Gateway's FPD2185W: a 21in widescreen 2005fpw killer!

That screenshot of WoW shows some pretty poor banding.

Can you take a screenshot of the normal POV, not just the sky, so we can get some perspective?(i'm a wow player) and can you list the rez it's taken at please?

also,please try taking a screenshot with your DVI cable being used?

Thanks
 
Momo said:
That screenshot of WoW shows some pretty poor banding.

Can you take a screenshot of the normal POV, not just the sky, so we can get some perspective?(i'm a wow player) and can you list the rez it's taken at please?

also,please try taking a screenshot with your DVI cable being used?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I hope by "screenshot" you mean a physical picture of the monitor's screen.

If you just take a screenshot all you are just seeing the effects of the gfx card.
 
thanks for that clarification.

Yes, an actual photo of the entire screen...

Thanks :)
 
vishank said:
Are the people that are having trouble with EZtune have Nvidia cards by any chance?
Click to expand...
yes i have a 7800 gtx with the latest nvidia drivers and it crashes on boot when i have EZtune installed. do you think it is conflicting with the nvidia desktop drivers or something? i have to uninstall in safe mode.

does anyone know of a fix for this or what item the EZtune software is actually conflicting with? the only things i really have going at startup are the nvidia tray icon, FRAPS, AnyDVD, and MS AntiSpyware.
 
Yes I can't run the EzTune software and I have a Nvidia card. Gateway support said it must be conflicting with a program running but I think it is something with the drivers.
 
This monitor really has me split. The picture is gorgeous, zero dead pixels and component input is excelent. My Xbox looked good and I'm sure an Xbox 360 would look even better. Xbox looked terrible on my Samsung 171MP.

However, the banding is terribly painful to see in any situation with large gradiants. Some of my backgrounds make it look like something I'd expect to see on some cheap LCD thrown in a package deal.
 
chrislg said:
This monitor really has me split. The picture is gorgeous, zero dead pixels and component input is excelent. My Xbox looked good and I'm sure an Xbox 360 would look even better. Xbox looked terrible on my Samsung 171MP.

However, the banding is terribly painful to see in any situation with large gradiants. Some of my backgrounds make it look like something I'd expect to see on some cheap LCD thrown in a package deal.
Click to expand...

Wait im unsure...are you using a DVI or VGA?

And have you checked your video card drivers? Have you also tried tuning the color correction and gamma and stuff?
 
FYI!

I have had my Gateway for about a month. In gaming I do not notice any issues with color. The person that posted the cloud pic, this shows issues with colors on my CRT as well (NEC MultiSync FE950+) and my work CRT.

The gray scale pic does show some color issues but not much. My CRT does not nor does the Samsung 6bit 930B which I gave my wife when I got this monitor.

Also the straight "User" color mode gives neutral colors, colors as they naturally appear. Other settings "Cool" blue tint (9300 kelvin default) or the "Warm" yellow/red tint (which looks like 5500 or 5000 kelvin).
 
Clarification to my above post. I only see issues with the clouds and the gray scale pics that are posted in this thread. I have no issues with any colors or anything else when I view colors on my screen or when gaming. Again only on the ones in this thread.

For those who want to know:
ATI X800XT - PE
EzTune works fine on my pc, but i don't use portrait mode.
I am using DVI-D for my connection to the graphics card.
 
TempestX said:
Clarification to my above post. I only see issues with the clouds and the gray scale pics that are posted in this thread. I have no issues with any colors or anything else when I view colors on my screen or when gaming. Again only on the ones in this thread.

For those who want to know:
ATI X800XT - PE
EzTune works fine on my pc, but i don't use portrait mode.
I am using DVI-D for my connection to the graphics card.
Click to expand...


So.....the gradient on the pics are bad? ...

it would simplify things a lot.
 
