Constantine769
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2006
- Messages
- 89
Are there any of them out there? Or maybe owners post their own reviews.
Thank you,
Constantine
Thank you,
Constantine
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Gateway FPD2275W Reviews
- Thread starter Constantine769
- Start date
Careful ... my bro has the FPD2185W , and it just bit the dust for no reason (10 months old) . Gateway's cs is terrible . Right now we are having a nightmare of a time trying to get an rma . Tech support is pretty idiotic and they have not got a clue on what they are doing .Registration for the unit does not show up anywhere in thier records , even when re-registering the unit online "again" a few days ago , AND ... the serial number for the unit is so-called INCORRECT even when the number was taken off the back of the unit and retail box (both matching numbers) . Gateway will NOT rma till the serial number thing is cleared up . The FPD2185W was purchased at CC in a closed retail box , but Gateway says the serial number is for a pc not lcd (and its out-of-warranty , 1yr) . The lcd was manufactured in Dec/05 and purchased in 1/06 ... out of warranty my ass .
Right now we have fax to a whole slew of papers/pics for the unit to try and prove ownership and serial number just to TRY and get an rma number/request .. WTF !!!
I'll tell ya ... I was looking into the 22" model for myself , but after this ongoing crap with Gateway for my bro's lcd ; Iam stearing FAR FAR AWAY from ANYTHING Gateway has to offer in lcd's .
You've have been warned !!!
I finally went with a Sammy 225BW .
Right now we have fax to a whole slew of papers/pics for the unit to try and prove ownership and serial number just to TRY and get an rma number/request .. WTF !!!
I'll tell ya ... I was looking into the 22" model for myself , but after this ongoing crap with Gateway for my bro's lcd ; Iam stearing FAR FAR AWAY from ANYTHING Gateway has to offer in lcd's .
You've have been warned !!!
I finally went with a Sammy 225BW .
well when my 2185 "ate itself" i took it back to CC (had the extended warranty) and i exchanged it for the 2275
I'll get right to the point, I didn't like it at all. It had lots of back-light bleeding, crazy color banding, and the brightness was less then desirable
a couple good things is they fixed the DVI issue (those with 2185's will understand) and the noisey power supply
maybe i got a lemon or later revisions will fix the issues but i returned and now am waiting for my NEC 20WMGXBK
I'll get right to the point, I didn't like it at all. It had lots of back-light bleeding, crazy color banding, and the brightness was less then desirable
a couple good things is they fixed the DVI issue (those with 2185's will understand) and the noisey power supply
maybe i got a lemon or later revisions will fix the issues but i returned and now am waiting for my NEC 20WMGXBK
I picked up one of these last night at BB for 339 after talking a manager into applying the 12% coupon. His poor math skills account for the rest.
The monitor itself is very nice looking. Much sleeker then the stock photos I had seen. Fairly thin bezel with no buttons to be seen anywhere.
It has a full array of inputs including DVI, VGA, component, composite, S video. One of each. Has 2 USB on the back and 2 on the side.
The included stand is very sturdy but is NOT height or pivot adjustable. You get front to back tilt and nothing else. It's a standard mount though so you can use whatever stand you want. The power supply is built in so no power bricks. Just uses the standard AC power cord.
I have no idea how to tell what panel it uses or what it means even if I did. The out of box colors seemed way too harsh, almost like the gamma was cranked way up. It comes with a CD with "Easy Tune" software on it that did a pretty good job of correcting the picture.
I play WoW like most everyone else and the 22" widescreen felt like sitting in the front row at a movie theater once I got the monitor raised up off the desk a bit. Remember, no height adjust with the included stand. I saw no real ghosting at all to be honest. Everything was butter smooth as always (I run 2 7800 GTX in SLI.) After using the software colors seemed pretty balanced and smooth. Something still doesn't feel "right" with the image though.
I have 2 issues with the unit though.
