PC (HD or not).
It would be exiting to know how a 30 inch MVA panel fared compared to a PVA one when playing movies from a computer (upscaling from consoles is a another thing).

Keep those interesting reviews coming TechGage!

CJ

 

[sbrehm72255]

I'd been a bit worried about using one of those 8ms panels for gaming though, 6ms is already pushing the limits IMHO.

But seeing as I never watch movies, or use my rig for console gaming, S-PVA works more than good enough. I'd like to get another matching display, but Soyo like somany other companies switched panels in mid stream and they are now using TN panels on the same modle display I have for better gaming results (faster responce times and lower input lag)

 

[Rob Williams]

I did not get that the Gateway had a 6ms panel (P-MVA is a 8ms panel). 6ms G2G is S-PVA for sure. The biggest P-MVA monitors out there are still the 24 inchers from Viewsonic (VX2435wm) and LG (L245WP-BN).

I really need to touch up on my panel-types. To be honest, this might be one of the last display reviews I personally do, since Matt Serrano will be handling the bulk of them. The main reason I reviewed the Gateway was because I was contemplating a purchase.

After some thought though, and seeing the 3008WFP from Dell at CES, I am leaning more towards that. I appreciate the higher color gamut, and it also has an upscaler like this Gateway. It's a little more expensive than the Gateway, but I feel the color gamut and better contrast ratio would be worth it. I just hope the upscaler would be as good as what's seen here.

CJ, what are your thoughts on S-IPS panels (which the 3008WFP uses)?

I'd been a bit worried about using one of those 8ms panels for gaming though, 6ms is already pushing the limits IMHO

It's odd, but I've never really found much of a problem with 8ms panels. But it's increasingly difficult to have a large monitor with a smaller response time, so 6ms is what we'll have to deal with until better panels come out. That's the downside of the Dell I want though... it has 8ms as opposed to 6ms. I am really not sure I'd see the difference though.

 

[sbrehm72255]

If I remember correctly the Dells (Samsung panels) have a type of overdrive that helps eliminate/improve gaming and the like on their panels, so with any luck you won't have any issues.

I know I have a little ghosting on my Soyo at 6ms, but it's a basic display, there's no type of overdrive or extra electronics for console scaling, just a bare 24" computer LCD.

Here's a little more info on the topic by panel type, lots of great info on the site.

In reality the response time of the pixels will vary depending on the colour change they are making. In practice, a full black > white change is not common, and instead the pixel transitions are in shades of grey, and are then passed through the colour filters. The speed of changes will depend on the darkness of the transition, and traditionally (before overdrive) the transitions to lighter greys will be faster. Therefore, a manufacturers quoted response time does not necessarily mean that the speed of the pixels is the same for all the transitions. It is always a good idea to see if there are any third party measurements of response time for any given screen, by places like Tom’s Hardware Guide and X-Bit Labs before considering how fast a panel really is in practice

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

 

[Peakr]

I've been lusting after this monitor for awhile now. Still unsure about the purchase though. I've heard about an issue with a screw showing through on the panel. Kind a worried about the 1 year warranty on a 1700$ monitor as well. Mr. Williams? Any input lag while playing fps games?

 

[Rob Williams]

sbrehm, Thanks for that link, it's great. I have a feeling I'll be visiting it more than once.

Peakr, There sure isn't a screw visible on the display I have. I would imagine that such a rare defect like that would be covered by Gateway's warranty.

As for lag, this is one thing I meant to cover more in the review. There is no noticable lag at full resolution at all. I played a fair bit of Crysis, UTIII and HL: Episode Two during the run of this monitor and never had a problem with lag.

When using a non-native resolution, that changes a little bit. Because the upscaler is in use, there -will- be some slight lag, but even if wasn't too problematic for the most part. I can test this out a little bit more tomorrow if able and relay my thoughts.

Ideally, on any 30" display, gaming should be done at native resolution for the best picture.

 

[sbrehm72255]

Ideally, on any 30" display, gaming should be done at native resolution for the best picture.

Your statement holds true for any LCD computer display really, native rez as a rule brings out the best overall performance ...............

 

[Rob Williams]

Thanks for calling me out man, I appreciate it

I agree though. In the case of this monitor, because the brightness goes down a bit when using the upscaler, using the native resolution is better if possible. It wasn't until close to the end of this review that I noticed that either. I was playing my MMO at 1920 and then ALT+TAB'd to Windows which was 2560, and instantly saw the brightness increase.

At least I assume it's the upscaler. I don't have the brightness go down when lowering the resolution on the monitor I am using now, so that's where my blame will go.

 

[CJ_Matiq]

S-IPS panels

Hello all!

I decided to join in (ie register)!

Rob, I will have more time to answer your question about S-IPS panel tomorrow.
All I can say: S-IPS are great for graphic designers. the color reproduction is best on these panels. For movies, now that the dell has an upscaler, I wouldn't know for sure, but it's common knowledge that they are not the best for playing back movies (you see too much of the encoding downgrade) or for gaming (slow panels at 16ms).

However viewing angle and color reproduction are great. S-IPS panels are best used for professionnal graphic /CAD /Photo work.

I have to agree with you Rob : I bought a viewsonic vp2030, it's a p-mva panel and 8 ms fast, and I can not say it's slow or ghosting or anything even when playing FPSs. For movies its a great panel, a bit too much backlight but very manageable.

I'll post some links tomorrow though.

Laterz

CJ