xt,
Looks like I may have found the cause of "oh, but my laptop has nicer text than the 20WGX2 - same resolution, but 3 inches smaller... must be the higher PPI". Well, I've been experimenting with different color schemes for my x-terminal in linux. I am working on the assumption that for least eye strain, the monitor should match the brightness of its surrounds. So, brighter color schemes during the day (eg. black on light yellow), darker schemes in the evening (aiming for something like washed out white on black... ie. like the "desert" color scheme in VIM).
Well, I discovered that when the screen is one solid uniform color (terminal full-sized, 100 brightness also helps), I can see shimmer and general "noise". I found it to be particularly noticeable with the color RGB=(38,38,38), intensity set to 15%. Another thing about this color is that I managed to find a bright red sub-pixel. It's incredibly small, and I cannot even see it, even if I look for it, unless I display this color. I used to think that bright pixels would be bigger than that. Because during my Dell 2007WFP panel lottery, the 2 bright red pixels stood out on a white background. Thinking back, I guess they may not have been single pixels - clusters more like!
I have my laptop connected to the monitor via VGA, and a Mac Mini via DVI. Incidentally, I had a hell of a time getting the Mac Mini to work with the monitor via DVI. Mac Mini output via DVI-VGA converter was incredibly dark and dull. DVI output was unstable (but not with the Dell). The picture simply broke up into snow after a while. The more rapid the changes on the screen, say quickly moving a window around, the quicker it would break up. I solved this problem with SwitchResX - a Mac shareware utility that lets you lower the DVI interface frequencies. Apparently many Minis have problems interfacing with some large sceen monitors.
The Mini picture is rock-stable. I tried using the same full-screen color, and I cannot see any noise whatsoever. So it must be the VGA. BTW, I remember noticing this noise before, when booting into Windows. The standard WinXP blue background would shimmer very noticeably. I put it down to Advanced DV Mode or Movie mode or something. In actuality, Movie and Photo modes just make the noise more obvious.
So, I wonder, what it could be. The VGA cable is screwed on tightly on the monitor, and it's pretty tight on the notebook (but not screwed in for lack of screws on the connector). Perhaps, the cable? Or is VGA supposed to be so lame? BTW, my latest scrutiny *may* have revealed that there's some image persistance going on as well. Though it's not major, and I hope it doesn't get any worse.
BTW, I am typing this on a mac, and I can see that the fonts in the reply window are much sharper than on the notebook's VGA output. Previously I thought text was about the same on the notebook VGA out and the mac DVI. I think it's just OS X weird fuzzy fonts that are the equalizer.
P.S.
If it is my notebook's VGA that's at fault, I kinda feel bad about dumping on Dell for its fuzziness. The NEC is still a way better monitor though. Most definitely better than the PVA version of the 2007.