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

[igors]

Lately, I noticed that many people as soon as they discover that some monitor is based on the S-IPS panel they are confident that monitor will produce the equal performance as NEC. At some places, I even noticed that Dell 2005/2007 is quoted to use the same panel as NEC. It's definitely misleading. I would like to clear such possible confusion and give some right directions on this matter.

Yes, they are sharing the roots of the same IPS technology (S-IPS) ... but panel type is not the same; Fair enough, S-IPS are excellent panels capable of brilliant performance (and they are my favourite) ... but NEC is based on the AS-IPS (A = Advanced S-IPS and it may be related to DVM ... I think, but not sure) and it's faster as it's boosting the impressive 6ms g2g. In other words, NEC panel is using the improved (or different) overdrive and completely different panel control circuit because of the Advanced DVM. FYI ... even Dell 2005 is using the LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201W01), but it simply can't match the NEC performance and display clarity. In some sense, sometimes it's not just enough that people focus on the panel type or origin strictly. Improved overdrive or advanced panel control circuit my bring the surprising results also.

Anyhow, what is interesting about this monitor is that even in direct comparisons with the standard S-IPS panels (like Dell 2005) it definitely delivers the stronger picture performance in the terms of image clarity, colour reproduction and deepness, black levels and contrasts. Surprisingly, this is even happening with the stock monitor configuration and without the Advanced DVM enabled. I know that credit have to go partly to the OptiClear ... but this is not the major player. Somehow, I'm starting to believe that they maybe changed something in the AS-IPS panel itself (apart from the electronic control circuit) as this monitor even at the stock setup and without the Advanced DVM is above the S-IPS competition.

Unfortunately, no "downloadable" tech spec is available for the AS-IPS. I collected some statements from the manufactures itself about the AS-IPS. Quite possibly, it may confirm my theory from the above.

"
The advanced super(AS) -IPS mode system for use in televisions, large-screen monitors and other applications achieves an approximate 30% improvement in the aperture ratio over conventional IPS technology. Furthermore, AS-IPS realizes a higher level of brightness and reproduces colors more realistically thanks to high-purity color filters and other proprietary technologies.
"

"
This unique design ensures consistent illumination, excellent color performance and optimum contrast-even at wide off-axis viewing angles.
"

It may quite possible happen that CCFL backlight tubes have also been replaced in NEC by a new generation which is capable of a wider gamut.


At the end, here is some interesting comparison between the Dell 2007WFP and NEC LCD20WGX2 (response times & colour reproduction):

Response times:
http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=52&mo1=95&p1=969&ma2=88&mo2=106&p2=1042&ph=1

Colour reproduction (after the calibration):
http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=52&mo1=95&p1=969&ma2=88&mo2=106&p2=1042&ph=6

 

[igors]

i have'nt heard any noise during dvd playback

LOL ... mercyless such noise (and overdrive itself) is not the "audible" thing. He is referring to the "visible" noise, pixel pitch, twinkling or however you may call it ... during the movie playback It's known phenomenon all LCD monitors suffers from (even LCD TVs) to some extent and it may or not be related to the overdrive ... but usually to the panel itself. It was already covered in this thread.

Movie playback was acceptable & pleasant for me, but watch your movies from the relative distance.

 

[igors]

how does my website look for you ? it should be cool nuetral shades from white, supposed to look like paper not like yellow paper, I can calibrate the RGB amounts on the nec however this then tends to screw up mid tones, when I aim for my white.

Not sure what to do, backlight not an issue any more, but colour reproduction is important to me, what should I do ?

Looks pretty much white here, almost "alpine" white. No yellowish traces. Not sure really how come that you have such drastically different representation of this colour spectrum. Do you use custom icm/icc colour profiles in the windows itself? Monitor backlight colour can be responsible, not sure really ... If you like the "cool" colour tones (especially white) did you try the 8200K or even 9300K colour temperature monitor modes ?