The first involves the "touch sensitive controls." They seem like a poor implementation of a promising idea. The "buttons" themselves work well and respond to touch just fine. You don't even have to make contact totally, just your finger close to them does the trick. The problem is the UP/DOWN controls work like a scroll bar. It's hard to accurately move through vertical menus as it is way too easy to overshoot the item you are trying to reach. Also sense the controls are so sensitive my fat thumbs often activate the "scroll bar" in 2 places at once making for erratic up/down movements instead of smooth motion. Thankfully most things you only need to set once and most of them can be done in software using easy tune.
The second and possible deal breaker for me is backlight bleed. I currently use a 19" Sony with the "Tru Brite" glossy screen on it. It has been and still is the best picture I've ever seen on an LCD aimed at the home user. The only way to see any bleed at all with that monitor is to turn every light off in the city and look very hard for it. This Gateway unit on the other hand suffers from it badly across the top middle of the monitor. It's apparent not just on black screens but even playing a game as colorful as WoW. Anyone who plays will know the "barrens" zone has a heavy red tint to it no matter where you are. I can see the bleed even through that! Ogrimaar is the same way. Ironforge is just plain annoying with the darker setting. My typical desktop is a plain black background and here it looks like someone left a light on in the room casting a glare on the top of the screen. It really is that bad. I'm not sure if I should bother with trying an exchange or not. I have a feeling it's just the nature of the panel they are using.
I can try to get some pictures tonight if anyone wants them but so far I can't suggest this monitor to anyone. It has a great feature set (yes it does 1:1 scaling and PIP) but the screen itself is fatally flawed IMO. I understand any LCD is going to have some amount of backlight bleed but this is too much. The screen size is absolutely perfect.
Just wanted to post this up as I've been searching like crazy for reviews and this forum was one of the only decent sources of any info at all. Hope it helps.
The monitor itself is very nice looking. Much sleeker then the stock photos I had seen. Fairly thin bezel with no buttons to be seen anywhere.
It has a full array of inputs including DVI, VGA, component, composite, S video. One of each. Has 2 USB on the back and 2 on the side.
The included stand is very sturdy but is NOT height or pivot adjustable. You get front to back tilt and nothing else. It's a standard mount though so you can use whatever stand you want. The power supply is built in so no power bricks. Just uses the standard AC power cord.
I have no idea how to tell what panel it uses or what it means even if I did. The out of box colors seemed way too harsh, almost like the gamma was cranked way up. It comes with a CD with "Easy Tune" software on it that did a pretty good job of correcting the picture.
I play WoW like most everyone else and the 22" widescreen felt like sitting in the front row at a movie theater once I got the monitor raised up off the desk a bit. Remember, no height adjust with the included stand. I saw no real ghosting at all to be honest. Everything was butter smooth as always (I run 2 7800 GTX in SLI.) After using the software colors seemed pretty balanced and smooth. Something still doesn't feel "right" with the image though.
I have 2 issues with the unit though.
The first involves the "touch sensitive controls." They seem like a poor implementation of a promising idea. The "buttons" themselves work well and respond to touch just fine. You don't even have to make contact totally, just your finger close to them does the trick. The problem is the UP/DOWN controls work like a scroll bar. It's hard to accurately move through vertical menus as it is way too easy to overshoot the item you are trying to reach. Also sense the controls are so sensitive my fat thumbs often activate the "scroll bar" in 2 places at once making for erratic up/down movements instead of smooth motion. Thankfully most things you only need to set once and most of them can be done in software using easy tune.
The second and possible deal breaker for me is backlight bleed. I currently use a 19" Sony with the "Tru Brite" glossy screen on it. It has been and still is the best picture I've ever seen on an LCD aimed at the home user. The only way to see any bleed at all with that monitor is to turn every light off in the city and look very hard for it. This Gateway unit on the other hand suffers from it badly across the top middle of the monitor. It's apparent not just on black screens but even playing a game as colorful as WoW. Anyone who plays will know the "barrens" zone has a heavy red tint to it no matter where you are. I can see the bleed even through that! Ogrimaar is the same way. Ironforge is just plain annoying with the darker setting. My typical desktop is a plain black background and here it looks like someone left a light on in the room casting a glare on the top of the screen. It really is that bad. I'm not sure if I should bother with trying an exchange or not. I have a feeling it's just the nature of the panel they are using.
