[Retired] The LCD Thread

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: carquote
Yeah, one box was white and one was brown. I know Samsung has been notorious for the practices i.e. the S panel switcharoo...so I wasn't sure why the same model would be either made in two different countries or why the place it was made would have changed. I have a funny feeling one is better or more reliable than the other but without anyone knowing the difference I am unsure which one to buy. I also do not undertand all the concern people have with viewing angle on TN monitors. I have only sat directly in front of my monitor at a computer desk. I am not sure where people are sitting but it sounds like looking at the monitor while seated at a desk should not be an issue. As far as the color issue, I do not have a trained eye and don't think I will realize the difference. If all monitors under the $400 price point are TN thank I will definitely be buying a TN monitor. Is the general consensus that the 245bw is better than the Dell E248WFP, also $400. Thanks again for the repsonses.

Bigger TNs, just due to their crystal structure, are unable to show a reasonably stable image at any angle. So that means for photo editing, elements of the image may vary widely depending on your angle. That's called grayscale shift or inversion, which is significantly minimized on VA or IPS panels.

TNs will show a bright, visible, and legible image though at a direct angle, which is good enough for most non-critical use. The grayscale shifts can still be annoying for any kind of use.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: newschool
I was always putting away the wide LCDs because the resolution is too high to play games with a high FPS. But for the 19", the wide 1440x900 (1.296MP) is actually comparable with the non-wide 19" 1280x1024 (1.31MP).

I originally was going for the non-wide 19" LGs, they are great and look good. But now that I want a wide one for film viewing, pixel pitch and general look, LG wasnt delivering (check xbits labs).
Samsung was my other option but they are having problem with panels, your never sure wich one you get, it is a known issue.

But now LG has just released the L197WH, I will be the first to buy. 2msGTG, 16.7M colors, 5000:1 contrast (F-Engine) and HDMI.



xtknight you should check it out and add it to the recommanded gaming and multimedia monitors.

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l197wh.jhtml

I can't recommend it until I see a review but I'll keep my eyes open (as always, of course).

Be sure to let us know how it works out for you.

Originally posted by: Ronin13

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Ronin13
I'm planning on getting the Samsung 971P, but it seems that there's an updated model on the way, the 971P+.

As far as I know, the only difference is the higher contrast, due to Dynamic Contrast Control.

Is this something worth waiting for?

Does monitors with Dynamic Contrast Control normally have an option to turn it off?

That's interesting, but yes, all PC monitors that I know of have options to disable dynamic contrast control. The 32" Sharp which I recommend for HTPC use has no option to disable dynamic contrast but that's probably irrelevant to your needs.

Something worth waiting for? Maybe, if it has better overdrive than the 971P. That would be the reason it would be worth waiting for.

xtknight, thanks for your reply - it's amazing how you get around to answer all these questions :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

You write about the 971P that it's 'NOT suitable for any multimedia or motion video editing because of poor response time control.' I've seen some reviews that agree on this and some that said it performed pretty good with both movies and games.

Have you seen the panel in action? How bad is it at these tasks? (I'm not into really fast-paced first-person shooters...)

Another question about the Samsung 971P:

On Samsung's site it says under 'Special Features' that the panel has a 'Safe Mode(Down Scaling in UXGA)'. On Samsung's Danish site this was called 'UXGA (1600x1200) Downscaling' - what does that mean?

I have not seen the 971P in real life. I have read many reviews stating that the ghosting was quite insane and unbearable. I don't know..maybe this is just a problem on the North American model or something.

I believe it means it will downscale a 1600x1200 image to 1280x1024 if a 1600x1200 one happens to be sent over the DVI cable. My old Samsung 710T 17" would even accept a 1920x1080 interlaced signal and display it, somehow. I suspect that's what that means. Mostly only Samsung LCDs do this as far as I know.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: redlinez33
Do we even know of any other company that makes a 24" TN panel besidse samsung?

Supposely from what I read the gateway is a samsung panel (could be wrong, but I did read it somewhere on a forum)..

