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

[igors]

could you display this picture in photoshop at 100% and take a picture.http://www.randomladders.com/img/nec_test.jpg at home i am currently on a 15 inch widescreen, its very hard to visualise this as in my office i use a 17 inch. this would help me a lot and make it worth the wait. thanks a lot.

No probs

 

[igors]

Also i forgot to ask. is ther anychance if you have .. ither flash 8. or dreamweaver. to take a picture of them as well ?

Here is the photoshop one:

http://62.204.32.7:10973/IMG_TMP02.jpg

Hope this helps.

No Flash or Dreamweaver ... but I suppose that you don't need it. Picture from the above should give you some ideas.

 

[igors]

It's arrived! Should be interesting getting it home on the train in rush hour ...

lol ... just don't shake the monitor box too much Transport the monitor "gently".

** edit ***

Just noticed your signature. You have some pretty things there They should complement the monitor nicely.

 

[igors]

WThe monitor went dead! Tried re-booting, no go, changed DVI input, no...analog...no. Power was getting to tne monitor as the blue light comes on, the screen lights for about a second then goes again. Tried my old Iiyama and it works ok....what a PITA.

That's such a bummer Did you try to flick the "vacation" switch off/on while the monitor is running ?

 

[igors]

What's the vacation switch igors?

On the back on the monitor there is main power off/on switch. It's not the same thing as the frontal illuminated power off button. Maybe, monitor is "locked" somehow from the software control point of view and something like "hard reset" is required. Not sure really. Also, I'm worried that you mentioned that monitor box was "dented" big time after the first inspection. It may happen that this caused some problems on the electronic circuit of the monitor. LCD monitors are generally fragile and any mechanical shock can cause the problems, that's for sure.

I remember that one user had similar problems, but not sure if for him the monitor picture was there for a couple of seconds before monitor went dead. He was plugging, unplugging the cables, monitor power off/on and after some playing around monitor was back to life.

...the end of next week being the next shipment from Germany apparently.

So they still don't have a stock ?

 

[igors]

Just got a courtesy call from NEC, monitor is in transit and will be delivered tommorrow!

Buying a 7900GT or X1900 XT to go with it too.

 

[igors]

lol igor that picture reminds me of something else that may happen when I see the NEC and the X1900 running together.

lol You know, NEC has one advantage here for the guys like you ... as screen is hardened with the OptiClear coating, no damage should be done ... or so ? Not sure what you are capable of !!! but to be on the safe side, take care where are you aiming with your "apparatus"

 

[igors]

Rich, W.O.W ... what a performance !!! and you need helping hand for your thing. Poor pretty NEC. If such unfortunate event is present, and you complain here about the monitor "back bleed" or "burnt" pretty pixels, we will know the cause ... and that's for sure

Anyhow, good luck tomorrow !

 

[igors]

So pleased you could spank my arse and call me Mandy

Well ... Mendy, Wendy, Cindy or however you would like us to call you in this GREAT spank great news from you.

 

[igors]

Got my replacement aswell, so far no backlight bleed at all , now the bad news, 4 stuck pixels right in the middle, 2 stuck on blue right next to each other and 2 not far from them stuck on white, not impressed at all, anyone know how many it needs for a swap out?

You are unique! It's rare case (as far as I'm informed) that users of this monitor even have single dead pixel, but 4 You should swap it by all means. Before that, did you try to bring them back to life ? You may try the gentle "massage" (but not sure of that because of the OptiClear panel coating) or this software:

http://udpix.free.fr/

You are so unlucky Generally speaking, dead pixels can happen because of the tiny particles of dust trapped on the pixels during the manufacturing process or even mechanical shock/bump/dent during the shipping process can break one of the highly sensitive pixels. I wonder when will they start to include the shocking absorption material in the shipping boxes.

 

[igors]

Also, were on the NEC site does it say there only needs to be 3 stuck pixels?

I think that 4 are required, but do not take my word for it. Some unlucky users have exchanged the monitors with single dead pixel (and really just the shy of backlight bleed). Maybe it would be wise that you contact the NEC and find out, as it would be useful here.

 

[igors]

My replacement arrived as well and it's brillant, no corner backlight problems and no stuck pixels. I'm really pleased with it now and the advanced DV mode is very impressive now the backlight problem has been sorted.

Great! that everything went well and that you liked the Advanced DV.

I'm also rather impressed with NEC customer support as they actually phoned me back when i enquired if they had the replacement in stock yet and they emailed me to say the monitor had been dispatched on Thursday.

Very good. Couple of users already praised the NEC top notch support.

 

[igors]

Make that, 3 blue, 1 red and 4 white, and backlight bleed bottom right once the monitor warmed up

It's seems that you got the "Christmas tree" for the replacement, but too early I guess. First one was mile better, I suppose. Man, such a bad luck. Anyhow, you don't have nothing to lose apart from the annoying ping pong of the monitors with the NEC. Hopefully, things will settle down for you also.

