Eizo S2110W
Eizo is back in our tests and the least we can say is that their come back is sensational! Eizo chose a fast S-PVA (produced by Samsung) intended for video, game, special effects, DAC and 3D professionals. Such a list suggests accurate color quality, very wide viewing angles and a very fast reaction time.
To begin with, the S2110W is a 21 inch monitor. Its standard resolution is the same as a 20 inch (the Apple Cinema Display or Dell 2005FPW), 1680 x 1050 pixels. It is easier to read text with this monitor but the amount of information displayed is equivalent. Here it’s compared to 17 and 19 inch monitors:
Thanks to Eizo, who disclosed certain information to us, we finally understood the difference between the previous generation of PVA panels and the new ones called S-PVA. The main difference is in terms of pixels. Some readers already noted a “boomerang” cell structure with several monitors and from now on, it seems that all PVA panels will feature this. With S-PVA panels, this structure is doubled. Each sub-pixel now features two parts with two different angles for orientation to maximize viewing angles. This angle difference would improve colors when seen from the side.
As for response time, the 8 milliseconds listed in the product’s specifications is no longer obtained with a simple
overdrive but rather a double. The first is applied to rise time and the second to fall time. This is supposed to improve overall quality and reduce ghosting. Eizo and Samsung coupled a circuit devoted to image anticipation, based on a calculation of the three previous images. This doesn’t completely do away with afterglow, says the manufacturer, but contributes to diminishing it.
Eizo specifies that the 8ms response time is obtained with an average of response times measured from each 31, 63, 95, 127, 159, 191, and 223 grays (meaning, of course, the RGB grey scale from 0 to 255).
In terms of colors, this monitor isn’t an 8 or 10 bit, but rather a 14. If a standard monitor only uses 256 levels of color per RGB component and a 10 bit reaches 1,024, this one has 16,384 levels. This means that it can theoretically differeciate 4398 billion colors (compared to 16 million for standard LCDs).
Finally, Eizo integrated an automatic brightness adjustment. This sensor has two functions. It regulates brightness according to ambient lighting and, most of all emphasizes Eizo, it avoids the 20 to 30 minute wait for the monitor to warm up and colors to stabilize. Colors should be accurate and stable as soon as the monitor is turned on.
All this and we haven’t even have started on ergonomics...
As it looks on the paper, the S2110W is a generation ahead. Now we still have to find out whether all of these innovations represent real gains in practice.