I dont actually have any HD video to watch............... So I havent tested it with that.

Any particle website I can go to and watch a video that gives you problems????

Did you buy the one made in mexico or china? (brown or white box?)

Samsung and LG Philips make 24" TNs, but no one else does, that I know of.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: cboath
FWIW, my vx2435wm just came from Techonweb this morning. Not bad considering i ordered on monday morning, fedex ground shipping, and it came from california and got to me in oklahoma this morning. There was 'a' piece of tape on the box, but by the time it got to me it wasn't holding anything on there. According to the photos on newegg, everything is there, though, all cables, instructions, etc. Of course i've got 6.5 long hours before i can get home to hook it up!

As an aside, do other companies ship LCD's this way? As in, just take the manufacturer's box and slap a shipping label on it? I gotta say, even if it is common, seems odd that viewsonic, themselves, do not tape the box shut. Pretty much everything I buy comes with the box taped shut (or sealed somehow) by the manufacturer.

As far as I know, it's very common for merchants to ship LCDs in the manufacturer box. They just do this for economy and simplicity as far as I can tell. All the LCDs I've ordered from Newegg (Samsung 710T, ViewSonic VP930b, NEC 20WMGX2, NEC LCD2690WUXi) have arrived like this from what I remember. But none of my shipments has looked that damaged or dinged up. I guess the ViewSonic VP930b I got a while back looked like it had been through the war but it survived just fine and nothing inside the box was damaged.

I'm surprised that ViewSonic didn't tape the box shut though. That's kind of odd. I do remember something peculiar about my VP930b though. Either the box was a little damaged, or something...

You literally means there's nothing at all holding the box shot? The flaps were open and just swaying in the air?

Well I hope you're happy with the display, at least.

Originally posted by: Buck Armstrong
Does anyone know whatever became of the 24WMGX3 mentioned here and on HardOCP?

I've been told that the 20WMGX2 was replaced by the 22WMGX, which is definitely underwhelming to say the least, but I assumed all along that a 22 would be a TN anyway. But what about the 24"? IIRC from XT's earlier post, it was going to be an S-PVA rather than IPS...so is it the 2470WNX? Its a PVA with 6ms response...

EDIT: Please tell me its not this thing: http://www.necdisplay.com/Prod...4c93-8243-938ad36dcea8

Well yes, it is that thing. There will be no 24" S-IPS consumer model from NEC, that I know of. You'll have to settle for the $1000 LCD2490WUXi if you want an IPS.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: mckrautski

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: mckrautski
...
Has anyone seen both to be able to make a recommendation one way or the other?
...

It's really hard to say. I'm just more inclined to say the LCD2690WUXi since it's an S-IPS panel but if you need the multimedia inputs then the 275T is a better choice. The 275T might be better for those more into multimedia and movies as it has a lower black level. But if it's more artwork then go for the LCD2690WUXi.

The multimedia connections probably aren't that big of a deal at the moment, though if I ever retire the monitor and turn it into a secondary TV it might be. I imagine if I ever wanted to hook something like a DirectTV box upto the NEC I could just buy an HDMI to DVI converter cable to connect to the second DVI input right? Not that it's something I plan on doing at the moment but ya never know.

Hmmm decisions decisions...

It depends on what resolution you want to hook up. I don't think the LCD26 supports 1080i. Or maybe that's over HDCP... you'd have to check the manual which is available online. You'd probably be able to get something out of your DirectTV box. I don't think that uses HDCP.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: Buck Armstrong
Does anyone know whatever became of the 24WMGX3 mentioned here and on HardOCP?

I've been told that the 20WMGX2 was replaced by the 22WMGX, which is definitely underwhelming to say the least, but I assumed all along that a 22 would be a TN anyway. But what about the 24"? IIRC from XT's earlier post, it was going to be an S-PVA rather than IPS...so is it the 2470WNX? Its a PVA with 6ms response...

