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

v0id said:
while I'm enjoying the widescreen aspect, I really would like a few more inches. Having researched widescreen monitors for a while before deciding on this one it doesn't seem like there are any bigger WS tfts that are as good for gaming. Am I wrong?
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It's known "its not big anymore" syndrom in life. Unfortunately, it's applicable on the LCD monitors also. You know that feeling ... your power up your first WS LCD monitor and think its huge ... and then days go by and you suddenly have that restless feeling inside that it's not "big anymore". Actually, I think that I've had the same syndrom related to my newly bought flat size, after spending few months there ... and then I came to my senses and realised that I'm just fuzzy and that there is no pratical or logical reason that I "upgrade" myself to the new and bigger flat. ;) It happened also with my 32" LCD TV. It's just never-ending story. Strictly speaking, I would like to have (as an additional toy) high end projector and that should probably cure any possible unrest about the screen size :D

24" LCD monitors market is pretty much stagnant and (still) in development. I would like to see some new 24" WS (or larger) LCD monitors, based on the same AS-IPS technology as NEC (preferably from the NEC itself), as I accept no substitute from now on :D As AS-IPS panels are usually associated with the higher production costs, I guess that price would be premium on such models ... time will tell. If you are really thinking about the gaming LCD screen size upgrade, I would suggest you to wait a bit more until some next gen large screen LCD monitors emerge on the market.

Screen size is usually just personal matter. For me, I would rather have the 20" monitor with the great PQ than upgrade just because of the screen size. Price premium for those extra few inches is also not attractive for me. For example, Dell 2405 is a good screen. It has that "wow" gaming factor because of the screen size ... but that's pretty much all. I've seen couple of 2405 in action and colours were simply "washed out" (comparing to NEC), viewing angles were poor and noticeable screen lag was present (my vision is very picky). When I reviewed the NEC, I realised that it's really in class of it's own. Apart from everything else, that was my main "drive" for the review itself.

Please be careful that native 1920x1200 resolution of the 24" screens is demanding the high end hardware, and I guess that newly developed games will definitely not be "less demanding". If you play such games in 1680x1050 (or lower) on 24" or larger screens and when you combine the fact that such screens usually have larger pixel pitch ... results are probably not so pleasant (at least when you watch the monitor form the relativly closer distance). Like all LCD panels around, it has it's pros and cons. You will gain some and loose some when you upgrade to larger screen. As already mentioned, choice of monitors is usually down just to personal preferences and we have people who are happy with both screen sizes.

I hope that my thoughts are plausable to you. Of course, at the end, choise is always yours.
 
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I cant get this panel to display all my colours it says 16.7 million, but is it a true 8 bit panel ?

Its falling short at the moment when display my photographs, I'm getting colour banding when white balance has been balanced or leave white as is (which is quite yellow, very warm)

to get a non yellow white I have to put the monitor to r = 80% G = 80% Blue = 100% but this screws up the rest of my colours.

I've got naviset installed from the CD (and it works) but trying to attach that icc profile appears to do nothing.

I feel like Ive spent ages trying to calibrate this monitor, but I just keep coming back to it, wondering why it looks so yellow on the lighter tones. I had similar fustrating experiences with the 2405fpw and colour. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong ?

Odd thing is I've set up 30 Philips panels at work and none of them had to be calibrated to be right in my eyes. And my 2005fpw was perfect straight from the box (another Philips panel).
:(

Any input apprciated. Right now I can only count on Philips and Sony Panels for true colour reproduction, from what Ive seen. The same was true for thier CRT tv's a decade back.
 
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Just installed Oblivion and on this monitor it looks & run just stunning. Colours are simply lush and smoothness & contrast of the screen is just fantastic. I'm speechless :D

On another note, I'm really starting now to appreciate the "grainy screen free" look of the NEC panel. Yesterday, I was visiting my old friend and he has Dell 2005FPW. When I looked at his monitor closely, I could easily see the grainy texture of the LCD screen ... and that was something I always disliked about the LCD panels. It seems that now I'm so much used (may I say spoiled) with the NEC screen, that grainy look of other LCD panels is just weird to me. Also, usual AR coating of LCD monitors looks somehow (now) dull & matt to me. Weird. As LaRZ already mentioned, NEC screen (and thankfully to OptiClear) is really just "window" to another world. Recently, in my eyes, it reminds me so much of the old CRT days glory. Great.
 
