HP LP3065

The most appealing selling point of the 30-inch HP LP3065 is its super-high 2,560x1,600 resolution. Gamers with powerful enough video cards to run at that resolution will not be disappointed. With its great color preproduction and wide viewing angles, movies also look great on the large display. Professional graphic artists will first have to make peace with the monitor's severe lack of adjustment options. Everyone else will have to make peace with its price. At $1,300, buyers should ask themselves, "Is what I want to do worth such a high price?" If the answer is yes and you can look past cost and don't require many video adjustment options, you'll have one of the best-performing monitors money can buy.

Editor's note: Previously, we mistakenly wrote that the LP3065 comes with only a one-year warranty, when in fact it includes a three-year warranty. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. Still, some 30-inch monitors experience severe performance issues 9 months to a year after they've been in use. Be aware of this before you buy.

Design and features
The 30-inch HP LP3065 has a dark gray chassis with a matte finish, and features slightly rounded corners. The bezel measures 0.9 inch long on the left and right sides and 1 inch on the top and bottom. The panel is 1.8 inches deep; however, the back of the display, which houses the backlight, connection options, and ventilation system, extends another 1.25 inches out, bringing the full monitor depth to about 3.05 inches. The panel width measures 27.3 inches long--about average for a monitor of this screen size. The surface of the screen itself is a slightly frosted and smooth matte.

There's a groove in the back of the panel for carrying the monitor, but it feels too shallow and I couldn't fit my hands comfortably inside. (Given the LP3065's hefty, 30-pound weight, you probably won't be moving it around much anyway.) The rectangular footstand measures about 17.5 inches wide by 9 inches deep. As such, wobbling was minimal when we knocked the monitor from the sides, even when the monitor's height was at its maximum. With the screen height at its lowest, the distance from the bottom of the bezel to the desktop is 1.9 inches; at its highest, 5.9 inches.

The panel swivels 70 degrees left and right and tilts back about 25 degrees. Also, the panel can be unscrewed from the stand and then mounted (VESA-style) on the wall. The monitor doesn't include a pivoting feature for portrait mode, however.

HP includes three DVI ports as the only video connection options. There is no HDMI connection, which is a mainstay on most monitors, but its exclusion on the 30-incher isn't too surprising. Of the five 30-inch monitors I've reviewed, only one has included HDMI. Still, this is a 30-inch monitor that could easily carry out most functions a normal HDTV could. Hopefully HP will consider this with its next 30-inch model. Accessing the connections proved to be fairly easy, as they rest mostly to the right of the stand.

There's no On Screen Display (OSD) included with the LP3065. The only video adjustment option provided by HP is the brightness control. As such, even with such fantastic viewing angles and color reproduction (more on this later) we cannot recommend this to professional graphic artists who usually need precise control over color, contrast, in addition to brightness.

The HP LP3065's 16:10 aspect ratio has a 2,560x1,600-pixel native resolution. The 16:9 monitor trend currently sweeping the market has led to many smaller monitors adopting higher resolutions than they were capable of attaining at 16:10. A 22-incher with a 16:9 aspect ratio now has a potential high-definition, native resolution of 1,920x1,080 (1080p) pixels as opposed to 1,680x1,050. We understand that those buying the HP monitor would want to stick with their 16:10, 2,560x1,600 resolution, however.

Performance
We tested the HP LP3065 with its DVI connection. The display posted a composite score of 97 on CNET Labs' DisplayMate-based performance tests. The LP3065 scored excellently in nearly all of our color and uniformity tests. In particular, the LP3065 showed no signs of compression and the dark and light ends of the color scales tests. On our black screen test, we noticed only minimal backlight bleed-through along the top-middle edge of the screen.

The HP LP3065 achieved a brightness score of 302 candelas per square meter (cd/M2)--lower than HP's claimed 370 cd/m2 max. The HP's brightness was lower than we expected, yet you'd never know with the brightness adjusted to its maximum. You'll definitely want to dial the brightness down if you plan to do a lot of Excel or Word (or any white-screen program) work.

We looked at "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" on DVD and a number of 1080p movie files from Microsoft's WMV HD Showcase. Movies on the HP looked great, thanks to the display's deep blacks, but its contrast wasn't quite as good as the best we've seen.

Unreal Tournament 3 looked good running at 2,560x1,600 and showed no signs of ghosting or input lag. Vibrant and deep color, along with a high brightness, gave the game an eye-poppingly pleasant look. There's really nothing like gaming at 2,560x1,600.

We also looked at some high-resolution photos and found the colors were accurate and vibrant, proving that the two aren't mutually exclusive.

The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colors and gamma correction as they were intended. Most monitors are made to be viewed only at that angle. Depending on its panel type, picture quality at nonoptimal angles varies. The HP LP3065 was made with an S-IPS panel, which usually shows only minimal color shifts with angle changes. Indeed, we noticed that the HP's screen hardly shifted colors at all when viewed from the sides, top, or bottom.

In the power consumption tests, the HP LP3065 drew 133.62 watts in its Default/On mode, which is less than the Gateway Extreme HD 1600p's 160.36 and slightly more than the Samsung SyncMaster 305t's 128.22 watts. With all three monitors calibrated to 200 cd/M2, however, the HP drew two watts less than the Gateway and 6 watts more than the Samsung. Based on our formula, the LP3065 would cost $40.55 per year to run. Compare that with the Gateway's $59.64 per year and the Samsung's $38.64 per year and the HP is on the low end.

Find out more about how we test LCD monitors

Service and support
HP backs the LP3065 with a three-year, limited, parts-and-labor warranty that covers the backlight, which is the same as other vendors, such as Dell, provide. Shipping labels and in-home service are included, as well as support through HP's 24-7 toll-free number. Just be aware that the free service ends after one year and HP begins charging after that. HP's Web site offers Web-chat support and e-mail support with promised e-mail replies within the hour.

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