Gateway FHD2400

Just for reference, here are a few links to similar quality ridge racer shots that I have seen on my CRT:

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/FCKEditorFiles/ridge-racer2v2.jpg
http://www.destructoid.com/forum/files/rr6_360_201.jpg
http://www.destructoid.com/forum/files/rr7_ps3_949.jpg


Not talking about the graphics literally or anything, but just to give you an idea of the difference in quality. The track map is simply blown out white with little if no gradation to the blue.

That's the issue, everything is very harsh and contrasty compared...

http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Games Zone/Images/ridge_racer6_big2.jpg

is a good image to refer to in the upper left corner.
When I get home tonight I'll take some comparison shots.

It's just good to have an idea of what people consider nice and not ;) because thus far I'm pretty boggled at how a cheaper CRT can be so superior imagewise to this technology. I'll try to get the most cartoonish, colorful games I can up there to show the issue.

Perhaps it is a non-issue and I'm simply holding this lower-end tech to a higher-end standard ;)


The COD shot, for instance, has nearly 0 shadow detail. I understand the grittiness of the games, gears of war and etc are well played on my end, but there are plenty of screenshots all over the place that show the maintainence of the shadow fidelity and color lustre I'm finding severely lacking
 
frott said:
It's just good to have an idea of what people consider nice and not ;) because thus far I'm pretty boggled at how a cheaper CRT can be so superior imagewise to this technology. I'll try to get the most cartoonish, colorful games I can up there to show the issue.

Perhaps it is a non-issue and I'm simply holding this lower-end tech to a higher-end standard ;)
Click to expand...

Imagine quality on an LCD will never match a CRT. If that's what you're aiming for, you're going to be disappointed.
 
Yeah, CRTs are always better for image quality it seems but who the hell wants a 90 pound tank of a 24" monitor on their desk?? I'm glad to be done with that rubbish personally.
 
I guess that's (another place) where my confusion lies, because the image quality of my computer across the same pair of monitors I'm testing is far better on the LCD than the CRT. The LCD has bolder colors and doesn't look as washed out.

Yet when I use the VGA plug on the CRT for the xbox, or look at TV via r/f, it looks much better than when I use VGA, component orcomposite on the fhd2400 for tv or xbox.

I haven't tried DVI or HDMI yet, but the screenshots i'm seeing here and there don't show a remarkable quality shift that would make this monitor even passable to me.


I've also found 2 other review sites that concluded the same way: contrast is screwed, generally, on these monitors. blacklight bleed can start off pretty bad from day one, making the effort of corraling the brightness at 0 futile, and the problems wouldn't be so bad if the gamma settings on the monitor actually did something.
 
shaunh20 said:
If you are within 14 days they will, I asked when I bought mine. Outside of that it goes back to Gateway if you didn't buy the Best Buy warranty.
Click to expand...

well ive had mine for more than 2 months now so its far past the 14 day limit.. does this mean im stuck with it?

edit*

gateway's return policy is within 15 days, and a 15% restocking fee, so im not eligible for that either

i guess i could call them and tell them that the bleeding has been getting gradually worse, see what they say... it looks like im stuck with this burned out pannel though, this sucks
 
A13X said:
well ive had mine for more than 2 months now so its far past the 14 day limit.. does this mean im stuck with it?

edit*

gateway's return policy is within 15 days, and a 15% restocking fee, so im not eligible for that either

i guess i could call them and tell them that the bleeding has been getting gradually worse, see what they say... it looks like im stuck with this burned out pannel though, this sucks
Click to expand...

The warranty is a year so you could get it exchanged. If you're looking for a refund to buy a different monitor though the you are out of luck.
 
shaunh20 said:
The warranty is a year so you could get it exchanged. If you're looking for a refund to buy a different monitor though the you are out of luck.
Click to expand...

so youre saying you have 15 days to get a refund, but a year to EXCHANGE it? if thats true than im fine (phew)
 
I read a number of good reviews about the FHD2400. Drove to Circuit city to buy one. When I saw the major backlight bleed on all 4 sides of the display model I walked out of the store empty handed.
 
