Eizo Foris FG2421: 120hz VA Panel

I have Dell U2711. Great monitor, but IPS glow drive me crazy. I'm not looking from angles, but with 27" corners are always from angles. And also AG coating is too strong.

I'm using my PC only for gaming. And only in the dark, so my perfect monitor would be like this:
- perfect black (1:4000 is enought)
- no glows, black crushes, color shifts or other unpleasant elements
- speed enought, with no imput lag
- no AG coating
- standard gamut
- smaller pixel pitch (0,23 or less)
- nvidia g-sync would be nice

I known. Impossible with current technology. (where is OLED?)

But I like FG2421 - perfect contrast, speed, input lag. I don't mind not so great angles (if there isn't problem with corners) or image quality/colors. But what concerns me is MVA black crush in the center and glow/bleed/other artefacts mentioned in this forum. But still very close to my needs.

I'm also considering Eizo EV2736W. It's IPS (without IPS glow), has better resolution, no black crush, probably better image quality as FG2421. On the negative side there is poor black, worse speed, price.

Price is "not a problem", but only while we are talking about perfect monitor.

Has anyone oportunity to direct comparision of those two? Is there some other interesting monitor?
 
I've seen some mentions that this display is slowly discontinued - anyone heard anything ?
 
I've found that I have to use the "pixel patcher" for nvidia, to get the best benefit form this. Maybe all 120hz screens benefit, but it was very noticable for me.
 
Just got this monitor today. I'm coming from a Dell U2410. I wanted to see if the 120hz was worth the downgrade to a VA panel. First impressions is that the stand is cheap, and the patches of crosshatching is obvious on white backgrounds. I'm going to play around with it some to decide if I want to return or exchange it.

I play a lot of Guildwars 2 with nameplates showing, and the 240 mode actually hurts my eyes. It reduces motion blur on the text, but it still ghosts so the flashing text actually hurts my eyes compared to when it slightly blurs.

I've decided the refresh rate is not worth the downgrade in other respects from my U2410. I'm returning this monitor.
 
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My FG2421 arrived yesterday.

Previously my primary monitor was a Sony CPD-G500 (not in use, so no direct comparison) and my secondary monitor is an Asus VG23AH.

The black level and contrast ratio of this montor is absolutely stunning to see. Compared to the FG2421, the black level on the VG23AH is pathetic (of course it also has the typical IPS glowy corners which makes it look even worse). My i1 Display Pro reports a black level around 0.02 cd/m2 and a contrast ratio near 5000:1!

I'm real happy that there is no edge glow that many people report. For the record I am using a DVI cable (there is maybe some thought that this is not as much of a problem when using DVI).

The Turbo 240 works well at reducing motion blur though I haven't spent a whole lot of time gaming yet, so I won't comment too much about it. In the past I have tried gaming on my VG23AH but I don't know if it was the 75Hz (compared to 96Hz on my G500) and/or the added blur, but there was no way the VG23AH could replace my G500. The FG2421 running at 120Hz with Turbo 240 is just awesome to game with so far.

Currently I leave Turbo 240 on all the time as I haven't noticed any flickering, so it's nice not having to deal with changing modes.

The biggest issue I have so far is actually the gamma shift that I think is inherent with the panel type. It's odd in that it seems like the darker the shade, the worse the effect is (except of course black doesn't have the problem). The effect is that the center of your view is a bit darker and the image gradually lightens (in a circle) outward. If you shift your head the dark area follows so it's always straight in front of you. As I said, it is only noticeable in really dark images or games with many dark shades. Using the lagom black test patches it looks like numbers 5 through 20 are the worst, then going brighter it gradually becomes less noticeable. It is bad enough that with the close shades of grey next to each other you do see some inversion (lighter shades appear darker than what should be a darker shade).

minor issues:
- I do have 1 black/dead pixel in the upper right corner. It's not an issue for me and not at all noticeable unless I specifically look for it (and I'll take this over the bad edge glow some people have).
- The upper right corner does have what looks like an extremely minor amount of backlight bleed, like a small barely visible round cloud... The room must be completely dark and the screen almost entirely black for it to be visible. Given that situation the first thing anyone will notice is just how bad the VG23AH is in the dark.
- The colours are not as vibrant as my VG23AH and I think that is mostly because the red primary is a little toward orange (relatively speaking).
 
I received mine yesterday also, I will do a review later, I really like the monitor it's absolutely the right one for me and everything seems good except I have visible crosshatching. I could live with it but what are the chances I could get a panel without it (and other issues) if I returned it? Because everything else seems perfect except that.
 
