The NEC 20WMGX2-BK, is this what I should get?

V

=Vector=

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 30, 2004
Messages
363
I've been using my CRT monitor (Viewsonic p95f+ 19") for at least four years now and i think it's time for a change. I wanted to get an LCD monitor and after looking at many many many options with help from this forum and Anandtech I keep coming back to this one:

NEC Display Solutions 20WMGX2-BK Black-Silver 20.1" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002320

I've heard a lot of good things about it but since it IS quite pricey I wanted to check and make sure it's worth it. Basically this is what I do on my computer:

Work - Website design (Photoshop) and development (lots of coding), using Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, etc.)

Gaming - Not a 'hardcore' gamer but i do like playing FPS games like Unreal Tournament and do plan on playing UT3 maybe Crysis, Bioshock, and ET: Quake Wars in the future, and maybe do some mapping/modding for UT3 as well

Miscellaneous tasks - Web surfing, watching movies, etc.

So is the monitor overkill? or are there better monitors than this one for less money?

Thanks for your help in advance.
 
It's widely considered the best 20" widescreen available unless you have a bias against glossy screen coatings. The price is still a little too high but you won't find a feature list like it has with any other 20" except the Dell 2007WFP which still doesn't have a tv tuner/remote, component inputs...and theres also the panel lottery to consider. ;)
 
I bought one back in October and it's well worth it in my opinion, just recently I was thinking of upgrading to a 24" but nothing in that size range even competes with the 20WMGX2 unless you're willing to fork over $1,000+. I'm keeping this monitor until some new revolutionary or atleast significantly evolutionary monitor technology comes out.

Also, I use my monitor for everything you would be doing; it's really a jack of all trades type monitor (like CRTs). But just a warning, turn the brightness down to 30% or less and sharpness to 6.2 when working with lots of text (eventually I just left it at those settings).
 
Well then it looks like I'll be buying it tomorrow if I can't find any reason not too. Sucks I can't buy this thing locally though (only place nearby that would have had it is Fry's Electronics and they were out and it seems they aren't getting more) so I don't have to worry about shipping problems.

Huh, i just looked at Newegg again and it seems that NEC is offering a $100 mail-in-rebate now...this is good :)
 
=Vector= said:
Well then it looks like I'll be buying it tomorrow if I can't find any reason not too. Sucks I can't buy this thing locally though (only place nearby that would have had it is Fry's Electronics and they were out and it seems they aren't getting more) so I don't have to worry about shipping problems.

Huh, i just looked at Newegg again and it seems that NEC is offering a $100 mail-in-rebate now...this is good :)
Click to expand...
Missed the rebate...that brings the price to where it should be and makes it a good value now.:cool:
 
Well I couldn't wait anymore and just decided what the hell and ordered it. Hopefully it'll be here by the end of the week. Can't wait. :D
 
well i got mine in today and have been messing around with the settings for quite a bit, this is what i have it set at right now:

brightness: 25%
contrast: 50%
sharpness: 8.3%
color setting: Native

no dead or stuck pixels that i can see and I've got the drivers and the NaviSet program for the monitor.

one question though, what's the difference between sRGB and Native? The only thing i noticed was that on the Native setting the colors seem more vibrant. Which setting should i keep it on? And are my other settings good?
 
My settings are:

brightness: 30.4%
contrast: 50%
sharpness: 6.2%
color setting: sRGB
DV Mode: standard
Advanced DV Mode: off
Text: ClearType

Apparently setting the brightness below 30% causes banding, and don't use anything but KlearScreen to clean your LCD.
 
thanks for the settings, i changed it to sRGB and upped the brightness and it's looking better than it did before.
 
how much is a NEC in the US? in australia they cost USD$758. i assume they cost less in the US.
 
dammit, that is so cheap :( wish they cost that much here, i'd grab two in a second *sigh*
 
i try samsung 226 (S panel), hp 19'', look at all 20-22'' in stores + reviews, my pick ? the nec 20wmgx2 by far the best.

my settings

brigh...: 44.5%
contrast :50%
sharpness :20.8%
AD DV MODE : ON ( GREAT FEATURE)
dv mode :standard
sRGB (6500K)
1680x1050 native resolution : best settings to view at maximum setting of the monitor : more sharp , browser is not distort( just to enlarge fonts and icons etc)
clear type
 
=Vector= said:
well i got mine in today and have been messing around with the settings for quite a bit, this is what i have it set at right now:

brightness: 25%
contrast: 50%
sharpness: 8.3%
color setting: Native

no dead or stuck pixels that i can see and I've got the drivers and the NaviSet program for the monitor.

one question though, what's the difference between sRGB and Native? The only thing i noticed was that on the Native setting the colors seem more vibrant. Which setting should i keep it on? And are my other settings good?
Click to expand...

where did you find the drivers and the naviset program?

tyvm
 
=Vector=,
I was thinking of getting this monitor and was wondering what your initial opinion of it is now that you have it and have tried it out a little bit. Is it overkill for the tasks you are doing on the computer or worth the extra money that it costs?

