Hanns.G's 28-inch HG281D monitor gets reviewed

Hanns.G's 28-inch HG281D monitor doesn't look to have gotten much in the way of an official release 'round these parts, but that hasn't stopped the folks at Extreme Tech from snagging one for a review, with them lured in mainly by the monitor's sub-$700 price tag. As you might expect, while the monitor hits all the right spec marks, including a 1920 x 1200 resolution, 3 ms response time, and 800:1 contrast ratio, it doesn't quite hold its own against similarly-sized, and significantly more expensive monitors. The biggest problem, it seems, is the monitor's poor gamma curve and dark color performance which, when combined with the utter lack of any extra features, make the monitor tough for them to recommend. On the upside, it apparently does have good fast-motion performance, and there is that price, but it sounds like you may want to wait for some of the competition to go on sale before taking the plunge on this one.

[ReWire @ Feb 13th 2008 12:42PM]

Craper must work for Hanns, ya think.

[Monte @ Feb 7th 2008 9:51PM]

Bought 1 @ BestBuy for $599 and returned it to buy 2 @ Costco for $499 ea. A big step up from my 22" LG Flattrons. One of the Costco items had a single stuck pixel but it was easily exchanged. The BestBuy/Costco items appeared to be the same model (according to the box it had the same model #), the only difference I could tell was that the BestBuy item had a black base, and the Costco item had a grey base (along the top face).

So far I am pleased with this no frills monitor. I use it for my dual monitor workstation via DVI, and the Xbox360 via the HDMI. There is no "source input" button, so you have to navigate thru the menus to switch Input (which you get good at eventually). As a hardcore software developer and recreational gamer, I have no complaints about the quality -- it's better than I expected for the money! Thanks HannsG. Just hope they last.

Oh, there is one thing -- the brightness is enough to lure bugs from the entire neighborhood =). Had to drop the brightness to ~ 50%.

Monte

[Nowwhatnapster @ Feb 26th 2008 2:58PM]

This monitor was a Steal! I got this puppy for 499 from NewEgg. + about 25 bucks shipping. There is nothing even close to this monitor. Yes it has horrible gamma/contrast/brightness. But with a little fine tuning you can make it bearable. For a PC monitor this size, and price, i have absolutely no complaints. If i had to pay more than 499 for it I would tell you not to get it. Drop your brightness down to 50 and contrast down to 50 and deal with any residual discomfort. Or use your Graphics card to make some additional adjustments. I use it for movies, FPS games, autoCAD, quarkXpress, & Photoshop on a regular basis. I'm about to buy a second and use it as a TV/Second monitor.

[Josh @ Apr 1st 2008 6:41PM]

Has anyone here bought this monitor in canada? More specificly in Montreal? Wtv anywhere in canada would be fine. I really want to buy 1 but can't seem to find it anywhere... would costco here in Canada have it? Please help

[Rich @ Jul 10th 2008 7:01PM]

Bought the monitor from Newegg. $489.00 including shipping, Apparently a good price from what I read above. Had to send it back to Newegg for a replacement. 75% of screen is totally useless.Newegg will not refund on a LCD purchase. Expensive to ship back for replacement. This is my 6th LCD (monitors and TV's). This is a total disappointment at this time. Have to wait to receive replacement to complain. Newegg's non refundable policy is a lesson learned, will burn for a long time. But, I was forewarned, and took the risk.

[Meanali @ Sep 5th 2008 2:29PM]

Does this model have Energy Star rating and/or meet " Compliant and TCO '99/ TCO '03 power management compatible ", whatever?

I do fiar amount of digital imaging with photoshop 7.0, any ideas concerning color of photos matching color in Hanns G monior or does one always purchase some calibration unit to pruify color rendition?

Sorry, don't have much of a grasp on these issues.
Thank you in advance

[chris @ Oct 8th 2008 1:59PM]

i actually purchased this about a year ago. The monitor is freaking awesome. no dead pixels nice and bright. im a core gamer and every game i play on this runs with no flickering and yadda yadda.. yes when i bought it, i was iffy due to the brand name hanns? but i spent like 2 grand last year, paying for the best of the best, building my computer and was tight on cash to upgrd my 19inch lcd monitor with what i had.(best value for the money) i took a chance got this monitor and it is what it is , best value for the money. 3ms 1900x1200 28inchs? price dropped and now its only like 400 something, thats a price of a "" high quality 22 inch. screw that garbage go hanns if your going to play High end Games you better have some good vid cards to support a 1900x1200 28inches.

i still got 2 year warranty left on these bad boys. i was thinking rebuilding or making a new computer and running 2 22" HANNS monitor, hanns got my trust =)

[Gruchak @ Nov 10th 2008 1:34PM]

I have not had this monitor a year. I turn it on and within 30 minutes the screen goes black. I have to turn the monitor off for 5 secs and then turn it on. Often it goes black again immediately. I can repeat this several times and all I get is black screen, black screen, black screen. Can't recommend this to anyone.

