NEC LCD20WGX2 review * UPDATED 25/02/06 *

igors · 22 Apr 2006 at 12:30

ScottGTO said:
I'm by no means an expert on this, and I know that some TFTs suffer more than others but this isn't a 'bit of leakage at the corners'. I'm talking about a couple of inches of bleed on the upper corners and far more on the bottom two. The bleed on the bottom two corners is probably only about 3 inches or so away from joining in the middle.

Yes, LCD screens do suffer usually from the backlight bleed, but question is how the panel uniformity is affected. Thing is, that in your case is very exposed ,annoying, distracting and you have every right to swap this monitor for the another one. Please remember that NEC does offer the 3 Years warranty,including backlight, and you are free to swap it until you have the perfect or acceptable one.

When you say monitor starts off perfect, does it mean that there is no visible bleed in the beginning, from the cold start, and then it's getting much worst ? Can you take any pics ? This seems somehow contrary to the normal slight backlight bleed which is cured after some time for many of the users out there.

ScottGTO said:
If you're saying that all of these monitors suffer the same defects despite the numerous posters on these forums claiming their monitor is completely free from bleed and/or stuck pixels?

Well, it's not exactly true that all NEC monitors suffer from this ... far from that. Most of the users got the slight backlight bleed which faded away, many have indeed the perfect panel, some had just one or two dead pixels (which are not visible anyway) but on the other side perfect panel uniformity and of course some users were simply unlucky. It can happen.

My suggestion is that you wait for a few days and see how things are progressing (and wait for a proper monitor burn-in). If there is no progress, just call the NEC and swap the monitor. You have nothing to loose, that's for sure.

igors · 22 Apr 2006 at 21:15

ScottGTO said:
Igors, as requested I've attached a pic of the bleed as it stands now. The quality is pretty poor as it was taken with a decidedly dodgy camera phone but I think it gets the idea across. I'll edit this post tomorrow with a pic of the monitor from cold start. The top right has gotten a little better, but the bottom corners are still quite bad

Thx. Yes, you are right ... it's quite bad and definitely it's weird how it's "progressing" to such extent from the cold start. As my screen is jet black, when I look back at your black screen it's just scary. Such shame, as probably because of such backlight bleed monitor is not showing it's full capabilities. As you are impressed with the monitor even with such backlight bleed, you can imagine what will happen when the panel is completely uniform and dark

igors · 22 Apr 2006 at 21:22

DrMekon said:
Thats just a bit worse than mine....

Ive been phoning NEC on a weekly basis and quess what...

"We're still waiting for instruction from Japan...!!!"

I dont get what the problem is.. and its starting to nark me off a bit now.. there is clearly a problem, so fix it!!! Simple as that!!!

What are they waiting from Japan ?! Fixing instructions, replaced stock or something else ? On the other hand, you may try to swap the monitor now if NEC has available stock ... and you don't have nothing to loose, and it's really impossibe that *complete* NEC stock is affected. It may happen that you will receive much better monitor and even if it's not ... you may swap it again if that answer from Japan ever arrive. I remember that Richdog asked that they pre-test the monitor before shipment and it seems that at the end he received perfect panel.

igors · 22 Apr 2006 at 23:09

One user (sifulee from hardforum) posted VERY nice pictures of the NEC in action. Maybe the best pictures around

igors · 23 Apr 2006 at 00:47

LaRZ said:
Thanks Igors

Thats the 20wMgx2

not the 20wgx2 btw

Yeah, I know. Technology is the same and pictures will do the justice for the 20WGX2 also

Sometimes, I wonder why such discrimination for the Europe so that NEC didn't included this multimedia goodness:

http://home.comcast.net/~sifulee/pics/img21.jpg

On the other hand, if that is keeping the price down (comparing to US) it's fine by me.

LaRZ said:
Mines in Native mode, and looks yellow because of this colour profile not working

or calibrated at 9300 k and I get colour banding.

a bit dissapointing really , is there anyway I can get a 9300k white in Native mode ?

How come ?! when you flick the standard monitor profile DV mode & 9300K colour profile you are getting the yellow and colour banding. Weird, just weird. It's pretty much cool-white here and no trace of colour banding.

igors · 24 Apr 2006 at 10:30

LaRZ said:
I guess the question I was looking for, was "Can this monitor display full 8 bit colours with 9300k whites?"

I don't see why not ?! Generally, colour temperature is not affecting the monitor "capabilities" in such way ... as usually number of bits is hardcoded in this technology. I would rather say that it's simply the way how the colour gamut is reacting on that gradient picture when there is a colour temperature change. You will achieve the same effect when you calibrate the colour temperature from the, let's say, nvidia software calibration tool. Your gradient would definitely start to show the colour banding problems, but generally this is not related to the fact that monitor is unable to dither the full 8-bit colour range.

LaRZ said:
Native mode is at 6500k by the looks of it = the reason for the yellow whites.
It still does a great job but personally I find Native mode useless because of the warmth of the backlight @ 6500k, So I'll have to put up with colour banding @ 9300k ?

