The Hanns.G HG281D is the super best-buy screen for studio sequencing currently in January 2009. A huge 28 inch screen for just 260 GBP!!
I had planned to do a more formal full-on review of the Hanns.G HG281D, but time constraints meant all I managed to get was a selection of footage during the process of setting up the system which this screen was designated for use with - But checkout the video and then ask yourself... at that price can you live without such a huge display for your sequencer? - We're talking almost Apple 30" Cinema display proportions for less than a quarter the cost of a 30" Cinema display!
The story so far...
I read alot about the Hanns.G HG281D over the two months leading up to Christmas 2008 and I had to bite; purchasing an HG281D as part of my son's university graduation studio upgrade. The various reviews on the web all said it was super value; offering huge screen estate but at the cost of only an average screen image quality and colour accuracy... hmmm...
For PC and Mac studio people, super colour-accuracy is not a particularly strong requirement as we're going to be running a sequencer software which displays in fairly basic colours compared to hi-end graphics requirements, and therefore a less than 100% colour-accurate display shouldn't be a problem at all... So I paid up and the screen duly arrived via courier in an absolutely humungous cardboard box emblazoned with wizz-bang colour photo's of speeding motorbikes (not sure why, but...)
When we finaly unpacked the beast it was quite an event because the sheer size of this monitor frankly defies belief given the cost; and when we fired her up it became obvious that many of the 'boffiny' web reviews had played down the quality of this screen quite a bit!
Ok, in truth it's not the most attractive screen in the world... and yes, the product manufacturer's name emblazoned in raised silver lettering right in the center of the screen's lower bezel is a tad garish, but once you fire this baby up and see the absolutely immense display, all those minor reviewers' criticisms just fade away!!
The Hanns.G HG281D is finished in a satin black colour, and once you've removed the various stickers that screen manufacturer's like to plaster on their screen bevels, it's actualy a very pleasant looking display! - If you really don't like the raised silver 'Hanns.G' logo then you could, at a push, paint the thing black, but I honestly didn't find anything about the display's design terribly detracting or unsightly at all... i think some of the more 'bespoke' reviewers just have to find something to say, and thus drawing attention to a less than cutting-edge styling offers the opportunity for plenty of review verbage!
So the checklist! - The Hanns.G HG281D offers MONSTER screen estate making your sequencer a veritable joy to use - DVI to HDMI cable included so it's ready to plugin to a Mac or PC with DVI output - D-Sub cable also included should you not have a DVI connection on your graphic's card - A resolution of 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz - Built-in speakers for a quickfix but with the addition of a speaker pass-thru socket to allow connection of decent quality speakers if required - Height, tilt and rotate adjustments are all there, along with a very decent viewing angle ability - and best of all for us music-sequencer folks, the sheer size of this screen allows you to work on your music in your studio and always have a good view of the proceedings even if you aren't plonked right in front of the screen! - Often in the studio you might stand up and move a bit away from center-location to tweak a synth or play a master keyboard etc... The immense size of this display makes it a snip to see the sequencer, especialy useful for the er... *cough*... older studio musician who might be heading towards 'needing glasses' territory! ...(yes it happens!)
Lastly with the addition of HDMI you can wire in your PS3 or X-Box for some gaming fun between music-sessions and this surely is the final killer 'must have' reason to get this screen!! - Many younger musicians play games; they want a good old screen for gaming but can't justify splashing out on a cheap LCD TV AND a decent large monitor for their bedroom studio! - Well the Hanns.G HG281D solves that like Sherlock Holmes mate!... Wang your games machine in via the HDMI socket and off you go for some monster-screen gaming action with a very respectable & nippy 3ms response time to aid your gaming fun! - I would say that at the same time I bought this Hanns.G HG281D, I also bought a much pricier Samsung screen costing almost double the price, and that screen only does 5ms (!) and frankly isn't noticably any better in image quality for sequencing and other everyday tasks than the Hanns.G HG281D!!... Don't beleive any reviews which knock this screens image quality, it's pretty damned good if driven from a decent graphic's card!... Sure you ain't going to use this for professional video editing colour-correction work or pro graphics work, but even for use with Final-Cut-Studio, the Hanns.G HG281D offers massive affordable screen estate, so important for proper use of Final-Cut's timeline, and you can always bolt on a colour-accurate display if required allocated as your desktop preview monitor, but having said that the image quality is fine for general editing work in Final-Cut!
