Good LCD Monitor?

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:17 am

Wife wants one for Christmas, but there are so many of them. We have some crappy ones at school that actually have burned in images on the screen. I didn't think it was possible, but I don't won't that to happen to the ones I buy.

I went to tigerdirect.com, but just got overwhelmed. Do you guys have a good suggestion? I'd like to keep the price down as I'll be getting two, so I'd say no more than $200.00 each.

Thanks guys.

emsbuff3240 · Post by **emsbuff3240** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:48 am

Samsung makes a good one, looking at it right now, Ive had it for a few years. We have some acers at school that have the log on screens burned into them. Its really not a question of if the monitor is good that it will have images burned into them, but more if you leave the computer with the same screen on all the time, so if you sleep the comps or put up a screen saver or just turn off the monitor you'll be fine.

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 8:13 am

Any of the Dell UltraSharp panels are highly recommended... I've got 3 20-inch panels on my desk.

Also, the newer Samsung units are quite nice. I picked up a 20-inch widescreen a few months ago for about $200 after rebate - it sits alongside my Dell panels and connects to the KVM.

JAYMZ · Post by **JAYMZ** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:16 am

I have the Samsung 20.1 monitor. Not sure the model number, but it is a sharp monitor that will do 1600x1200 resolution. I got it when it first came out and paid about $325 after rebates. It's hooked to the dock for my laptop and works like a charm. It also has DVI and VGA inputs.

kc7gr · Post by **kc7gr** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:07 pm

These days, I won't touch anything outside of the Samsung SyncMaster series.

Happy hunting.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:43 am

I've had good results with a bunch of brands, Acer, KDS, Viewsonic, IC Power, and so on. I've researched a lot of the offbrands by opening them up, most of them use LCD panels built by the big guys anyway. Samsung is another good one that has both their own brand name and about a half a dozen other companies using their assemblies to create off brand models.

The most important thing when buying a LCD these days is read the warranty info before purchasing if possible. Most if not all online retailers clearly state the return policy on their LCD's. Most are in the 7-10 dead pixel range, but some manufacturers vary. I have seen it as high as 10-15 dead pixels before they will take a return for replacement.

An LCD can suffer from burn in just as bad as a CRT but its not exactly the same process, just the same result. A CRT gets burn in, a nice ghost image, by having the same spot continuosly displaying the exact same image which in turn affects the Phosphor coating on the inside of the screen, which is nothing more than a large vacuum tube.

LCD's on the other hand suffer from Image Persistence. Image persistence on LCD monitors is caused by the continuous display of static graphics on the screen for extended periods of time. What this does is cause the LCD crystals to have a memory for their location in order to generate the colors of that graphic. When a different color is then displayed in that location, the color will be off from what it should be and instead have a faint image of what was previously displayed.

In most cases this is not permanent. The crystals do have a natural state and can shift depending on the amount of current used to generate the desired color. As long as these colors do shift periodically, the crystals at that pixel should fluctuate enough such that the image will not be permanently imprinted into the crystals. It is possible that the crystals could get a permanent memory if the screen image does not change at all and the screen is left on all the time, such as a business or school where they stay on 24/7 and sit at the logon screen for long periods of time.

If you already have image persistence most of the time it can be fixed or at least made less noticeable. I like using LCD testing programs for generating screens of solid color to flush away the persistence. Dead Pixel Buddy or Pixel Tester are two that i have used. Here is some things to try to remove the image persistence.

Turn off the monitor for extended periods of time. It can be as little as several hours or it could be as long as several days.

Use a screen saver with a rotating image and run it for extended periods of time. The rotating color palette should help remove the persistent image but it could take a long time.

Run the screen with a single solid color or bright white for an extended period of time. This will cause all of the crystals to be reset at a single color setting, you can watch the persistent image slowly fade away as all the pixels slowly match once again, and it should erase any previous image persistence. The bright white screen method has been the most productive for me.

These days when it comes to buying an LCD i look at PRICE and WARRANTY, brand name is the least of my concerns. I know top of the line brand names that have less warranty coverage, or shorter warranty periods, than some of the cheaper no-name brands.

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:50 pm

Found a Norcent LM-965WA for $229.00

Has anyone ever heard of the above? It's a 19" in model and they only have 4. I figure I'll pick up two of them tomorrow if you guys think they're okay. I've been searching for reviews, but can't seem to find any.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:10 pm

I couldnt find any reviews but i found the companies website...

http://www.norcent.net/main/product_det ... ?prodID=76

Nice looking model.