I tried your gradient test and as far as I could tell, doesn't look so much yellowish. It has cool blue, metallic, greyish warm white (but not yellow) colour tones. It's maybe slightly more "cool" when you switch to sRGB or 7500k. Yes, on the 9500k colour barrier is more pronounceable, but as I mentioned from the above it must be the way how the gradient is reacting to the colour temp change. For example, when you switch the monitor to 9500k and make one pure colour spectrum or RGB gradient in the Photoshop, it's perfectly displayed and this is the sign that monitor is still dithering the colours OK.

Not sure really. Maybe if someone who is working more with "colours" is reading this and may help you more.

igors · 25 Apr 2006 at 19:35

@ Nobski, wiko, Yorkshirepadd

Guys, I think that you really should try to swap your monitors ... as I already mentioned above. You have definitely nothing to loose, it's straightforward process and you may even ask for the pre-check before they send you the replacements. Apart from the fact that I have the perfect panel, it really annoys me that you are still in the same, unfortunate, position. Come on, what type of answer takes 3 weeks to arrive and I doubt that they will send the DIY fixing instructions for the panel or even if they shift the refreshed stock who knows when it will arrive in UK. In other words, simply not sure how that Japan answer may affect you ?! NEC UK is probably distributing the stock around, as we speak, and I really really doubt that this thing is global.

igors · 25 Apr 2006 at 19:39

LaRZ said:
thanks igors could you look please try this ?
set my picture as bg and reset monitor to defaults. (again )

Switch between native mode and standard mode.? with advanced DV OFF,
do you notice that the screen deiplays a different amount of colours ?
can others report on this?.

LaRz, not exactly sure what is the task

How do you mean switch from the native to standard mode ?! There is only one native mode for colours and again only one "standard" DV monitor profile.

igors · 27 Apr 2006 at 13:41

Bryfiero said:
After dealing with NEC I can honestly say their level of customer service is amongst the highest I've encoutered in a long while. My initial dissapointment is long gone - this monitor is definitely worth the wait.

Then, I take my words (from the above) back. Anyhow, yes it's great to hear that after sales service is great.

igors · 29 Apr 2006 at 12:53

I'm seriously tempted to have my next LCD TV, based on the enhanced S-IPS technology, to complement the NEC LCD monitor

Essentially, LG.Philips is using the same NEC AS-IPS panel technology for the next generation of the HD-LCD TV panels. Take a look, it's a interesting read:

http://www.cleverdis.com/pdf_files/spr_lpl_05.pdf

Apart from the fact that document is mostly addressing the LCD TV aspects, you may find many interesting details about the development and essential advantages of the IPS panel technology.

igors · 29 Apr 2006 at 15:12

LaRZ said:
Igors I was suggesting SWITCHING from "native" colour mode to mode "1" which is at 9300k colour mode.

Now You're Talkin'!

LaRZ said:
Assuming the monitor has been reset to default factory settings, you will notice, that Native mode has Less issues holding subtle changes in blue tones in my picture. Whilst at mode 1 there is noticeble colour banding on my image. The blues gradient in the picture doesn't always hold uniform, dipping slightly towards green within steps of blue tones right across the gradient.

Yes, you are right ... I noticed the same "subtle" change. However as I mentioned already I'm not quite exactly sure if this is related to the fact how gradients are reacting to the colour temperate change or something else is involved. I tried several times how standard RGB/CMYK colour gradients are reacting to the changes in each profile and I was pleased with the results.

LaRZ said:
I don't want to put people off buying this panel as I think it's still a great panel.

No worries LaRZ, each of us is unique and each of has it's own perceptions & expectations even when we are discussing the monitors

LaRZ said:
However it would be nice to have someone see this from my point of view.
Perhaps someone else who does colour critical work could comment?.

I remember that Arcaine is also involved in colour, so if he is around he may possibly try to help you here.

igors · 10 May 2006 at 16:58

rout3r said:
Just got mine - pleased with it

Great. Glad to hear that

rout3r said:
It's got one dead pixel though I'm not going to get a replacement for that am I? Will it go away?

If you definitely have dead (dark) pixel and if it's not visible during the normal usage and you have to look hard to find it on the screen (usually when using DPT or any plain colour background) ... honestly I wouldn't bother. If you are *really* annoyed you may ask NEC for the replacement and this is usually straightforward process. Probability for the dead pixel recovery is really marginal. Lazy/stuck sub pixels - there is a possibilty.

Just had a flashback. Actually, I used to live with two dark lines of the Diamondtron CRT aperture grill for a long time ... and that's like 2 independent rows of 1680 dead/dark pixels

rout3r said:
Seems to have a bit of screen bleed too, but i guess that'll settle down.

Just give it a few days to settle down.

rout3r said:
Reflectiveness is not much more than my G500 really.