EDIT: Please tell me its not this thing: http://www.necdisplay.com/Prod...4c93-8243-938ad36dcea8

Well yes, it is that thing. There will be no 24" S-IPS consumer model from NEC, that I know of. You'll have to settle for the $1000 LCD2490WUXi if you want an IPS.

OK, so would you agree that if I'm looking for an NEC 24" because I can't find a 20WMGX2-BK, I should get the 2470WNX rather than the 24WMCX? The 2490 is a bit more than I wanted to spend, and from what I've read lags as much as any other 24" (2 frames or so average), even though its an IPS rather than a PVA.

I just saw that the Planar 26" IPS dropped $100 at NewEgg, and is now $869...whats your opinion of that one?

Thanks again for answering all my stupid questions. I really appreciate this thread for taking alot of the stress out of the selection process, especially since I am almost unable to believe the ridiculous compromises (narrow viewing angles, input lag, etc.) one has to consider when spending almost $1000 on an LCD.

 

[carquote]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: carquote
I was in the store today looking at the samsung 245bw and noticed that there were 2 different color boxes for them. When I looked further to see what the difference was I saw one said made in Mexico and one China. Which one is better and is one better to avoid? Also, I have read mixed reviews for this monitor. For around $400 is this monitor a good deal? That is really the most I am willing to spend, I was originally looking at 22" monitors, but for $400 I am now considering it as well as the Dell E248WFP, both of which are $400. If anyone knows of a better lcd for less than this amount I would love suggestions. I will be using it for mainly gaming and general use, with light photoshop and video work. Thanks!

Mexico vs. China...I'm not sure there is really a difference just because it was manufactured somewhere else. But it has been the case with some panel lotteries where ones manufactured in country X used more S panels. The 245BW uses only one panel as far as I know.

If you're considering a 22" TN you might as well consider a 24" TN. The 245BW really is decent but it's a TN which pretty much rules out most off-axis (viewing angle) use. It's still a pretty decent monitor though and probably worth it to a lot of people for its lower price. I don't know of a better LCD for the price. Unless you can find the Gateway FHD2400, which is glossy, but its reproduction of dark tones isn't that great. It does have a lot of inputs though, good for console gamers.

Thanks xt! So if you were purchasing the 245bw would you get the one made in Mexico or China? Assuming they are both the same, as no one has stated any differences, are electronics from china generally regarded as better made than those from Mexico? I know this is probably an assumption, but it seems like everything today is made in China, including most electronics that I know of. Although I may get lead poisoning from the one made in China

 

[Trean]

Originally posted by: cboath

Originally posted by: Trean
Once again, eagerly awaiting a 2435wm user review!

Well, DoctorM posted one last week. I'll hook mine up tonight and give early impressions in the morning - but won't get too in detail til this weekend if i have the time. I also don't have a DVD player to plug in, nor a next gen console to test out the additional ports if that's what you're after.

I'll check it out in word processing, cad, 3D modeling, and a couple games...

I know I read that one already. I go back to school soon so I cannot order the monitor because it may get there before I get back and if I order it to where I am then I may not be here when it gets here. So I have to wait. What is there to do while I wait? Well read more user opinions on the monitor that I am looking into!

I especially am interested in the quality of the monitor... dead pixels? etc. I see that TechOnWeb got a piece of tape on it, who did you email exactly to get that done. I will put in the same request probably ask for packing tape to seal the lid so its contents won't be disturbed!

As far as everything else goes; well just test it to the best of your ability using it as you normally would. That is all I ask. At the moment I just play DVDs through my computer which is probably similar to playing downloaded movie trailers.

Thank you in advance for anything you post.

 

[DoctorM]

Techonweb can get you the panel in 5 days no matter where you are from the sound of it. Mine was shipped from New Jersey to Florida and that included New Years Day in between.
You can plan accordingly on where to have your monitor shipped.

If you are largely going to watch movies, I think you will be quite pleased with the vx24...

