Gateway XHD3000 - 30" Widescreen Extreme HD Display

les_garten said:
Hello Folks,
So I was looking over NewEgg today and there are now 3 reviews for this monitor. One of them stated that 100% had the Blackout issue. When I posted this, some folks piped in and said, "No I don't have the Blackout issue". At least one guy said he didn't have it.

So here's my question:

If you have this monitor:

1) Tell us if you have blackouts
2) Tell us what Video Card you have

Let's see if there is a difference between ATI and NVIDIA.

Les
Click to expand...


Im Running a Mac with and ATI card...no blackouts yet but ive only had the monitor 2 days.

And mine was from NewEgg with a November ship date.
 
Had monitor 1 month, use it over 12 hours/day, using included dual link DVI cables.

No blackout issuses EVER! Have gone to eat and have come back to a scrambled display 2 or 3 times, rebooting fixed problem.

2 Nvidia 8800 Ultras in SLI.
 
les_garten said:
Hello Folks,
So I was looking over NewEgg today and there are now 3 reviews for this monitor. One of them stated that 100% had the Blackout issue. When I posted this, some folks piped in and said, "No I don't have the Blackout issue". At least one guy said he didn't have it.

So here's my question:

If you have this monitor:

1) Tell us if you have blackouts
2) Tell us what Video Card you have

Let's see if there is a difference between ATI and NVIDIA.

Les
Click to expand...

That one guy on Newegg is me. Many people here are stating they get a blackout after 12+ hours of straight usage. I experience the blackout sometimes after only a few hours of usage, if that. So far it has only happened when gaming and not in Vista. However, it's only happened about 3-4 times already so maybe it hasn't had a chance to happen in Vista.

I contacted Gateway's tech support and they just keep giving me bull shit answers and solutions to do. they don't want to admit their display is faulty.
 
What are the blackout events exactly like? Does the screen display stay off or does it return after a few seconds?
 
Yea i was wondering the same thing? I mean does it just go black for a second or two then come right back to the same input. It doesnt sound that bad...other than the fact that a $1600 display should be perfect.
 
falconman said:
Yea i was wondering the same thing? I mean does it just go black for a second or two then come right back to the same input. It doesnt sound that bad...other than the fact that a $1600 display should be perfect.
Click to expand...
It should be, but my Gateway FPD2185W also goes black and comes back after a second. It doesn't do it all the time (thank god) but it happens once and a while. It is inexcusable in >$1000 monitor, though.
 
APOLLO said:
It should be, but my Gateway FPD2185W also goes black and comes back after a second. It doesn't do it all the time (thank god) but it happens once and a while. It is inexcusable in >$1000 monitor, though.
Click to expand...

I think everyone would agree that it is inexcusable on any monitor. It is particularly irritating for something that costs $1700.

Les
 
If you haven't already, at least e-mail Gateway's tech support about the problem. I'm sure we will get their attention if they get 5-10 e-mails at once.
 
TheGooch69 said:
If you haven't already, at least e-mail Gateway's tech support about the problem. I'm sure we will get their attention if they get 5-10 e-mails at once.
Click to expand...

I almost bought this monitor from them this week and changed my mind and decided to wait. I am in the process of relocation. I'll buy it next month most likely. They offered me the monitor with 3 year warranty, free shipping and sales Tax for $1863. I talked with them about retrun policy. And they talked about if it was a known issue or a factory defect. They don't have any records that address this blackout issue. He basically said it was not a known issue. If you are having the problem, it would help if you would at least report it. I'm betting thy won't fix it, till it generates returns.

Les
 
I honestly think everyone is overeacting a bit, myself included, about the issue. Sure, we pay $1700+ and we expect only the best. This display is absolutly great in every way. The fact that it will rarely blackout for less than the second isn't that big of a deal. It's pretty much as if you blink.

