REVIEW: HP LP2475w Part 7
The HP Display Assistant and HP Display LiteServer programs can be found on the CD which is included in the scope of supply.
The HP Display Assistant is intended to help with setting up the monitor. However, this software was only helpful to a limited extent. The test images included with the software, which are provided for adjusting the brightness or contrast, for example, are much too coarse to allow the user to make adjustments which are even half correct. Thus, the brightness values in these test images do not merge into each other even when the contrast value is set at 100, although a highly visible proportion of all colours are then over-saturated.
Before the software could be documented more precisely with pictures, however, it unfortunately abandoned its post in that it demanded an update which does not exist. The auto-update function can still be activated and the user can also view the information of the monitor that is connected. But the function of all other buttons for adjusting the settings do not work.
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HP’s Display Assistant software demands an update, but the website opened for this purpose confirms that the software is already the latest version.
In this case, even uninstalling and reinstalling the software failed to help. There is possibly some incompatibility here with the latest graphics card drivers.
The Display Assistant is also a powerful tool, since it allows for remote maintenance and remote set-up and calibration of the monitor on the network and also enables the user to lock the OSD. In addition, anti-theft protection and managing security and inventory are also possible via the DDC/CI protocol of the PC connected. Even if the software had functioned on our system, a complete description of the scope of this program would have been beyond the scope of this review.
The second software program provided with the monitor is called HP Display LiteSaver and allows extended access to the energy saving options. It should help to ensure that the monitor is not left switched on for unnecessarily long periods of time. Mainly, this feature allows the user to establish at what time or after how much time the monitor automatically switches to low-power sleep mode. This means that power is saved and the lifetime of the backlight is extended.
Inside the HP LP2475w is a high-quality S-IPS panel, which is certainly a special feature for a model priced at jut over € 500. This panel has a response time of 6 ms grey-to-grey and 12 ms black-white, which should also be sufficient for video playback and occasional computer games.
In the factory settings, the image is not only too warm at 5745K, but also drifts slightly into a greenish tinge, which is somewhat surprising, since the OSD displays 6500K as a pre-defined setting. The brightness setting of 90 is already at the maximum possible value of 380 cd/m², which is just slightly short of the manufacturer’s indication of 400 cd/m². The minimum brightness is achieved at a setting of 0 and is 104 cd/m², which allows the desired brightness level to be achieved for every calibration.
In fine grey gradients, no inequalities or coarser colour gradients can be seen, so no banding exists. Only the poorly adjusted white point spoils the image.
In the factory settings, the unadjusted user colour mode offers the best pre-defined setting, offering the most neutral image reproduction and a good white point nearing 6500K. Although the manual highlights the sRGB mode in particular, the white point measured here is disappointing at 5706K. The 9300K colour mode is also far from the target value at 7316 K.
Luckily, however, there is a user-defined mode, which allows for precise set-up and already provides good results in the factory settings for the sRGB colour space. Here, we will of course investigate further below and will undertake further finer settings in the scope of the calibrations.
When grey wedges are looked at more closely, no deterioration can be seen when the brightness is set to 00 or 100.
The contrast regulator should be left at the pre-defined value of 80, since when it is increased further, the colours are over-saturated so that the brightest 5 percent of gradients at the upper end of the colour palette are lost. When the contrast us lowered, no colour values are lost, but white looks slightly grey.
The viewing angles for the integrated S-IPS panel are very large, as is usual for this panel type. The 178 degrees indicated in the specifications can indeed be achieved with ease without visible colour distortions. In the picture for the viewing angle dependencies, a slight brightening can be seen when the screen is viewed from below and above, but this is partly due to the remaining brightness in the room.
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The viewing angles are depicted form a very sharp viewing angle from above, below, left and right. As a reference point, a frontal view of the screen can be seen in the centre.
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