I can try to get some pictures tonight if anyone wants them but so far I can't suggest this monitor to anyone. It has a great feature set (yes it does 1:1 scaling and PIP) but the screen itself is fatally flawed IMO. I understand any LCD is going to have some amount of backlight bleed but this is too much. The screen size is absolutely perfect.
Just wanted to post this up as I've been searching like crazy for reviews and this forum was one of the only decent sources of any info at all. Hope it helps.
ToddMcF2002
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2006
- Messages
- 133
Second the pic request - thanks for offering
bigddybn thanks for a great writeup on your monitor.
I am looking for a 22 ws for WOW as well..
Since all the current 22's seem to have the chi crap screens it was up to u
and you blew it LOL
sounds like the Gateway has a lot of bleed as well,maybe its using the same screen, maybe not.
These screens must cost $8 in lots of 10,000 and everyone is making big bucks on the complete monitors.
I am looking for a 22 ws for WOW as well..
Since all the current 22's seem to have the chi crap screens it was up to u
and you blew it LOL
sounds like the Gateway has a lot of bleed as well,maybe its using the same screen, maybe not.
These screens must cost $8 in lots of 10,000 and everyone is making big bucks on the complete monitors.
You'll have to forgive my camera skills as they are lacking to say the least.
First is a shot of the monitor itself with the flash on.
This is trying to capture the backlight bleed. No flash.
The 2 USB ports on the side. Sorry forgot to rotate.
The back of the monitor.
The various video inputs
A shot of the menu. Note the blue "buttons" aren't really buttons. They are just touch responsive areas of the bezel that light up as needed.
More menu.
The scaling setting
More backlight bleed with the lights on.
I have a few more and the originals that haven't been sized down. Figured it would be rude to post high rez photos in a forum. If anyone needs a particular shot just let me know.
First is a shot of the monitor itself with the flash on.
This is trying to capture the backlight bleed. No flash.
The 2 USB ports on the side. Sorry forgot to rotate.
The back of the monitor.
The various video inputs
A shot of the menu. Note the blue "buttons" aren't really buttons. They are just touch responsive areas of the bezel that light up as needed.
More menu.
The scaling setting
More backlight bleed with the lights on.
I have a few more and the originals that haven't been sized down. Figured it would be rude to post high rez photos in a forum. If anyone needs a particular shot just let me know.
I bought the Gateway 22" the other day and I like it so far. However, he is correct on the bleading, but mine doesn't seem to be as bad as his. The color is a bit off, but both the nVidia control panel and the monitor settings can correct this. To be honest I already exchanged the display for a new one because I htink the buttons are too touch sensitive or it just malfunctioned. But I love the idea, and it keeps a minimalist approach successfully. I also love that it doesn't have built in speakers.
I have the 2185W and must say I am very pleased with it. I bought it just 2 months ago for 430$, and see you can now get it for only 350$ plus shipping from gateway... I would strongly recommend it for this price, even if their CS isn't all that great. Chances are you will never need them, and I'm sure the above reviewers complaint will eventually be worked out, if it hasn't already.
There is absolutely no bleed through on the 2185, which is an annoying shortcoming for any monitor. The one area I would be curious about on the 2270 is the grayscale performance, escpecially blacks. I can tell you the 2185 handles black very well... it smoked my old 19 inch Sony with tru-brite, which was horrible in this area and was very annoying when watching dark movies or playing games like Doom and F.E.A.R.
Just looking at the two Gateways, I would say the swivel and height adjustable base, plus the better contrast (1000:1 instead of 700:1) and screen (S-PVA versus the current crop of 22 inch screens with TN) more then makes up for the one inch smaller screen. Not to mention the native resolution is same at 1680x1050.
