NEC MultiSync EA231WMi-BK

HowzThat · 31 Dec 2009 at 01:12

Nice to see that TFT's review confirms/validates all of my own testing.

They seem to have ahcieved much the same results/outcomes with their sample as I did my own.

Again like Prad their backlight uniformity and hence color tinting appeared to be slightly worse than my own (making me v. pleased indeed that I got me a good sample

).

They seem to have ahcieved even better color accuracy than I did! Really quite phenomenal results (average dE of 0.2 = WOW!). Must make note to calibrate again in Native mode (seems to be the mode of choice for the best performance)

Contrast and black level about the same as my own. Again maybe slightly better (again calibrate in Native mode).

They achieved good/adequate settings out of the box in sRGB mode (with brightness at 50%). My sample with brightness turned down to 30% in sRGB acheived better than this (avg dE of 0.8).

Nice to see confirmation also from TFT central that this monitor is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack (dell U2410 and HP 2475) in terms of color accuracy, black level and contrast.

Heck from their testing this monitor is even taking on the mighty NEC2490 in some areas and winning! Woot!

Arcane · 31 Dec 2009 at 10:31

Native's definitely the way to go, iirc I couldn't adjust the individual RGB levels in sRGB and noticed a bit of banding after calibration. Eye-one match and Gretag gave awesome results in native though. I'm using this 99% for gaming and couldn't be happier, this'll last me until the 120hz ips panels surface.

dazzerd · 31 Dec 2009 at 13:31

I was going to buy one yesterday from elsewhere in the UK, was slightly over £300 squid, though even though the rrp is supposed to be more like £250.00.

Looks like supply and demand is keeping the price up may wait. OCUK should get some in though think they would sell quite a lot tbh.

Moeks · 31 Dec 2009 at 15:47

They did list them for pre-order, but got so little interest they pulled them. I can't understand it myself, I would have thought there would have been quite a lot of interest, then again, if there are a lot of people like me out there, they won't place an order until it's in stock, I never do pre-orders from OcUK.

Mr Chippolini · 31 Dec 2009 at 18:30

I'd be really interested in one of these. About £295 incl delivery is the cheapest I've seen...

HowzThat · 1 Jan 2010 at 04:43

Looks like supply and demand is keeping the price up may wait.

I have found to get quality I have to pay. I paid approximate Dell U2410 prices for this monitor as it had to be shipped from Germany but it was worth it in the end.
Everytime I look at this monitor is confirmation that I made the right choice.
Probably a good thing that supply is short because hopefully it means that NEC is exacting tighter QC to lessen the amount of defective monitors shipped.

They did list them for pre-order, but got so little interest they pulled them.

Unfortunately most people just aren't interested in quality, can't afford it, or are oblivious to it. Which explains why we are consistently inundated with TN crap (even today).

Native's definitely the way to go, iirc I couldn't adjust the individual RGB levels in sRGB and noticed a bit of banding after calibration.

Yes. Its Native mode all the way with this monitor if you have a calibration device.

'll last me until the 120hz ips panels surface.

Me too. Nothing on the horizon until around mid 2010 maybe later. Perfectly adequate until then. Hopefully in maybe 2 years we will see borderless LCD's perfect for eyefinity combined with OLED or IPS.

Moeks · 1 Jan 2010 at 15:53

HowzThat said:
Unfortunately most people just aren't interested in quality, can't afford it, or are oblivious to it. Which explains why we are consistently inundated with TN crap (even today).

That's sadly true in many things, I suppose I just expected OcUK to be a bit more interested in it, since it's ..well OcUK

maxryan · 10 Jan 2010 at 16:24

Baddass said:
full review online now over at TFT Central

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_ea231wmi.htm

thanks for the review, its great! Especially for the comparison with the Dell U2410 and HP LP2475W! Very usefull indeed

Arcane said:
Native's definitely the way to go, iirc I couldn't adjust the individual RGB levels in sRGB and noticed a bit of banding after calibration. Eye-one match and Gretag gave awesome results in native though. I'm using this 99% for gaming and couldn't be happier, this'll last me until the 120hz ips panels surface.

My only worries is the respones rate 14ms, its does sounds high. Any more info in how this monitor is like in gaming? Arcane you see any ghosting or blur in gaming? I don't know if I should go for this monitor or just save some money and get a good TN (if that exist) monitor. I will mainly use it for watching moving and playing games (don't do any photo or web design), whats also improtant to me is contrast ratio and black depth, I hate when display show black as grey and lost details in black. What would you guys recommend??

Arcane · 10 Jan 2010 at 20:58

Well, it's difficult to say really. The 120hz panels are undoubtedly faster but I can't stand TN, it drives me mad the one I've got on the laptop. I think it's as good in everyday use as the 20GX2 I had before it. There is some slight blur (if you really look for it) but no more than any other LCD, i've been replaying Quake 4 at the moment and that's been great.

Tooks · 11 Jan 2010 at 14:49

maxryan said:
thanks for the review, its great! Especially for the comparison with the Dell U2410 and HP LP2475W! Very usefull indeed

My only worries is the respones rate 14ms, its does sounds high. Any more info in how this monitor is like in gaming? Arcane you see any ghosting or blur in gaming? I don't know if I should go for this monitor or just save some money and get a good TN (if that exist) monitor. I will mainly use it for watching moving and playing games (don't do any photo or web design), whats also improtant to me is contrast ratio and black depth, I hate when display show black as grey and lost details in black. What would you guys recommend??