If you want to get this monitor, get it. You won't regret it. My games, tv, and movies have never looked better,
 
TheGooch69 said:
I honestly think everyone is overeacting a bit, myself included, about the issue. Sure, we pay $1700+ and we expect only the best. This display is absolutly great in every way. The fact that it will rarely blackout for less than the second isn't that big of a deal. It's pretty much as if you blink.

If you want to get this monitor, get it. You won't regret it. My games, tv, and movies have never looked better,
Click to expand...

Hi Gooch,
No offense Bro', but these monitors shouldn't be Glitching like this. It's not too much to request that my monitor doesn't loose connection a few times a day or more. These monitors should be tossed back at them so they'll fix them.. If you settle for sh*t, they won't fix it. Just like the screw shadow issue. I think this problem is worse, a lot of people may never have noticed the screw issue. You will notice your monitor going Black.

Les
 
I hear you. To be honest I'm just to lazy to go through the process of having to send it back for returns. I also don't want other to be discouraged to buy the display, but I guess they have every reason in the world to be weary about it.

Off topic a bit, I have a question abou the PiP. When I first got the display I was able to watch TV with full sound in PiP mode when I was on my PC. Now I lost the sound for some reason. I looked around the menu and couldn't find anything. Anyone else have this problem and a possible solution?
 
TheGooch69 said:
I hear you. To be honest I'm just to lazy to go through the process of having to send it back for returns. I also don't want other to be discouraged to buy the display, but I guess they have every reason in the world to be weary about it.

Off topic a bit, I have a question abou the PiP. When I first got the display I was able to watch TV with full sound in PiP mode when I was on my PC. Now I lost the sound for some reason. I looked around the menu and couldn't find anything. Anyone else have this problem and a possible solution?
Click to expand...

Hi,
I certainly nderstand not wanting to be without it once you have it! Also the PITA of having to pack it up and send it back.

Les
 
Ok so after a few days of use i have encountered several problems...

The display has problems receiving the signal from my Powerbook G4. It keeps flashing up and seems like it is trying to recognize the signal. After a while of fooling around i may get lucky and get the image to finally stay on the screen. But its usually off center or the right tenth of the screen just isnt displaying anything at all. Furthermore the display "freezes" from time to time with none of the buttons responding to anything..to which i have to unplug the display. Then it asks me to set everything up again.

Im very disappointed that it has stopped working and i will be sending it back to gateway.


...i must add though that for the little that i did have an image on the screen it looked amazing.
 
falconman said:
Ok so after a few days of use i have encountered several problems...

The display has problems receiving the signal from my Powerbook G4. It keeps flashing up and seems like it is trying to recognize the signal. After a while of fooling around i may get lucky and get the image to finally stay on the screen. But its usually off center or the right tenth of the screen just isnt displaying anything at all. Furthermore the display "freezes" from time to time with none of the buttons responding to anything..to which i have to unplug the display. Then it asks me to set everything up again.

Im very disappointed that it has stopped working and i will be sending it back to gateway.


...i must add though that for the little that i did have an image on the screen it looked amazing.
Click to expand...

I had the display freeze up on me just once when I tried powering up. I had to unplug it and everything was fine. Hasn't happened since.
 
I need help and wasn't sure if I can get the problem fixed or not.

I have the XHD and I ran coax to it and then I went, "oh no", no coax connection. I wanted to use the HDMI for the PS3, the DVI for the computer, so is my next best connection component video? Is there a way running the coax (RG-6 quad) into a component adapter?

Not sure what to do, any suggestions?
 
DonutHunter said:
I need help and wasn't sure if I can get the problem fixed or not.

I have the XHD and I ran coax to it and then I went, "oh no", no coax connection. I wanted to use the HDMI for the PS3, the DVI for the computer, so is my next best connection component video? Is there a way running the coax (RG-6 quad) into a component adapter?

Not sure what to do, any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Do a search for BNC to RCA adapters if I undersand you correctly.

