Doublesight DS-305W

Only 1 input...

The monitor only has one input. You have to know this going in. In other words if you only use it for the computer then... You could however buy a hdmi->dvi cable if your situation calls for it.
------------------------------
Metal or plastic back...
Panel case, handle and stand are metal. If you want a good review goto http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hazro_hz30w.htm
-------------------------------
Hazro and DoubleSight distribute the same 30" monitors. Just different logos ;)

Hazro is in the UK and DoubleSight in the States.
 
Actually, the handle is NOT aluminum. The handle is injection molded plastic with some plastic grey paneling stuck on top with adhesive (speaking from my experience disassembling the mount).

Aside from the handle, the base and column segments are made of aluminum. The column is basically an extruded piece of stock with some interior channels which mounting screws thread into to secure the monitor. From my inspection, this is NOT a part that will hold up well to continual disassembly and reassembly. It would be extremely easy to totally strip out the channel by hand with just a small screwdriver. If you plan to take it apart for some reason as I did, be careful.

The actual mounting hinge/joint feels like some sort of cheap die cast material, similar to what matchbox cars are made out of.

The mounting point on the back of the monitor is a series of simple holes in the aluminum body which have a steel plate on the other side. This steel plate is where the M4 threads are. The plate is still quite thin, so be careful screwing it back together. It would be bad news to strip those out.

Also, unrelated to the above, I recently noticed a pretty bad brightness inconsistency in the lower middle area of the screen when representing grays. I mainly notice it when I open Photoshop. The default workspace background really brings it out.

At any rate, aside from the cheap quality (although decent looking) mount, and awful controls, this monitor is pretty decent, especially for the price.

I got rid of the default mount entirely, and to alleviate the problem of shoddy controls I started using AutoHotKey and a script to automatically send all panels into standby, so I don't have to mess with the unresponsive power button.

Also a weird performance quirk I've observed is that every time my panels all go into power save mode, the DS-305W always flashes a full screen red, green, or blue image (one of these, randomly). Not sure if this is normal for big panels (maybe dual link dvi related?), but none of my other smaller panels ever do this.

Oh, and the power brick is pretty big and it gets extremely hot.
 
kaneinf said:
Actually, the handle is NOT aluminum. The handle is injection molded plastic with some plastic grey paneling stuck on top with adhesive (speaking from my experience disassembling the mount).

Aside from the handle, the base and column segments are made of aluminum. The column is basically an extruded piece of stock with some interior channels which mounting screws thread into to secure the monitor. From my inspection, this is NOT a part that will hold up well to continual disassembly and reassembly. It would be extremely easy to totally strip out the channel by hand with just a small screwdriver. If you plan to take it apart for some reason as I did, be careful.

The actual mounting hinge/joint feels like some sort of cheap die cast material, similar to what matchbox cars are made out of.

The mounting point on the back of the monitor is a series of simple holes in the aluminum body which have a steel plate on the other side. This steel plate is where the M4 threads are. The plate is still quite thin, so be careful screwing it back together. It would be bad news to strip those out.

Also, unrelated to the above, I recently noticed a pretty bad brightness inconsistency in the lower middle area of the screen when representing grays. I mainly notice it when I open Photoshop. The default workspace background really brings it out.

At any rate, aside from the cheap quality (although decent looking) mount, and awful controls, this monitor is pretty decent, especially for the price.

I got rid of the default mount entirely, and to alleviate the problem of shoddy controls I started using AutoHotKey and a script to automatically send all panels into standby, so I don't have to mess with the unresponsive power button.

Also a weird performance quirk I've observed is that every time my panels all go into power save mode, the DS-305W always flashes a full screen red, green, or blue image (one of these, randomly). Not sure if this is normal for big panels (maybe dual link dvi related?), but none of my other smaller panels ever do this.

Oh, and the power brick is pretty big and it gets extremely hot.
Click to expand...

I'm quite happy with my purchase. I made damn sure there wasn't anything wrong with the panel,stand,control panel or anything else before I chose to keep mine. Otherwise I would have RMA'd it back to where I got it. I had 15 days no questions asked.

That panel flashing sounds like a vidcard related issue.

And yes the AC adapter gets very warm. Mine gets around 106F and hopefully it won't blow. However I'm not gonna worry about it either.
 
Could you post the CAD drawings you used to create this adapter plate?

Thanks!

kaneinf said:
When I went to visit the parents for the holidays (and the milling machine and lathe!), I decided to come up with a project for myself. Ever since I got my DS-305W I've been dissatisfied with crappy crappy stand and the lack of a standard VESA mount. I designed an adapter plate to go from the proprietary DS-305W bolt pattern (M4 15mm x 34mm) to a standard 100mm x 100mm VESA pattern.

Here you can see the proprietary mounting pattern:



In addition to the four threaded holes, there were 2 additional holes for a set of pins which were cast onto the original mounting hardware. I believe these pins are not only for locating, but also load bearing, so I decided to include them in my design.