 

[igors]

Hi,

I'm back from the nice 2 weeks holiday in Thailand Glad to see that this thread is still live & kicking ... and I'm sure that it will progress even more until people find out what a great piece of technology this monitor really is.

Had some time today to read what's new in this thread. Firstly, I'm glad that positive communication is established between the OCUK and NEC and that even NEC representatives are reading this thread now. Secondly, I'm sad to hear that backlight bummer is still present here & there for some of you. Hopefully things will settle down also on that field. Also, I'm glad to hear that NEC/Japan is investigating the matter. Not sure about the outcome, but at least it's good that they are now aware of such glitch ?! and that it will be addressed properly. Maybe they will make an effort for better backlight control of future units, who knows. As I already suggested before, 5 days burn-in is advisable, as already stated by NEC technician from Germany.

My monitor serial number is starting with 611* (and it was perfect in every sense from the beginning). Personally, I think that monitor serial number is not related with the backlight issue and such information is definitely misleading. Also, think that I noticed in some of the previous pages of this thread that someone posted the response from the NEC "support representative" that 99% or so of the units are affected. That's absolute rubbish and it's clear sign that NEC support person in question is "detached from the reality". No wonder that NEC itself asked for the traces of such support communication.

As I was on holiday, my monitor was 2 weeks off. After the cold start from today, no problems whatsoever. It's still perfect Of course, little bit of warming up is required for the colours to reach that luxurious level As the side note, I would recommend that you install the monitor driver from the supplied CD. When you properly install the driver, it should be visible in the device manager as "Nec MultiSync 20WGX2(Digital)". Also, you may find the ICM colour profile on the supplied CD and after the successful installation it should be present as "nl20wgx2" (in the colour management tab of the display properties). Other way around is that you simply install the NaviSet software:

http://www.necdisplay.com/naviset/body.htm

or

http://www.necdisplay.com/naviset/forms/download/DS_NaViSet_English_v1.1.20_Setup.zip

This application will install the NaviSet (configuration of the monitor via display properties), monitor device driver and colour profile. Not sure if there is any difference when you install the monitor driver/icm colour profile manually (as stated above) or via NaviSet. However, it seems that actual monitor driver and icm colour profile versions tends to differ with both installation methods. When installed by NaviSet, monitor is displayed (in the device manager) as "NEC 20WGX2(DDC/CI)" and colour profile as "DTNF93K". In my case, I have installed (firstly) the NaviSet and then replaced the driver and ICM colour profile with the ones from the supplied CD ... as I naturally like to complicate things It works OK. NaviSet will also offer you plenty of the screen test patterns and this is useful for the final screen calibration. Also, you may try the "Monitor Calibration Wizard":

http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw.asp

If you don't have a CD, latest monitor drivers are available at:

http://www.necdisplay.com/support/m...edinf/files2.htm&title=Display Device Drivers

Just download the small "NEC LCD Monitor Installer". It will detect your monitor and install the appropriate WHQL drivers automatically.

Hope that this will be useful to you.

 

[igors]

I was asking purely which DV setting, brightness, sharpness, RGB temperature etc people were using to achieve good colour results for gaming

OK ... I would say that this is rather related to individual taste, but some general guideline is probably possible.

For the FPS gaming:

Native colour mode
Standard monitor profile
Advanced DVM ON
Contrast 50%/Brightness 35% - 45% (lately, it's usually 40%)

sRGB colour mode is working only in standard monitor profile. When you activate any other profile, it's reverting back to the native colour mode.

When using gaming profile in FPS games, you may notice slight colour banding especially when there is intensive transition from the bright/dark scenes and vice versa. This is because the CFC engine is kicking in and it's usually related to the specific game titles. As I'm picky, I opted for the standard mode + Advanced DVM ON. Results are still very good. This effect is maybe (or not) pronounceable to "annoying" extent, so I would rate this to personal taste. Have to stay that people should be aware that colour banding effect is not happening because of the Advanced DVM monitor mode (as I noticed that many of you immediately opted for the Advanced DVM Off). It's because of the custom monitor profile (which is not "text" or "standard").

For the RTS, adventure or any other games where the screen content is rich & noisy and doesn't include the dark scenes (like AOE3) or intensive light transitions, I prefer the Gaming Mode and Advanced DVM ON. Sometimes, Advanced DVM Off is useable as the monitor native contrast level is providing the still surprisingly good results. However, I simply prefer the Advanced DVM as colours are more balanced, less saturated and usually more pleasant to the eye. I rarely go over 50% of the brightness as for me it's only needed when watching the monitor from the distance (like movies ... etc). I'm surprised that some of the users are keeping the brightness @ 80% but hey maybe they like it that way

For the desktop usage: Advanced DVM Off and standard monitor profile.

I'm keeping the same 50 % contrast & 40% brightness levels for all working conditions. Photo profile is very interesting as the colours are even more deep and contrast is, as far as I can tell, more exposed. However, didn't have a chance to play more with this mode.