Les
 
I wasn't clear, I ran about 85 feet of plain old coax cable, like what cable and dish and directv use and they run it into a tuner box of some kind. I have a Dish 622 tuner and it has a option of running coax out to a second tv and this would work on a tv or monitor that had a coax input, but the gateway doesn't have a coax input. The dish tuner/receiver has two tuners built in, and the second tuner is controlled through a second remote control. Dish tech support said it can't be done, but I can't buy that....I must just be searching for the wrong thing.

But I will do a search again, maybe I missed something.
 
DonutHunter said:
I wasn't clear, I ran about 85 feet of plain old coax cable, like what cable and dish and directv use and they run it into a tuner box of some kind. I have a Dish 622 tuner and it has a option of running coax out to a second tv and this would work on a tv or monitor that had a coax input, but the gateway doesn't have a coax input. The dish tuner/receiver has two tuners built in, and the second tuner is controlled through a second remote control. Dish tech support said it can't be done, but I can't buy that....I must just be searching for the wrong thing.

But I will do a search again, maybe I missed something.
Click to expand...

I searched a bit and they are correct, it can't be done, not with an adapter. The only way to do it is run it through a VCR. You need something with a tuner.
 
oh, I have an old vcr laying around....very interesting.....I think I can at least get it connected and see how good/bad it is. Then to see if I can get all the Dish Network channels using a vcr.

Thanks great idea.
 
DonutHunter said:
oh, I have an old vcr laying around....very interesting.....I think I can at least get it connected and see how good/bad it is. Then to see if I can get all the Dish Network channels using a vcr.

Thanks great idea.
Click to expand...

Hi,
If I were you, I would go to AVTOOLBOX.com and get a Tuner that puts out VGA. I have one of these in my Kitchen that drives a monitor so my Wife can watch TV while she drudges away in the kitchen. You can look them over at avtoolbox and shop them elsewhere for a better price.

Les
 
DonutHunter said:
oh, I have an old vcr laying around....very interesting.....I think I can at least get it connected and see how good/bad it is. Then to see if I can get all the Dish Network channels using a vcr.

Thanks great idea.
Click to expand...

No prob. The thing is I re-ead your other post and if this second output has its own tuner there might be an easier way to do it.
 
Yes, the Dish receiver has two tuners built into it, one for my main tv and the other is for the gateway, I ran the coax to the gateway and so I guess I don't really need a second tuner, except for the conversion from coax to vga or component video, but I'll hook it anyway that I can to get it to work.

That link, avtoolbox has equipment that I don't know what to do with, I couldn't find a tuner with a vga output, I'm waiting now for their live chat, but I think they are gone for the day.

I'll look for a coax to component converter, that might work, I just happen to have a vcr around, so that has the right connectors already. I'll have to hook it up later to test unless you can think of something better.

::Thanks
 
rinaldo00 said:
Why is that? I still don't understand what you are looking for. I'm mainly a computer guy but I thought HD was in 16:9, what signal is 3:2?

The reason that Gateway is promoting their scaler chip so much, and why reviewers are so impressed, is that taking 480i/p and 720i/p and 1080i/p content and scaling it to 2560x1600 and making it look GREAT is impressive! It is like getting free resolution!
Click to expand...

This is the same thing that PCs have long done with 480i (NTSC) signals (such as those from TV tuner cards pre-HD); it's why both TV tuner cards and (in their prime) ATI's AIWs sold like gangbusters (I personally have owned six: original AIW, AIW Pro, AIW 128, AIW Radeon 7200, AIW 8500DV, and AIW 9700 Pro). Also, other tthan BD media, there is no source for native 1080p content in North America (or Europe either, for that matter), so just to get to 1080p, you *must* upscale, and, to put it plainly, quality scaling just to 1080p, let alone the downright scary 1600p that is the native resolution of the MegaCow, is far from cheap. The best *mass-market* video scaler (until now) has been sourced from AMD (specifically, ATI Technologies' Xilleon/Theater 650 Pro scaler), which has been used by a mere three companies so far (Sony, Philips, and Olevia); amazingly, Gateway is not even close to charging a premium for this decidedly non-mass-market scaler (normally, to be honest, the scaler would cost at least as much as the entire monitor, even if used to scale to a mere 1080p, let alone 1600p). Even leaving the scaler out, the XHD3000 still competes, and does so darn well, feature for feature, with all other 30" displays (and that is at the same sticker it has today). With the REALTA scaler actually being standard (as opposed to a normally expensive, or more likely unavailable, option), this 30" display is outside the pale for a display of any sort. Given the trends in any sort of TV viewing anywhere (where you will invariably need some sort of set-top box) a display like the XHD3000, which can swallow any sort of input that you care to throw at it, and in most cases, without the need for a switchbox, at an affordable price, will very much be in demand. (That is precisely why I see this as merely being the opening salvo in an entire line of such displays, from 30" up to 55".)
 
