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

[igors]

It seems that backlight bleed was cured for another happy camper of this monitor, after 9 days. Here is the original transcription:

Look, Ma - no backlight bleed anymore!

Doom 3 arrived from Play yesterday (on offer for 8 quid), but I didn't bother installing it. I'm not a huge fan, but I picked it up because it was cheap. (Same went for Quake 4). I installed it this morning, added the 1.3 patch and fired it up.

"Wait a minute... something's different, here", I thought. I had been dreading the appearance a bit, because it's well known as one of the darkest of games. But in every corner, especially the bottom left (exactly like kengenes & Agtx had), there was absolutely no trace of any backlight bleed. None. Just a deep, deep black - like when the monitor's switched off!

I've had the monitor 9 days, now - a bit longer than it took for some of the other owners' to recede. But I'm very happy that it has!

The only thing I can think is, going through the OSM again yesterday, I saw the "Advanced DV mode" was off. (Funny, I could've sworn I turned it on a week or so back). Anyway, I turned it on and thought no more about it - I just played Civ 4 yesterday evening, which isn't a dark game.

I've just sat through the HL1 opening sequence to double-check (I first noticed the backlight bleed problem with HL1 last week). Now, it looks just like Doom 3 does - blacker than black. None more black. Black all the way up to 11.

I have no idea if the ADV mode on/off made a difference or not, but it may be worth checking if you have some bleeding

Now, I'm quite positive that ADV is not able to hide that much the backlight bleed. Even when it's ON it should be visible, but probably less.

 

[igors]

My backlight bleed isn't all gone after all. The first hour or two it's all fine, but I can see some backlight bleed after it has warmed up. Quite odd. I have no idea why it first appears aften about an hour

That's quite paradoxal . No idea really (for now). Do you power off your monitor or is it going in standby when not used ?

 

[igors]

I will be getting my replacement as soon as they get the stock, £10 says this new one will be exactly the same

Come on Cal_G, don't be so pessimistic Patience is virtue. This time NEC will send you the replacement directly, so let's hope for the best.

By the way, question for the people who opt for the replacament directly from NEC ... how does it work ? Is this something like "cross exchange" or do you have to firstly send them your monitor and just wait for the replacement.Maybe if you can write few words here, so that people are aware about the exact procedure.

 

[igors]

I spoke to them today and they still didnt have any stock, the woman on the phone was suprised I had one as NEC themselves are only getting their first shipment in any day now

Last week they even didn't have this monitor in their system So if eventually you end up on the telephone support with the help desk, they would advise you that such model doesn't exist. So good good, they are in shape now

 

[igors]

No monitor today then.

Rich, how "wonky" is "wonky" (is it fixable ?! if button is just popped out somehow) and are there any improvements in the backlight ? For now, it seems that for 95% users slight backlight bleed was cured after few days of "burn in".

Yeah, I know that you have your own "fussy" way, but just wondering

 

[igors]

My bleed was only one corner, but surely seeing as I asked NEC to pre-test my replacement it shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?

Hmmmm ... it's already known & established fact that you have the patience of a saint ... so I'm not worried about you, not at all Anyhow, I think that you don't have nothing to loose.

Hmm i'm very tempted to take it home over the weekend... but probably should resist the temptation. Plus the button thing really irks me.

Fair enough

 

[igors]

I received a brand new (so i thought) NEC LCD20WGX2 on the 7th March, but closer inspection of the box showed the box had been opened and retaped as had 3 layers of tape on the box opening, the box even had a postage sticker on it address to overclockers

That's very bad. I'm really suprised how OCUK can sell someone the monitor which was RMA-ed by another customer. It's simply shocking.

Monitor going back for a refund as none in stock atm.

Yes, OCUK is out of the stock and monitor status is on "pre order". Hopefully, next batch will be available soon and statistically with less or none backlight bleed problems. When I recap now, it seems that in total 3-4 people reported backlight bleed on the "annoyable" level ... which is from statistical point of view really OK.

Even with the problems ive had upto now im still willing to order another as the monitor brill, just need one with no backlight tho.....