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If you turn on Advanced DV mode, you'll get Colour banding.
Infact I get colour banding in all modes while its on and you can see things get brighter and dimmer. I fail to see how these modes are ment to help me as a gamer. When you turn it on it takes some brightness away whilst giving a slightly darker black, I feel like I get the same results, just turning the backlight down (brightness).

to me advanced DV mode means = reduced colour reproduction and dynamically fiddles with your backlight. why ?

Any mode that doesn't use the Native colour temperature, produces colour banding, and the native colour setting itself looks too yellow at the top end of the spectrum.

On a good note
Can't sere any backlight bleed anymore, even at night it's dissapeared. The panels blacks ( darker tones are becoming more and more uniform, the blacks still emit slight navey blue purple black (and therefore still emits light) however this has become more and more uniform, even continuing to get better into the second week of ownership.

The only way, I see all colours is to set the screen to native mode, but then its all too warm. I leave adv dv off and aim for backlight for 50% brightness.
In gaming mode everything dark seems to look bogey coloured when entering the blacks, again, completly throwing the balance of colour as they were ment to be viewed. Fiddling with the colour settings in the nvidia cp and colour profiles icc is slowly driving me mad.

:confused:
 
I use Advanced DV mode > Gaming and get no noticeable banding whatsoever... and it definately has a positive effect on my games. I've taken over 1GB of oblivion and COD2 screenshots (.BMP format). :D
 
Sparky__H said:
Developed a stuck sub pixel in a really obvious place FFS!
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Tried massaging it back to working mate?

Always worth a shot, got a pixel to work by this method on my 2005fpw.

(I actually flicked the screen with my finger nail gently infact. But no doubt massaging would have had same effect) :)
 
UOcUK Poopscoop said:
Tried massaging it back to working mate?

Always worth a shot, got a pixel to work by this method on my 2005fpw.

(I actually flicked the screen with my finger nail gently infact. But no doubt massaging would have had same effect) :)
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First thing I tried mate :(

Going to try a screen flash program to see if I can force it back to life…
 
UOcUK Poopscoop said:
Red, that near centre of screen. Nasty. :(

What's NEC's dead/ stuck pixel policy I wonder?

How long you had the screen, distance selling regs may help you if under a week?
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Well it arrived Tuesday so I have till Friday to send it back (Thanks to the bank holiday)
 
its hard to notice the banding in games. but I can certainly see a lack of richness in colour within games. You can get all colours if you use the Native colour temperature. :)

So far here are my settings

user mode Standard

50% brightness (100% brightness Gaming)
50% Contast
Native colour mode
Advanced DV OFF

Nvidia colour adjustment +3% BLUE shift on brightness to cool the warm whites. :mad:

I'm totally against switching modes to different things. One mode should be good for all things.

Especially, when this panel seems uniform and dynamic enough, without the "clever electronics" which, for me, so far, have proven totally useless.
(in photoshop work & Half life 2)

This panel is very responsive with all those settings turned off.
This panel has fantastic contast ratio's with all those settings turned off
This panel is every bit as clear & as sharp with all those modes turned off.

to me, all these modes seem to do is reduce the amount of colours being displayed, whilst boosting gamma values of others. At the same time playing about with your backlight at inappropriate times.

If I can understand why I have yellow colour issues and fix it with an Icc profile that works I'd be v happy, because at the above, settings this monitor is great in all areas, not just gaming etc..
 


Right in the middle of the box but cam is not good enough to show it though

Damp cloth massage – Didn’t work
Switching screen on/off a few times – Didn’t work
Colour flashing thingy – Didn’t work
 
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Thats the thing with the TFT market today, you can toss a coin to see if you get a perfect one then like me, a few days down the line, a problem develops! Perfect when i received it then a stuck pixel appears later!! Gee, TFT's suck for reliable manufacturing!
 
Richdog said:
I added a user review to the main thread if anyones interested http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6860006#post6860006) :)
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Rich, that review is beautifully crafted my friend :D Literally minutes ago, I was checking what's new in this thread and here you are with your review. Well done! Also, I think that some parts of it definitely are deserving the place in user comments section about this monitor on TFTcentral.

It seems that we are unable to see your pics. All the links are going to the extremeoverclocking forum (I guess that this is your second forum home) and user registration is required. If you would like to share your pics, I can give you the upload access to my server (where my review pictures are) ... so that you may share them globally.
 
Gaah I forgot all about needing to be registered to view the pics, what a plum! And actually it's my first home as i'm a senior moderator there. :D

Would I be able to email the pics to you and you host them for me? And thanks for the kind words about the review, hope it re-enforces what you said. :)
 
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