PianoPete said:
I read a number of good reviews about the FHD2400. Drove to Circuit city to buy one. When I saw the major backlight bleed on all 4 sides of the display model I walked out of the store empty handed.
Click to expand...

not all have bad BLB.....luck of the draw man..
 
Yea, my first one was perfect with no visible BLB... until day 10 or so. So keep exchanging them until you get a good one and then take steps to minimize the progression.

I just thought about something... I wonder if using a monitor cooler would help stop the progression of BLB even further?

Here is one:

http://www.outletpc.com/c1966.html
 
celiman80 said:
Yea, my first one was perfect with no visible BLB... until day 10 or so. So keep exchanging them until you get a good one and then take steps to minimize the progression.

I just thought about something... I wonder if using a monitor cooler would help stop the progression of BLB even further?

Here is one:

http://www.outletpc.com/c1966.html
Click to expand...

From what a lot of have said, just putting it at brightness 0 from the get go stops the progression of the BLB, it has mine, well so far anyways (i'm a couple months in nearly)
 
It is definitely heat causing the BLB, as when I turn mine on initially there is literally no BLB but after a few minutes the BLB gets brighter and brighter.

Again, there is some on all four sides but I suppose I've had "bad" monitors before so it doesn't seem too horrible to me, but if you're comparing it to pure black 0 blb then yes, it is bad. The bottom black bar on any game with the bar will appear gray/blue.


The biggest concern I have with the monitor, really, is the real lack of contrast / gamma controls. It comes with EZTune and the joke is most of the tests do not actually accomplish anything. "Turn the contrast up until the numbers disappear" uh, none of them do that...

I've run a few web tests that show the gamma correction bars and the black/white gamma is WAY out of whack, changing the gamma on the monitor doesn't accomplish anything. from 0->1 (weird non-standard) there is a tiny, tiny difference.

I mean, I have COD4 for PC and if I look at this screenshot http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cod4td8.jpg and put it full screen, you have to be kidding that that's an acceptable "great" image.
 
frott, how long have you had it? It is in your best interest to keep the brightness all the way down. If it is getting worse as the monitor heats up, it is likely causing whatever happens to happen... which is permanent.

And perhaps using a monitor cooler as I suggested would help.
 
Cracked mine open on Tuesday.

I've kept the brightness down at 0, and the whites are still blown out!

Gamma and contrast both do nothing to get the whites anywhere near less insane. For instance, the blue dragon intro screen is pure white with small text for load/continue and a grey line underlining one. the line is barely visible as is the text!

When you turn the brightness up to 100 you could get a sun tan from the amount of heat that is put out. The entire screen heats up so the fan that I saw linked in the thread really wouldn't do anything as the entire 24" front gets hot. Maybe if you had a bunch of fans or air conditioner blowing on it from the front ;P

I'm going to exchange it once to see if I get a better one, then eat the unfortunate 15% restocking fee.

Some images that don't have a lot of white in them look immaculate on the 'puter. I'm definitely sold on getting a monitor at 24" with 1920 rez.... but man, looks like a 100lb CRT is the best bet ;)


While I appreciate the help towards fixing the problems, I find the lack of flexibility on the controls unacceptable. You shouldn't have to leave brightness at 0 on a monitor. You shouldn't have gamma controls that do nothing, and the strange behavior with inputs, the horizontal cracking line, needing to reset / shut off the monitor to resync sometimes, etc. This goes beyond quirks and into class-action territory. The suspicious behavior (yes, my tinfoil hat is within reach) of gateway and those stocking this monitor over the past few months lead me to believe they're selling as many as they can without getting too much attention.

What's disappointing is that in theory what this monitor should be able to accomplish is precisely what I need, that no other monitor on the market has done... its failure at these elementary "lcd monitor 101" components is surprising. I should not be looking at a 4 year old 20" LCD monitor and wishing that the fhd2400 functioned like it.
 
frott said:
Again, there is some [BLB] on all four sides but I suppose I've had "bad" monitors before so it doesn't seem too horrible to me, but if you're comparing it to pure black 0 blb then yes, it is bad.
Click to expand...

