Gateway FPD2485W - beware

[Painman]

Originally posted by: ChakkaSol
Im looking at buying this GW 24 display and it looks like the users on the hardocp website seem to agree that those displays with the Dec or later manufacturer date are not have the quality control problems with those made in Nov for the xmas season.

Also a new eztune 1.4 version is out which looks like it makes the color standout now.

I guess the ones with the blue and green stickers versus the yellow and orange are Dec or later...whatever that means.

I don't know, my young fellow baghead... it took me 3 trips to the store to get one that doesn't appear to have QC issues (and this "good" one is a November). My feeling is that this doesn't bode well for the long haul so I'm leaning away from keeping the GW now. I bought extended warranty coverage, but what if this one blows up in 2 years and I have to do a big round of QC work for GW all over again?

'Tis your $ and your choice, budget, etc. but personally I've seen what I needed to see with the GW and I'm most likely going to pick up a Pro display from a Pro outfit.

 

[ChakkaSol]

The only thing I dotn like about buying online (monitors only) just happens to be if you get a bad pixel or somethin else wrong with it. Ive always gotten one from a store and have had to take back (last 19in monitor) with no questions asked from bbuy.

I dont like neweggs policy on dead pixels so wont buy monitors from them.

 

[Painman]

Originally posted by: ChakkaSol
The only thing I dotn like about buying online (monitors only) just happens to be if you get a bad pixel or somethin else wrong with it. Ive always gotten one from a store and have had to take back (last 19in monitor) with no questions asked from bbuy.

I dont like neweggs policy on dead pixels so wont buy monitors from them.

I hear you man, I don't like buying them online either. Unfortunately I don't live in the part of the country where Fry's operates, so my 23-24" B&M options were GW, Dell or Acer. Believe me, if I coulda walked into a store and walked back out with a Viewsonic VP2330wb, this saga would have been over and done with for me weeks ago.

 

[Aquila76]

I just posted in that 'other' forums thread. I totally agree, postmortem. I tried just about every suggestion from every forum I could find to get the color grading/darkness issues worked out and couldn't do it. Well, at least I get ~$700 back in my savings.

Looks like I'll be coaxing my flaky CRT along for a few more months until 24WMGX2 (and 8900GTX) comes out.

 

[dcr]

I have this Gateway FPD2485W as well, and I am on panel #2 in as many days.

I have bad graphics shimmering, flashing, whatever you call it in WoW when my character moves. I can't stand it so I will be returning this monitor.

 

[Aquila76]

Originally posted by: dcr
I have this Gateway FPD2485W as well, and I am on panel #2 in as many days.

I have bad graphics shimmering, flashing, whatever you call it in WoW when my character moves. I can't stand it so I will be returning this monitor.

I thought the shimmering & flashing were more of a video card issue. Do you have Vertical sync & texture clamp on in the video driver?

 

[dcr]

I have v-sync on, but I don't remember seeing the texture clamp setting anywhere.

I have the 7900 GTO 512mb driver 6.14.10.9371

 

[Aquila76]

Under 3D settings > Manage 3D settings. It's the 5th one down. If it's set to 'Use Hardware', try 'Off' (or vice versa).

 

[dcr]

It says the Texture Clamp is already on.

 

[Aquila76]

Huh. Mine didn't shimmer or flash, but it didn't transition colors well. Instead of a smooth grade it would chop into the next level of dark/bright.

 

[xtknight]

LCDs tend to flash when there's lots of details and very small movements. It's just an effect of ghosting (possibly made worse by overdrive), but it's quite rare. It only happens when moving one or two pixels at a time.

 

[Aquila76]

Originally posted by: xtknight
LCDs tend to flash when there's lots of details and very small movements. It's just an effect of ghosting (possibly made worse by overdrive), but it's quite rare. It only happens when moving one or two pixels at a time.

Have you checked out the FPD2485W review on the main page of AT? Jarred ran the gradient EXE from your website to confirm what I saw with it (gradation issues) and might use it in future LCD reviews.

 

[Painman]

Hmm... no response time testing.

*lashes Jarred with a wet noodle*

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: Aquila76

Originally posted by: xtknight
LCDs tend to flash when there's lots of details and very small movements. It's just an effect of ghosting (possibly made worse by overdrive), but it's quite rare. It only happens when moving one or two pixels at a time.

Have you checked out the FPD2485W review on the main page of AT? Jarred ran the gradient EXE from your website to confirm what I saw with it (gradation issues) and might use it in future LCD reviews.

There's valuable comment on that review by one of readers.

The effect that I'm describing is not banding, it is called "gradation". In other words, LCD is not banding few contrasts as one color, rather it is not having smooth transition due to high contrast ratio.

More here.

 

[Painman]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
There's valuable comment on that review by one of readers.

The effect that I'm describing is not banding, it is called "gradation". In other words, LCD is not banding few contrasts as one color, rather it is not having smooth transition due to high contrast ratio.

More here.

As you say in the header comments for this thread "banding is strong with this one" I tried to give the FPD2485W the benefit of the doubt (largely 'cos I was resisting having to pony up for better) but the banding was pretty strong with it in retrospect. Running those AIDA32 HSL color tests that you requested earlier, not to mention xtknight's gradlin tests - Dear God, have mercy upon the FPD2485's soul... It's as if I'm looking at something completely different on this NEC and I haven't even calibrated it yet.

