When comparing Monoprice CrystalPro 27" IPS vs LG 25UM57, the Slant community recommends Monoprice CrystalPro 27" IPS for most people. In the question“What are the best cheaper alternatives to the Apple Cinema Display?” Monoprice CrystalPro 27" IPS is ranked 1st while LG 25UM57 is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Monoprice CrystalPro 27" IPS is:
Good image quality due to IPS (In-Plane Switching) LED backlit panel made by LG in Korea with 6ms (grey-to-grey) response time, 60Hz refresh rate and standard 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8-bit colors. This is the same LG IPS panel used in Apple displays, but sold at a fraction of what Apple charges.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Good image quality
Good image quality due to IPS (In-Plane Switching) LED backlit panel made by LG in Korea with 6ms (grey-to-grey) response time, 60Hz refresh rate and standard 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8-bit colors. This is the same LG IPS panel used in Apple displays, but sold at a fraction of what Apple charges.
Pro Great value for money
With Monoprice CrystalPro listed as $390 with image quality the same as Apple Cinema Displays and excellent support this is a good choice if you are OK with not having additional bells and whistles.
Pro 1 year warranty
Monoprice has a full 1 year warranty. Additionally, they promise less than 5 dead pixels. If you can find 5 dead pixels, they will send you a replacement.
Pro Audio I/O
Monoprice CrystalPro has 1x 3.5mm TRS stereo input and 1x 3.5mm TRS stereo output.
Pro Cinema-like picture quality for an affordable price
The fact that a monitor of this price range has a 5M:1 contrast ratio is simply astonishing. This means users get cinema-like picture quality right at their desk.
Pro Good sound quality with no need for external speakers
This monitor's speakers are as good as those found on small TVs. They're located in the back and come with an audio jack for headphone connectivity.
Pro Immersive
The 2560x1080 resolution creates an immersive setup. This applies even for work tasks: multiple documents can be displayed side-by-side with no legibility sacrifice. It's equivalent to having two monitors with 1280x1080 screens.
Pro Advantageous for all uses
This monitor's ultrawide screen has advantages for all uses. When it comes to movie watching or gaming, the screen size contributes to a truly engaging experience. As far as general productivity goes, the ultrawide screen makes it easy to have different applications or documents open side by side.
Pro Great for watching movies
The 21:9 aspect ratio comes in handy when watching movies. This is the default aspect ratio at which almost all of the films are shot. Hence, you can watch your movies without having two black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
Cons
Con Frail stand
The stand is somewhat poor.
Con DVI only
Monoprice CrystalPro lacks USB, Ethernet, HDMI and Thunderbolt connectors. A higher priced version with more inputs is promised at a later date.
Con Unavailable
This model has been discontinued, and is no longer available anywhere on Amazon.
Con Weak built-in speakers
Sound quality of the built in speakers is quite poor.
Con Limited connectivity
This monitor has two HMDI ports, which is pretty good. However, it misses other display inputs such as DVI or Display Port, making incompatible with older computers.
Con Lack of support for ultra-widescreen in (old) games
A handful of games do not support 21:9 aspect ratio by default. Some examples are Overwatch, Fallout 3, and Starcraft 2. If this is important for you, it is recommended you test this issue before getting this monitor. But there are solutions: you can either install fixes (only available for some games) or play in windowed mode, using a different aspect ratio.
Con Slow response time
A response time of 5 ms on a gaming monitor is pretty awful. Considering its refresh rate, it is understandable but not acceptable. Note that this response time is from gray-to-gray.
Con 720p and 1080p videos are sandwhiched
This monitor's aspect ratio means that many online videos, such as those from Netflix or YouTube, will have black spaces on the sides, which can be annoying.