Review UPDATE ** 23/02/06 ***
*** UPDATE 23/02/06 ***
Long time no see.
So far so good. Monitor is running 24x7 for almost 7 days. I didn't turn it off at all. Even when the computer was idle and non attended, intensive screen saver was in place so that monitor was always busy. For now, still no single trace of either backlight or colour bleeding, dead pixels or any other deformation. It's still exactly the same as in the "lights off" pictures in my review. Picture improved slightly, but not for huge margin.
It seems that US version of this monitor is HDCP enabled. However, Europe/UK version is not HDCP enabled, according to the response from Melanie (NEC UK). It seems that HDCP is not supported on their desktop range. What seems to me is that they are trying to separate then men from the boys, in other words LCD TV from the LCD desktop monitor. Obviously, sales policy between US and Europe is different.
Same old story. It's just discrepancy in the market targeting. In US, HDTV is real and running already, HDCP is probably just around the corner ... so in some sense they wanted to include such video features as immediately available "extras". UK model is exactly the same, just without video features and much better looking (in my book). Also, Europe is preparing the new tax for the 20" LCD monitors and above. Not sure if such model diversion is related with this one or not. We just have speculations floating around.
One thing that is puzzling me, and which is quite strange, is why on the earth monitor has to support this. Monitor is displaying device and not cryptic device. If we can have one simple "in-line" device, connected between the monitor and GPU card who will take care of the decoding process, it would be much more convenient Anyhow, I will not go into HDCP now. At the end of the day, real question is: "Is HDCP important to you?".
Many people were concerned about the screen size, especially when they switch from the 17" or 19" CRT monitors versions. I think that 20" widescreen LCD will be roughly the same height as a 19" CRT vertically. Horizontally you will notice a big difference. I came from the 17" CRT ground and I'm very, very pleased with the screen size improvement. It's simply not comparable (in good sense). One user on the forum even measured the transition from 19" CRT to 20" LCD. Conclusion was that there is approx 16 % more viewing area, it's 18 % wider, and the only thing is that it's about 2 % shorter, which is nothing special.
Wide screen gaming was really new experience for me (it's more "movie like" and you are somewhat more involved in the scene) and I don't mind the wide screen desktop also (it's really cool actually). Also, more importantly, field of view with the wide screen monitors is much more preferable to me. It's somehow more natural to the eye then 4:3 box.
I decided to include one more interesting question from the forums. It's definitely important one. Here it is:
Q:
"
Can someone please explain more to me about advanced DMV. I do not understand how a button can change the contrast ration from 700:1 to 1600:1. Is this some sort of software trick built into the monitor? Does the actual contrast ratio change, or is your eye tricked into thinking it is better somehow? I just do not get it.
"
My Answer:
A:
"
I was puzzled also.
Yesterday, I discovered that "Advanced DVM technology" is also capable of automatic brightness adaptation of the content in real time (according to Nec). This is definitely confirming my theory from the review that "in Advanced DVM mode monitor is somewhat automatically adjusting the contrast levels according to the screen content". Didn't know that I have this feature until now. I agree, it's definitely confusing without the proper specification of this technology.
In practice, results are really good ... as already advised in the review. For example, when there is explicitly dark scene in the game, Advanced DVM will automatically slightly adjust the screen brightness so that you don't loose those "fine" details in the dark, which is essentially important for gaming. At the same time, contrast is improved and brightness is
still on the excellent level.
Yes, 1600:1 it's just flick on the switch and there you have it Now, I personally think that this is the maximum "obtainable" rate and it's closely related to the way how monitor is dynamically adapting to the screen content.
"
As it seems, many people are confused about the Advanced DVM. Now, it's really almost impossible to explain this, until you see it live. However, as I'm utterly stubborn I decided to arm with the camera again and try to illustrate what I'm saying. Take a look (upper pictures are with Advanced DVM off):
FEAR:
http://82.108.12.84:10973/NEWPIC_03/IMG_ADMF.JPG
DOOM3:
http://82.108.12.84:10973/NEWPIC_03/IMG_ADMD.jpg
As you may notice, with Advanced DVM scene is even more dramatic, colours are more real & balanced, black is even more black and contrast is improved. Also, brightness is neutral and it's somehow more pleasant to the eye. What is maybe most important is that you are not loosing those fine details from the dark scene. Everything is there as it should be, but picture is much more improved.
You may or not know about the famous "I NEED MORE Socks" cartoon from the PixPerAn LCD testing application. Generally, PixPerAn is excellent LCD afterglow and ghosting effects testing and identification tool. With my camera tuned at fastest shutter speed, I tried to identify the ghosting effect on this monitor. Take a look:
http://82.108.12.84:10973/NEWPIC_03/IMG_SOCT3.jpg
and more importantly:
http://82.108.12.84:10973/NEWPIC_03/IMG_SOCT4.jpg
Impressive. In fact, it's in-line with the fastest TN 2 ms panels around (like 2ms ViewSonic VX922). This is definitely confirming my theory from the review and from the gaming sessions that this is one exceptionally fast panel. Unfortunately, I couldn't take afterglow pictures with the camera as it was almost impossible to properly capture the fast moving text on the black/white background. Hopefully, afterglow is on the acceptable (or surprising) level too.
IPS is definitely back and it's back with the vengeance! and Welcome Back NEC! It was about time. They were among the best monitor manufactures in the past.
Can I put the strengths of this monitor in one easy to read spec ? Sure, I can:
- Rich, natural, vibrant colours representation and deep blacks
- Crazy brightness (by luminosity spec), but controllable
- Excellent contrast (also thankfully to the TFT film)
- Exceptional gaming performance (for 20" WS panel)
- Excellent viewing angles
- Advanced DVM is doing the job
- Great design
- Tweak ability
- Happy marriage between the IPS panel "historic" advantages (picture balance/colours/viewing angles especially) and incredibly fast response times.
- 0 backlight & colour bleed
- Honestly priced
What about the possible downsides ?
- Video
Some people may be disappointed with the video playback, as pixel pitch is present and glossy screen is problematic when there is intensive ambient light. I tried several titles and it was great (colour reproduction especially). Of course, such "effects" are noticeable mostly when you are very close to the screen. I prefer my movies in the dark or semi dark room and from the moderate distance. Maybe this is the reason why my video experience was OK. Actually, picture quality was overall better than on my home cinema 32" LCD TV. At the end, have you ever tried to watch your large screen LCD TV from the close proximity ? It's quite bad, honestly.
- Glossy Screen ( is this downside at all ?! )
Yes, glossy screen is maybe problematic when there is a presence of the bright ambient light in front of the screen ... but again it's just matter of personal taste. I don't find it very distractive. As this is the subjective matter, maybe this doesn't deserve the global minus. At the end, it's improving the smoothness of the screen and colour & contrast balance. As the general guideline, I would not recommend serious "dark" gaming or "dark" movie playback VERY close to this monitor and in the very bright ambient light (in front of the screen). As gaming/video immersion factor is much more higher in dark or semi-dark environments, I think that glossy screen shouldn't represent the problem for most of you out there. At the end, from the NEC point of view such screen is simply advantage.
Working in desktop is generally OK in any environment, as in this mode screen is noisy and bright.
- No height adjustment for the monitor ( is it really necessary ?! )
Other disadvantages ? Well ... not for now. Seriously. 5 stars from me. Is this almost perfect LCD panel ? I would leave this question to you my friends.
In this update, I collected some interesting thoughts from the forum and included the Advanced DVM comparisons and the famous "I NEED MORE Socks" cartoon from the PixPerAn.