I'm not trying to put down the 2270 (as it could turn out to be a great moniter), but rather communicate to you guys what an unbelievable moniter the 2185 is, especially at only $350! If you are looking for a 21-22 inch widescreen that has all the bells and whistles and great performance definately consider the 2185.
There is absolutely no bleed through on the 2185, which is an annoying shortcoming for any monitor. The one area I would be curious about on the 2270 is the grayscale performance, escpecially blacks. I can tell you the 2185 handles black very well... it smoked my old 19 inch Sony with tru-brite, which was horrible in this area and was very annoying when watching dark movies or playing games like Doom and F.E.A.R.
Just looking at the two Gateways, I would say the swivel and height adjustable base, plus the better contrast (1000:1 instead of 700:1) and screen (S-PVA versus the current crop of 22 inch screens with TN) more then makes up for the one inch smaller screen. Not to mention the native resolution is same at 1680x1050.
I'm not trying to put down the 2270 (as it could turn out to be a great moniter), but rather communicate to you guys what an unbelievable moniter the 2185 is, especially at only $350! If you are looking for a 21-22 inch widescreen that has all the bells and whistles and great performance definately consider the 2185.
That's what I do, I don't scroll (didn't even really know it till reading the above post). What happened with mine is that I think I may have pressed to hard on the power buttin or it fried. Couldn't see the led anymore and could activate the menu. The new one is fine and I even went a step further and calibrated the color with the nVidia control panel. Works great along with EZ Tune.
gabrielef said:
Have you checked out the auto-hiding PIP feature yet? I saw a demo of this ... way cool! You have to enable this function inside of EzTune .. You can then control the PIP with your mouse. When you pass the mouse over the PIP it automagically becomes transparent so you can see what is behind it!! You can even drag the PIP anywhere on screen. Very usefull feature ... before this PIP's were practially useless!!! Check it out!
It also looks like the 22W comes with the same auto-rotating function that the Gateway 21 and 24 have. You just have to add the rotating stand ... I saw one on Gateway.com that also includes an additional 4-port USB hub integrated right into the bottom of the stand neck. You get height adjustability, rotation and the USB hub feature all in one stand. To see what the monitor looks like rotated, with EzTune installed, pick up the monitor and rotate it clockwise ... cool feature ....
Tim-in-CA
sparky1_2007
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
- Messages
- 3,185
If it wouldnt be too much to ask, could you hook that monitor up to a 360, i am seriously considering hooking up my 360 to this monitor if i decide to get it for x-mas, and also, could you provide the resolution that your using if you plug it in using the VGA cable.
I just purchased one of these after Thanksgiving, and I have the exact same problem with backlight bleed. I haven't decided whether it's annoying enough to return, but I purchased an extended warranty so I have a while to contemplate.
Aside from the bleed, it's gorgeous and I have no complaints. I also play WoW and the colors seem spot-on. The lack of height adjustment isn't an issue with me, and although the touch buttons are a bit sensitive, again I'm not bothered by that. The EZTune (or whatever) image adjustment software was eating CPU cycles and caused stutters in WoW, but I just uninstalled it since it seemed superfluous anyway.
Regarding the backlight bleed: many reviews, etc. I've read of LCD screens say that sometimes you just have to deal with it to a certain extent. Should I be unsatisfied? Thoughts?
Aside from the bleed, it's gorgeous and I have no complaints. I also play WoW and the colors seem spot-on. The lack of height adjustment isn't an issue with me, and although the touch buttons are a bit sensitive, again I'm not bothered by that. The EZTune (or whatever) image adjustment software was eating CPU cycles and caused stutters in WoW, but I just uninstalled it since it seemed superfluous anyway.
Regarding the backlight bleed: many reviews, etc. I've read of LCD screens say that sometimes you just have to deal with it to a certain extent. Should I be unsatisfied? Thoughts?