Below you can see the monitor-side of the finished part, milled out of a solid block of 7000 series aluminum, care of the LTV scrapyard of years past (if anyone in DFW can remember that far back...).



I machined the pins from steel on a lathe with a precise outer diameter to match the cast parts (0.1365"), with the lower end sized so I could press-fit them into the aluminum part. The protrusion left after milling the body of the part is to fit the recess on the back of the monitor, as can be seen in the first photo. The recesses around the corner holes are a hair over 7mm in width, to fit the 7mm hex nuts for an M4 machine screw (those used in a VESA mounting kit) so that I don't have to hold the nuts to the back.

I decided to use nuts instead of installing threads in the part for simplicity. I don't like putting load bearing threads in aluminum, just because it is so easy to strip or gal them out, and I didn't feel like messing with helicoils when what I came up with is so easy and adequate by comparison.

Here is the VESA-mount-side of the part. The recess in the center is to allow clearance for the bolts (and any washers that may be necessary to shim them to the correct bolt depth) when the VESA plate is flush-mounted to the adapter.



Finally, here is the whole thing installed and mounted on an Omnimount WS-3 I have.



Now that I know it all fits and works great, I need to order another WS-3 mount so I can put my second portrait mode 20" back where it belongs!
Click to expand...
 
freebeerz said:
Could you post the CAD drawings you used to create this adapter plate?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

http://rapidshare.com/files/217595145/ds305w_mount.rar.html

The drawings in the pdf are accurate, the included cad file was made in Solidworks 2008, and is not quite up to date. I don't know where the updated cad file went, because I modified it on site and didn't bother sending the updated file back to myself, apparently.

Keep in mind that you make/use this thing at your own risk. I'm obviously not responsible, and Doublesight would surely void your warranty if they were to find out you even removed the stand.
 
kaneinf said:
http://rapidshare.com/files/217595145/ds305w_mount.rar.html

The drawings in the pdf are accurate, the included cad file was made in Solidworks 2008, and is not quite up to date. I don't know where the updated cad file went, because I modified it on site and didn't bother sending the updated file back to myself, apparently.

Keep in mind that you make/use this thing at your own risk. I'm obviously not responsible, and Doublesight would surely void your warranty if they were to find out you even removed the stand.
Click to expand...

Wow.. Very professional drawings!

Thanks a lot!
 
well it's been 6+ months now, and unfortunately I have a negative to report. I don't really know how to explain it, but over time, I've gotten some weird streaking, almost like a water spill, inside the lcd along the left side of the monitor. Can only see it on certain background. For example, on this page i can't see it at all, though on my desktop which is bluish, it's a bit more pronouced. I'll see if I can get a clear picture to get your input. It's really not a big deal, don't even notice it most of the time, except I'm kinda funny about spending $1K and not having a perfect product 6 months down the road. Going to call DS support tomorrow, but man, having to ship and insure it out thwere and prepay for the return just sucks. Now I remember why I always tried to buy my monitors from local B&M stores. (I got this one at Newegg).
 
kaneinf said:
http://rapidshare.com/files/217595145/ds305w_mount.rar.html

The drawings in the pdf are accurate, the included cad file was made in Solidworks 2008, and is not quite up to date. I don't know where the updated cad file went, because I modified it on site and didn't bother sending the updated file back to myself, apparently.

Keep in mind that you make/use this thing at your own risk. I'm obviously not responsible, and Doublesight would surely void your warranty if they were to find out you even removed the stand.
Click to expand...

I just ordered this display. How much would you charge to make one of those VESA plate adapters? ;)

With the adapter, how much pressure could safely be placed on the screen to reposition the display on a tilting monitor arm? Is it pretty robust and secure or is it something that's fragile enough you wouldn't want to mess with it much? I know with those original screw holes in the back of the display being so close, any type of leverage could really hurt the mount.
 
conscript said:
well it's been 6+ months now, and unfortunately I have a negative to report. I don't really know how to explain it, but over time, I've gotten some weird streaking, almost like a water spill, inside the lcd along the left side of the monitor. Can only see it on certain background. For example, on this page i can't see it at all, though on my desktop which is bluish, it's a bit more pronouced. I'll see if I can get a clear picture to get your input. It's really not a big deal, don't even notice it most of the time, except I'm kinda funny about spending $1K and not having a perfect product 6 months down the road. Going to call DS support tomorrow, but man, having to ship and insure it out thwere and prepay for the return just sucks. Now I remember why I always tried to buy my monitors from local B&M stores. (I got this one at Newegg).
Click to expand...

too bad. Can you show us some pics of the "waterspill".
 
Dell currently has two different models of this monitor listed. One is $162 more than the other one, and takes longer to get delivered. I called Dell twice and Doublesight once, nobody knows why two are listed. There are two different Dell part numbers. Both are listed as DS-305W.
Dell Part# A2547677 $1161.99
and the
Dell Part# A2052094 $999.99

Anybody got a clue on this? The Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC is $100 more that the lowest one, but cheaper than the highest DS-305W, so I am torn up on what to buy. HELP!!!!
 