I would expect some bleed around the edges of any TN, so don't expect pure black. If you have a TN without any bleed whatsoever you are very lucky, because some bleed is an expected drawback of the TN design. However, it should not get as some have experienced here -- I am not saying those are in any way normal, just saying people should understand that some bleed should be expected with a TN. That's the kind of animal it is.

frott said:
I mean, I have COD4 for PC and if I look at this screenshot http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cod4td8.jpg and put it full screen, you have to be kidding that that's an acceptable "great" image.
Click to expand...

I agree, that's not a great image. However, I think it may be more the picture. I just viewed it on a TN HP here at work, and if you're talking about a dim image with a very dark side of the gun, that's what I see on the HP. It is only slightly better on my Samsung 244T in my office, which is a higher-tech S-PVA. I'd still rate it a bad picture there though, so I think it is more the picture/game than anything else.
 
I went to circuit city today to take a look at this screen. The brightness was set at 64 when I was messing with the settings. Based on their all black circuit city screensaver running, the blacklight bleed didn't look that bad. I have messed with other TN panels before and although this one may have a little more because of the heat problem, it didn't seem as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I turned the brightness down to 0 and like everyone said it's still is very bright. Viewing angles don't bother me that much. After reading through various reviews and posts on this and other forums I really like this monitor. Is the only thing holding this monitor back the progressive backlight bleed and if I purchase one and set the brightness to 0 from the beginning is it worth it? Thanks.
 
AV - you've been invaluable to this thread, and I thank you for that. My issue with the COD4 image is that that photo is really what my monitor looks like. So if its a bad photo of a good image or not, that's what I'm seeing on my screen. When I play the PC game, or play the xbox through a CRT with VGA or just component on my little tv, it looks completely different. The reason for this is that the game is rather contrasty or dreary in the first place, the monitor really seems to highlight it or make it worse.



Here's my new piece on it:

1. The BLB gets progressively worse without using the 0 setting. However, my problem with the monitor is that the whites are blown out very much. You get very little white detail at all, even when you fiddle with the settings. The zero setting is not that big of a deal 8*because* of how bright the whites are.

2. The larger issue is that the gamma/contrast controls don't really give you much flexibility to tune your image, without a decent brightness control. There is also no individual "color gamma" settings, though there are a color amount/hue/saturation setting. Still, the whites blow out and it doesn't just do that when you are trying to increase shadow detail.

3. I am getting the buzz/hum that others talked about. I am running the monitor through a power strip but I'll be trying it with an AVR backups before i resort to plugging it directly into a wall. Bad luck if you end up with this =/

4. The PinP settings are picky regarding what you can and can't use.

5. I was getting the horizontal tearing right down the middle when playing a DVD via the xbox. I remember reading a fix or remedy in this thread. Don't recall what input I was testing while doing this or what settings.

6. There are a few "picture quality enhancement" settings, sharpness, noise reduction, auto quality, and the ultraresponse. Fiddling with these yielded unusable TV signals through composite depending on where they were.

7. The TN panel is a pain with viewable angles, slouching, laying down on a couch versus sitting up, etc. This is not unique to this monitor, obviously, but it does get worse over time due to the same heat/brightness-not-0 issues.

8. It doesn't lock to horizontal well, if at all.



All that said, the monitor *can be* a real bummer if you have too many of the problems with it. The buzz, viewing angles, BLB that is random and you can't confirm unless you get a floor model or something can all add up to frustration. The contrasty image, and yes a monitor of this size requires you to sit a bit back from it unless you want to feast on the snow/digital junk/etc. that you'd never see 10 feet away.

So here are the niceties:

1. As a computer monitor first it is a really flawless 1920x1280 picture. I mean immaculate. The extra settings from your graphics card can easily tweak the crappy image. And I mean crappy by default. The gamma curves are really wacky, but not impossible to tame with easy to get software. EZTune can get you in the ballpark if you're able to use it. Unfortunately I could only use it on the VGA port but it did help.

