Three 27" IPS LCDs: UltraSharp U2711, DS-277W, And MultiSync PA271W

Many of you asked for a round-up of 27" IPS-based displays, and here it is. Although these screens feature similar specifications, you might be surprised at how much they differ, both in performance and price. Which of the three is right for you?

Any enthusiast spending a significant amount of money on a high-end system should own a display of comparable quality. After all, what good does a pair of GeForce or Radeon cards do you if the most attractive graphics settings are obscured by a lacklustre screen?

We really appreciate technologies like AMD's Eyefinity, which make it possible for you to buy a trio of smaller 22- or 23-inch monitors and work across multiple displays. We have several guys doing that in the Tom's Hardware office. But then there are the folks who simply prefer a single workspace and ultra-high resolutions. In those cases, a larger 27- or 30-inch display is the better choice. 

We already covered smaller 22" and 23" TN-based LCDs in Three-Way 22" LED LCD Roundup: Dell, LG, And Samsung and Three-Way 23" LED LCD Roundup: Dell, HP, And Samsung. However, we also received a number of requests that we look at larger screens based on IPS panels.

There's a general perception that IPS-based displays offer superior performance to those based on TN technology, but that isn't always the case. Although in-plane switching does improve the viewing angle issues and colour reproduction suffered by twisted nematic displays, not all IPS screens are created equal. Our results in this roundup demonstrate that, even between three different screens, you can end up with a vastly dissimilar experience.