Why do so many monitors these days have issues?

Scrumpy_Jack · 30 Jul 2016 at 17:00

If only online stores still offered the service where you pay £20 to have the item checked before despatch so you were guaranteed perfectly good display. OCuk should bring this back to market, would stop the lottery of choosing a good display

RidingTheFlow · 30 Jul 2016 at 17:10

Scrumpy_Jack said:
If only online stores still offered the service where you pay £20 to have the item checked before despatch so you were guaranteed perfectly good display. OCuk should bring this back to market, would stop the lottery of choosing a good display

Actually some stores do. But interesting thing, I wanted to buy from such a retailer before and for Acer display (and their gaming "flagships" Predator no less) it specifically was stated "Notes: Due to warranty conflicts, the Acer Predator is not compatible with our Dead Pixel guarantee service".

Don't know how it related to "warranty conflict" (can Acer prevent retailers from doing extra checks?) More likely they are aware if they offer it for these displays it will ruin them

eddiew · 1 Aug 2016 at 13:43

Scrumpy_Jack said:
If only online stores still offered the service where you pay £20 to have the item checked before despatch so you were guaranteed perfectly good display. OCuk should bring this back to market, would stop the lottery of choosing a good display

£20? I'd pay ten times that...

After three different returns to different places, I've just decided to stick with my 8-year-old Dell PVA panel because I can't stomach the idea of another dud. Can't handle the disappointment again

It's just so frustrating that the entire market seems to be based on providing the minimum product quality that 'not many' people return, rather than the best quality that can be produced with the given technology.

Wulfster · 1 Aug 2016 at 14:01

I wish Dell would do a gysnc curved ultra wide, least you could buy in confidence that should anything be wrong, they'd sort it without the amateur dramatics of the pot luck lottery panels currently on offer.

Best

Wulf

smilertoo · 1 Aug 2016 at 14:45

Could be seeing a massive rise in problems because they're slashing prices...and cutting corners to reduce costs. My basic 27" 2560x1440 screen was almost the cheapest available at the time and cost £480, you can now get one for half that.

Black Dog · 2 Aug 2016 at 09:26

Just went through six monitors to get a good one.

Acer Z35 x2: both had patchy area's on black backgrounds and terrible smearing on dark colours on light background even though I was on 60hz non overdrive. Gave up with these.

LG 29UB67 Ultrawide: has the dreaded IPS glow and coil whine when the brightness was at a certain level.

DEL S2716DG: Had a small crack in the top hand right corner with the AG coating coming away + bright spot in the middle of the screen, a bit like a sun spot. (I thought DEL had the best QC in the business but I have had three DEL's in the past and they have all gone back)

ASUS PG278Q: Both had a few dead pixels but I persevered and finally got a good one yesterday.

I've had a real nightmare and should have just kept my trusty BENQ XL2420G which was perfect.

I'm not going to upgrade to some time now.

RidingTheFlow · 2 Aug 2016 at 09:38

From what did I gather, Dell still pretty much the best - but they are not fail-proof. They have certain models (mainly professional/business Ultrasharp monitors) where they maintain very good quality. But some models are just as everyone else (e.g. their 31.5" 4K Ultrasharp - which has abnormal for Dell level of complaints about dead pixels and bleed). I presume this because issues like bleed, dead pixels etc are mainly due to panel and Dell has not much control over that - esp. when there is only one/two panel models of such kind in the market now.

S2716DG also seem to be very good quality wise, but come on - its just TN panel tech, much simpler and harder to screw up than IPS which easily thrice as complex to produce.

TheVoice · 2 Aug 2016 at 09:47

Scrumpy_Jack said:
If only online stores still offered the service where you pay £20 to have the item checked before despatch so you were guaranteed perfectly good display. OCuk should bring this back to market, would stop the lottery of choosing a good display

I'd be reluctant to buy a monitor from anywhere that offers that. You're basically being forced to pay the extra money because if you don't, you're more likely to end up with a bad one. Retailers shouldn't be allowed to charge the customer to ensure the product is of sufficient quality; that's their job in the first place.

I'd sooner keep my £20 and take my chances elsewhere with everyone else.

RidingTheFlow · 2 Aug 2016 at 09:55

I'd rather pay extra money and be sure to get a good one, rather than pay same money as somebody else and get a bad one - while (s)he gets a good one. That's rather unfair.

Think about it other way around - you have an option to get it cheaper if you willing to live with certain defects. Otherwise, if you pay full price you are guaranteed to get 100% quality.

se_vietboi · 2 Aug 2016 at 10:08

Black Dog said:
Just went through six monitors to get a good one.