Post by **escomm** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:10 pm

I've been using a Sharp 20" LCD for the past year and a half, other than one dead pixel that was there when I first bought it, it's great.

If you buy online, be weary of return policies for dead pixels. I heard NewEgg requires at least 20 dead pixels before they consider it to be bad order.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:14 pm

That's not so on Newegg, i use them weekly. Their policy on LCD's is whatever the warranty policy is from the individual manufacturers. Can't blame them, if they can't return it then we can't return it. It's the manufacturers that set the requirement.

jackhackett · Post by **jackhackett** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:35 am

escomm wrote:I've been using a Sharp 20" LCD for the past year and a half, other than one dead pixel that was there when I first bought it, it's great.

If you buy online, be weary of return policies for dead pixels. I heard NewEgg requires at least 20 dead pixels before they consider it to be bad order.

You could have done a little fact checking before posting this (unless you work for Reuters, you don't work for Reuters do you?).

LCD Dead-Pixel Policy
Newegg.com sells many products such as Notebooks and Monitors that feature LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens. Newegg.com adheres to the dead-pixel policy that is observed by the majority of our manufacturers. In order to declare any product with an LCD screen "defective" and eligible for replacement or refund through any applicable Newegg.com Return Policy, there must be a minimum of 8 (eight) dead LCD pixels.

Judging from reviews I've read there in the past, the vast majority report no dead pixels, occasionaly you'll see a report of one or two dead.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:57 am

And if you get one with one or two dead pixels try to revive them first. A lot of the times it can be done with rapid change in colors, or massaging the bad pixel with light pressure and a soft cloth. Sounds stupid but it has worked for me.

Vcom · Post by **Vcom** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:34 pm

tvsjr wrote:Any of the Dell UltraSharp panels are highly recommended... .

Ditto. I have 3 19" UltraSharp's and they are very nice. Try http://dealnews.com/ for shopping/pricing.

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:51 pm

kb0nly wrote:And if you get one with one or two dead pixels try to revive them first. A lot of the times it can be done with rapid change in colors, or massaging the bad pixel with light pressure and a soft cloth. Sounds stupid but it has worked for me.

Ditto. There's also a program called Dead Pixel Buddy that will run through colors rapidly for you. About an hour of that run, coupled with a massage, fixed a dead pixel on my Samsung SyncMaster 205BW and on my IBM ThinkPad T60p (1600x1200 15" uber-pimpin display).

Post by **escomm** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:17 pm

jackhackett wrote:
escomm wrote:I've been using a Sharp 20" LCD for the past year and a half, other than one dead pixel that was there when I first bought it, it's great.

If you buy online, be weary of return policies for dead pixels. I heard NewEgg requires at least 20 dead pixels before they consider it to be bad order.
You could have done a little fact checking before posting this (unless you work for Reuters, you don't work for Reuters do you?).

LCD Dead-Pixel Policy
Newegg.com sells many products such as Notebooks and Monitors that feature LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens. Newegg.com adheres to the dead-pixel policy that is observed by the majority of our manufacturers. In order to declare any product with an LCD screen "defective" and eligible for replacement or refund through any applicable Newegg.com Return Policy, there must be a minimum of 8 (eight) dead LCD pixels.

Judging from reviews I've read there in the past, the vast majority report no dead pixels, occasionaly you'll see a report of one or two dead.

Sounds like I heard right then, other than the number being 8 instead of 20. I am not advocating for or against NewEgg, or any other retailer for that matter. The point of my post was that people should verify what retailers consider to be broken before they make a purchase, instead of finding out after the fact that their monitor with 7 (or 25, or whatever other arbitrary number has been pulled out of the air) dead pixels isn't returnable.

Imagine if Motorola told people that they only warrantied radios that were off-frequency by 5kHz or more.

Buyer beware, that's all I'm saying.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:29 pm

I have a 17" ViewSonic. It has a no dead pixel policy.

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:41 pm

Well, I picked two up yesterday, but won't be able to mess with them until Christmas day. Kind of want to make it a surprise. I'm thinking of wrapping up an old CRT just for the shock factor when she opens the box...lol

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:55 pm

Well, these things rock! I don't have the speakers hooked up because I'm using seperate speakers, but the screen is very cool. I didn't realize it at the time, but these are the "wide screen" versions. Very nice and they take up a LOT less room than the CRTs did. Overall, both of us are happy.

Good LCD Monitor?

Good LCD Monitor?

Samsung, definitely...