PS No, I don't have any power-saving or anything turned on.

[M @ Dec 22nd 2008 5:04PM]

This monitor is now at a very very tempting price of 350 with free shipping from newegg. I could not resist the temptation.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254026

[Great Price @ Jan 17th 2009 8:41PM]

Now $359 w/Free Shipping at Newegg. Same link as above. I could not resist.

[Kermit @ Jan 31st 2009 3:27PM]

Purchased this recently as part of my new gaming/media PC build as it was going for a damn good price so I thought what the hell lets try it out.

So far I am very impressed, the native gamma is much better than I expected and the colour range and balance is very good, response time is perfect and I have not noticed any issues with the monitor when playing games or watching movies.

One tip I will suggest is to setup some monitor profiles if your gfx card config allows and have some configured for gaming, office/photo/graphics and movie playback so you don't have to tweak the contrast and gamma each time.

My only gripe is that with the monitor being so large you start to think the 1920x1200 resolution is not quite enough for this beast as I noticed slight pixelation when working in Illustrator and Photoshop (both work great on this screen).

Overall value for money and a step in the right direction for these types of screens as I have found there are not enough screens in the middle range, mostly being very budget or highend.

[Kermit @ Jan 31st 2009 3:36PM]

Fantastic value for money.

I wanted a mid-range tft screen that offered some screen real-estate, decent resolution and good response time for gaming and multimedia work.

I was in the process of building a new rig and noticed the price tag of 350 euros so thought WTH lets try it out.

Was not dissappointed, gamma is very good for this kind of large tft monitor and color range and balance are also very good considering the initial basic spec and low price of the screen. I use Adobe products quite a lot and have a dedicated Eizo Graphics Pro TFT Monitor costing 4 times the price but the Hanns.g does a damn good job of satisfying the needs for apps like Illustrator and Photoshop.

Gaming is great as response times are fast so you get no ghosting however I found I needed to enable V-Sync on many games to stop screen shearing due the large display size (only really noticeable when running in SLi and at max res).

I recommend creating some profiles for the monitor if your gfx card config tool allows it so you have one profile for gaming, one for video playback (low gamma, high contrast etc) and one for Graphics/Office work.

Overall very impressed and a step in the right direction, lets hope more manufacturers pay attention and offer a good low to mid-range monitor with the same features of the Hanns.g if not better (and importantly the quality).

[bluphysted @ Mar 24th 2009 7:11AM]

Great LCD so far.

HUGE.

With any tech, it can be a luck of the draw. Fortunately, I have no dead pixels, but there's always a chance that an LCD will have one.

Nice and bright.

I've tried a few 24" LCDs at work (HP), and while they were nice, the 28" is a very big difference, and just puts the gaming experience over the top.

As far as QA goes, I can only say that my monitor, so far, is flawless and performing admirably. I purchased through NewEgg.ca. I was a little disappointed to realize that the stuff is still being shipped from the states.. I was sort of expecting a new Canadian based warehouse or something. I hope I don't have to deal with the trouble of a cross-border RMA,

It's no doubt not the best/most crisp monitor out there.. but if you want a nice, huge LCD, and you're not a finicky graphic artists or something, this monitor is a great buy. Love it.

[richardmcundy @ May 11th 2009 2:42PM]

Can someone tell me how I get the on screen menu and what is OSD?

Rich

[richardmcundy @ May 15th 2009 7:54PM]

Can someone tell me how I get the on screen menu and what is OSD?

Rich

[richardmcundy @ May 15th 2009 11:10PM]

Can someone tell me how I get the on screen menu and what is OSD?

Rich

[richardmcundy @ Jun 5th 2009 10:01PM]

Can someone tell me how I get the on screen menu and what is OSD?

Rich

[ewizzle @ Oct 24th 2007 2:46PM]

Man I just saw this monitor the other day at Best Buy and Costco. Both places asking about $600 for it. Really is tempting. Comes with a DVI to HDMI dongle. Really thinking about getting one, but I'm sure the prices will drop more for Black Friday.

[craper @ Oct 24th 2007 3:03PM]

The reviewer is on someones payroll as I purchased one and I also own expense LCD monitors too. This 28" is a steal and is so good I plan to buy another one as this will spoil you with the 28" screen. The review complaints it does not have a USB hub "what a lot of crap" I never use the USB hub on my other monitors so who cares. Bottom line this 28" is the best bang for the buck period and just buy one and enjoy.

[BobTheMonkey @ Oct 24th 2007 3:07PM]

I also have one, and I love it. I use it for my computer, and use it to play my 360 (Halo). My only complaints is that you have to set the brightness in games to the highest in order to see anything.

I just wish it has PIP, and a USB hub. Otherwise, I love it.

[xtrmcheeze @ Oct 24th 2007 3:12PM]

I think you're better off going with a 24" monitor with the same resolution. Sure you could get 4" more for an extra $200 or so, but you'd get a much better quality monitor if you got a good $400 24" LCD. It's like any other piece of technology, you learn never to go with the first one on the shelf, you research and compare, read reviews (more than one) and be a little patient.