Sparky:
I just picked this up yesterday from compusa for $369 and have my xbox 360 hooked up to it. It looks amazing! I first had it running at 1920x1080 (1080p) and it scaled pretty well, but it was a little too blury for me. So I scaled back down to 1280x768 and now things look wonderful. The menus are sharp (not quite like native resoultion, but very good). Gears of war looks stunning!
Now on to the bad! The backlight bleeding is terrible! There is the top and bottom excessive bleeding (like in the photos above) and overall the center of the screen has two big patches of bleeding! I think I am going to take this one back. In the store it looked great but I was looking at it from a high angle and the screen was very colorful so I didnt notice the bleeding. If they can give me one without the problem I will take it (I think this is a killer monitor without this problem), otherwise I will pay the extra and get the samsung 22".
Skeg8
I just picked this up yesterday from compusa for $369 and have my xbox 360 hooked up to it. It looks amazing! I first had it running at 1920x1080 (1080p) and it scaled pretty well, but it was a little too blury for me. So I scaled back down to 1280x768 and now things look wonderful. The menus are sharp (not quite like native resoultion, but very good). Gears of war looks stunning!
Now on to the bad! The backlight bleeding is terrible! There is the top and bottom excessive bleeding (like in the photos above) and overall the center of the screen has two big patches of bleeding! I think I am going to take this one back. In the store it looked great but I was looking at it from a high angle and the screen was very colorful so I didnt notice the bleeding. If they can give me one without the problem I will take it (I think this is a killer monitor without this problem), otherwise I will pay the extra and get the samsung 22".
Skeg8
sparky1_2007
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
- Messages
- 3,185
skeg8 said:
so, how far down the screen does the backlight bleed? like half an inch? an inch, or 2 inches?
im just wondering, because this might affect my over all decision on what monitor i should get, because i love the fact that i can hook my 360 up through the component/composite/whatever hi-def thing it is that is on there.
also, if you do get the 22" samsung, could you compare that to your experience with the gateway, because i really like the gateway, but if the backlight bleed is that bad on gears of war, i might just get the samsung if they offer it at bestbuy. so basically, i have till the 15th of december to make a decision on it (thats when my mom gets the money to go x-mas shopping)
so yea, i'd appreciate it if you could compare it on the 360
The bleeding goes about 1/2" down the screen. It is only really visible when the screen is dark (like when you open the 360 guide). In colorful games (viva pinata, TDU) it is not noticable. In gears I am to busy drooling at how amazing things look to even see it. The only time I really see it is in menus and loading screens (it is pretty pronounced because those are the only two areas of the screen that are black in those places)
If the samsung really does have the same issue then this is hands down the better monitor. Can anyone confirm the samsung bleeding issue??
Skeg8
If the samsung really does have the same issue then this is hands down the better monitor. Can anyone confirm the samsung bleeding issue??
Skeg8
I have been looking around for info about the samsung, I found this review http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=336&p=2
It looks like the samsung in the picture there is worse than the gateway I have, at least I have no bleeding on the sides, only the top and bottom.
It looks like the samsung in the picture there is worse than the gateway I have, at least I have no bleeding on the sides, only the top and bottom.
skeg8 said:
My 225BW bleed is very minimal and looks NOTHING like the pic in that review . I would not base a decision on that reviews bleed experience . Many people have reported that later production models of the 225BW have improved immensely (much less bleed to none) ; and I for one would tend to agree from my own experiance .
sparky1_2007
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
- Messages
- 3,185
skeg8 said:
alright, 1/2 inch is nothing, except for the fact that my 17" monitor has absolutely no bleeding issues at all
but i dont think i will ever mind having 1/2 inch of backlight bleed...so thank you for telling me that, the pictures really are at a 1/5th scale because it sizes down to fit the picture.
also, how does TDU look? i own that game and play it frequently
one more thing, how is your 360 hooked up to the monitor? through the vga, or the component? if it is hooked up through VGA, what resolution are you using?
also, if you wanna meet up, my gamer tag is sparky1_2007
TDU looks great, the colors look nice and after tweaking the brightness etc. it looks really good. Not quite as good as my drive home (I live on the north shore of Oahu), but good none the less. Also, there is nowhere in TDU that I could actually notice the backlight problems (it may be a little worse at night in a dark room).
