HP DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display: perfect for pros

While most of the LCDs you see at the local reseller are designed for consumers, there’s a significant market out there for people who need more than a basic panel. These people are looking for exceptional colour definition. HP’s LP2480zx display is pitched at those of us who need a high-quality output.

The first thing that’s obvious with the LP3480zx is that HP takes build quality very seriously. The LP2480zx comes in two parts: a base and the display. The base is very solid and is equipped with a slide-and-snap mounting system for the screen. The screen slides over a moulding and snaps into place, making assembly very easy – although you may like to have a helper to make sure you don’t drop the screen as it is quite heavy.

One of the criticisms we’ve leveled at some of HP’s screens is that they only ship with a limited set of cables – typically just a VGA cable. However, the LP2480zx comes with VGA, DVI and HDMI cables so you won’t need to trek out to the local electronics store once you’ve lugged the unit home.

The display has height and tilt adjustment, so it’s easy to position it in the optimal viewing position. When the screen is at its full height, it can be rotated into portrait mode making it ideal for viewing full-page documents. As the LP2480zx is being pitched at designers, the ability to view a full page at 1920 by 1200 on the 24-in LCD is invaluable.

Our benchmarking with PassMark’s MonitorTest revealed one of the best set of results we’ve seen. The interfaces between adjacent colours were sharp, with no blurring that we could see. Ellipses and diagonals were very crisp and clean, with jaggies only noticeable when we got very close to the screen. By the way, when the LP2480zx is powered on, it warns that optimal colour quality may not be achieved for about 30 minutes, until the panel has warmed up.

The review unit supplied to us didn’t have any dead or stuck pixels. HP deems a panel to be defective if there are either three “bright” pixels where the colour is stuck on, five dark pixels (where the pixel is completely off) or a combined total of five stuck or dead pixels. The policy is reasonable, although a premium panel pitched at design pros ought not to have any dead pixels.

Video playback was excellent. HP doesn’t publish response times, but we had no trouble watching fast-moving action sequences from the DVDs we selected. There aren’t any integrated speakers, although you can add an optional speaker bar made by HP.

While most monitors only offer the usual DVI and VGA connectors, the LP2480zx provides lots of options. There are inputs for DVI, VGA, component and HDMI devices. All can be connected simultaneously and you can then toggle between the outputs. In addition, the LP2480zx can be used as a four-port USB hub.

Is there anything we’d have liked to see added to the LP2480zx? We’d have to be getting very picky, but perhaps some integrated speakers. However, that’s getting pedantic as, after all, this is a computer display – and a darn good one at that.

For professionals looking for a high-quality display with great image quality, excellent ergonomics and excellent build quality, we’d suggest having the HP DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display on your shopping shortlist.