BARGAIN - OcUK 24" with DVI (*VA Panel) for £179.99+VAT (This Week Only Deal!!)

prescott28 · 14 Mar 2008 at 15:56

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, fezster

fezster · 14 Mar 2008 at 16:07

Cheers matey. My wifes not gonna be happy if I have to exchange it again. This is the third time Ive asked her to stay in to wait for a pickup / delivery in the last 2 weeks for the same monitor!

Gregeff · 14 Mar 2008 at 16:54

Just ordered one of these to replace my 22" Dell P1130 CRT (Sony G520) so it will be interesting to see how it compares. I just hope i get one thats got a VA panel.

Didn't want to order a new monitor yet as I like this CRT and I do mostly photoeditting on it. However It has started to do strange flickering/pinging things when it's first turned on so I think it may die soon. I have some important work due in Monday that i need to do over the weekend so ordered this monitor to come tomorrow just in case this one dies on me!!

I'll let you all know what I get!

iMacMart · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:01

Gregeff said:
I'll let you all know what I get!

Please do.. I got this back from OcUK today:

Dear Tweakinfreak,

Thank you for you webnote. There was a problem with some stock being mixed but this has now been corrected and if you order a VA panel you will get a VA panel.

Regards,

Martin Roberts

Brocken · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:24

Haven't they been saying that for weeks?

Bizarre · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:37

Well I received mine this morning and guess what folks ?

Yup, it's a TN panel, an LG-LM240WU3 to be exact!

(gotta laugh or I'll cry).

First thing that suprised me was the viewing angles weren't nearly as bad as I expected, no obvious shifting of colors as I looked around the screen etc, far better than the Dell E248WFP for example.

Another plus point is it had no dead pixels, and minimal backlight bleed. I was also suprised with how well games looked at non native res, TF2, UT3 and COD 4 running at 1440 x 900 all still looked great to me.

I even thought about keeping it it if ocuk were prepared to refund me the £38 difference, but I don't think is likely. Besides, a VA panel is what I ordered so a VA panel is what I expected.

*pick up and refund requested.

If anyones interested here's a few quick pics of the monitor running at non native res. Obviously a resized jpeg isn't going to tell you the real storey, but personally I thought it scaled quite well.

It's worth noting that I didn't bother calibrating the monitor at all (which is probably why it looks so dark!) as I didn't think there was any point, since I knew it was going straight back in the box.

COD 4 at 1280 X 1024 1:1 pixel mapped via Nvidia's drivers

COD 4 at 1440 x 900

HL2: EP2 AT 1920 x 1200 (running side by side with my 26" sammy r8 s-panel).

Tombo · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:43

I'd say there's a good chance they would refund the difference if that's the route you want to go with.

Bizarre · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:53

I'm sure I read somewhere that a guy had already asked and knocked back ?

I've requested a refund now anyway, although if I change my mind over the weekend I can always ask them via a webnote.

cRuNcHiE · 14 Mar 2008 at 17:55

I just received a panel yesterday and its a TN panel LG-LM240WU3

I first suspected it when i noticed the change in colour with the viewing angles, then i noticed some dithering while doing a calibration test, some colours would go jaggy and scroll like tweed jackets on SD TV.

The dithering is an artifact of faking 8-bit colours using FRC.

TN panels can display interpolated 24-bit color using a dithering method which combines adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade. They can also use FRC (Frame Rate Control), which quickly cycles pixels over time to simulate a given shade. These color simulation methods are noticeable to most people and bothersome to some. FRC tends to be most noticeable in darker tones, while dithering appears to make the individual pixels of the LCD visible.

I did calibrate it with PrintFix PRO system and it does look very good but at the end of the day i also paid for a VA panel.They also use these panels in the imac 24"

i have also noticed the occasional "sparkle" appear while watching HD content where certain pixels would go white in a line across the screen.

I'd like a replacement but if its going to be hassle like it sounds then i'll get my money back and will go elsewhere for business in the future.

It still clearly says PVA panel on the first page of overclockers website.

On the plus side, this TN panel does seem to cope very well with lower resolutions and to the people that have had both, does the TN have better blacks due to the glossy screen?

maximusonion · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:08

so far only ONE guy has received a VA panel as a replacement?! this is sausage ridiculous. i am getting my replacement on monday, if it isn't a VA panel i am getting a refund.