Sure, it costs 2.5x what the Gateway does... you'd damn well better expect more for that kind of $... but $600+ ought to get you better out-of-the-box color than ANY of the 3 FPD2485Ws I had could cough up. If that's all $600 will get you... something's wrong.

 

[Aquila76]

Originally posted by: Painman

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
There's valuable comment on that review by one of readers.

The effect that I'm describing is not banding, it is called "gradation". In other words, LCD is not banding few contrasts as one color, rather it is not having smooth transition due to high contrast ratio.

More here.

As you say in the header comments for this thread "banding is strong with this one" I tried to give the FPD2485W the benefit of the doubt (largely 'cos I was resisting having to pony up for better) but the banding was pretty strong with it in retrospect. Running those AIDA32 HSL color tests that you requested earlier, not to mention xtknight's gradlin tests - Dear God, have mercy upon the FPD2485's soul... It's as if I'm looking at something completely different on this NEC and I haven't even calibrated it yet.

Sure, it costs 2.5x what the Gateway does... you'd damn well better expect more for that kind of $... but $600+ ought to get you better out-of-the-box color than ANY of the 3 FPD2485Ws I had could cough up. If that's all $600 will get you... something's wrong.

Like I posted in the comments for the main article, that was the final nail in the return coffin for the Gateway. I thought I had a video issue or something due to the gradations I kept getting, so I snagged my HP L1706 from work. It did the gradients and even most of the Dark Grayscale Test levels near flawlessly. The crappy 'bundled with the system' display out of the box works better than the ~$700 display on any settings I tried. Screw that!

 

[chizow]

Ya the FPD2485W definitely has poor color accuracy out-of-the-box, which was the first thing I noticed about the panel coming from a 2407WFP which was great in that aspect. It would've been enough for me to return it if there weren't other users posting their pictures so I didn't fully give up on it. The panel is also really bright, so compensating to reduce the brightness only makes the color situation worst. For me and a lot of others, trying to compensate the brightness led to more banding and horribly crushed blacks in dark scenes in games and movies.

As for a $170 display "working better" than this one....c'mon seriously. My 3-yr old Dell 1900FP doesn't show any banding while displaying a static gradient, but that doesn't mean it "works better". In fact, it doesn't do anything else better than the Gateway while adding so many other features and possibilities. Even if the Gateway 24" isn't for you, a wide-aspect display with multiple inputs that can do 1920x1080 at 1:1 is where enthusiasts want to be. The possibilities are endless as an HD tech-enabler, all while maintaining its main function as a high resolution PC monitor.

This panel is definitely going through growing pains though. Its only been in production for a little less than 4 months and there's definitely been improvements from batch to batch. Some of the more serious problems people have with it may be design flaws and might never be corrected, but overall I'm extremely pleased with this panel and much more satisfied with it compared to the 2407WFP A03. There's also the 2407WFP A04, Benq 241W/WZ/VW, and the recently announced LG that will offer the same HD features with 1:1 mapping. Not totally sure on the LG but for now I'll assume it can do 1:1 pixel mapping out of the box. Would be nice to see Jarred do some round-ups based on size and features in the future.

 

[Aquila76]

Originally posted by: chizow
Ya the FPD2485W definitely has poor color accuracy out-of-the-box, which was the first thing I noticed about the panel coming from a 2407WFP which was great in that aspect. It would've been enough for me to return it if there weren't other users posting their pictures so I didn't fully give up on it. The panel is also really bright, so compensating to reduce the brightness only makes the color situation worst. For me and a lot of others, trying to compensate the brightness led to more banding and horribly crushed blacks in dark scenes in games and movies.

As for a $170 display "working better" than this one....c'mon seriously. My 3-yr old Dell 1900FP doesn't show any banding while displaying a static gradient, but that doesn't mean it "works better". In fact, it doesn't do anything else better than the Gateway while adding so many other features and possibilities. Even if the Gateway 24" isn't for you, a wide-aspect display with multiple inputs that can do 1920x1080 at 1:1 is where enthusiasts want to be. The possibilities are endless as an HD tech-enabler, all while maintaining its main function as a high resolution PC monitor.

This panel is definitely going through growing pains though. Its only been in production for a little less than 4 months and there's definitely been improvements from batch to batch. Some of the more serious problems people have with it may be design flaws and might never be corrected, but overall I'm extremely pleased with this panel and much more satisfied with it compared to the 2407WFP A03. There's also the 2407WFP A04, Benq 241W/WZ/VW, and the recently announced LG that will offer the same HD features with 1:1 mapping. Not totally sure on the LG but for now I'll assume it can do 1:1 pixel mapping out of the box. Would be nice to see Jarred do some round-ups based on size and features in the future.

Yeah, I was a bit out of line with the HP vs. Gateway rant. It definitely could not keep up with fast moving games anywhere near as well as the GW and the GW had better panel uniformity. But still, what good is that and a number of connection options if it isn't going to display correctly? Part of it, too, is my vision is extremely sharp and the faults with this LCD are just too annoying to me. I guess I need a 'perfect' monitor so it doesn't drive me crazy, and this Gateway just isn't there. Maybe later revs will work out the bugs like with the Dell, but honestly, this shows horrible QC on GW's end. If they want it to truly compete with existing 24" displays, they need to get the color/brightness issues worked out so it looks good out of the box like the Dell, Samsung, Acer, and BenQ.