I am using VGA cables at 1280x768. I find that this resolution scales best. It will also do 1900x1080 but the scaling made stuff look a little blury and 720p (or close to it) is fine for me. I also tried the component cables but it didnt look anywhere near as good as the vga cable.
I am still on the fence about this monitor, it looks great and has much better features than the samsung, but the backlight is a problem, I will wait a few more days and see how I feel. If the samsung really is fixed then I may well go pick that up insted.
Add me to your friends list if you want: skeg808 is my gamertag.
Skeg8
I am using VGA cables at 1280x768. I find that this resolution scales best. It will also do 1900x1080 but the scaling made stuff look a little blury and 720p (or close to it) is fine for me. I also tried the component cables but it didnt look anywhere near as good as the vga cable.
I am still on the fence about this monitor, it looks great and has much better features than the samsung, but the backlight is a problem, I will wait a few more days and see how I feel. If the samsung really is fixed then I may well go pick that up insted.
Add me to your friends list if you want: skeg808 is my gamertag.
Skeg8
Does anyone have a good Color setting for this monitor i cant seem to get it good my monitor seems way to brite and my whites are hard to look at really. Between EZtune and Nvidia i just cant seem to get it perfict.
Also im very sad when i look at this monitor i just replaces a Samsung 204b and it had no bleeding and colors wher perfict. Compaird to this, it made this look like crap.Sadly it had the flickering issue.
Also im very sad when i look at this monitor i just replaces a Samsung 204b and it had no bleeding and colors wher perfict. Compaird to this, it made this look like crap.Sadly it had the flickering issue.
transcend11
n00b
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
- Messages
- 51
EZTune and Nvidia Display Optimization seem to compete with each other and do the same thing. In order to avoid excess programs running in the background, I've chosen to only use Nvidia.
First run Nvidia's display optimization. My "theme" is on Warm. After running this, I went to this calibration site: http://bryce-alive.net/calibrate/
By using the color bars on that site, I adjusted my contrast to 46. My brightness is at 100. (Nvidia has my contrast at 100 and brightness around 64, this wasn't working well with the bryce color scales though) Then I went to the Nvidia control panel's Color Correction, and changed the Gamma slider for "All" colors. With Nvidia it was set to 0.61 after the gamma test, but I ended up raising it to 0.81 after looking at the color scales on the bryce alive site.
Let me know if this helps, I spent a few hours figuring out how to get this monitor looking well, this is my first LCD after all. I searched this Display forum for "display" int the topic title, there's good advice in those few posts.
I'd like to hear other people's experiences.
ps- Here's two pictures, one with the (minor!) backlight bleeding, and one showing off the colors after calibration (although an uncalibrated monitor viewing the screenshot probably finds it looks bad to them? hehe..)
First run Nvidia's display optimization. My "theme" is on Warm. After running this, I went to this calibration site: http://bryce-alive.net/calibrate/
By using the color bars on that site, I adjusted my contrast to 46. My brightness is at 100. (Nvidia has my contrast at 100 and brightness around 64, this wasn't working well with the bryce color scales though) Then I went to the Nvidia control panel's Color Correction, and changed the Gamma slider for "All" colors. With Nvidia it was set to 0.61 after the gamma test, but I ended up raising it to 0.81 after looking at the color scales on the bryce alive site.
Let me know if this helps, I spent a few hours figuring out how to get this monitor looking well, this is my first LCD after all. I searched this Display forum for "display" int the topic title, there's good advice in those few posts.
