Unofficial Dell 2405FPW FAQ / INFO page 2405

[SnoMunke]

Got mine this last week. I already have 2 Dell 2001FP. The 2401FPW may have (haven't calibrated anything yet) more backlight bleed-thru than the 2001FP (blacks aren't as black), but the size is what sold me on the 2401FPW anyways....

 

[McGeyser]

I just got a 2405 and I am having trouble with BF2 blurring on the landscape while in vehicles and aircraft, during rapid turns or manuevers.Example, Strike at Karkand, in the jeep, full speed, while rocking left and right (swerving), the buildings get hazy and unfocused looking, a lot of color noise and outlines get blurry. I am used to a 21"CRT and this LCD thing is all new to me.

Settings:
78.03 64 bit
.exe @ 1680X1050, tried 1920X1200 but it glitches/brief stutter more often.
Vsynch enabled

I can not modify video.con to anything other than stock res, as BF2 crashes after login everytime with custom settings in video.con.

Am I being to picky? Did I get a lemon 2405? What settings do you guys run and do you notice any of what I see? Thanks.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: McGeyser
I just got a 2405 and I am having trouble with BF2 blurring on the landscape while in vehicles and aircraft, during rapid turns or manuevers.Example, Strike at Karkand, in the jeep, full speed, while rocking left and right (swerving), the buildings get hazy and unfocused looking, a lot of color noise and outlines get blurry. I am used to a 21"CRT and this LCD thing is all new to me.

Yeah, unfortunately that happens. That's the worst kind of blurring I've ever seen on my 17" LCD too, in BF2 scrolling.

 

[McGeyser]

Thanks xtknight, I was hopeing I didn't get a bad unit, I have no experience with LCD.

 

[McGeyser]

The blur cleared up and the lag/glitch is gone. I flushed the drivers and added 78.03. Also I turned the res down to 1680X1050, Fixed aspect ratio enabled and Vsynch on. I still see minor blur at high speeds but the quality has improved so much that I am willing to adjust to it. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[ncitrdude1]

Just got this monitor a few days ago, and am having issues using it as an HDTV monitor (I know that i can't use the DVI input since it does not have HDMI decoding).

I have the 2405 hooked up through good component video cables to my Pioneer HDTV box (from Time Warner NYC), and regardless of which output mode I use (720p or 1080i), there are problems displaying red tones. It's hard to describe, but it's almost as if the monitor doesn't have enough red hues in its color palette, so certain scenes, for example when someone's face is showing, there are splotches of red that stick out rather than a smooth gradation between colors. Has anyone experienced this issue before? I bought this monitor because I thought it would be a cheaper way to get a 24" HDTV monitor, I'd hate to find out that I spent $800 and it can't do what I want it to do...

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: McGeyser
The blur cleared up and the lag/glitch is gone. I flushed the drivers and added 78.03. Also I turned the res down to 1680X1050, Fixed aspect ratio enabled and Vsynch on. I still see minor blur at high speeds but the quality has improved so much that I am willing to adjust to it. Thanks for the input guys.

Really? So the blur was the drivers? Maybe you mean tearing which VSync fixes... Tearing is bad on LCDs as well because that quick change of a partial frame is too fast for the crystals and the tearing is a lot worse than on a CRT.

 

[McGeyser]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: McGeyser
The blur cleared up and the lag/glitch is gone. I flushed the drivers and added 78.03. Also I turned the res down to 1680X1050, Fixed aspect ratio enabled and Vsynch on. I still see minor blur at high speeds but the quality has improved so much that I am willing to adjust to it. Thanks for the input guys.

Really? So the blur was the drivers? Maybe you mean tearing which VSync fixes... Tearing is bad on LCDs as well because that quick change of a partial frame is too fast for the crystals and the tearing is a lot worse than on a CRT.

Yes I think the tearing was what I was considering blur early on. This is my first LCD so I didn't quite know what I was seeing or how to define it. I am happy to say my eyes have adjusted and the vsynch and newer drviers, along with a lower res, has fixed my problems. The blur or out of focus textures still barely occur with high speed gaming, but I guess I am just used to CRT @85Hz.

 

[9748904947]

Any word on what the image quality is like when a PS2 is hooked up via component cables? I've caught the xbox posts, but I believe the PS2's image output method is slightly different, ie vga/dvi converters do not work as well as they do when used with a xbox.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: McGeyser
Yes I think the tearing was what I was considering blur early on. This is my first LCD so I didn't quite know what I was seeing or how to define it. I am happy to say my eyes have adjusted and the vsynch and newer drviers, along with a lower res, has fixed my problems. The blur or out of focus textures still barely occur with high speed gaming, but I guess I am just used to CRT @85Hz.

Run native res (if you can) and you won't have any IQ problems like blurry/blocky textures. Enable VSync and Triple Buffering.

 

[ncitrdude1]

To clarify my previous post, I have tried now with 3 separate HD boxes and a DVD player, and they all have the same issue (connected through component video). If I pause an image, there are sections of the picture that shimmer with a red hue (the reddish sections streak horizontally). It is particularly problematic for skin tones, b/c the red jumps out at you. Is this an in issue inherent with the panel? Or is it likely that the monitor I have is defective? Any help would be greatly appreciated, it is a really annoying problem to have with a monitor of this price. Thx...

 

[McGeyser]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: McGeyser
Yes I think the tearing was what I was considering blur early on. This is my first LCD so I didn't quite know what I was seeing or how to define it. I am happy to say my eyes have adjusted and the vsynch and newer drviers, along with a lower res, has fixed my problems. The blur or out of focus textures still barely occur with high speed gaming, but I guess I am just used to CRT @85Hz.