rinaldo00 said:
When DVDs first came out I remember a special Ebert and Ropert show explaining why letterbox movies were so much better and they talked about pan and scan. They also showed movies that cropped the edges (rather than squish)

I wonder if it is somthing thast can be fixed in firmware.
Click to expand...

Letterboxing was important when monitors (NTSC, that is) were only capable of displaying content in a 4:3 window (to match their signal). However, ATSC's two major formats, 720p (used primarily by Disney, FOX, and their affiliates/content producers) and 1080i (used by NBC, CBS, their affiliates/content producers, and by most pay-TV channels/services) both mandated a 16:9 display format, to match as closely as possible that of 35 and 70mm film. (Standard-definition DVDs took a different approach to get to the same result: in addition to letterboxing, there was a true *widescreen* option, which eliminated the need for both letterboxing and the resultant pan-and-scan). However, due to screen differences between TVs, they handled the different aspect ratios differently due to their content-based scaling (which is why differences in scalers can be more critical than differences in panel manufacture at a given screen size, and why comparing different screen sizes can be problematical at best, unless you can allow for scaler differences).

I have a Philips 42PF7320A/37A plasma TV on my bedroom wall; as good as it is at displaying a standard-resolution 480i picture, it is much better displaying a 1080i/720p picture (despite the *panel* having a native 768p resolution) as opposed to a non-widescreen or even letterboxed 480p picture. This would definitely imply that the TV's scaler has a decided widescreen bias. (The TV has a built-in NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner, which is used for cable-TV via Comcast, the two VCRs currently connected use two of the composite inputs, while the DVD player built into one of them uses a separate YPbPr input, as the combi-deck lacks HDMI-out. This is why the TV's two HDMI inputs are not in use.) Most of my DVDs are widescreen (though most of them predate my plasma; I started watching DVDs on a PC screen well before, and even then preferred purchasing widescreen-format DVDs).
 
After a couple weeks of use now, the blackouts have occured while playing on my PS3. It happened twice this night while playing full auto 2 on 1080p res.It was about 2 seconds + each time. The blackouting in the PC mode has all but ceased, although there are still some minor occasions.

I hope it was just a fluke, but it kinda pissed me off. Luckily it wasnt during any real action.
 
PGHammer said:
Given the trends in any sort of TV viewing anywhere (where you will invariably need some sort of set-top box) a display like the XHD3000, which can swallow any sort of input that you care to throw at it, and in most cases, without the need for a switchbox, at an affordable price, will very much be in demand. (That is precisely why I see this as merely being the opening salvo in an entire line of such displays, from 30" up to 55".)
Click to expand...

I played some DVDs on it and measured the image. Turns out the Gateway scaled it correctly!

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1257147
 
So I'm wondering if we will start to see the price coming down on this one. Now that the holidays are over and all. Can it really stay at $1699 much longer?
 
Color is only 72% Gamut so it's nothing to scream about. Price should drop.
 
adobian said:
Color is only 72% Gamut so it's nothing to scream about. Price should drop.
Click to expand...

I agree. Gateway had bad foresight by determining this feature not to be a major deciding factor on whether consumers will purchase this monitor.