Here's the background I was using when I noticed it.
http://www.deviantart.com/view/8797084/

Do you not have any problems with that? There are bands as thick as an inch running across the length of the screen on mine. If not, maybe it actually is on my end. I have the problem on both DVI and VGA cables and after playing with color settings. Using newest nvidia drivers on 6800GT AGP. I'd rather you didn't see it to be honest. This monitor is so great in every other way :)
 
chrislg said:
Here's the background I was using when I noticed it.
http://www.deviantart.com/view/8797084/

Do you not have any problems with that? There are bands as thick as an inch running across the length of the screen on mine. If not, maybe it actually is on my end. I have the problem on both DVI and VGA cables and after playing with color settings. Using newest nvidia drivers on 6800GT AGP. I'd rather you didn't see it to be honest. This monitor is so great in every other way :)
Click to expand...

Im seeing bands on that image my old-reliable monitor.
 
SystemERRor said:
So.....the gradient on the pics are bad? ...

it would simplify things a lot.
Click to expand...

I can't say for sure of what others are seeing on their screen, so I can't say for sure. It is what it is, and they see what they see. I am curious though, if there is something common with graphics cards and the like.

Oh. I am not a newbie to these forums, just a newbie to posting on these forums. ;) I have been around since just about when [H]ard | OCP began. (I think the site name originally stood for Hard Overclocking Pimps)...hehehe
 
chrislg said:
Here's the background I was using when I noticed it.
http://www.deviantart.com/view/8797084/

Do you not have any problems with that? There are bands as thick as an inch running across the length of the screen on mine. If not, maybe it actually is on my end. I have the problem on both DVI and VGA cables and after playing with color settings. Using newest nvidia drivers on 6800GT AGP. I'd rather you didn't see it to be honest. This monitor is so great in every other way :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pic. I get a lot of them from that site and the one I posted below.

Here is another site for pics: http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/

Edit: I notice if I lean to the side left or right there is an issue. Not sure if it is the picture it self though.
 
I do wonder however if this will be an issue with all Samsung fast S-PVA panels or if this is an issue with Overdrive for the 8ms g to g monitors.

I wonder if there is someone with a similar response, different S-PVA monitor has the issue with colors :confused:
 
Ah good to hear. I'll experiment with a few drivers and give my roommate's 9800 Pro a try. Glad to hear someone definitely does not have the problem.

Nice backgrounds on that site.
 
chrislg said:
Ah good to hear. I'll experiment with a few drivers and give my roommate's 9800 Pro a try. Glad to hear someone definitely does not have the problem.

Nice backgrounds on that site.
Click to expand...

It is there on the CRT, but because of the blacker blacks on the CRT it does not show as much. This issue is above the snowy hills/mountains in the sky. The blacks on this monitor are very good and I will not be sending the Gateway back, but the CRT still displays truer colors, but not sharper text, and less vibrant colors.

I will check this thread later, but I am going to watch MNF (Monday Night Football). ;)
 
I have a 6800GT and EZ Tune works for me. I have not seen any color problems.
 
flwolf said:
I have a 6800GT and EZ Tune works for me. I have not seen any color problems.
Click to expand...

can u tell me what drivers u are using. The banding problem is annoying just because I saw it in movies, otherwise I don't have any other problems with the monitor. I don't care about the problem in gaming simply because I am usually paying attention to playing the games, not looking around for the problem.

TempestX said:
I do wonder however if this will be an issue with all Samsung fast S-PVA panels or if this is an issue with Overdrive for the 8ms g to g monitors.

I wonder if there is someone with a similar response, different S-PVA monitor has the issue with colors
Click to expand...

interesting, anyone with overdrive monitor have the problem?

also whoever doesn't have the problem, please post about it and tell us the driver ur using, any calibrations done, what graphics card ur using, etc. thanx
 
I just picked up a FPD2185w. I was hesitant, due to the lack of editorial analysis of the monitor's features and weaknesses, but I do expect to be keeping this display.