Adjusting the the picture made things look even better (it was a bit high on the gamma across the board, worst in the green range).
If you don't want to go to the trouble, I think it was TFTCentral that said the Game Mode was pretty close to the same as what their calibration did.
I found pretty much the same thing.

I played a bunch of HL2 today (and I've been going back through the Prince of Persia series lately). Anyway, I've found gaming to be quite acceptable.
Sure there's artifacts if you look for them, but then again when you're actually playing you're not really looking for them.

Edit: Now that I've had this for 1 week, you'd have to pry it from my cold dead hands.
Until they make a 24" wide CRT that doesn't weigh 5 million pounds, this'll do fine.

And if I haven't said it before now: THANK YOU XTKnight. Your recommendation was spot on.

 

[Trean]

Okay now its time for a questions!

What calibration software/hardware did you use? I was looking into the Huey Pro hardware/software.

How much did calibration do? I mean is it worth spending the 100-300 dollars on a calibration tool?

What software or evaluations practices should I use to see any problems with the panel?
--- dead pixels, back light bleeding/uniformity, others that I cannot think of ---


Other things I should go about looking for to ensure that I don't have a defective panel?

 

[Low Radiation]

Quick question for pros, i didn't read the whole thread, sorry.

I'm thinking of getting NEC 2190uxi or 2490wuxi. It will be used for gaming too and i'd like to know how good are they for that? I don't expect the speed of fastest tn panels, but is it just good enough? Some comparisons with popular monitors would be nice.

thanx

 

[DoctorM]

I'm sure hardware/software calibration packages work wonderfully and are a good idea if you do color critical work.
But as you know, most people don't even touch their monitor's settings.

I felt things seemed a bit inaccurate and as I said above I used QuickGamma, which is freeware. You visually assess your monitor using test patterns, tweaking as you go.
While QuickGamma can be set to adjust your picture on startup, I used it to find the correct levels and then entered the numbers into RadLinker (also your video card drivers should have the capability but I don't let mine fully load with Windows).

You might also be happy with one of the OptiColor profiles and leave well enough alone.

I'm hardly an expert but I checked the big pitfalls like this:
I generated two 1920x1200 picture files, one all pure black and the other pure white.
Then I sat myself down and tried to evaluate the whole monitor looking for anything out of place on each (white pixels on black, black pixels on white, or colored subpixels on either).
Some people use IE and enter 'about:blank' (without the quotes) in the address window. Open it to full screen and you have a (almost) completely white screen.
I suspect it's possible that there can be dead subpixels that would make colors inaccurate at a single pixel. That would require testing pure red, green and blue screens as well... but I've never heard anyone suggest it, and I just won't go that far.


For backlight bleeding push the panel to full brightness, load the black picture and look at it in a dark room. While it may not be pure black (since it's not a CRT) you may see brighter patches that indicate backlight bleeding.
And even if you do, once you turn your monitor's brightness down to a tolerable viewing level it may be all but imperceptible. (I run the Viewsonic at 35% brightness.)

I can't think of any other serious LCD maladies you should look for right away. Anyone?

Edit: Definitely listen to your monitor in a quiet environment. Some panels produce annoying buzzing, especially when turned below 100% brightness.
I believe Prad.de said theirs was noisy and after contacting Viewsonic were told to return it since it shouldn't.
Mine has a very faint buzz in the back that can be heard a few inches off, but I have to put my ear to it for it to be louder than my case fans.

Since I don't sit behind my monitor or do it only a few inches away, I can't see where it would be important.
Just make sure yours isn't surprisingly noisy.

 

[Trean]

Originally posted by: DoctorM
I suspect it's possible that there can be dead subpixels that would make colors inaccurate at a single pixel. That would require testing pure red, green and blue screens as well... but I've never heard anyone suggest it, and I just won't go that far.

Looking at a white screen should allow you to see whether dead sub-pixels exist based on the color of the pixel when trying to produce white one can determine which sub-pixels are actually dead. At least that is how it should be .