 

[igors]

OK ... if anyone would like to colour stress their NEC monitor, I uploaded some scenery pictures from my Thailand holiday quest I think that Raymond Lin is involved in photography, so he may find this interesting too

http://62.204.32.7:10973/TH2006/

All of the pics are scaled down to 1600x1200 from the massive 2272x1704 original format.

Enjoy.

** EDIT **

Related to the pictures from the above post, some of them are looking just stunning on my NEC and they are definitely stretching the muscles of this monitor to some extent, showing up the monitor capabilities in full glory. There is a great sense of picture "depth", and wide colour gamut & contrast is greatly present on some pictures. At some point, you really feel that the figures from the first couple of pictures will jump off the screen any moment. Just great

 

[igors]

I am very close to ordering one of these. Being a tall guy (6'3") I was wondering how high the top of the screen is with the stand at maximum extension (if the stand is adjustable)?

I'm relatively tall guy too Anyhow, it's fine for me and I have pretty much standard working desk. Yes, stand is not height adjustable but you can tilt the monitor. If the issue is extreme, you may:

a) Purchase the adjustable chair
b) Purchase the LCD monitor arm and have really free style monitor movement
c) Use the additional stand (support) for the monitor

 

[igors]

Picture is worth a thousand words

Indeed.

Related to the pictures from my post on the previous page (and I hate to repeat myself again) some of them are looking just stunning on my NEC and they are definitely stretching the muscles of this monitor to some extent, showing up the monitor capabilities in full glory. There is a great sense of picture "depth", and wide colour gamut & contrast is greatly present on some pictures. At some point, you really feel that the figures from the first couple of pictures will jump off the screen any moment. Just great

EDIT: Dammit theres some slight bleeding from bottom left and top right but just a little

EDIT: Knocked Brightness down to 60% and its gone in all but the tightist angles.

Any backlight bleed which is not visible on the immediate inspection of the monitor (and you have to look carefully to find it, especially in high brightness setting) it's definitely marginal and it should fade away after the proper monitor burn in. After few days (or week) you will have the perfect panel uniformity. Happened to many users.

Anyhow, congratulations on your new screen

 

[igors]

I really want to order this monitor to replace my old NEC 1760NX, but I know if it had just a single dead pixel I'd be annoyed because I'm such a fussy bugger. Hmm, what to do!

Andy, it's not so frequent case that this monitor is suffering from dead pixels. Actually, it's very isolated and I think that only few users were so unlucky to receive one with the dead pixel.

It's difficult to tell what you should do, if the dead pixel fear is on the paranoid level Anyhow, seriously, I wouldn't think about it to such extent. Even if you are *so* unlucky, replacement is very straightforward.

I take it my 6800GT should have enough oomph to drive the resolution ok in games such as Far Cry, Half Life 2 and WOW without stuttering too much?

1680x1050 is demanding ... even for the latest GPU cards. However, resolution scaling is excellent on this monitor and you should be able to play the games even in lower resolutions properly. In some sense, LCD monitor is the long term purchasing option and you will probably change your GPU during the next major refresh cycle. In other words, LCD monitor will always follow your GPU nicely

 

[igors]

One thing I'm slightly more concerned about is the flickering - its almost like interference. Its only really visible on a black background when I ramp the contrast up.

Hmmm ... I don't remember any flickering or interference ... even with the inreased contrast over 50%. It shouldn't be there, really.

I haven't started to play around with the settings much yet so it may be that something needs to be tweaked. I'm running it through VGA although my graphics card needs an adapter as it has 2 dvi sockets. Any ideas as to what is causing this?

Why don't you try the DVI ports ?

Also, the colours seem very washed out - anything I can do about this?

Colours are far away from washed out on this screen. Cause of the combined problem of the flickering and washed out colours may quite possibly lead to the cable problem,VGA port or just your GPU (from the hardware point of view). I don't think it's driver,software or monitor settings related. It may be the monitor itself also ... and I know that this is the latest thing you want to hear or discover

 

[igors]

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?

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

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 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.

 

[igors]

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

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.