I'm using one of these NEC EA231WMi-BK monitors right now, and I'm extremely impressed with it. It's calibrated pretty well right out of the box (in native mode), and I noticed little change once I'd hardware calibrated it.

Although 14ms response time, that's not the usual grey to grey figure a lot of manufacturers quote, so it's not noticeable. Also, because it doesn't use any overdrive technology to get a lower response time, there is no input lag, so all you FPS fans should be happy!

I've got it mainly for photographic work, but I have played games on it and have noticed no difference to my other monitor, a 22in Samsung TN panel with a quoted 2ms response time.

It's a great monitor, if you can find one for the right price.

maxryan · 11 Jan 2010 at 21:41

Tooks said:
I'm using one of these NEC EA231WMi-BK monitors right now, and I'm extremely impressed with it. It's calibrated pretty well right out of the box (in native mode), and I noticed little change once I'd hardware calibrated it.

Although 14ms response time, that's not the usual grey to grey figure a lot of manufacturers quote, so it's not noticeable. Also, because it doesn't use any overdrive technology to get a lower response time, there is no input lag, so all you FPS fans should be happy!

I've got it mainly for photographic work, but I have played games on it and have noticed no difference to my other monitor, a 22in Samsung TN panel with a quoted 2ms response time.

It's a great monitor, if you can find one for the right price.

Thanks for the info, How is the black in the monitor? Is it details, or does it look grey? Any blur or ghosting when watching movie? How is the monitor compare to TN monitor? What do you think its the right price?

Tooks · 12 Jan 2010 at 22:58

maxryan said:
Thanks for the info, How is the black in the monitor? Is it details, or does it look grey? Any blur or ghosting when watching movie? How is the monitor compare to TN monitor? What do you think its the right price?

Well, taking those one at a time!

The blacks are very black. I can see all the blacks in the contrast tests on the lagom lcd test website. I can see detail in the black areas on games and digital tv.

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.phpl

I don't use it for watching movies, but as above, you will have no worries about this monitors ability to display blacks properly.

I haven't noticed any blur or ghosting when playing games (grid/dirt/COD etc) and would say it's on a par with my other monitor, a 22" Samsung TN panel, and that has a 2ms response time (Grey to Grey). I do seem to find the NEC more responsive, but that could be because I believe the Samsung uses overdrive tech to up the response rate, which leads to a little input lag.

I have the Samsung TN panel hardware calibrated too, so colour accuracy isn't any better that I've noticed, although the better viewing angles and better contrast of the NEC are most welcome, particularly for photo editing. Although the NEC is a 'cut down' 24" screen with 1920*1080 res rather than 1920*1200, but I still found that a step up from the 1680*1020 of my 22" so that hasn't been an issue for me. I can imagine it seeming cramped after a full 24" though.

Price wise, hard to say, as I believe the RRP on this monitor is supposed to be nearer £250-260 than the £290+ it seems to be going for, but I still think it's worth the cash at the higher price, it's a great panel.

skippy2421 · 13 Jan 2010 at 09:02

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/01/07/nec-multisync-ea231wmi/1

bit-tech review up and seems to be following the same trend as all other reviews in saying this monitor is brilliant. Think i'll have to get one but it may have to wait until March as my money spending is being prioritised elsewhere atm.

dazzerd · 13 Jan 2010 at 18:23

OC have it on preorder now.

Slackworth · 13 Jan 2010 at 22:34

Weather permitting we should have stock this week.

Slackworth · 14 Jan 2010 at 18:16

In stock now

InQ · 14 Jan 2010 at 23:58

This monitor has speakers built in, correct?
If so does it have an audio input 3.5mm jack?
Also the pic on the O/C website shows it in black, is this the colour supplied as i've read that the black model should have a BK at the end which the O/C's website isnt showing...

dazzerd · 15 Jan 2010 at 11:07

Just ordered, will have to cope with the hell from my misses, but its my birthday on sunday so tough!

Tooks · 15 Jan 2010 at 12:00

InQ said:
This monitor has speakers built in, correct?
If so does it have an audio input 3.5mm jack?
Also the pic on the O/C website shows it in black, is this the colour supplied as i've read that the black model should have a BK at the end which the O/C's website isnt showing...

I can't help with the colour that OCUK will send, but it does have speakers, and a 3.5mm jack too.

I can't tell you what the quality of the speakers are like as I haven't used mine, but like most built in speakers, I wouldn't be holding my breath!

afxtwn · 16 Jan 2010 at 22:55

Hi Tooks, you've already stated the blacks are very black, but having not been impressed with the black depth (more like grey) on a Dell TN panel I wondered how dark it looks when using it in a room with no lights other than the monitor itself?

I prefer to watch films and play games in a dark room and my old cheap Taxan CRT can go pitch black in these conditions, so I'm interested if this monitor can too. Maybe only more expensive LCDs are capable or perhaps this is where CRTs are still better, but I'm hoping this NEC one can still perform well.

Ta.