Hamster · 14 Mar 2008 at 18:27

i'd edit out that swearie quick if i were you!!

sunama · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:08

Gregeff said:
Just ordered one of these to replace my 22" Dell P1130 CRT (Sony G520) so it will be interesting to see how it compares. I just hope i get one thats got a VA panel.

Dude, that Sony G520 was one of the best CRT monitors ever. Are you sure you want to replace it with a OCUK Value 24"? Could you not look on an auction site for direct replacement? The last thing you want is for your upgrade to actually be a downgrade.

Obviously the fashion is LCD, but some people dont realise is that top LCD panels dont yet offer the same image quality of the top CRT monitors of yesteryear.

I think I read that the IPS panels offer the best image quality of any LCD monitor right now, though you do have to pay a little more for these. Perhaps that might be more appropriate for your eyes?

fezster · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:09

TN here too as a replacement. LG-LM240WU3

They may as well have just sent the same flippin screen back to me :mad:

Bonjour · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:14

I wonder how many people are being given TN panels but holding onto them none the wiser.

Must be a fair few that don't frequent the forums.

Gregeff · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:31

sunama said:
Dude, that Sony G520 was one of the best CRT monitors ever. Are you sure you want to replace it with a OCUK Value 24"? Could you not look on an auction site for direct replacement? The last thing you want is for your upgrade to actually be a downgrade.

Obviously the fashion is LCD, but some people dont realise is that top LCD panels dont yet offer the same image quality of the top CRT monitors of yesteryear.

I think I read that the IPS panels offer the best image quality of any LCD monitor right now, though you do have to pay a little more for these. Perhaps that might be more appropriate for your eyes?

Yeh I know, it will be sad to get rid of this monitor. I did think about ordering another P1130 off of the bay for £100, but I assume it will be of similar age to mine and may not last much longer?

I was hoping this monitor would do another year, by then I will have left uni, and have enough money to get a decent TFT, but alas it looks like it is dieing now

If i'm not happy with the OcUK 24" I may return it under distance selling act early next week and look for something better. However seeing as it has a VA panel I hope it to be quite good. I guess I'll find out tomorrow, you never know if I recieve a TN panel it may be a blessing in disguise!

iMacMart · 14 Mar 2008 at 19:49

I've read enough here even though I got that reply from the shop I doubt I'll bother as it sounds like trouble!

I'm going elsewhere and will order a HP 22" wide screen I think as I get discount and 3 years warranty thrown in for £28 extra.........

fish99 · 14 Mar 2008 at 20:12

tweakinfreak said:
I've read enough here even though I got that reply from the shop I doubt I'll bother as it sounds like trouble!

I'm going elsewhere and will order a HP 22" wide screen I think as I get discount and 3 years warranty thrown in for £28 extra.........

Wouldn't that be a TN also though? And the OcUK also has a 3 yr warranty. Sorry if I'm way off or have missed something.

iMacMart · 14 Mar 2008 at 20:26

fish99 said:
Wouldn't that be a TN also though? And the OcUK also has a 3 yr warranty. Sorry if I'm way off or have missed something.

No your not mate - but I'll get it at a great price with the 3 years warranty anyway - just don't want to get into a situation where I have to send it back possibly 3 times to get the right screen

prescott28 · 14 Mar 2008 at 20:29

tweakinfreak said:
Please do.. I got this back from OcUK today:

Dear Tweakinfreak,

Thank you for you webnote. There was a problem with some stock being mixed but this has now been corrected and if you order a VA panel you will get a VA panel.

Regards,

Martin Roberts

Oh, so who is this that knows what is going on? I'm not the only one have ordered and got the wrong panel today. It would be great if this was going to happen b ut today's batch doesn't look good amd it's like that OCUK don't check but just send panels out.

Let's hope this is what is going to happen as I now have 2 panels to go back fro exchange and it had better not be for TN panels, guys, as I have these already.

Bizarre · 14 Mar 2008 at 21:22

Gregeff said:
Yeh I know, it will be sad to get rid of this monitor. I did think about ordering another P1130 off of the bay for £100, but I assume it will be of similar age to mine and may not last much longer?

That's what I've been gaming on for the last few years, as you know it uses the same trinitron tube as the G520, can't beat a good quality CRT for gaming on, imo. Only gripe is that it's about 3 feet in depth, although I've got plenty of desk space so it's not really a problem.

My original plan was to run it besides the ocuk 24" but now it looks like it'll be taking its rightful place next to a Dell 2408.