Acer Z35 x2: both had patchy area's on black backgrounds and terrible smearing on dark colours on light background even though I was on 60hz non overdrive. Gave up with these.

LG 29UB67 Ultrawide: has the dreaded IPS glow and coil whine when the brightness was at a certain level.

DEL S2716DG: Had a small crack in the top hand right corner with the AG coating coming away + bright spot in the middle of the screen, a bit like a sun spot. (I thought DEL had the best QC in the business but I have had three DEL's in the past and they have all gone back)

ASUS PG278Q: Both had a few dead pixels but I persevered and finally got a good one yesterday.

I've had a real nightmare and should have just kept my trusty BENQ XL2420G which was perfect.

I'm not going to upgrade to some time now.

Dude, the S2716DG I received had a small crack in the same corner! Sent it back and got a ROG Swift. I too thought maybe it was unlucky QC but daaamn you had one like that too!

eddiew · 2 Aug 2016 at 10:11

RidingTheFlow said:
Think about it other way around - you have an option to get it cheaper if you willing to live with certain defects. Otherwise, if you pay full price you are guaranteed to get 100% quality.

The other way of putting that is that manufacturers need to admit they've dropped the price too low to cover costs and as a result are producing a lot of factory seconds due to compromises made during assembly. There's nothing wrong with having a B grade option.

But it's probably too late now, since the only option is to introduce a 'premium' line, and everyone will know that the 'regular' models are the ones that failed QC. What should have been done up front was to keep prices covering costs, and sell things with dead pixels or BLB as factory seconds. Plenty of brightly lit workplaces where such defects simply wouldn't matter and probably wouldn't be noticed.

Race to the bottom, it's a problem in all industries

Black Dog · 2 Aug 2016 at 10:52

Dude, the S2716DG I received had a small crack in the same corner! Sent it back and got a ROG Swift. I too thought maybe it was unlucky QC but daaamn you had one like that too!

Thought I was just unlucky but glad to know it must be a manufacturing fault. What's your PG279Q like IPS glow??

se_vietboi · 2 Aug 2016 at 11:04

Black Dog said:
Thought I was just unlucky but glad to know it must be a manufacturing fault. What's your PG279Q like IPS glow??

I'm not sure whether it's IPS glow or light shimmer from the AG coating (I have a floor lamp positoined behind) but I notice a small amount in the corners of the screen when its black. It's not an issue and only noticeable if I go looking for it.

Black Dog · 2 Aug 2016 at 12:36

Was thinking of getting one but was put off about the IPS glow so I went for the TN version instead + the LG monitor I purchased had it. May consider getting one if the glow is minimal.

TheVoice · 2 Aug 2016 at 13:15

RidingTheFlow said:
Think about it other way around - you have an option to get it cheaper if you willing to live with certain defects. Otherwise, if you pay full price you are guaranteed to get 100% quality.

I never have and never would pay a retailer extra money to ensure they're providing me a product that works properly.

RidingTheFlow · 2 Aug 2016 at 13:32

First of all "extra" on top of what? Because prices are quite complex things.
And basically, with most manufacturers nowadays price you get is "cut price for item of possibly good quality, but probably one you will have to return several times to finally be satisfied". I'd rather pay "extra" on top of that kind of price right away to save time and nerves

Vertigo · 2 Aug 2016 at 13:40

se_vietboi said:
I'm not sure whether it's IPS glow or light shimmer from the AG coating (I have a floor lamp positoined behind) but I notice a small amount in the corners of the screen when its black. It's not an issue and only noticeable if I go looking for it.

Have the same with my U3415W - quite a lot of bleed/glow in the corners on a totally black screen but par for the course really and there's little point worrying about it in general use.

I wouldn't accept it on a TV but, on a PC monitor, it's fine.

V F · 2 Aug 2016 at 13:44

What were the CRT days like for quality control versus all these flat panels?

smilertoo · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:06

CRTs were pretty much the same across a range, all Belinea i saw were rubbish gold fish bowls. a TFT can be ruined just because they over tightened some screws, or didn't tighten them enough causing light bleed.

jigger · 2 Aug 2016 at 20:12

I think the problems come down to retailers being happy to sell tat and palm customer off with external RMA's taking months if not years to resolve. Usually the replacement screen is as bad and a refund is the fix.

Review sample spec monitors seem to be another problem. Most review sreens don't represent the true quality of what you receive as the customer. I seen an Acer on display at a big show and the IQ was perfect but the retail models are nothing close.