NEC LCD20WGX2 review *** UPDATED 25/02/06 ***

Easyrider
look at this big thread about the 2025:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1026462

It was a tossup between this one and the Nec, but I went for the nec due to deeper colours and blacks. Plus the 2025 doesnt scale automatically means that u will have do your options in display control panel.

If Nec can sort out the issues, this should be the only monitor on peoples wish lists it really is that good. But as to when or how they will be resolved is something we are all waiting for.
 
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I received my NEC this morning and I can tell you that after 30 minutes playing XBOX360 and World of Warcraft that this is simply the best TFT Panel I have used.
It's the closest you can get to CRT clarity, the picture quality is out of this world. With the 6ms response it's flawless.

Very happy!
I haven't noticed any backlight bleed yet, only one (many two) lazy pixels, but that's no big deal.
 
was watching some high res rips of 'LOST' and 'CSI' last night with my wife, and WOW!!! - The viewing experience was just so much better than when we used to watch on my 17" tft. Obviously, watching from the couch, the size difference was great (because they're all widescreen, and with the 17" there were BIG black bars), but the colours and response seems so much better. I never realised my old 17" viewsonic 171's were such 'dated' technology and that tfts have moved on so much.

Fantastic. I do kind of miss having two screens, but i think i'll get used to it, and i wouldn't want to go back to 17" old tech panels after savouring this work of art.
 
ok...i took the plunge and popped into OCUK and picked up a NEC. :rolleyes:

One thing first off, the box they got out was taped twice and had a 1 by 2cm tear in the corner...so I tell the chap, is that one that has been returned? He says: 'No it couldn't possibly be. The boxes go really quickly and it wouldn't be in this condition.'

So after the suspect look I take it away.

Get home after 35mins drive and open it up! First bad sign, the analog cable had been used. Also you know when you look at something and you get that 'this doesn't look right' feeling.

Maybe I'm paranoid after my mate getting a 2005FPW from OCUK that had cables attached to monitor! This felt opened before. The unit itself was pristine, couldn't see anything on the screen itself.

Anyway, I let it settle for 20mins and hook it up. On she goes...quick check on white then black background...no dead pixels...gotta run pixel buddy yet. But all seems good. phew.

However, yes you guessed it...I got backlight bleed... Bottom right corner it perfect, so much so that it could pass as a black hole, the black is so deep.

The lower left corner has it pretty bad though. If you imagine splitting the whole screen with a horizontal line and vertical line in its centre, then the lower left quadrant is about half affected accross the diagonal from the corner...if that makes any sense! :rolleyes:
Can't see it anywhere else, need a completely dark room to appreciate it, so I'll report again later at night. Also that will allow some time to bed in...fingers crossed it goes away! :( If not will await what NEC says but if they can fix them then it has to be RMA'd.

On a plus note though, boy is this monitor good! I have seen no LCD like this. The richness of colour and depth of black...wow. Also very very sharp, I understand the comment regarding it would pass as a CRT. The black as I said, on the areas that are perfect is so deep.

So, in summary, monitor is great. Backlight is poo but no dead pixels here. Let's give it a chance to settle for a couple of days and see about the backlight. The reflective screen is only a prob on very dark images. The sun is glazing through the window today, who would have said one would ask for no sun! I use the PC 90% at night and in a dark environment so it'll be fine.

Just thought I'd pass on my thoughts. Hope it helps someone! Great LCD!

Has anyone else had issues with receiving returned goods from OCUK? Out of interest only.
 
my backlight bleed is definitely reduced from yesterday. I don't know whether that's because of having let the screen burn in, or just because i've changed the settings a bit. It's been on for about 10 hours non-stop today - just watching a film now and there's pretty much no bleed whatsoever any more :) Will post pics later when it's dark :)
 
My serial is 621... and I also have very bad bleed in the lower left corner.

The lower right corner is tip top and the case around that area is very solid. On the lower left corner, where the bleed is, the case has a tiny bit of play. I can feel it.

Any you guys noticed this?
 
Loko, that doesnt sound right, when I got mine no cables were used and the box was taped once with sellotape. I suspect that one has been returned before. 2005fpw does have the vga cable attached when it comes from dell so that is right. All cables in Nec should be in bags with caps on not connected to monitor.

Snow patrol, what settings are u using as I have played around with my settings a lot.
 
brightness about 80, contrast 50, standard dv mode. Haven't decided about using advance dv yet, as the colour changes when changing between a bright background and dark one are a little disrtacting at first.