2. The variety of inputs is very nice.

3. Swinging it vertical is great

4. The HD-DVD / Bluray picture on it is really great.

5. As a space saver the speaker mount is nice sound for the price. Except I don't see how it really "saves space" with multiple inputs as you'd then need a mixer unless you like unplugging and replugging the RCA cables...





So really, if what you're trying to do is have an input for your computer and an input for a gaming console, I can't really recommend this monitor as there are others that apparently do the job without all of these headaches. The extra features make it price efficient, or even viable, for some people but the way to approach it is to take a survey of what inputs you need and how you'd use the monitor typically (computer screen or for movies or for console or some combo of the three)... there are other threads on this board where people go out of their way to recommend other brands for other applications.

The recommendations for this model seem to come with the caveat that you have to get lucky and then know the secret behind preventing it from getting worse. Not exactly a ringing endorsement in light of the people who spew out vitriol and hatred for ever even trying it ;)
 
If you're desperate to connect a PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii all at the same time, get either the FHD2400 or the BenQ FP241W. However, if you think this monitor is good enough for watching movies, you'll be disappointed when the bleeding kicks in. I personally could not stand having the brightness at 0. The whites just weren't white enough for me. And am I the only one who noticed that the panel loses many details in dark areas when viewed head on and they become more apparent when looking at from a slightly off to the side horizontal angle? That right there killed this screen for me when I realized how much detail I was missing out on just sitting in front of the screen.
 
Isn't that due to the panel itself semi-reversing the colors?

It is definitely a case of playing "head wobble" to get a good image ;) and games these days are so very dark. When I'm head on I get the brightest whites but the deepest blacks. A little off angle greys out the blacks a bit and the details pop out, but the whites stay blown out.

The issue with turning the brightness all the way down to zero is exactly that - it limits the control of the contrast. If you turn the brightness up more you actually can pull the blown out whites down a bit.
 
do people use their monitors while playing jump rope or something? I don't get it, you sit in your chair, adjust the viewing angle and be done with it...
 
shaunh20 said:
do people use their monitors while playing jump rope or something? I don't get it, you sit in your chair, adjust the viewing angle and be done with it...
Click to expand...

I don't think you understand what I am saying. While sitting directly in front of the FHD2400 while playing games, I could not pick out dark areas that I can now see using my new monitor. With the FHD2400, if I offset my eyes away from the center of the screen horizontally, the details dark areas would become quite apparent, exactly as frott mentioned. So in essence I felt like I would have to "jump rope" to get the optimal picture the monitor could produce.
 
onegoodsoul said:
Contacted Gateway tech support yesterday using their chat tech support...

This is the first thing they threw at me...

http://support.gateway.com/s/issues/2-2584550962.shtml
Click to expand...

Yea, but I don't think they quite get it yet... They talk about normal TN bleed, when it appears from reports here that this panel may have a problem beyond that where damage can occur, increasing that amount of bleed significantly.

I don't think this will thwart any warranty repairs, because they talk about expecting a small amount of bleed, which no one would take in for repair. However, I think they still need to realize more may be happening (and am pretty surprised they haven't.)
 
^ Yeah, that is complete BS. I've seen plenty of LCDs without backlight bleed, including my Samsung 245T and my Samsung LCD TV. The only reaon this monitor, and other TN monitors suffer so much backlight bleed is because they have cheap build quality. I can't believe Gatway charges $500 for such a poorly made POS.
 
orangeble said:
^ Yeah, that is complete BS. I've seen plenty of LCDs without backlight bleed, including my Samsung 245T and my Samsung LCD TV. The only reaon this monitor, and other TN monitors suffer so much backlight bleed is because they have cheap build quality. I can't believe Gatway charges $500 for such a poorly made POS.
Click to expand...

You aren't comparing apples to apples. A Samsung 245T is a super-PVA, not a TN. The S-PVA design is not widely known for backlight bleed, but has other issues like input lag. Also, TNs don't suffer from backlight bleed because of poor construction, they do so because of compromises in the TN design that give them advantages over other designs, like speed.