What is the manufacture date and location? Do you have a light band about an inch or so on the right hand side of the monitor? Most monitors of this type had this. 2 of mine did. Did not bother for a 3rd. Just wondering if they have improved.

If you do not have this issue I personally would keep what you have got :)
 
January 2014, Japan. No light band, bleeding is very minimal barely visible. No dead pixel, no color shift (poor viewing angles of course but no significant color shift). Just irritating partial cosshatching at some spots on the screen.
 
I bought this monitor 3-4 months ago. I'm pleased with it.
Some problems where solved after i changed from display port to dvi-d.
With the display port i had more back-light bleed than with dvi-d on the vertical right side of the monitor.
With dvi-d everything looks more sharp with the same settings. Maybe after a calibration it will do the same. No defective pixels or crosshatching. build mfd 2013-10-16. No calibration machine is used just with the naked eye its: Brightness 100 contrast 50 black level 50 gamma 2.4 contrast enhancer off turbo on.
this is the most conformable setting after i used so many settings. Its in use for i think 1000 hours.
My last monitor was an lg w2261v with optronics pannel. The colors where better but more than that, not comparable with the fg2421. For the price (500 euro) im very happy but i don't have a lot of monitor knowledge. When you get 120 fps the monitor is like flying on lol, starcraft and cs-go. I will try to answer any questions.
 
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cybz said:
I received mine yesterday also, I will do a review later, I really like the monitor it's absolutely the right one for me and everything seems good except I have visible crosshatching. I could live with it but what are the chances I could get a panel without it (and other issues) if I returned it? Because everything else seems perfect except that.
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Is there any particular colour that makes the crosshatching the most visible? I haven't noticed anything like this on my monitor.

So yeah, I'm perfectly fine with 1 dead pixel way off in the upper right corner, but no glowing edges, and no crosshatching. :cool:
 
Prow said:
Is there any particular colour that makes the crosshatching the most visible? I haven't noticed anything like this on my monitor.
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Any color of around 50% brightness (gray, etc) make this more visible. Although it's visible on any color except full on black.
 
My eyes must not be as sensitive to perceived issues. I have been extremely pleased w/ the Eizo FG2421. I had the Dell U2410 previously.
 
It looks that this thread (and on overclock.net) did calm down a bit in last months. Does it mean that QC issues was mostly solved (ppl not complaining) or that ppl did stop buying this monitor? Its like 1year since release so I would hope that all minor flaws and QC should be taken care off..

Anyone bought this in say last 2-3months (in Europe)? Got a good unit?

curio124 said:
I'm also considering Eizo EV2736W. It's IPS (without IPS glow), has better resolution, no black crush, probably better image quality as FG2421. On the negative side there is poor black, worse speed, price.

Price is "not a problem", but only while we are talking about perfect monitor.

Has anyone oportunity to direct comparision of those two? Is there some other interesting monitor?
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That's like me. I'm also thinking between EV2736 (~600eur) and FG2421 (~430eur).
Imho its hard to compare this two monitors. FG is all about motion clarity (and small revolution), while EV gives bigger rez, better calibrated colors (though ofc weaker black) so perhaps more versatile monitor.
Said all of this I have hard time deciding between the two. As my rig wont be able to push 120fps in recent games nor run it at 2560x1440 , so i wont be able to use full potential of both monitors. It may look pointless to get such monitor then but I take it like future-proofing (will do HW refresh next year).
Probably best would be to get EV for desktop use and FG for gaming, but that's like 1k eur lol
 
Bought one in June. Was as garbage as the first two I tried in November last year.
 
Lordken said:
It looks that this thread (and on overclock.net) did calm down a bit in last months. Does it mean that QC issues was mostly solved (ppl not complaining) or that ppl did stop buying this monitor? Its like 1year since release so I would hope that all minor flaws and QC should be taken care off..

Anyone bought this in say last 2-3months (in Europe)? Got a good unit?



That's like me. I'm also thinking between EV2736 (~600eur) and FG2421 (~430eur).
Imho its hard to compare this two monitors. FG is all about motion clarity (and small revolution), while EV gives bigger rez, better calibrated colors (though ofc weaker black) so perhaps more versatile monitor.
Said all of this I have hard time deciding between the two. As my rig wont be able to push 120fps in recent games nor run it at 2560x1440 , so i wont be able to use full potential of both monitors. It may look pointless to get such monitor then but I take it like future-proofing (will do HW refresh next year).
Probably best would be to get EV for desktop use and FG for gaming, but that's like 1k eur lol
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I used to mind the gamma shift and color inaccuracy during certain dark scenes (during movie watching) a bit but now I have found a great program called ScreenManager Pro for Gaming which is made specifically for this Eizo monitor. You have to hook up your monitor to your PC with the provided USB that came with your monitor and it's totally worth it.