Run native res (if you can) and you won't have any IQ problems like blurry/blocky textures. Enable VSync and Triple Buffering.

With 1 GTX and BF2, I wasn't able to run everything at high and 2XAA. So I settled for 1680X1050.

Originally posted by: ncitrdude1
To clarify my previous post, I have tried now with 3 separate HD boxes and a DVD player, and they all have the same issue (connected through component video). If I pause an image, there are sections of the picture that shimmer with a red hue (the reddish sections streak horizontally). It is particularly problematic for skin tones, b/c the red jumps out at you. Is this an in issue inherent with the panel? Or is it likely that the monitor I have is defective? Any help would be greatly appreciated, it is a really annoying problem to have with a monitor of this price. Thx...

I had this problem last night with my Xbox, the random red horizontal streaks, I pushed the component cables in as far as I could and then moved the cables around and the color went perfect and no more streaks. Try messing with the connections, I was worried my component inputs were faulty at first. Xbox Media Center looks sweet in 1080i on the 2405.

 

[Heinrich]

I LOVE THIS THING, I am sooo spoiled now. I am upgrading from a 2000FP, which was replaced by the 2001FP about 45 days (just outside the return window) after I bought it. This monitor is far far brighter, I see 0 dead pixels and I see 0 backlight bleeding.

WoW is amazing to behold. So is half-life 2! And so are guys in their underwear, when I tilt the monitor sideways!! :heart:

 

[jds70]

Does anyone know what the Canadian Warranty on this is?

I bought one from dell.ca; great monitor, but everything printed says that the warranty is on the bill or shipping slip, but I can't find it.

Any real warranty numbers somewhere?

 

[daftpunkit]

how can you tell what format (480i or p, 720i or p, 1080i or p) a DVD is?

For example, I just got Mr. & Mrs. Smith on dvd. I play it into my Sony NS-775V SA-CD/DVD Player which I have hooked via component cables to my 2405FPW. Then I'll go to the monitor menu and it will say: 480i 60HZ, when I enable the Progressive (Auto or Video) option on my player, its 480P 60 HZ... and to be honest for that particular dvd I see ZERO difference in quality.

I have simple RGB componenet cables made by GE that I had laying around. I was told the "ethuiast" cables made by Monster and such are just overpriced labels that have no qualit difference. $20 vs $100. Not sure.

But anyways, how can you tell a dvd's format?

Mr & Mrs Smith (widescreen verison; anamorphic 2.35:1; dual layer) is what it says on the back of the cover.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: MIDIman

Originally posted by: pdontthink
So where are people going to find the best price? hardforum.com seems to have the most intense bargain hunters... anyone have buying tips?

Wait. Dell got as low as $730-ish this summer, and I've seen it come close to $800. If you don't <need> this, I would definitely wait. There's also a lot of new stuff brewing up that's going to be a lot better than this monitor. OLED in particular. I'd say even as early as this winter there might be new products out that will either be better for the same price as this one, or at least help make it a lot cheaper.

You do realize that your link is dated 2003, right? OLED has allegedly been 'on the cusp' of being viable for a CRT/LCD replacement for at least the past 5 years, but it just hasn't gotten to the point of being possible for mass-production yet. Unfortunately, current OLED technology only goes up to about 7" screens; after that there are huge manufacturing problems at the moment.

It's LCD for the forseeable future; if anything Toshiba's SED/FED based technology has a better chance of making it into desktop screens than OLED.

 

[SnoMunke]

Originally posted by: daftpunkit
how can you tell what format (480i or p, 720i or p, 1080i or p) a DVD is?

For example, I just got Mr. & Mrs. Smith on dvd. I play it into my Sony NS-775V SA-CD/DVD Player which I have hooked via component cables to my 2405FPW. Then I'll go to the monitor menu and it will say: 480i 60HZ, when I enable the Progressive (Auto or Video) option on my player, its 480P 60 HZ... and to be honest for that particular dvd I see ZERO difference in quality.

I have simple RGB componenet cables made by GE that I had laying around. I was told the "ethuiast" cables made by Monster and such are just overpriced labels that have no qualit difference. $20 vs $100. Not sure.

But anyways, how can you tell a dvd's format?

Mr & Mrs Smith (widescreen verison; anamorphic 2.35:1; dual layer) is what it says on the back of the cover.

All DVDs are 480i. I looked up the specs for the Sony NS-775V...specs look like crap. If you want to see any noticable difference, get a quality DVD player.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Guys, I got a question, do you really need a dual-link DVI port to drive this monitor over DVI at native resolution? Or can I use single-link DVI? I have PNY 6800GT AGP and I'm concerned that I won't be able to drive this monitor over DVI at 1920x1200, and I really don't want to go VGA on it.

 

[AsianriceX]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
Guys, I got a question, do you really need a dual-link DVI port to drive this monitor over DVI at native resolution? Or can I use single-link DVI? I have PNY 6800GT AGP and I'm concerned that I won't be able to drive this monitor over DVI at 1920x1200, and I really don't want to go VGA on it.

This monitor uses single-link DVI. 1920x1200 @ 60Hz is within spec for single-link.

 

[SmackdownHotel]

Question - what is the best way to clean the screen?

 

[sirfergy]

Bleach....


Just use eyeglass cleaner.

 

[SmackdownHotel]

Eyeglass cleaner?

 

[Woofmeister]

Windex and soft towel will work fine. Just don't spray directly on the screen and keep the pressure light.

 

[sirfergy]

Windex isn't something you should use. It has enough chemicals to eat away at the plastic. Eyeglass cleaner is good since it's designed for sensitive materials.

 

[johnnqq]

is it true that only about 1 out of 3 monitors won't have problems? (dead pixels, pink hue, etc?)