At the time the XHD was released, plenty of monitor manufacturers were touting higher gamut as the next best thing. Even if they didn't have the hardware scaling power behind them, the number of monitors supporting a higher gamut was already becoming standard.

I really want to love this monitor, but now I am looking at the Samsung 305T+ and maybe even the Dell 3008wfp depending on reviews. Both of these may even have a displayport. I already know the Dell does.
 
Anyone compare this to the Dell equivilant yet?

I'm curious if Dell's scaler has lag. $300 more though
 
les_garten said:
Hello Folks,
So I was looking over NewEgg today and there are now 3 reviews for this monitor. One of them stated that 100% had the Blackout issue. When I posted this, some folks piped in and said, "No I don't have the Blackout issue". At least one guy said he didn't have it.

So here's my question:

If you have this monitor:

1) Tell us if you have blackouts
2) Tell us what Video Card you have

Let's see if there is a difference between ATI and NVIDIA.

Les
Click to expand...

Just reciedved this monitor a couple of days ago and last night I had a 2 sec blackout while playing Crysis. I'm using a BFG 8800 GTS OC 640. This kinda sucks, other than that it's a great LCD, no dead pixels or screw showing. If it starts doing it more often I'll probably return it though, it's unacceptable for $ 1,700 monitor.
 
Insurgent49 said:
Just reciedved this monitor a couple of days ago and last night I had a 2 sec blackout while playing Crysis. I'm using a BFG 8800 GTS OC 640. This kinda sucks, other than that it's a great LCD, no dead pixels or screw showing. If it starts doing it more often I'll probably return it though, it's unacceptable for $ 1,700 monitor.
Click to expand...

No doubt,

I hope people keep posting their experiences with the Blackout issue. If you don't have the problem, that's as important to us also.

1) do you have the Blackout issue?
2) What Video card are you using?

Les
 
I replaced my 15 foot DVI cable with the included 6 foot one but I still get the blackout issue. If it didn't have this problem the monitor would be perfect. It appears the monitors from the first batch all the way up to the most recent are affected by the blackout issue. I wonder how Gateway will handle this? Does a monitor like this have a flashable ROM or firmware?
 
I picked up this monitor about a week ago and so far no black outs. Evga 8800GT vid card.
Havent played many intense games as yet though, I wonder if that might have something to do with it?

so far this is an amazing monitor. still getting colors tweaked etc, but no stuck pixels, backlight bleed isnt bad, to my eye anyway.

using it in the bedroom as main monitor and TV. SD signals look great as do HDTV feeds off my cable box. For TV the soundbar is more than adequate.
 
Just thought I'd give an update. It's been a real long time since I had my last blackout. I can't even remember when was the last time it happen.

All seems well and enjoying the display to the fullest :)
 
zentech said:
no blackouts here - but i am not a gamer. two cards, both nvidia. 6200, 7600.
Click to expand...
Don't be fooled. I have another Gateway monitor and for the better part of a year it stopped giving me blackouts. Recently, they came back with a vengeance and I'm experiencing related problems such as delayed startups and flickering. It's not the same model and it might not be attributed to the same cause but I find it funny that Gateway is having similar problems with various displays models.
 
I have been watching this thread closely and because of the very helpful information on it, I have delayed purchasing a 30" LCD because of the two problems users have experienced with the XHD3000: the washer issue and the blackout issue.

While it appears that the "washer" issue has subsided with the more recent crop of XHD3000's, the "blackout" issue has not. On the other hand, it's still not clear to me whether the blackout issue is solely a Gateway monitor problem; or whether, it might also have something to do with the XP or Vista OS and possibly Windows video display drivers.

In any event, as a non-gamer and Linux user, I was wondering if anyone is using this monitor with a Linux OS and still experiencing the random blackout problem? If so, under what circumstances?

I'm trying to determine whether to give Gateway more time to resolve these issues (if, in fact, they are Gateway problems), or whether to consider the new 30" Dell, or wait a little longer for Samsung and NEC's new 30" monitors.

Thanks for any helpful input.:)
 
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