I have set up and customized all the presets (custom 1,2,3, fps,rts, web mode) and basically set up a certain profile to pop up when I start up MPC with SVP (aka a profile with a lower black level, getting rid of the sometimes strange color banding during dark scenes and creating a very beautiful contrasty scene).

Custom 1 (gamma 2.2 no contrast enhancers etc, full brightness) for most games as high resolution gaming does not suffer from the problems I get while watching movies or youtube contents.

Web mode starts automatically when I launch Chrome, which is a lowered brightness mode to help with the otherwise blinding whites you can get while reading forums and other web pages.

Rts mode for Dota 2, which is a mode with turbo 240hz enabled and a 1.8 gamma which is a good balance for smooth gameplay imo.

Fps mode is the same as the Rts but with the FPS Gamma Preset which differs a bit in what seems like a slight sharpening effect added which I don't mind at all while playing CS:GO.

Whenever I look at my other Qnix monitor I like the higher resolution but am really turned off by the grayish looks to everything, which becomes really noticeable after you've been using a monitor like the Eizo for a while. I definitely wouldn't go back to using a regular 1000:1 Monitor after the Eizo, even with it's minor flaws that appear during darker scenes. Once again fixed during movie playback by setting up a custom profile with a lowered black level: brightness 100, gamma 2.2, black level 28 seems to be the sweet spot for me during movie watching. If you are a fan of Anime this monitor is simply amazing when combined with the SVP addon for MPC increasing the video framerate to 120hz. The combination of the amazing contrast, good colors in the usual Anime color scheme, it's something you have to see to truly appreciate. Let's just say watching Attack on Titan on this monitor was much more enjoyable than on my previous 1080p 3d projector.

Oh and don't forget to use Color Profile Keeper to force the ICC custom profile provided by Eizo for the fg2421 on their site. It really balances the color to a much more natural feeling image.
 
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cybz said:
January 2014, Japan. No light band, bleeding is very minimal barely visible. No dead pixel, no color shift (poor viewing angles of course but no significant color shift). Just irritating partial cosshatching at some spots on the screen.
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Just received mine which was also manufactured in January of 2014, no dead pixels, and as far as I can tell it's in good working order. Bought from B&H Photo.
 
Crazy question, but does anyone know if Eizo is planning on doing a firmware update that allows the strobe effect to be adjustable? I hate that it's locked to 240hz. Surely it could be adjusted to go from 120hz (60 fps) - 240 hz? Having to maintain 120fps for the smoothest gameplay doesn't bode well for the latest games.

I'm actually looking at this monitor for an eventual replacement for my FW900 (which in turn I'll probably sell if I do). I love the big dude, but it's too picky for proper enjoyment (need to darken the room because no anti-glare, need the desk space, etc).
 
Sorry but I think it will be locked to 120 Hz. 60 Hz would just be too bad on the eyes, just like on a FW900. With the Swift, they allow down to 85 Hz minimum.
 
Vega said:
Sorry but I think it will be locked to 120 Hz. 60 Hz would just be too bad on the eyes, just like on a FW900. With the Swift, they allow down to 85 Hz minimum.
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Thanks. I didn't know that about the Swift. Yeah, 60hz would be a bit "meh", but for game consoles it could be an option, provided you want to make the Foris a multi-purpose display. I suspect input lag may be another reason they didn't allow it either.
 
icor1031 said:
Does this monitor behave well, if set to ~5000k?
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Not sure what you mean by that question, but yes it works fine at that setting. I don't use those presets as I don't think any of them work perfectly to display whites correctly. Also I don't think amazon.com in the US will be getting more (although I might be wrong) based on the sheer amount of flawed units that were returned. Those of us that got lucky with a perfect or near perfect unit won't be parting with them for a while I reckon ;) In the European amazon they still have them for sale.
 
I bought one of these from B&H a while back, but didn't get a very good one. Mine has lots of cross hatching, and noticeable gamma issues on the right side. I have to crush the blacks to help get rid it, and even then its still there. I'm not happy with this monitor, but I can definitely see the appeal if someone were to get a really good specimen.
 