I just received my DS-305W from Dell for $999.99. There are no pixel issues and the display looks gorgeous. I had the Gateway 30" before and this thing is much better. The DoubleSight is a super fast display with only like 7.5ms display lag. The Gateway even without the up-scalar is like 45ms and with the scalar it's off the charts.

The quality is much better then I expected with the bezel, back plate and stand made of metal. I will test if there is any backlight bleed tonight when it's dark. The only thing I dislike is the lack of a VESA mount but I can make up a custom adapter for that.

So far it's great. H-IPS, relatively cheap, quality case, lowest 30" input lag, what more could you want?
 
Dell could not tell me what was different about the two model numbers vs. price.

Doublesight told me first by telephone, then via email [two different people] that they only make one model so if you pay more at Dell you are not getting more, they have no idea why Dell would list two numbers and two prices.

I will order mine next week.
 
patrickgerry said:
too bad. Can you show us some pics of the "waterspill".
Click to expand...

It really is only visible on darker, but not black backgrounds (even looking for it, i can't see it on these forums, for example). My desktop seems to show it the most, with a dark blue hue. I'm thinking I'm going to RMA, because i actually want to sell the monitor because i just found out I'm going to have my first kid, and frankly what seemed like cool toys a few months ago now have $$ signs on them for cribs/diapers/etc :eek: But not going to sell something with a defect, even as minor as this.



(sorry for the huge file, but at lower resolutions you can't really see it)
 
Further tested my DS-305W, no back-light bleed. Quality is top notch.
 
Well I'll say this, based on my experience RMA'ing my monitor with doublesight, I won't hesitate to order another monitor from them. I sent the picture to them, they offered to crossship a brand new monitor to me, and just make sure I send back the old one within 20 days of receiving the new one. Took me about only a minute on hold, person on the phone was about as pleasant as can be, and overall the process was ridiculously easy.

Course, the real proof will be in the pudding when I get my new perfectly functional replacement. :)
 
I just took my DS-305W apart and the LG label was easy to find. It uses the LG LM300WQ3 panel.
 
Have had my "cheaper" Dell version, great monitor. I have only two gripes, not really against Doublesight:

Have to wait to use it with my new mac mini until they sort out the dvi-d dual link issue with the $100 mac mini adapter (no one else has an adapter)

I could only afford 1 Doublesight. Hahah.

But maybe next month I can get another one!! ha ha.
 
kaneinf said:
http://rapidshare.com/files/217595145/ds305w_mount.rar.html

The drawings in the pdf are accurate, the included cad file was made in Solidworks 2008, and is not quite up to date. I don't know where the updated cad file went, because I modified it on site and didn't bother sending the updated file back to myself, apparently.

Keep in mind that you make/use this thing at your own risk. I'm obviously not responsible, and Doublesight would surely void your warranty if they were to find out you even removed the stand.
Click to expand...

I've just finished my own homemade VESA plate following your plan:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ariess/HazroVESAAdaptorPlate

I bought a 20x20cm aluminium plate on ebay and only had access to a hacksaw and drill so the result is a bit rougher, but it works!

Your design saved me a lot of measuring, thanks! :)
 
I've had my DS-305w for about a month now. It was bought new off ebay for like $750 shipped(superb deal) :D

Does anyone else notice a super bright glow about this monitor? My older PVA panel never had this issue. It is especially noticable in a dark room with a black desktop background.
 
No super bright glow to report :)

ds305wbacklightuniformi.jpg


ds305wbacklightuniformic.jpg


ds305wfrontjd.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have that same glow you have in the second picture. Is that normal?

It is so noticable while browsing [H] because of the black background.
 
Thats normal for S-IPS and H-IPS panels. The only difference would be that S-IPS is going to have a purple-blue hue and the H-IPS a pink-green hue.

The backlight on the ds-305w's is set pretty high from the factory. I turned down the backlight to %50 then color calibrate from there. The panel displays colors really well now. Give it a try.
 
freebeerz said:
I've just finished my own homemade VESA plate following your plan:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ariess/HazroVESAAdaptorPlate

I bought a 20x20cm aluminium plate on ebay and only had access to a hacksaw and drill so the result is a bit rougher, but it works!

Your design saved me a lot of measuring, thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Sweet, glad to be of help

By the way, Lately I've noticed a weird "glitch" with this monitor... Every time I turn it on, within the first minute or so of operation, there is a momentary (maybe 1/60th of a second) flash of a single horizontal white line, maybe 1 pixel in height, across the screen about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. I'm not sure if it has always done this or not, but I definitely notice it when using dark backgrounds.

Also, I tend to keep my Firefox window in the same location all the time, and now there's a pink persistent image of the outline of the browser window when I'm looking at a gray background.

I tried to get rid of it by leaving the monitor displaying a pure white image overnight a few times, and it didn't seem to make any difference. Is this not the way to go about it on an S-IPS panel? I also tried leaving it cycling red, green, and blue images at 2 minute intervals to no avail.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top