Yes. Actually, when the screen is on, illumination of the panel itself is minimising the reflections. Noticed that many times other reviews around are showing the reflections when the monitor is *off* and that's pretty much irrelevant imho.

igors · 15 May 2006 at 19:56

rout3r said:
The pixel is bright red - so I don't know if that means its stuck or dead or what? Its quite annoying me now though - I'm considering contacting NEC as the backlight bleed hasn't improved too much either.

Dead pixels on IPS panels are usually dark/black. Is that read pixel visible on the black background ? If yes, this is stuck/lazy pixel and it may happen that you "revive" it by using the dead pixel tester/buddy or similar programs. They are rapidly changing the major working colours of the pixel and sometimes such approach may bring them to life. Of course, success is not guaranteed.

rout3r said:
Whats the best way to test the backlight bleed?

With the environment lights off and with the uniform-black monitor background you should be able to observe the backlight bleeding properly.

igors · 15 May 2006 at 20:15

rout3r said:
Where can I get this program?

For example:

http://udpix.free.fr/
http://www.dps.uk.com/freeware_DTP.htm

rout3r said:
This is my first TFT, so I'm not sure about these sorts of things

No worries

You will get there.

rout3r said:
Turning the environment lights off? How? lol

Well ... just flick the light switch off in your room, but *only* if you are not affraid of the dark

igors · 17 May 2006 at 12:40

Inaharry said:
What is everybody else using to clean their screen - I know the official line is a soft cloth which is fine for gerenal dust, but over time it's going to need more than that. I love my screen to bits (even with the backlight bleed) and I don't want to damage the screen with TFT cleaners on the market without knowing if they're safe.

Any suggestions would be appreciated....

Any superfine microfibre cloth (and sometimes slightly moist if you have smears) will do the job nicely. Don't use standard lint free cloths as they are no go for this type of the screen. If you have Sainsbury, Waitrose ... etc supermarkets around you may look for the "Spontex Window Wonder" microfibre cloth. It's very good.My personal preference is KlearScreen:

http://www.klearscreen.com/

and UK dealers:

http://www.klearscreen.com/international.html#UnitedKingdom

igors · 22 May 2006 at 12:33

I noticed that this monitor is out of stock for many weeks now at OCUK. Is this the product recall from the current stock and they are waiting for the refreshed one from NEC ? Second explanation is that supply is higher then demand. Can't think of anything else. If the NEC managed to sort out the problems with the backlight bleeding, that would be superb ... especially if the panel uniformity is the same as on my review monitor.

Backlight bleed is important aspect of the LCD screens. If LCD panel uniformity is not good, monitor itself is simply unable to expose the full potential and that may include the colour richness, contrast and colours uniformity (and in this case even calibration can't help you much). Look at my pictures (from the review) of the monitor in the dark:

http://62.204.32.7:10973/IMG_0056.JPG
http://62.204.32.7:10973/IMG_0057.JPG
http://62.204.32.7:10973/IMG_0058.JPG

I was hugely surprised how come that panel is so uniform and without any single trace of the visible backlight. I never witnessed this on other LCD monitors, which I had pleasure to see and test. When you combine this and the fact that with the Advanced DVM monitor backlight is dimmed even more, this must be the best LCD panel in existence when you consider the black luminosity. Also, we know that NEC warranty also includes the backlight bleed free panel state so it may quite possibly happen that this monitor is not design to have this "side effect".

I sincerely hope that panel uniformity of the new units will be on the same or similar level.

igors · 23 May 2006 at 14:59

icemansin said:
I then spoke to someone called Sarah (from the warranty/repair service) and she mentioned that there has been a change in the manufacturing process for the monitor and that the backlight bleeding should be fixed and will be shipped out to those waiting for a replacement.

Great news. If they managed to sort out the manufacturing problem, I guess that if the panel uniformity is now on the same or similar level as on my review model, people should be able to enjoy this panel on completely new level

igors · 23 May 2006 at 15:03

Benihana said:
*EDIT* WOO 1000th POST !!!!!!111one

LOL You are the lucky winner! of the NEC 20WGX2 and OCUK will ship you one today, no questions asked!

igors · 24 May 2006 at 15:05

Several users on wsgf recieved the NEC and no trace of backlight bleed is reported (or dead pixels). It would be interesting what other users will report, but hopefully things will turn out nicely.

igors · 25 May 2006 at 15:35

wiko said:
bleed in left corner only now, after 24 hours. Its very faint so i will give it a week to burn in. Big improvement on the last model image wise.

Hi, good to hear that. I would personally suggest that users wait for a couple of days (sometimes even week) until monitor is "settled and burn in" as initial impressions when you start the monitor from cold can be quite deceiving. Even I had slight bleed in one corner only and after few days monitor settled down and now is peach black (I already posted the pictures of my screen in the dark).

As I already explained in some of my previous posts, your picture improvement is related with the fact that panel uniformity is much better now.

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

NEC LCD20WGX2 review * UPDATED 25/02/06 *