I think it's time to put mine on the market. Its served me well for the last year or so. The ROG Swift is now my primary. Gsync would be awesome on the fg2421, hopefully that happens in some form soon, as the Sharp VA panels are solid (relatively).
 
I hope EIZO will follow up with a better 2560x version of this (and please with VA again).
But i fear, that with the massive quality issues they had with the FG2421 they may drop this idea altogether :(
 
well ready to go for rog swift,i dont know how is it compare to VA panel,hope not so bad..

anyone who did the upgrade to tell us the differences..?
 
Ashratt said:
I hope EIZO will follow up with a better 2560x version of this (and please with VA again).
But i fear, that with the massive quality issues they had with the FG2421 they may drop this idea altogether :(
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Quality issues are a given with EIZO gaming monitors. You are practically guaranteed to get a one with issues because it's where they dump the panels from other models that have defects of some kind. Class-action lawsuit, if you ask me.

In this case, EZIO's idea behind the FG2421 was to unload panels they could not rightfully use in the $6000 FDF2405W.

So, there would first need to be a 120hz 1440p VA Duravision monitor or similar, so they could again unload the unfit panels onto unsuspecting consumers.

Unfortunately, EIZO doesn't focus on producing just gaming monitor.
 
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Since this monitor is end of life, there's also the Chinese HKC X3, which appears to use a similar panel and cost a fraction of the price.

The key difference being, no strobing backlight and 144hz instead of 120hz. That's a deal breaker to me as the motion clarity is the key feature.

A quick search of the internet found practically nothing but Chinese sellers but there's this: http://small-order.hktdc.com/small-...-inch-HKC-X3-LED-Display/en/1X08SGZP/2587462/

No clue on the reputability of the seller nor the quality of HKC products but the price was the only thing that caught my eye.
 
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Psych0 said:
Since this monitor is end of life, there's also the Chinese HKC X3, which appears to use a similar panel and cost a fraction of the price.

The key difference being, no strobing backlight and 144hz instead of 120hz. That's a deal breaker to me as the motion clarity is the key feature.

A quick search of the internet found practically nothing but Chinese sellers but there's this: http://small-order.hktdc.com/small-...-inch-HKC-X3-LED-Display/en/1X08SGZP/2587462/

No clue on the reputability of the seller nor the quality of HKC products but the price was the only thing that caught my eye.
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Has anyone tried to buy from a chinese supplier this way? Are they reputable and trustworthy to buy from on hktdc?
 
Hard to tell from those pics. It's somewhat harder to come across a good Eizo fg2421 panel, so I don't think I would buy one used unless the owner provided some better pics and some return assurance in case it's messed up.

Anyway going back to my previous question I will answer myself. Do not contact Monitor "suppliers" from that site, for all I have found are scammers looking for easy Western Union and Bank Transfers into their accounts from gullible westerners ^^
 
Tomahawk said:
I bought one of these from B&H a while back, but didn't get a very good one. Mine has lots of cross hatching, and noticeable gamma issues on the right side. I have to crush the blacks to help get rid it, and even then its still there. I'm not happy with this monitor, but I can definitely see the appeal if someone were to get a really good specimen.
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All of the truly best display panels are on TV sets these days. Part of what made the FG2421 so appealing was that it had a panel (and black frame insertion feature) that could achieve what many decent LED TV's can in terms of contrast (minus better local dimming sets which can go absurdly deep black). Couple that with low input latency and decent color accuracy and you've got a monitor lots of enthusiasts want (so us on this forum) but most people just don't see the value in dumping $500+ on a 1080p panel in a world of 1440p panels at sub $300 and 4k panels at $500+.

It was obviously doomed in terms of how long it would last on the market. Maybe it was also Eizo dipping its feet deeper into the enthusiast PC gaming territory. Either way it was a pretty sad out come. So many defects and the lottery on this panel (lottery in terms of getting a good one without a lot of defects) would have made Samsung blush.

Not surprised at all to see it getting discontinued. I really hope that however other manufacturers see how much us gamers really liked even the idea of this panel even at 1080p. If I could get one without defects right now I would in a heart beat.
 
I bought that panel. Pictrue quality, black uniformity and levels are great! I do have some moire/dirty screen effect though. Its bit different than my 23 dell ips. I guess i get used to it.

EDIT: The moire is actually pretty noticeable on white and grey images. Damn....I wonder what warranty says about that?

Here are some pictures of the black level and horrible moire. It looks like there is finger prints all over the screen :/




 
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