I've been looking for a new screen to replace my 21" CRT that's gone bad (odd colour spots that don't go away with degaussing), and I needed one that is good for photo-editing / browsing / gaming, in that order. After days of review reading and forum browsing, the purchase has been made, and I'm now sitting in front of my new monitor, the NEC LCD2070NX. It's 20" and uses the S-IPS type panel at 16ms and 1600x1200 resolution (60Hz).
Am I pleased? No, I can't say that.
While the image quality is fantastic, and the colours superb, with an incredible sharpness and contrast, there are some annoying problems.
First of all, the monitor lags. As in, when I move the mouse, I feel a very slight delay before the arrow moves across the screen. I doubt it's the fault of the system, because I don't feel it at all using my CRT. Settings don't seem to matter (ie, which screen is primary/secondary), so I'm going to assume it's simply the fault of the relatively slow 16ms panel. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong. In any case, it makes the computer feel "sluggish", when it's really not.
Second problem is the strange surface used on the screen. There's a kind of coarse coating applied, which probably helps reduce glare and/or increase contrast and make colours look fancier, but since I can actually see the tiny patterns across the screen, my eyes focus on the surface of the monitor rather than anything the monitor is displaying. Reading is uncomfortable, because I keep focusing on the wrong spot, if that makes any sense. It's also weird to actually be focusing your eyes on places where the monitor is showing nothing but a plain colour.
Both of these issues may simply take getting used to, but I think they should be mentioned.
Another issue is the scaling function when playing games/whatever at a lower resolution than the native 1600x1200 (ie, every game, unless you like 4fps). When the game shows sudden changes in light (bright -> dark), there's sometimes a kind of tearing that flickers across the screen where it was just bright. I couldn't see it when running with the scaling function off, and I'm not entirely sure I'll be noticing it much, but it's there and should be noted for prospective buyers.
My last problem is slight backlight bleeding at the very top of the screen, to the right of the middle. It's slight and can't be noticed unless the room is pitch black. No dead pixels, so I've no clue if NEC thinks it's a valid reason to switch it, and I don't even know if I want to, in case I'd be stuck with dead pixels instead.
I wouldn't really know what to exchange it for, since it's impossible to "try" screens where I live, and perhaps most LCDs are this way. I wish I'd been able to take a live look at other screens. If I do manage to return it, does anyone have ideas for what to get instead? Is the widescreen NEC 20WGX2 also coated with this sandy surface?