Are these 27GL850 Defects Worth Getting a Replacement?

jackstawow

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I posted a few days ago in regards to somethings I noticed about my new 27GL850. Super happy with the monitor, but this being my first IPS and expensive panel, I naturally am very paranoid that I have a defective or bad panel. Thankfully this panels doesn't have any dead pixels and the blb on it seems to be pretty minimal, but there are two manufacturing things which have recently caught my eye.

First, it appears that there are some shadows visible under the left and right bezels. These are only visible when looking at the monitor from an off center angle or from really close. After speaking to some owners of these panels and other IPS panels, most seem to say that this is normal. Take a look and judge for yourself:

The second thing that has jumped out at me is that it appears that the anti reflective coating looks as if there are bubbles under it in both top corners of the screen. While this is not on the actual screen, it is noticeable when I have the lights on in my office. It is very hard to see on the photo, but it is visible right at the corner of the screen: . There is also a tiny dot similar in appearance closer to the lit portion of the screen.

The general idea I am getting from most that I speak to is that these are normal things that happen on these panels, but is it worth me taking the panel back to Microcenter for things like this? I understand this is a pretty subjective question, but I am interested to see what others think. I still have a little less than 3 weeks before my return/replacement period ends, so I am trying to plan out my next move.

Thanks!
 
None of that is in the normal viewing area/condition, learn to ignore it.

No LCD is perfect.

You could very easily return this only to get one with real defects in the visual area of the screen.
 
None of that is in the normal viewing area/condition, learn to ignore it.

No LCD is perfect.

You could very easily return this only to get one with real defects in the visual area of the screen.

You're not the first person to say this too haha. Definitely risking replacing this panel with something potentially worse. Was more curious to see if these were actual defects or within some of the design margins of the panel.

Nevertheless, thanks for the response!
 
Was more curious to see if these were actual defects or within some of the design margins of the panel.
Unfortunately these artifacts are considered normal these days. It has to do with how the panel is assembled (arguably attributed to the design itself). The factories rarely get the mating process perfect and we just have to live with what they consider within tolerances.

And under most scenarios, you're not going to notice it.

Curiously these type of artifacts didn't start showing up until things moved to the near bezeless designs. When we had thick bezels, this stuff did not exist. At least if it did, it was avoidable. I've got two (now ancient) IPS examples as proof of that.
 
Unfortunately these artifacts are considered normal these days. It has to do with how the panel is assembled (arguably attributed to the design itself). The factories rarely get the mating process perfect and we just have to live with what they consider within tolerances.

And under most scenarios, you're not going to notice it.

Curiously these type of artifacts didn't start showing up until things moved to the near bezeless designs. When we had thick bezels, this stuff did not exist. At least if it did, it was avoidable. I've got two (now ancient) IPS examples as proof of that.

Someone else who I was speaking to mentioned something very similar. I would assume larger bezels made it much easier to hid things like this. My main concern was whether this was something that was specific to my unit, but considering this seems to be relatively common, I might not even bother risking a replacement. I live about 30 minutes from the Microcenter I got it from, so it isn't the end of the world if I have to take it back.

Thanks for the response!
 
Someone else who I was speaking to mentioned something very similar. I would assume larger bezels made it much easier to hid things like this. My main concern was whether this was something that was specific to my unit, but considering this seems to be relatively common, I might not even bother risking a replacement. I live about 30 minutes from the Microcenter I got it from, so it isn't the end of the world if I have to take it back.

Thanks for the response!
When I bought this 34" UW, I put myself in a similar situation. I found nitpicks on day one that I never had to deal with previous panels, despite it being based on the same tech. After much time, research, and consideration, I came to conclusion that fighting panel lottery isn't worth it today. I'd have fought tooth and nail back in the 2408wfp days though.
 
I don't notice anything wrong with the coating, that seems within normal limits.

The shadow thing I haven't seen before on my monitors, but I have seen other pictures online so I know it happens.

I guess decide if you really see those problems while gaming or using your computer normally.

I've lived with dead pixels and such, usually I won't return unless the panel is really damaged or not working (and I guess I've been lucky, haven't had too many problems).

Because you take a chance every time you do a replacement, you could get something worse. But if it really bothers you and you can't live with it, then do what you must.
 
When I bought this 34" UW, I put myself in a similar situation. I found nitpicks on day one that I never had to deal with previous panels, despite it being based on the same tech. After much time, research, and consideration, I came to conclusion that fighting panel lottery isn't worth it today. I'd have fought tooth and nail back in the 2408wfp days though.
I don't notice anything wrong with the coating, that seems within normal limits.

The shadow thing I haven't seen before on my monitors, but I have seen other pictures online so I know it happens.

I guess decide if you really see those problems while gaming or using your computer normally.