Some of the tasks I would be doing are similar to yours such as development (coding using eclipse IDE), MS products (word, excel), some gaming (COD, HL2), web surfing, watching a few movies and in addition touching up photos and creating DVDs from home videos. I am interested in getting a widescreen monitor and this size seems to be what I want and one of the models I am interested in.

Thanks in advance.
 
franky932 said:
where did you find the drivers and the naviset program?

tyvm
Click to expand...

the drivers i got off of windows update and the NaViSet program is here:

http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/Naviset/

just scroll down and click the "NaViSet download form" link and fill out the form and it should give you a download link after that.

@snoopy

Well i can't really give a proper review yet since I've only had it since yesterday (06/11/07) but so far i like it. It was a little bright at first but it seems I've gotten used to it now. For the time being you can read this review which helped me decide to get this monitor:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_20wgx2.htm

and this one as well (it's the same as above but with a little more commentary from the author of the review):

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3208

The only thing i can say against it is that there is a color banding issue i noticed when i used Photoshop and did a black to white gradient. I'm still tweaking the monitor and hope that i can get rid of that.

EDIT: ok i just fixed the color banding issue, turns out it was a setting in Photoshop that was causing it and not the monitor. Here's what i changed, i went to Edit -> Color Setting (ctrl+shift+k) and changed the RGB option to Monitor RGB - 20WMGX2. I'm using Photoshop 7.0.1 btw.

EDIT2: i'd just like to add that i really don't understand why anyone has a problem with glossy screens because I really don't even notice it unless the screen is completely black (which usually means it's off). But then again my old CRT monitor had the same reflectivity so i could just be used to it.
 
=Vector= said:
the drivers i got off of windows update and the NaViSet program is here:

http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/Naviset/

just scroll down and click the "NaViSet download form" link and fill out the form and it should give you a download link after that.

@snoopy

Well i can't really give a proper review yet since I've only had it since yesterday (06/11/07) but so far i like it. It was a little bright at first but it seems I've gotten used to it now. For the time being you can read this review which helped me decide to get this monitor:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_20wgx2.htm

and this one as well (it's the same as above but with a little more commentary from the author of the review):

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3208

The only thing i can say against it is that there is a color banding issue i noticed when i used Photoshop and did a black to white gradient. I'm still tweaking the monitor and hope that i can get rid of that.

EDIT: ok i just fixed the color banding issue, turns out it was a setting in Photoshop that was causing it and not the monitor. Here's what i changed, i went to Edit -> Color Setting (ctrl+shift+k) and changed the RGB option to Monitor RGB - 20WMGX2. I'm using Photoshop 7.0.1 btw.

EDIT2: i'd just like to add that i really don't understand why anyone has a problem with glossy screens because I really don't even notice it unless the screen is completely black (which usually means it's off). But then again my old CRT monitor had the same reflectivity so i could just be used to it.
Click to expand...

if you have a window behind you or lights ....there are reflections
 
I have a lamp behind my glossy screen and I never notice reflections unless I'm actively looking for them when the screen is dark.
 
the only thing I don't like is the really bad banding. which apparently isn't supposed to happen, so maybe I have a defective one?
 
ap3rtis said:
the only thing I don't like is the really bad banding. which apparently isn't supposed to happen, so maybe I have a defective one?
Click to expand...

you probably need to calibrate it, if you can get your hands on a hardware color calibrator that may fix the problem:)
 
i bought this monitor from BB Canada and i noticed some problems.

first, there's some slight flickering when viewing the gray background of the posts, its not that bad but its definitely noticeable, especially at night.


the other is my wallpaper...

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation...ustomization/wallpaper+max_age:744h+1680x1050

i can see some banding on the left and right sides... can any of you try it and see if you notice it.

TIA
 
Yea, the speakers come off with just two screws if I remember correctly. I also noticed the flicker when dark colors are displayed. That would be nice if that could be "tuned" out with the settings or whatever. Anyone else fix this problem?
 
smoki said:
i bought this monitor from BB Canada and i noticed some problems.

first, there's some slight flickering when viewing the gray background of the posts, its not that bad but its definitely noticeable, especially at night.


the other is my wallpaper...

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation...ustomization/wallpaper+max_age:744h+1680x1050

i can see some banding on the left and right sides... can any of you try it and see if you notice it.

TIA
Click to expand...

I can see the banding as well.
Also, I have tried so many combinations of settings, but I can't get the banding to go away.
 
smoki said:
i bought this monitor from BB Canada and i noticed some problems.

first, there's some slight flickering when viewing the gray background of the posts, its not that bad but its definitely noticeable, especially at night.


the other is my wallpaper...

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation...ustomization/wallpaper+max_age:744h+1680x1050

i can see some banding on the left and right sides... can any of you try it and see if you notice it.

TIA
Click to expand...

i don't see any color banding at all, what are your settings?
 
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