It's a great piece of technology, really. Even some people who have slight backlight bleed told me that they are keeping the monitor, as they are impressed with it.

 

[igors]

Technically, monitors returned under the distance selling regulations may not be classified as "faulty". I'm not a law guru, but under those circumstances I could see the vendor reselling them.

Octo didn't tell us what was the situation in the inside of the box. You can easily spot if monitor was repackaged or even already used when you open the box and unpack the monitor. Anyhow, from my "consumer" point of view if I buy something as "new" it should be sparkling new and with the "stock" appearance. I would not like to blame OCUK now strictly so that people are in panic when they order. Simply put, it may happen that there was an error at OCUK end (warehouse stock sorting, packaging procedures ... etc). In reality, it may happen. Actually, OCUK clarification is maybe the best answer.

 

[igors]

Good job NEC are replacing mine direct with a brand new model they are yet to have in stock.

Great. As far as we discovered for now, NEC is doing the "cross shipping" replacement. In other words they will send the courier to give you the new monitor and pick up the old one.

 

[igors]

Thank you for the keep up, Simon. Yeah, you are right. This "backlight bleed" thing really started to drag this thread, almost transforming it to the "NEC backlight bleed review" Anyhow, that DELL is scary and your example and pictures I've seen from other monitors around (even from the new Viewsonic VX2025) are even worst than the worst one submitted for NEC. Positive thing is that no dead pixels are reported for now. This is the major reason why I'm advising people not to make any drastic steps at the beginning and just give the monitor a few days (as there is high possibility that "slight backlight bleed" effect will fade away, anyhow). If effect is unbearable, they are covered by NEC "backlight free" panel state so no problems for RMA there.

 

[igors]

In light of the chance of getting one with worse bleed If I could fix the button i'd keep the damn thing...

Rich, you already bite the bullet with the RMA ... so I guess you can't do much now. Maybe you can just unpack & power on the newly received monitor and compare it and decide which one to return Unfortunately, not sure about such things and if they are "allowed" from the courier. Fingers crossed for you that everything should be exactly as you hoped.

Anyhow, do you like the monitor ? You were somewhat quite on this one, apart from the annoying winky wonky problem you had

 

[igors]

I wonder what the NEC's reception would've been like without igors' enthusastic support So much so I am half tempted to get one myself !

LOL

Ray, no worries. Mission accomplished here and one big-fat-seven-figures check is just on the way from NEC.

 

[igors]

How do I write a proper review though when you'Ve already done so much, it'll be like playing a broken record.

Richard, my friend ... there is no need to compete with the master, seriously Your comments & thoughts here are much much appreciated and they are probably more usefull than the review of the review

 

[igors]

why do you need more ?

you wont be able to distinguish rock solid 60 fps from 80fps

True

 

[igors]

So basically my question is could the tearing and dvd playback quality be affected by backlight bleed or is that just the way TFT screens are in general?

You shouldn't have the tearing in movies. Movie playback noise yes, but tearing should not be visible. This panel is fast and it should coupe with the fast action movie sequences just fine (from my experience). Now, movie playback noise is normal for all LCD screen and it's even more pronounced on bigger screens. You may try Advanced DVM ON, decrease the brightness level and switch the monitor to normal or movie profile (it's up to your preference). That should help (at least for me) and minimise the movie noise (or twinkling effect). Also, watch your movies from relative distance (at least 1.5m - 2m).

 

[igors]

This was mentioned in other thread on this forum but I think that it deserves to be here, definitely.

---
It seems that sometimes potential users of this monitor are worried about the movie playback and "twinkling effect" especially after the BeHardware review (only) where there was just one particular category where the monitor didn't shine - movie playback. In reality, is that really so ? I would like to share a few words here.