 

[FinrodFelagund]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: FinrodFelagund
Wow I expend the last 2 days reading this thread and got to say I never learned so much about LCD than here. Great Work!

Well I present myself, I live in Venezuela and I'm bulding a new pc, already order all the components but forgot to buy a monitor :S and my budget is not that high so I'm looking for the best 20" 22" lcd I can get. The video card I got is a 8800 GTS 512mb. I plan to use the computer for: 50% gaming, 30% Work and studies related matters (Microsoft Office tools; web developers and programing tools like macromedia dreamweaver, fireworks, microsoft SQL-server, MySQL, Oracle), 15% web surfing and 5% ocasional view some movies or videos and manage some photo albums

My budget is 300$ and think I could go up to 350 but no more. The other thing is I got to buy from amazon since I got a 300 $ gif card in that page to expend. I search and found the next monitors:

HP W2007 $239.41
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...46&colid=3CIDZO7NW71Y8

HP L2045w $316.06
http://www.amazon.com/Hewlett-...&qid=1199891048&sr=8-1

Acer AL2216Wbd $216.11
http://www.amazon.com/Acer-AL2...&qid=1199891333&sr=8-1

HP W2207 $309.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...41&colid=3CIDZO7NW71Y8

ViewSonic VX2255wmb $333.20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...Z3&colid=3CIDZO7NW71Y8

LG L226WTQ-BF $315.98
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...8P&colid=3CIDZO7NW71Y8

My favorites are the HP W2207 and VX2255wmb but got to say that the w2007 and the AL2216Wbd are GREAT bang for the buck. I also looked at NEC 20WMGX2 (It's unavailable) and Samsung 206BW (panel lotery... no thanks) Any others monitor I should consider? I really want to stay away from 19" lcd since I want the most space avalible in my screen. I know my main activity is gaming but is not the only thing the computer is for

By the way, my old computer uses a 17" CRT and I used that monitor for about 3 years now. Not sure if this helps to get some advice on what should I buy, but I mention it anyway

Thanks in advance

Well it looks like the best monitor for you is the ViewSonic VX2255wmb, at least in my opinion. The w2007 would be my second option.

You are taking a risk with the LG L226WTQ because not all units in every store have been updated with the latest firmware. I say this for you in Venezuela because they may not move as much stock as the US. It had ghosting problems, making it less suitable for gaming. Otherwise, I have to say that the LG is a good model if you can get one with the newer firmware. Maybe your retailer would be able to notify you of this somehow.

I can't think of any other monitors you're forgetting. A lot of those are the ones I recommend.

The monitors are going to be bought in the US, not going to buy here because the prices are high and the quality is low. I use amazon.com a lot since they accept international credit card and haven't much trouble sending items around the globe. Taking that in consideration should I consider the LG? By the way I don't know how could I check that information on the monitor without buying it first, so maybe I should discard it to be on the safe side. What about the Acer? It's a great deal (a 22" for 216 $ ) or is the quality of that lcd too low? From a point of view cost vs performance what of those monitors are the best? I'm not sure about the viewsonic since is the most expensive of that list. Thanks for the answers

 

[cboath]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: cboath
FWIW, my vx2435wm just came from Techonweb this morning. Not bad considering i ordered on monday morning, fedex ground shipping, and it came from california and got to me in oklahoma this morning. There was 'a' piece of tape on the box, but by the time it got to me it wasn't holding anything on there. According to the photos on newegg, everything is there, though, all cables, instructions, etc. Of course i've got 6.5 long hours before i can get home to hook it up!

As an aside, do other companies ship LCD's this way? As in, just take the manufacturer's box and slap a shipping label on it? I gotta say, even if it is common, seems odd that viewsonic, themselves, do not tape the box shut. Pretty much everything I buy comes with the box taped shut (or sealed somehow) by the manufacturer.