The slight bleed that there is, doesn't seem enough for me to bother with an rma. I'm delighted with the quality of this screen.
 
Ok I've now run some DVD scenes through the monitor. One thing, the reflective screen is not an issue at all in low darkness (now the sun is gone!).

Movies look fantastic on this. Can't see any ghosting. Did some HL2 Lost Coast - high dynamic range made me wet myself but don't tell anyone. To my happy surprise Guildwars supports widescreen. Shame BF2 only stretches the image. Call of Duty 2 was fantastic too. :D

Ok, so now for the backlight bleed. In low level light room it's now apparent that I have also bleed in the top right corner but only half that of the lower left. The other two corners seem ok. But the bleed on the lower left is quite a lot. It is only an issue with dark scenes in movies / games but unacceptable for the amount of money this costs. I'll have to give Sara a ring (wave!) on Monday, see where NEC are with the fix for these. It's difficult to tell, but I reckon the fit between panel and case has something to do with it. :rolleyes:

Shame about this issue, because it spoils a truly outstanding monitor. It puts the 2005FPW I had to shame - in my opinion.
 
Yes you can force the resolution by modifying Video.con in:

C:\Documents and Settings\Loko\My Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\0001

where Loko is your username and 0001 may vary depending on the number of profiles/accounts you have in game.

You can force resolution here, though it's easier just adding '+szx 1680 + szy 1050' to your desktop shortcut (change resolution as required).

The point is that the game's engine doesn't support 16:9 (or 16:10) and hence it just stretches the image on the horizontal plane - you'll see it more apparently on things like the fonts. (what I mean is that forcing the res distorts the image).

If you hook up two monitors a 4:3 and 16:9 side by side it's can be seen easily.

Shame! Maybe when they release patch 1.23 to spoil some more of the game they can add widescreen functionality...lol.
 
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Loko said:
Yes you can force the resolution by modifying Video.con in:

C:\Documents and Settings\Loko\My Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\0001

where Loko is your username and 0001 may vary depending on the number of profiles/accounts you have in game.

You can force resolution here, though it's easier just adding '+szx 1680 + szy 1050' to your desktop shortcut (change resolution as required).

The point is that the game's engine doesn't support 16:9 (or 16:10) and hence it just stretches the image on the horizontal plane - you'll see it more apparently on things like the fonts. (what I mean is that forcing the res distorts the image).

If you hook up two monitors a 4:3 and 16:9 side by side it's can be seen easily.

Shame! Maybe when they release patch 1.23 to spoil some more of the game they can add widescreen functionality...lol.
Click to expand...

I can't tell the game is stretched at all, looks perfect :) . And I play bf2 A LOT

btw, I just added +szx 1680 +szy 1050 in the desktop shortcut.
 
We are kinda going OT but...

I have played BF2 (and all other BF titles) since they came out...on almost a daily baisis. My clan drifted into Guildwars in a big way when it came out but the frenzy is over and we still frag away regularly again. In fact, we are waiting for a born again BF1942...what's this BF2142 malarkey? :D

It doesn't look right to me...in fact do a simple check. Set the res to 1280x1024. Pop into the game and check for fat people syndrome. It's like watching a none widescreen telly program on a forced 16:9 mode. It's suttle but there.

It doesn't bother me excessively, I play it at the native res and enjoy the fun.

:p
 
Apparently this NEC (as Baddass told me, IIRC) can run with borders if you don't want a stretch. It will then run @ 1280x1024 with a black border and it is called 1:1 pixel match. It should be an option in the OSD of the monitor.
 
One thing I've noticed with the bleed is it appears to be closely related to temperature.

On initial switch on or after the monitor is been power-off blanked (I have my screen saver blank after 5mins, power off after 10) then there's no bleed and all corners' black is very dark.

Given some time in use and that's when the bleed appears. Including being noticable on the desktop. Obviously this happens faster when the room is of a higher temperature.
 
NickK, you beat me to it!

I switched on the monitor this morning and noticed bleed only in the lower left corner and though it covered the same area, it's intensity was perhaps 50% less.

Last night after ~12hrs I had some bleed along the top right corner and lots on lower left. I'll see if it gets worse in 3 or 4 hrs and post back.

At the mo, from cold, it's looking not too bad. Time to watch that movie then! :p
 
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