Movie playback noise (or twinkling) exist on all LCD panels. Usually, such noise is dependant on the panel type and most importantly panel overdrive control. If you want noise friendly panel, probably the very slow MVA panels (at least 20ms) are preferable and they will do the job. Unfortunately you will have two side effects: strong afterglow & ghosting as those panels are simply not fast enough for fast action movie sequences. When you watch such sequences, blurring is visible, ghosting is persistent and it's usually presented as coloured trail of light. Simply put, it's not acceptable and effect is similar when you are playing the fast action games on LCD panel with very slow response time. This the major reason why I think that for the movie playback it's essential that panel is *fast*. As the unfortunate downside, overdrive kicks in with the faster panels and you are greeted with the movie playback noise. Maybe "something in between" and possible compromise are the faster 8ms MVA panels where the movie playback noise is less pronounceable (but it's still there). Now, with the MVA panels viewing angles are so so (and this is important for the movie playback) and picture quality/clarity and colour richness are simply not on the same level as with the new generations of the IPS panels. Also, IPS panels may offer better viewing angles. It seems that with the new generation of the IPS panels (AS-IPS) some progress was made for the movie playback, but of course it's still again far from perfect (as for the most LCD panels around). One interesting thing about the LG.Philips 1600:1 AS-IPS panels is that they are supporting the 1600:1 contrast ratio with the Advanced DVM and when you combine this mode with the custom monitor profiles and brightness it's quite possible that you may minimise the twinkling effect and results are really surprising (as far as I can tell). Also, NEC monitor (and US version of course) are declared for the movie playback, so generally movie playback should be on the acceptable level.

Now, you probably wonder where this is all going and if there is any logic in this ? Unfortunately, there is *no* perfect monitor panel for the movie playback. Simply as that. If you want dedicated movie machine with the excellent reproduction quality ... LCD TVs are probably preferable option for now.

Solution for the LCD monitors and movie playback is that you simply watch your movies from the distance. Even from 1.5m movie noise or twinkling is starting to fade away and it will be less pronounced and at the same time movie playback will be more enjoyable. At the end did you ever tried to watch your LCD TV from the close (like 1.5m) proximity ? I tried with my 32" Sony LCD TV. It's quite horrible (even with the digital TV channels) as the picture noise is present & persistent.

For the people who are concerned about the movie playback, maybe some of our dear forum readers, who are already using the NEC monitor, can help here and post their impressions about the movie playback. It would be probably more useful than my chit-chat from the above As I already mentioned to you, movie playback was acceptable for me (especially after some monitor tweaking) but in order to have global picture maybe some other users comments are more then welcomed.

 

[igors]

Should get the replacement tommorrow with any luck... arrgh the tension!

Is that confirmed by NEC? Also, I noticed on several places that price is little bit up for this monitor. Nothing much ... £10-15£ on average.

 

[igors]

I've got a Colorvision Optical Spyder at work so I may borrow it to calibrate the NEC.

I'm sure that you will be pleased with colour balance and reproduction on this monitor Also, that "Colorvision Optical Spyder" is a really nice toy

 

[igors]

FPS business is perceptive, at least for some of us. I personally tried switching on my old DiamondPro 740SB from 60Hz-85Hz ... couldn't tell the difference (and I scaled down the game details in order to obtain such fps). Also, > 60 fps on the latest gaming titles, in WS resolution glory, with good details and "down to earth" hardware is simply distant dream. For now.

Maybe this could help:

http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm

 

[igors]

Gaah just spoke to NEC and stock hasn't arrived yet. However the lady said it would be tommorrow or the day after and remembered that mine was to be tested for bleed so may take a day or so later.

*Patience mode, on*

One user contacted NEC (today) in order to arrange the monitor swap and it seems that he was really impressed with their support & the monitor. He has one dead pixel (top right corner) and "annoying" backlight bleed. Here is the original transcript from him:

Just got off the phone to NEC Support (08701 201160). The representative I spoke to gets a score of 12 out of 10 for helping me out; she immediatley DOA 'ed the monitor and arranged for a brand new replacement to be shipped to my business address within the next two working days. It would then be up to me to call DHL and arrange collection of the faulty monitor, at my discretion, using the reference number she provided. With service like this it just goes to show we've all made a wise choice in our purchase of this screen; whether faulty or not!

It seems that they have the stock now, so people who opted for RMA should expect their replacement shortly (hopefully by the close of this working week).