As far as I know, it's very common for merchants to ship LCDs in the manufacturer box. They just do this for economy and simplicity as far as I can tell. All the LCDs I've ordered from Newegg (Samsung 710T, ViewSonic VP930b, NEC 20WMGX2, NEC LCD2690WUXi) have arrived like this from what I remember. But none of my shipments has looked that damaged or dinged up. I guess the ViewSonic VP930b I got a while back looked like it had been through the war but it survived just fine and nothing inside the box was damaged.

I'm surprised that ViewSonic didn't tape the box shut though. That's kind of odd. I do remember something peculiar about my VP930b though. Either the box was a little damaged, or something...

You literally means there's nothing at all holding the box shot? The flaps were open and just swaying in the air?

Well I hope you're happy with the display, at least.

Originally posted by: Buck Armstrong
Does anyone know whatever became of the 24WMGX3 mentioned here and on HardOCP?

I've been told that the 20WMGX2 was replaced by the 22WMGX, which is definitely underwhelming to say the least, but I assumed all along that a 22 would be a TN anyway. But what about the 24"? IIRC from XT's earlier post, it was going to be an S-PVA rather than IPS...so is it the 2470WNX? Its a PVA with 6ms response...

EDIT: Please tell me its not this thing: http://www.necdisplay.com/Prod...4c93-8243-938ad36dcea8

Well yes, it is that thing. There will be no 24" S-IPS consumer model from NEC, that I know of. You'll have to settle for the $1000 LCD2490WUXi if you want an IPS.

Two hit two posts with one reply...

First, i asked about the shipping in the manufacturer's box because i just didn't know. I haven't gotten a new monitor for 7 years and the ones we get at work have all come from dell. The one's from dell obviously come in a dell box and are taped shut across the entire opening. I feel much better that my viewsonic came that way after your post - which is why i asked

As for how the box was sealed, It's a standard box where the front of the lid tucks inside the front side of the box and has the two little flaps on either side. Standard stuff. It also has the extra little reverse tab. You know that little 2" wide piece that's part of the front side of the box that you tuck back inside the top flap once the box is closed? That type of deal. And that was it. There was no damage to the box and it all looked just fine. The piece of tape I requested was on the left side of the box about 7-8" from the side (box width was nearly 30") and while it 'was' there it really wasn't on top of the box anymore. Looks like it was put on in a rush and was knocked off pretty quick so that it wasn't sealing anything. As the box is itself, as DoctorM can attest to, you can simply open the box, take something out, and close it back up - and there's no way you can tell if the box was tampered with. You but a decent piece of tape on it, it's going to be obvious if that box was opened. In the case of the viewsonic, all 4 cables sit right under that lid. You open the top and their they are. The base can come right out, too, without removing any of the styrofoam. The way the box is sealed it isn't going to flop open on it's own, but considering it has to go from viewsonic to a wholesaler, to techonweb, to a loading dock, to the first fedex guy, to the fedex guy at the main office in CA, onto a fedex truck that drove to TX, another truck to drive it to my city, and another truck to get it to me - that's 9 or so guys that handle that box before me - and that doesn't count the guys at the intermittent loading docks of fedex who move it from truck A to truck B. That's a lot of people, IMO, who could pop open the box if they wanted a VGA or HDMI cable. Taping the box takes little to no effort, and anything to discourage someone from opening a box the better. But maybe it's just me. But as noted, no tape on my box or DoctorM's from viewsonic, just the little secondary cardboard tab.

Trean, to get the tape on the box, i replied to the email from customer care that came a few minutes after i placed my order. I just asked about getting it taped. I got response in about 10 minutes saying it'd be no problem. There was tape on it when i got it, but it looks like it never made any substantial contact with the front of the box.

As for the pricing of of a 24" Non-TN. After the rebate comes back, these things can be had from techonweb for 540 shipped AR....

 

[DoctorM]

Originally posted by: Trean
Looking at a white screen should allow you to see whether dead sub-pixels exist based on the color of the pixel when trying to produce white one can determine which sub-pixels are actually dead. At least that is how it should be .