I've lived with dead pixels and such, usually I won't return unless the panel is really damaged or not working (and I guess I've been lucky, haven't had too many problems).

Because you take a chance every time you do a replacement, you could get something worse. But if it really bothers you and you can't live with it, then do what you must.


Yeah, the shadow thing looks to be pretty common with this panel and some other panels. I think it is a valid point that I risk returning a pretty good panel for one that is broken, so I that might just leave me to live with it. I still have a few more weeks to return it, so I might just wait a little longer and see if it continues to bother me. Worst case scenario I buy another one and return whichever one I dislike the most.

Thanks for the feedback! I know this is a more subjective question, but it was definitely interesting to read about what others would do in this case.
 
Curiously these type of artifacts didn't start showing up until things moved to the near bezeless designs. When we had thick bezels, this stuff did not exist. At least if it did, it was avoidable. I've got two (now ancient) IPS examples as proof of that.
Did it not exist, or was it just hiding under the bezel?
 
Did it not exist, or was it just hiding under the bezel?
Did it not exist, or was it just hiding under the bezel?

I think it likely was hidden under the bezels... There is definitely some compromises that have to be made when designing panels to be as slim as they are trying to make them now. It looks like the shadow on many 27GL850's is just a by product of the overhang of the bezel over the backlight, but this is more of a guess on my part.
 
I think it likely was hidden under the bezels... There is definitely some compromises that have to be made when designing panels to be as slim as they are trying to make them now. It looks like the shadow on many 27GL850's is just a by product of the overhang of the bezel over the backlight, but this is more of a guess on my part.
It's the job of the diffuser to spread light coming from the LEDs evenly. Since there is less overlapping sources of light near the edges, it would explain why sometimes there is some shadowing.

It's also possible that due to some technical reason, the LED array itself is placed far away from the from bezel, never directly under the bezel or even at the visible screen edge. This would imply light at the edges would be sourced inward at steep angles.

Then again, the diffuser itself could be less than perfect. The diffuser could have been mated with the surface less than ideal. Perhaps it's tricky to pull this off near the edges in this particular panel?

I'm speculating as well, but I've also seen diffuser artifacts similar to what OP sees across the entire screen. Like vertical shadows in between the LED columns. In those cases, it's probably due to cutting corners to save a few bucks.
 
It's the job of the diffuser to spread light coming from the LEDs evenly. Since there is less overlapping sources of light near the edges, it would explain why sometimes there is some shadowing.

It's also possible that due to some technical reason, the LED array itself is placed far away from the from bezel, never directly under the bezel or even at the visible screen edge. This would imply light at the edges would be sourced inward at steep angles.

Then again, the diffuser itself could be less than perfect. The diffuser could have been mated with the surface less than ideal. Perhaps it's tricky to pull this off near the edges in this particular panel?

I'm speculating as well, but I've also seen diffuser artifacts similar to what OP sees across the entire screen. Like vertical shadows in between the LED columns. In those cases, it's probably due to cutting corners to save a few bucks.

I'm thinking that is probably the most likely scenario, although I wonder how they have been able to pull off panels like this on laptops without running into similar design constraints, though I think distance and screen size has something to do with that. I've actually come to the conclusion that I am sitting too close to my screen (less than 24 inches), which makes things that normally would be masked by distance more visible to me. My old screen sat further back since the stand didn't push it so far forward, and the depth of my desk is pretty small, so everything is much closer than it should be...
 
I mean, I like to know my rig is working, but if it's a "defect" I can only see in some contrived test, then it's not a real problem.

That said, I've been generally lucky with LCD panels. You know, sometimes I get a dead pixel here or there, but I live with it.

If I'm really dissatisfied (like I was with a recent 4K screen) I just sell on the second hand market. I lose a few bucks, but someone else gets a good deal, so I feel okay about it.

It's not the store's fault it wasn't what I wanted, and I would feel bad sending back multiple units just cause they weren't perfect.

You go ghost hunting, don't be surprised if you find ghosts...
 
I mean, I like to know my rig is working, but if it's a "defect" I can only see in some contrived test, then it's not a real problem.

That said, I've been generally lucky with LCD panels. You know, sometimes I get a dead pixel here or there, but I live with it.

If I'm really dissatisfied (like I was with a recent 4K screen) I just sell on the second hand market. I lose a few bucks, but someone else gets a good deal, so I feel okay about it.

It's not the store's fault it wasn't what I wanted, and I would feel bad sending back multiple units just cause they weren't perfect.

You go ghost hunting, don't be surprised if you find ghosts...

That's a good way to put it. Chocked up the shadow to sitting too close and it just being within the design tolerances of the monitor. Curiously enough, I found a similar thing on my LG tv as well. I'm lucky with there not being anything on the actual usable portion of the screen, so now I think all I need to do is convince myself that it is not worth risking getting a worse panel when replacing this one haha
 
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