I'd like to hear other people's experiences.
ps- Here's two pictures, one with the (minor!) backlight bleeding, and one showing off the colors after calibration (although an uncalibrated monitor viewing the screenshot probably finds it looks bad to them? hehe..)
transcend11
n00b
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
- Messages
- 51
Doesn't bother me much. Once I considered moving from CRT to LCD I knew there were lots of issues with that type of stuff. I was originally looking at the Samsung 215TW or Gateway FPD2185W and in my opinion the "X" pattern of backlight bleeding looks much worse than a little strip up at the top. The only time you can see it is on complete blacks anyways. There's practically none at all at the bottom of the screen too, I've seen worse in other user's pics though
The pic also exaggerates the effect, I think. I took a few pictures in all sorts of lighting and compared them and posted the worse one. It rarely looks that bright during use.
The various inputs on this monitor and what I've seen during gaming (Splinter Cell, BF2, even the dark-dark Thief) have made me very satisfied so far. Either way, I have about 2 months to return it
The pic also exaggerates the effect, I think. I took a few pictures in all sorts of lighting and compared them and posted the worse one. It rarely looks that bright during use.
The various inputs on this monitor and what I've seen during gaming (Splinter Cell, BF2, even the dark-dark Thief) have made me very satisfied so far. Either way, I have about 2 months to return it
What I'm now wondering, in light of the fact that this screen is rather remarkable (IMO) aside from the backlight bleed at top & bottom, is whether anyone's going to have the cojones to take 'er apart and try to fix the issue?
I think I'm just going to keep returning it until I get one that satisfies me, but I'd love to pop it open and try to fix it myself. Apparently it can be done with certain Dells.
I think I'm just going to keep returning it until I get one that satisfies me, but I'd love to pop it open and try to fix it myself. Apparently it can be done with certain Dells.
jmb2112 said:What I'm now wondering, in light of the fact that this screen is rather remarkable (IMO) aside from the backlight bleed at top & bottom, is whether anyone's going to have the cojones to take 'er apart and try to fix the issue?
I think I'm just going to keep returning it until I get one that satisfies me, but I'd love to pop it open and try to fix it myself. Apparently it can be done with certain Dells.
I would not recommend opening up the unit. The backlight / lightguide / polarizer is an integral part of the panel and is really not servicable. These types of panels (TN-type) all have edge type backlighting and are subject to issues such as these. This is why the cost on them is much lower. The Gateway FPD2485W uses a direct backlight system (CCFLs directly behind the glass), these are not subject to such issues.
The Gateway FPD2485W uses a direct backlight system (CCFLs directly behind the glass), these are not subject to such issues.
I wasn't aware that the 24 used a better panel - thank you for the info. I might have to plunk down the extra $$$ and exchange for the larger model.
I wasn't aware that the 24 used a better panel - thank you for the info. I might have to plunk down the extra $$$ and exchange for the larger model.
jmb2112 said:
Yes, the 22 uses TN Type and the 24 uses PVA type panel. PVA is much better from a uniformity, backlight and especially viewing angle and color inversion. All 22W monitors use the TN panel and ALL 22W monitors' panels are comming from the same panel sources.
I recently purchased this monitor and it just started doing something that's bothering me. When the monitor goes into power-saving mode, or I turn it off while the computer is on, it takes a loooong time to turn back on. When I turn it back on the gateway logo pops up on a black screen and just stays there for a minute. Then it shows the desktop but the little blue window that shows it's connected via DVI is on the screen for another 30 seconds. So it takes a good minute and a half to actually see the desktop. It's almost like it freezes for a minute and a half. Anybody else have this problem or heard of it and know how to fix it?
SkepticConsumer
n00b
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2006
- Messages
- 2
Got this from a local retailer with a Christmas savings coupon for $360+tax.
The good: I'm impressed by the size and the clarity. No motion blurring in movies. Also has PIP and you can move it with your mouse once you install the drivers. plus lots of inputs which i have not yet tested. i'm using only the analogue input from an ATI 9200SE (And yes it works at 1680x1050 after installing the eztune drivers that come with the monitor). the drivers have nice tuning features, helps you adjust the monitor using some images that have to look right once you're done.