Yes, you're right. I typed that really late and thought it was a flash of genius. More like a flash of stupid tiredness.

 

[cboath]

VX2435WM first impressions.

I got this thing home and hooked up last night. In my initial checks and messing around - these are my first impressions in particular order:

-There is a panel on the back you have to pop off to access the inputs and/or if you want to use the vesa mounting connection. I was a bit hesitant on popping it off because the limited printed information was kind of vague on it. Just said to take it off. Turns out, it was easy to open the panel.

-The only issue with the inputs - to me at least - is that the hdmi port is too high up. The top of the inset areas where the inputs reside are curved and with the hdmi port being as high as it was - it made it harder than it really needed to be. Maybe i'm just not dexterous enough, but it took me about 2-3 minutes to get that sucker in their. I don't know the design inside the casing, but at least on the outside, there's enough room to move the ports down 3-4" easily.

-This sucker is HUGE. My i'm just used to shorchanging myself or something, i don't know But i've had two CRT's (19 and 17) for the last 6-7 years. Anyhow, this thing is nearly as wide as the two of those combined and it's taller as well.

-I poked around the OSD stuff a bit to see what was there. Seemed straight forward enough to me. I tried the different setups - Gaming looked the best to me off the bat, but i haven't gotten to far into that. Default brightness was a 70 and it didn't bother me too much. I might try knocking it down a bit over the weekend so I don't get sunburn while at the computer.

-Picture quality looks outstanding. I didn't find any dead pixels (thankfully). And did i say the picture quality was awesome?

-Did a little cad. Don't have all my progs reinstalled for the rebuild of mid december still - so that's limited at the moment. There's something major to be said for being able to display an 18"X12" sheet of paper on the screen FULL SIZE though The drawing area is gigantic!

-Ran a little Bioshock demo and WOW! Even though i have an 8800GT - there was a lot more detail in everything than i had thought. Played just as fast as when i ran it at 1280x1024 on the 19" CRT. I did notice a couple things when playing though. One, i'll have to get used to widescreen. I never knew it, but apparenly i like to look up a lot. I noticed myself repeatedly looking up only to find the screen stopped That's on me though and i'll have to adjust. The other thing is I noticed some lag when i'd jerk my view fast. Kicker is, it looks like motion blur to me. In reality, you're eyes can't move that fast in perfect focus - but a computer screen can. Being in animation, the motion blur look is actually more realistic, but it, too, will take some getting used to. And FTR, i'm looking forward to getting used to both things.

So far so good. I can't wait to start playing with the thing more this weekend and doing some basic calibration myself. I can't see spending triple figures to calibrate my colors though. I figure I can eyeball it fairly close - i don't have the need to spend big bucks to get 5% closer. Either that or i'll look for existing color files on the net somewhere. All in all i love this thing so far. 24" at home looks MUCH larger than 24" at the store. It actually makes me worry a tad that the 56" TV i want to get will be too big for the house! Of course, a TV can't be too big right?

And coming from a dual CRT setup, this monitor is not only huge and gorgeous, it adds a second bonus feature. It opens up a lot of space on my desk!

If anyone has pointed questions or things for me to try - just let me know and i'll do what I can. I can stick a movie in my computer to test movie playback (a few avi's i tried looked great - i look forward to trying out a few 1080p trailers this weekend too) - but i do not have a next gen console or external DVD player I can hook up to it. I DO have a dvd player, but it's intertwined into the entertainment center in the living room and I can't easily extract it to test it out.

 

[DoctorM]

Ditto for the back panel. I was afraid to give it a yank and the instructions were limited, but the panel was easy to remove and fairly sturdy.
While not 3-4 minutes I did find the HDMI connector a bit more difficult to plug in than should have been necessary.

Default Contrast is 70, the brightness is 100, but if you are running in Game mode it does dim the picture a little. (Edit: I have my C at 79 (it moves in strange increments) and B to 35. The default seemed nice at first and I left it alone but after a bit of time I felt like I was staring at the sun. I think that's from being a CRT user.)