 

[igors]

I added a user review to the main thread if anyones interested http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6860006#post6860006)

Rich, that review is beautifully crafted my friend 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.

 

[igors]

[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

Hmmm .. I'm not sure about the pixel massage, because of the OptiClear as maybe this coating is simply placing the barrier between your finger and the actual pixel (panel) ?! Maybe you should give it a day or two and see if maybe pixel would recover (hopefully). Some general guidelines about the pixel massage (taken from other web site):

1.Turn off your computer monitor.
2.Get yourself a damp cloth, so that you don't scratch your screen.
3.Apply pressure to the area where the stuck pixel is. Do not put pressure anywhere else, as this may make more stuck pixels.
4.While applying pressure, turn on your computer and screen.
5. Remove pressure and the stuck pixel should be gone. This works as the liquid in the liquid crystal has not spread into each little pixel. This liquid is used with the backlight on your monitor, allowing different amounts of light through, which creates the different colours.

Also, gently tapping the area can also work in some cases. If "hardware" solution doesn't work, you may try this software:

UDpixel: http://udpix.free.fr/

Somewhat, users had more that average success rate with this one. Who knows, but you may try it ... I guess you have nothing to loose.

Anyhow, yes, truly unfortunate event you have there. If you are completely annoyed by this, you may contact the NEC support and I'm sure that they will be more then helpful on this one.

 

[igors]

Gaah I forgot all about needing to be registered to view the pics, what a plum!

No worries

And actually it's my first home as i'm a senior moderator there.

Nice. I was regular read only visitor on that forum ... but didn't poke my nose there for several months now. Maybe it's time for re-visit

Would I be able to email the pics to you and you host them for me?

No probs. I will send you the PM shortly. Essentially, I can give you the server upload access details ... so that you can upload them from your end whenever and however you like No need for e-mail business (and I don't like pesonally to receive the huge files via e-mail).

And thanks for the kind words about the review, hope it re-enforces what you said.

It complements the review really nicely. As you promised the review long ago, I almost started to worry what are you cooking there

 

[igors]

No PM's here im afraid mate (sucky I know) but email it to me using the addy in my sig if that's ok.

Yeah, I know. Personal mail to your e-mail lol

 

[igors]

lol think ive sorted it now thanks Igors, but if you still have the space to load a few large 5MB .BMP files that would be nice.

No probs. Just follow the upload procedure I sent you already. What are the pics? Something nice? ... for NEC? Please note that my server is porn sensitive ... so no go for that subject

 

[igors]

I cant get this panel to display all my colours it says 16.7 million, but is it a true 8 bit panel ?

Yes, it's true 8-bit panel ... natively.

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.

Strange visuals you have there. Colours on this monitor are bit on the warm (for me pleasant) side, but not to such extent. As I mentioned to you, your website does look pretty much white (almost alpine white) to me here. OK ... it's maybe bit on the worm side but far far away from what you are describing (yellowish colour banding). Even in case that you don't like the warm colour gamut, you can easily switch to the cooler colour temperatures via monitor colour presets.

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

When you install the ICC profile in windows (via monitor display properties), it will do nothing much, as far as I could test it. Only when you import the ICC colour profile via Nvidia advanced colour correction options, you will notice the changes. However, when imported from Nvidia display software ... colours are suddenly washed out, so not quite sure what's going on there. Didn't have enough time to play around.

As the side note, I would recommend any user to colour calibrate this monitor. Even at the stock set-up it will produce surprisingly good results, but further colour calibration will give you less colour saturation, colours will have better contrast against each other, text reading via clear type will be better and even the games will benefit from the slightly better antialiasing visuals. When the monitor is properly calibrated, you will really expose it's full potential.

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 ?

Did you ever played with the CMY gradient linearity test & calibration method? For example, you open the CMY colour gradients, switch the monitor to native mode, native colour profile and start to play around with the colour correction curve in the advanced colour correction mode in the Nvidia display properties. Of course, you may save your colour preset at any time. You may even try to avoid the nvidia colour correction method and just try the monitor RGB colour tweaking. Sometimes, it's much easier for me to calibrate the screen by using this method, especially the even colours stepping in the very dark range. Also, some users reported good success rate with DisplayMate. Haven't tried this software personally.