The bad: horrible backlight bleed. about half inch on the top and bottom starting about 2 inches from each edge, mostly like the picture posted already. When i first turn it on it's perfect for about 5 minutes, then the bleed begins and those spots get hot after a while, while the rest of the screen is mostly cool. this feels more like the light sensor getting hot, increasing its resistance and thus triggering an increase of luminosity because the control systems read the increased resistance as lower light levels.
The viewing angles are also quite strange (in a bad way). if you're looking from the middle of the pannel up to the top (while sitting about 1.5 feet away), the images appear darker. when you drag them down to the bottom of the screen so that you have to look down to it, it will be brighter (and the colors only now appear correct). it feels like the monitor should be watched from above rather than center or below.
Already exchanged the first one because the bleed was worse and it was flickering on white pages for a few seconds, then would go away for a while. On the bright side, it's not visible in day to day work in windows like surfing or coding. but it is visible in movies and probably games. however since the aspect is 16:10, there will be black lines on top and bottom of the 16:9 movies so the bleeding will not alter the movie, it's just annoying.
So yeah the pannel appears to be the same cheap TN as in others (like the 225W of samsung). and quality control is also chinese style as with most comsumer electronics nowadays. both monitors were made in oct 2006 in china.
i'll keep this for a some more time before i decide if i should take it back for refund. obviously a replacement or a different model like the samsung will not change the bleed or angle and i wont pay double for the "good" PVA 2485W or such. i think i already paid too much for the (mediocre) "quality" i got.
For the person who wanted to open/service the backlight- yeah it's possible to do it. Just google for backlight replacement - there are companies that will sell you the backlight bulb. though i wouldnt bet that it will stop the bleeding. it's more to "revive" an old monitor that has an (almost) dead backlight with only about $15 for parts and an hour of work -- but will probably never look as "new" again.
The good: I'm impressed by the size and the clarity. No motion blurring in movies. Also has PIP and you can move it with your mouse once you install the drivers. plus lots of inputs which i have not yet tested. i'm using only the analogue input from an ATI 9200SE (And yes it works at 1680x1050 after installing the eztune drivers that come with the monitor). the drivers have nice tuning features, helps you adjust the monitor using some images that have to look right once you're done.
The bad: horrible backlight bleed. about half inch on the top and bottom starting about 2 inches from each edge, mostly like the picture posted already. When i first turn it on it's perfect for about 5 minutes, then the bleed begins and those spots get hot after a while, while the rest of the screen is mostly cool. this feels more like the light sensor getting hot, increasing its resistance and thus triggering an increase of luminosity because the control systems read the increased resistance as lower light levels.
The viewing angles are also quite strange (in a bad way). if you're looking from the middle of the pannel up to the top (while sitting about 1.5 feet away), the images appear darker. when you drag them down to the bottom of the screen so that you have to look down to it, it will be brighter (and the colors only now appear correct). it feels like the monitor should be watched from above rather than center or below.
Already exchanged the first one because the bleed was worse and it was flickering on white pages for a few seconds, then would go away for a while. On the bright side, it's not visible in day to day work in windows like surfing or coding. but it is visible in movies and probably games. however since the aspect is 16:10, there will be black lines on top and bottom of the 16:9 movies so the bleeding will not alter the movie, it's just annoying.
So yeah the pannel appears to be the same cheap TN as in others (like the 225W of samsung). and quality control is also chinese style as with most comsumer electronics nowadays. both monitors were made in oct 2006 in china.
i'll keep this for a some more time before i decide if i should take it back for refund. obviously a replacement or a different model like the samsung will not change the bleed or angle and i wont pay double for the "good" PVA 2485W or such. i think i already paid too much for the (mediocre) "quality" i got.
For the person who wanted to open/service the backlight- yeah it's possible to do it. Just google for backlight replacement - there are companies that will sell you the backlight bulb. though i wouldnt bet that it will stop the bleeding. it's more to "revive" an old monitor that has an (almost) dead backlight with only about $15 for parts and an hour of work -- but will probably never look as "new" again.