You pretty much described my experience to the letter. How surprisingly big it seems, etc.

If you do any other gaming make sure you go to www.widescreengamingforum.com to get info on games that aren't so friendly to the wide format.

Edit: A 56" TV will look much bigger at home. If it's a wide HD screen you should have about 8' viewing distance between you and it. Any less and it's just too big for you.
(Check out http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-2.html )

 

[Amart]

I got the 19" LG L1960TR in the end. Received and set it up yesterday.

No dead pixels, and so far I'm very satisfied. No ghosting at all, no RTC errors visible in the games I play, fast response time, good movie playback.

The size may seem small by current standards but considering I usually sit right in front of the screen, it's just right. The resolution is also easy on the GPU, so I can get more image quality in games. Dot pitch is good, as I can't see a difference with the 0.24 CRT.

The design of the screen is actually much better then I thought based on the pictures. It's clean and relatively simple.
I am however going to use some semi transparent tape to dim the glowing blue indicator (if I can't find the option in the driver).

I need to configure separate profiles for my games and movies from the nVidia controls, as settings that work well for desktop don't do well in games.

 

[Trean]

Originally posted by: DoctorMEdit: A 56" TV will look much bigger at home. If it's a wide HD screen you should have about 8' viewing distance between you and it. Any less and it's just too big for you.
(Check out http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-2.html )

http://rob-the.geek.nz/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/resolution_chart.png


From reading that chart, looks like 6-8ft away to reap the full benefits of 1080p.

 

[jgauthier]

Thanks xtknight for maintaining this excellent resource! The information is very valuable and helped assist me in purchasing my monitor.

FWIW I am a casual gamer and amateur photographer so it was important to find an lcd that was fast enough for gaming and ideal for photo editing, etc. For the price I was willing to spend and the popularity of the HP LP2065 at sites like DPREVIEW.COM I was very interested in this monitor if I could get it with the S-IPS panel. Well I am happy to report I just recieved my new LP2065 mfg # EF227A4#ABA Rev. GSM002 and it does indeed have the LG.Philips LM201U05 panel! I ordered it from http://www.softchoice.com which is where the company I work for orders alot of its hardware. The good news is that if you call their sales team you can create a personal account without having to be a business, etc. They do stock the EF227A8#ABA version which is a HP Smartbuy but the likelyhood of getting the S-IPS panel is uncertain.

All the best!

 

[cboath]

Originally posted by: Trean

Originally posted by: DoctorMEdit: A 56" TV will look much bigger at home. If it's a wide HD screen you should have about 8' viewing distance between you and it. Any less and it's just too big for you.
(Check out http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-2.html )

http://rob-the.geek.nz/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/resolution_chart.png


From reading that chart, looks like 6-8ft away to reap the full benefits of 1080p.

Well, my seat is 14' feet away. So while i may not be the 'perfect' distance away, i should be just fine

 

[DoctorM]

14'? Then you can go much bigger

Btw, I tested the speakers on the VX24 today with an mp3 player. They're not very good. About TV speaker quality.

 

[DoctorM]

I know it's a bit off topic, but can anyone help with this:
When I boot using the DVI/HDMI cable I get no signal on my screen until Windows is running.
I can connect an analog to get the boot screen and access the BIOS, but I have to disconnect the digital cable to keep my video card happy.

 

[cboath]

Originally posted by: DoctorM
I know it's a bit off topic, but can anyone help with this:
When I boot using the DVI/HDMI cable I get no signal on my screen until Windows is running.
I can connect an analog to get the boot screen and access the BIOS, but I have to disconnect the digital cable to keep my video card happy.

Not really sure. I don't have that problem. I had to tell it to use HDMI the first time, but the last couple times i've booted, it comes up just fine. The issue I seem to have is that for whatever reason, it takes about 15 - 20 seconds to get from the boot menus option (vista or Xp) to the windows logo screen with the scrolling boxes underneath. It used to be just 1 or 2 seconds.