i am looking at a viewsonic 1080p ips monitor for $150 USD and i would like to know why this monitor is an extra $40? like what makes an ips monitor so special and why should i get one?
IPS have better colours and viewing angles. In my opinion, it's worth an additional $40 in comparison to conventional panel types. Other panel types go dark around the edges when you shift your view.
IPS is a good middle ground between gaming, design/editing, and viewing media.
The inherent problem with IPS monitors is that they are always 60Hz, unless you overclock them. You might prefer a 120-144Hz TN panel. But those panels are often much more expensive than the cheapest IPS monitors.
PLS/IPS monitors FTW. But as Berserker said color reproduction is allot better on a IPS monitor as well as viewing angles.
I currently have a QNIX 1440 IPS monitor and it is great for everything however I will be picking up a second monitor that will be a 144hz TN panel for competitive gaming. That way i will have the best of both worlds
IPS is absolutely worth it & will be the best choice in most cases.
IMHO: The only reasons not to use an IPS panel is
- you competing in upper 10% in first-person-shooter-multilayer,
- you are after the ultimate power savings in a Laptop,
- or you are on a brutally tight budget.
Sumary of TFT display technology:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm
Very much worth it.
I find it lovely while playing games because of the better colors, contrast, etc, and it is a lot easier to set up in multi monitor set up due to its wider range of viewing angles.
I am also into photo and video editing, and am very happy with these IPS monitors as they give me the greatest approximation to WYSIWYG in terms of colors etc