Finaly to tempt you, Hanns.G offer a full 3 year on-site warranty (in the uk they do anyways), where apparently a courier will come to pickup a faulty display... can't be bad!.. but having said that, the Hanns.G HG281D is so affordable, you could almost chuck it away and buy a new one each year!
So - The Hanns.G HG281D - Without doubt this is THE number-1 studio musician best-buy screen right now... It's hard to explain just how impressive this baby is once you haul her out of the box and see her for the first time sitting on your worktop!!... Then when you fire up your sequencer and see all that huge screen estate you'll be in heaven!... You've be crazy not to get one frankly!
Dancetech gives the Hanns.G HG281D a massive 10/10 for best music-studio screen as of january 2009 bar NONE!
My brother bought me one of these for Christmas. I unwrapped it, plugged her in, and dam, I was not impressed at all, it didnt work!
Eventually I got the on-site warranty guy to come and replace it. Which was bloody hard work.
So I got my nice big monitor running, WOW, very impressive! However two weeks later it has broken down, only showing a white screen now. Now I have to go back to my trusty old monitor, thanks Hanns G.
I am extrememly dubious about getting a replacement, I want a full refund, but probably wont get one. I simply do not trust Hanns G quality and would implore anyone thinking of buying one, to steer WELL clear of them. This is based off my own personal experience.
Chris
15-Feb-09
I bought this a few months ago and its awesome. No dead pixels whatsoever and still picture perfect. I have recommended to friends as there is no other decent monitor in 28" for the price. I have connected via the HDMI and running through 2 x 8800 o/c nvidia cards . No problem putting dvds, blu ray and hd onto the screen, perfect everytime . Plays every game i have in pixel perfect resolution. I would be perfectly happy to buy another when or even if this breaks down.
dave
08-Mar-09
superb piece of kit i love it.
Mike Creed
27-Mar-09
OK, I'm the guy at the top saying how poor this monitor has been for me, so. . .
I'm on my third one now and it's been working as it SHOULD be now for several months now and no problems. So I think I've gotten over my super-hyper-turbo-klingon-mega-rage that is assosiated with such problems, and will now freely admit that this is a very nice peice of kit for the money. The first two monitors that broke down on me in such an epic manner were EXTREMELY bright, and I notice that the brightness levels on this one are much lower, (however, still far too much so in default settings).
Anyone who does purchase this unit is advised by myself to have a little tweaking session once they have set it up, reccomend lowering brightness down to 45 - 50 percent believe it or not, anything more will sting your eyes if you been watching a dark film followed by opening the all-white google home page for example. It really is that powerfull.
Enjoy.....
kevin burke
31-May-09
this is a great screen for the ps3 and xbox works great with sky+ hd i did have a problem with dead pix on the screen but it was replace on site by hanns-g with in a week of reporting the problem.
Binar
27-Aug-09
I have four of these and what I find really bad is that they produce too much heat. They are like ovens. Seeking to get rid of mine and buy some cooler 28 inch monitors.
Marc
26-Dec-09
My wife bought me this model for Christmas to play MW2 on my PC, what can I say except an outstanding package for the price, and because the graphics are so clear I am scoring better seeing my oposition before they see me.......
Last added comment
Larry
07-May-13
This is the best monitor I have EVER had! I've had this thing for more than 5 years now (whenever they first came out) and it works just as well as the day I brought it home. And I could not believe the deal I got. Under $400.00 at the time. People on here that have had bad experiences are just flukes. One person complained about the heat... I have mine angles in a corner and have NO problems whatsoever. My computer puts out more heat. This is a very good monitor !!! If mine goes out, I will buy another one.
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