I didn't experiment much with the RGB temperatures and gaming, so maybe when I have more time I will have a play.

while I fully agree the monitor has issues (which are hopefully being resolved by NEC) the bleed thing has basically taken over the whole thread which is unfortunate as we all know it's an issue which we are all waiting on.

Yes, it's unfortunate event that this is starting to drag the thread again. However, it's understandable. For the amount of money invested, people would simply like to enjoy the monitor on full scale and if the backlight bleed side effect is unbearable they have every right to complain. Only downside is that such posts are not structured in "organised" way ... but we can't do much there.

 

[igors]

is this monitor bad for watching tv and movies in hd, does it have twinkling or noise or ghosting and are the blacks too dark when watching movies?

I think that couple of users on the previous pages of this thread posted that they were very pleased with the movie playback (someone even watched the LOST HD version).

From me, no complains. It was very good. Colours are rich, dark scenes are excellent, no ghosting whatsoever (as panel is very responsive).

Twinkling or noise is present, as all LCD screens are suffering from this to some extent (I would say that it's pretty much normal with this technology). I think that in some of my previous posts, I already described this. My advice is: watch your movies from the distance !

 

[igors]

How the coating look when the monitor is turned off?

It's deep deep black and you can easily see the OptiClear film. Also, when you face the light source against the powered off screen, light is filtered by OptiClear coating and you may see some purplish-reddish colour in the light reflection.

Is there a problem with the colours being too vibrant? I work as a graphic designer/web designer and it would be troublesome if the colours were more vibrant than the averege because my pages would look grayish on other screens... Good colourreproduction is allways nice though.

For me, colours are even more accurate and balanced with Advanced DVM. Also, possible glare is gone and colours are even more pleasant to the eye. As some guideline about the colour reproduction, this picture from TFTcentral may help:

http://dwuk.net/baddass/tft_central/images/nec_20wgx2/delta_after.jpg

Colours are vivid, but not to the "annoying" extent I could say. If you are concerned about the colour accuracy and "post production" colouring effects, sRGB is maybe the option for you. Generally, I'm keeping the sRGB in the desktop mode active all the time. This monitor is "tweaking friendly" and even if you find that colours are maybe saturated or too much vivid, you can configure the monitor easily to your taste.

 

[igors]

The Dell 2005fpw screen surface has (you may have noticed on other screens too) pearl like minature sands texture, very nice for working with (photoshop/illustrator/word) as you feel your working with a surface of pure and balanced white, it is substance and subtle texture,. when you the read text, the text is on a surface and it reeds more like paper. working closely to the screen is great because the lights glare is also filtered somewhat more than with opticlear.

With the Opticlear all you see is the image and no surface, just like a high quality CRT and even looks as so the image is just floating there with a great sense of the panel being more like a window into another world, and more immersive for video editing and computer games, it just helps to add that xtra vibrance to the spectrum. I think the opticlear screen is a triumph.

Very good observation! I'm generally not the particular fan of the noisy/grainy/sandy surface of the normal & AR coating LCD panels. Also, AR coating is (from my point of view) somewhat more "fuzzy" and with much less "clarity", apart from doing the anti reflective job. Anyhow, apart from other luxurious features of this monitor, OptiClear was something that I was particularly keen to have before I have finalised the purchasing decision.

 

[igors]

Igor you're aliveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Was wondering where you'd got to.

I'm alive, REALLY alive my friend. Actually, I'm still recovering from the two weeks holiday bliss in Thailand. It was fantastic holiday. Bangkok + Phuket + Krabi and I can probably say that almost complete southern (tsunami faced) Thailand coast was covered in this holiday. Was most impressed with the "Pang Na" province ... you know that scenery with the huge limestone cliffs (in all weird shapes) which are rising high above the turquoise and sometimes velvety greenish sea. "The Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed there ... and in all honestly it looks completely surreal. Nothing like you ever seen before. Krabi is gorgeous too and you may find there finest beaches and islands in Thailand. It's still unspoiled and rural unlike Phuket where you can find plenty of Starbucks, McDonalds and all other usual suspects of the world globalisation ... didn't like that. In my book, human being who is unable to visualise his/her holiday without the McDonalds should be deported from Thailand ... no questions asked and some education about the food culture would also be beneficial. Bangkok was planet on it's own. I didn't realised how massive this metropolis really is until I visited the "Vertigo" bar/restaurant on the 65 floor of the Banyan Tree hotel. They used this place before as the HeliPad. Now, it's *completely* open restaurant/bar. Having a drink there you really start to question yourself if you are sitting on the top of the world. Shocking. Hmmmm ... maybe I should write the mini review about everything

But ... you see, didn't forgot you guys at the end.

 

[igors]

Is anyone using the ClearType with this monitor ? My finding is that it's definitely messing up with the clarity of the fonts and quite possibly it's not even needed for this monitor. At the end, I decided to ditch it ... as without it perceptive vision of the fonts smoothness and the screen clarity itself is really much better and most of the times so CRT-ish like. Me like it