All designs have advantages and disadvantages, just different ones. S-IPS is the best, but is expensive, and modern designs are hard to find. To buy one of those with all the capabilities this monitor has (6 inputs, HDCP, PiP, vertical pivot, etc) you'd put out $1,500 or more. So, this monitor is relatively cheap in comparison.
 
While that is true, there is obviously something deffective about this monitor. Most TN panels don't have that much BLB, and they typically don't get progressively worse over time. Therefore, there must be some design flaw that is causing this problem, whether it be overheating, poor framing of the LCD panel, or issues with the backlight itself.

I'm not saying that this is a bad monitor. I've seen them is stores, and the picture looks nice and vibrant with the glossy panel, and it has tons of inputs like you mentioned. The problem I have with this monitor is that it has some kind of engineering issue and Gateway just seems to be trying to cover it up instead of correcting the problem.
 
This monitor sucks for gaming or ANYTHING dark. The bleeding outweighs ALL the nice features of this monitor, which is sad. Gateway got some things right, ie, response time, the controls, the inputs, picture in picture, hub, eztune.

HOWEVER, the things they got right are outweighed by the backlight bleeding.

DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR IF YOU WILL EVER WATCH TV, A MOVIE, OR PLAY GAMES ON IT. ITS ONLY USEABLE FOR DESKTOP APPLICATIONS.

p.s my monitor was manufactured in dec 2007 so they still havent fixed the problem.
 
Gateway is a POS, owned by eMachines, a crappy company owns an even crapier company, 2 much crap together doesnt work.
 
donnk said:
This monitor sucks for gaming or ANYTHING dark. The bleeding outweighs ALL the nice features of this monitor, which is sad. Gateway got some things right, ie, response time, the controls, the inputs, picture in picture, hub, eztune.

HOWEVER, the things they got right are outweighed by the backlight bleeding.

DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR IF YOU WILL EVER WATCH TV, A MOVIE, OR PLAY GAMES ON IT. ITS ONLY USEABLE FOR DESKTOP APPLICATIONS.

p.s my monitor was manufactured in dec 2007 so they still havent fixed the problem.
Click to expand...

I disagree, again it depends upon the luck of the draw as to what you get. I'd HIGHLY recommend this montior for movies and gaming. If you are worried that you'll get BLB then buy the extended warranty and/or just buy it and take it back within the retailers return interval, most of which have 14 day return intervals.

And i posted this because if I listened to your advice in the above post i'd not be enjoying such a wonderful monitor. Yes if you get a bad one I'm sure your advice is solid but not all have bad BLB.
 
Hi all,

Long time reader, 1st time poster.

I spent countless hours debating between this monitor and the HP2408. At the end of the day it came down to the additional options that put the Gateway over the edge.

I was at CC for 2 hrs comparing these monitors side by side, believe it or not both monitors had BLB, roughly about the same. To be honest, it wasnt that bad, taking into consideration these monitors have probably been on forever.

Are all of these FHP2400 made with a Samsung Panel? where can I confirm.

I just finished ordering all the parts for my new build and will post some pics of the monitor as soon as the build is complete (should be done by next monday when all the parts have arrived). I will set the brightness down to 0 as recommended by this forum.

Did I make a bad mistake buying this monitor over the HP2408? The initial reviews I read on the Gateway were a little bit better than the HP.

I will be putting this monitor to the test.

The new system will consist of:
Processor: Q6600
Memory: 8gb corsair (DDR2 800mhz)
Hard Drive: (2) Seagate 750GB 7200
CDRW: (2) Samsung's
Video Card: (2) EVGA 8800GTS G92 (SLI)
Motherboard: EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX
Power Supply: Corsair TX 750W ATX 12V
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 830
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink
OS: Windows Vista 64bit

Can't wait to fire this bad boy up and see the monitor.

Thanks all.
 
topps9898 said:
Hi all,

Long time reader, 1st time poster.

I spent countless hours debating between this monitor and the HP2408. At the end of the day it came down to the additional options that put the Gateway over the edge.

I was at CC for 2 hrs comparing these monitors side by side, believe it or not both monitors had BLB, roughly about the same. To be honest, it wasnt that bad, taking into consideration these monitors have probably been on forever.