[craper @ Oct 24th 2007 3:53PM]

What's the make and model of the better 24" for 400 - let me tell you none - what a good 24" costs is the same price as the Hanns-G 28" and by the way HannsStar is the ONLY one the produces the 28" panel which is used by Viewsonic in their 28" also HannsStar and Hanns-G are the same company.

[kevinm @ Oct 24th 2007 3:40PM]

I have a great review of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzGP9gRW_XU

I've looked at this model at BestBuy I believe and it's nice...

[craper @ Oct 24th 2007 4:13PM]

Check out the user reviews at this link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254026

[Robert B @ Oct 24th 2007 4:25PM]

I even if this monitor were $400 and had the best specs on the market, I would be extremely leery about buying anything from HannsG. I was in the market for a new monitor about a year ago and I bought a 19" widescreen HannsG. Three months later, I had to send it in for service.

I was told it would take about 2 weeks to get it back. That time came and passed, and still no monitor. Every time I'd call, they'd tell me that the technician had just started working on it, that it would be done any day. Finally, after a week of calling every day, they admitted that they didn't have the parts to fix my monitor, and that I was just going to have to wait until the parts showed up. No matter that I had been without my tower for well over a month after only using the monitor for three months, they wouldn't ship me a replacement. When they finally did ship it back to me, it had a stuck pixel.

In my personal experience, the quality from HannsG is hit or miss. The tech support guys don't know what's going on, or they lie to you, and it's likely that if you have a problem, you'll be without a monitor for quite a bit of time, so hopefully you have a backup.

[craper @ Oct 24th 2007 4:35PM]

Please check the reviews of the Hanns-G monitors on Newegg and they are all rated 5 stars - I purchased the Hanns-G 28" from Costco and if you know about Costco return policy I can return this 1 or 2 years + and get my money back.

[Robert B @ Oct 24th 2007 7:33PM]

I have an HW191D, which if you check the reviews on NewEgg, does not have entirely 5 star reviews. It actually has a number of lower ratings.

[Ramone @ Oct 24th 2007 5:42PM]

@craper
Costco changed their policy. You now have 6 months. Still pretty good though.

[heartday @ Oct 24th 2007 7:08PM]

From what i know, they only give u 90 days to return the product (LCD).

[craper @ Oct 24th 2007 7:40PM]

Costco return policy on monitors is still lifetime here is what is not from their web site:

THE RETURN POLICY FOR TELEVISIONS, PROJECTORS, COMPUTERS, CAMERAS, CAMCORDERS, IPODS / MP3S, AND CELLULAR PHONES IS 90 DAYS FROM DATE OF PURCHASE.

Computers are when you buy a full system not just a monitor

[heartday @ Oct 24th 2007 8:01PM]

So, LCD is not include to the 90 days RETURN POLICY. WOW, nice to find out, thanks

[ewizzle @ Oct 24th 2007 9:23PM]

How about a 24" Samsung? The 245BW looks like a good monitor. TN Panel though, ~$430.

Dell just came out with a new 24" monitor. Looks like the 2407, except it is a TN panel, and doesn't have a USB hub or media card readers for ~$460

Is the HannsG really worth it... I am really trying to figure out with one to get. Either a HannsG or the Samsung 245BW.

[Richrybi @ Oct 25th 2007 8:54AM]

I bought a Hanns-G LCD TV (26") earlier this year.
Have had numerous problems with it, e.g screen display randomly cutting out for a cpl of seconds, or switching to the wrong AV channel spontaneously, to the PIP appearing without me touching the remote. More recently, a number of the remote control buttons have stopped working, and those that do work are intermittent, as are the buttons on the top of the TV (switching the TV on and off resets this latter problem). Dire TV, will never touch another Hanns-G product.

[Gary @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:43PM]

I just bought a Hanns-G HG281D (28") and am pretty pleased so far. I am still thinking about taking it back to Costco and getting the 30" Dell or Samsung. Its a tough decision because I can find nothing wrong with it. I play my DVD backups using DVD neXt Copy Pro (http://www.dvdxcopy.com) and they look great as well. i don't do much gaming though, so maybe that's why I can't tell. What's so bad about a "TN" panel anyway?

[J. Evans Turner @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:35AM]

Gary is a spammer!

[ngo @ Oct 25th 2007 10:39AM]

I have a HannsG 28". The monitor looks great from faraway but it's quite annoying when the brightness isn't consistent at different angles. In addition, it doesn't sync properly to my XBOx 360 using the HD VGA cable so I can only play it at 13xx x 768.

[Gary @ Dec 8th 2007 11:52PM]

I played back a backup DVD with a DVD Copy program I bought at http://www.dvdxcopy.com and the DVD backup plays great on this 28' monitor. My only hope is that it stands the test on time, particularly on the backlight on the lower cost models which seem to fade quicker than the premium priced lcd monitors.