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).

Essentially, 2005fpw and even new Philips are sharing the roots of the same IPS technology, so strictly speaking such massive colour differences are simply strange. AS-IPS panel technology also improved the colour gamut even more, along with the colour reproduction capabilities.

 

[igors]

am getting used to LCD's more now, still don't like the image in comparison to a good CRT, everything looks to harsh and sharp for my taste

It may sound stupid, but did you try to decrease the monitor sharpness to 8% - 9%, during the transition phase and simulate the CRT blur lol Interestingly enough, transition from CRT was not so harsh/sharp for me. Yes, picture is *much* more detailed & sharp, but I guess that I'm used to it now (positively).

though I'm enjoying having the desk back .

No doubt. Apart from more desk space for my work, I doubt that my room wall will develop again that huge black mark because of the CRT monitor back and my dear wife is happy to ... so I guess that everyone is happy now

 

[igors]

Just a quick question did anyone get a warrenty card with this screen as I could not find it in the box and I want to make sure I get the full 3 year cover?

You see, I'm not sure about the existence of that card. I already trashed my monitor box, maybe was there ... not sure really. Anyhow, even when you call the NEC you just need the monitor serial number (you may find this in OSD display) and date & place of purchase.

 

[igors]

Would NEC exchange a monitor if it had a dead pixel right in the middle? It's really annoying me...

Is that dead pixel definitely ? Reason why I'm asking is that usually they are not so much distracting (like maybe stuck pixels) as they are generally dark, dimmed and usually slightly greyish. They are more "visible" on pure green, probably less on white, blue or red screen and colour glare of the surrounding pixels is the additional effect which is minimising the dead pixels side effects. Essentially, they are visible to the (possible) "annoying" extent only with the specific set of pure background colours and usually when you are particularly looking for them. With the pixel pitch of 0.258, 1680x1050 resolution and the fact that monitor screen is always flashy, textured and coloured ... I guess that it must be really hard to find them (if you are not aware about their existence) and OptiClear should "smooth" the dead pixels slightly more (as you don't see that grainy LCD surface). Many people probably wouldn't spot the one or two dead pixels during normal monitor usage and sometimes they are even unaware that they do have them, unless they run dead pixel tester or some other specific monitor testing software. Of course, other thing is that psychological annoyance that you are simply "aware" about the existence of the dead pixels on your screen and they are constantly distracting you to look for them again and again and again (and usually without any particular or logical reason or just to be sure that they are still there). So, what I'm trying to tell you is that definitely you will be less distracted (or more likely not distracted) with the dead pixel than with the other panel uniformity problem. Of course, it may happen that your NEC replacement will be perfect in every sense.

Anyhow, back to the subject, not sure about the NEC position here. Maybe you should ask them and it would be interesting to know what they have to say. Not sure about the other aspects of your screen, but maybe you can sing a song about something else also. It's tricky decision, that's for sure. If your monitor is OK otherwise and if you are unlucky, there is a risk that you receive the similar one from the RMA, unless they pre-test the monitor for you. All in all, you either have to live with the dead pixel (and ignore it, physiologically) or just try the RMA path.

 

[igors]

From your description it sounds like a stuck pixel then, which is stuck on white.

Whenever the screen is dark I can see a white pixel right in the middle of the screen.

I see, it's white then. That's quite unfortunate as this is definitely the dead pixel. Valve of this pixel is simply fixed in "up" position and it's allowing the backlight to go through, but not manipulating the amount (like healthy pixels do in order to produce the colour). Black dead pixel valve is fixed in "down" position and it's blocking the backlight, which is better option and statistically they are somehow more present.

In my response from the above, I was referring to lazy or sub-pixels as other types ... sorry ... and they can be red, green or blue.

I'm gonna call them just now and see what they say.

OK