Are all of these FHP2400 made with a Samsung Panel? where can I confirm.

I just finished ordering all the parts for my new build and will post some pics of the monitor as soon as the build is complete (should be done by next monday when all the parts have arrived). I will set the brightness down to 0 as recommended by this forum.

Did I make a bad mistake buying this monitor over the HP2408? The initial reviews I read on the Gateway were a little bit better than the HP.

I will be putting this monitor to the test.

The new system will consist of:
Processor: Q6600
Memory: 8gb corsair (DDR2 800mhz)
Hard Drive: (2) Seagate 750GB 7200
CDRW: (2) Samsung's
Video Card: (2) EVGA 8800GTS G92 (SLI)
Motherboard: EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX
Power Supply: Corsair TX 750W ATX 12V
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 830
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink
OS: Windows Vista 64bit

Can't wait to fire this bad boy up and see the monitor.

Thanks all.
Click to expand...

assuming you don't get a defective monitor with horrid BLB, you made a great choice. I love mine and def. do not regret buying it one bit!!
 
Well, if you can sacrifice all the inputs of the FHD2400, I'd have to say so far the DoubleSight DS-263N 26" is a much better monitor. I just got it today.

Its an IPS panel too. Viewing angle is great... of course it has a few problems, but nothing really major like the FHD2400.

The funny thing is, after having the FHD2400, of course I turned my background solid black and turned the lights off... checked the back light bleeding over the course of a half hour or so... PERFECT... nothing at all.

Then like 1 hour later I looked again... now magically in the top right corner a little bit.

So I got suspicious...

3 hours after that I checked again.. even more! It's still no where near the amount that the FHD2400 had... but the thing that got me is that I felt the back of the monitor and guess what?

The top right corner is MUCH hotter than any other side. :D

I think if it isn't bleeding a lot tomorrow, I will be purchasing a monitor cooler.
 
celiman80 said:
Well, if you can sacrifice all the inputs of the FHD2400, I'd have to say so far the DoubleSight DS-263N 26" is a much better monitor. I just got it today.
Click to expand...

Isn't that kinda like saying to someone thinking of buying a Ferrari: "Well if you can sacrifice the Ferrari's hotrod engine then I think the Ford Taurus is a much better car"? Heh..
 
Lol... not really... you get MUCH better quality and still have 2 digital inputs that can accept HDMI with 2 dollar adapters from Amazon or monoprice or somewhere like that... plus HDMI switchers are pretty cheap on monoprice, so you can always convert everything to that, and just use the switcher instead of the input selector on the monitor. I found a component to vga converter for like 60 bucks on Amazon too. The doublesight has 2 dvi and 1 vga

The only downfall is that you wouldn't have a composite or svideo input. But for me, I have a capture card which I can use for those sources anyways.

To me, its more like saying, well you shouldn't get the Mercury Sable because the paint keeps peeling when you drive it... so instead, take this Nissan 350z which unfortunately has only 2 seats.
 
you guys have to think among the 1000 post in this thread some are multipost of the same user and gateway sells way more untis so this is onl a small % of user have this problem my panel doesn't have the backlight bleed, but i do have an issue where dvi doesn't pick up any signal until window boot up. if anyone else have the same problem and found a fix please let me know
 
NismoSkyline said:
you guys have to think among the 1000 post in this thread some are multipost of the same user and gateway sells way more untis so this is onl a small % of user have this problem my panel doesn't have the backlight bleed, but i do have an issue where dvi doesn't pick up any signal until window boot up. if anyone else have the same problem and found a fix please let me know
Click to expand...

Update the firmware of your video card if possible.

Try a new DVI cable. Need to buy one? Try www.monoprice.com

Try a known working video card.
 
I received my replacement FH2400 monitor today.I reported the problem 3 business days ago. Kudos to Gateway for fast shipping.

I IMMEDIATELY turned the brightness down to zero on all inputs.

Contrast is on 35 on all inputs - should I lower the contrast even more to prevent blacklight bleed issues in the future?
 
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