Banding - Not a major issue. I am fairly discerning when it comes to displays, but color banding and poor gradients have rarely been noticeable in gaming. To some extent, I can observe the issues other posters have described, but banding is not particularly pronounced nor does it hinder the gameplay or graphical quality of my X800.

Scaling - Impressive for an LCD. Many important devices (as in the Xbox 360) are capable of outputting a 1280x768 signal (among others) over VGA but are unable to output a signal matching the panel's native resolution of 1680x1050. While I have yet to obtain an Xbox 360, I am completely confident it will look great on this display - with the FPD2185w hooked to the VGA out of my X800, PC games such as CoD2 look phenomenal at 1280x768 - even though the monitor is scaling, it looks as if the game is being played in native resolution. While scaling is somewhat noticeable when text is displayed on the FPD2185w, blurriness and scaling artifacts are minimal. Compared to my Dell 1901FP, the Gateway is capable of far superior scaler processing. Unfortunately, most resolutions other than 1280x768 and 1680x1050 are not impressive, although this is expected, as the monitor has a 16:10 aspect ratio. Any resolutions higher than 1600x1200, including 1920x1080, are not properly received by the display using the VGA input. I didn't try 1280x720 over VGA. The FPD2185w is no CRT, but it shows how far LCD displays have come in closing the gap.

DVI-HDCP 720p/1080i - Perfect. While scaling is taking place with either 720p or 1080i, the output of my High Def Satellite Receiver looks great. The picture is excellent, and it is virtually indistinguishable from the image on a LCD HDTV with a 1366x768 native resolution. I look forward to using the FPD2185w with Windows Vista without having to spend $300 on a shady HDCP stripper from overseas.

Component 720p/1080i - Unfortunately, excessive darkness is noticeable, regardless of the brightness/contrast settings on the FPD2185w. While movies or television shows are watchable, playing console games might be problematic if they demand high visibility in darkly-lit arenas. The sharpness and scaling of the image are acceptable.

Digital Correlative DeInterlacing by Faroujda - DCDi is a great feature and it shows on the FPD2185w. 1080i and 720p look basically identical, and I was unable to notice any deinterlacing artifacts.

Response Time - Fast. No ghosting or input lag, which is to be expected from a S-PVA panel.
 
My last post on this monitor as I have had it for a month and I am very happy with it, and still have my CRT. This is an 8bit panel and I will be keeping it and continuing to use it.
  • I think this monitors blacks almost rival the CRT I have.
  • Since LCD monitors show more detail than CRTs, it shows flaws in some pics, as I have other pics with more color transitions/scales and it does not show these flaws.
  • Some of the pics if you look hard enough show the same flaws on a CRT, but they are just darker, not as detailed, or bright enough to see.

Pros:
  • No ghosting in games
  • Colors
  • Black levels
  • Large screen
  • Portrait (If I decide to use it)

Cons:
  • I need another one but don't have the desk space :D
 
TempestX I cant remember--did the monitor buzz for you? If so, did i go away after changing the brightness?


I still can't wait to get this though. Too bad i might not be running games at the highest possible resolutions (i like special fx!). But it will still look fiiiine.

Im just kinda scared how a higher resolution will impact game performance. Back when i played D3 last year, merely going from 800X600 to 1024X768 had a noticeable impact. But, hopefully, i wont need as many special details because it looks so much better at a higher res. And i will be turning AA the hell off!
 
Thanks jaminus. Nice review. Good to hear about the DVI-HDCP picture quality. The question left for me is how this will compare to the 2007/2407 coming soon from Dell.
 
SystemERRor said:
TempestX I cant remember--did the monitor buzz for you? If so, did i go away after changing the brightness?


I still can't wait to get this though. Too bad i might not be running games at the highest possible resolutions (i like special fx!). But it will still look fiiiine.

Im just kinda scared how a higher resolution will impact game performance. Back when i played D3 last year, merely going from 800X600 to 1024X768 had a noticeable impact. But, hopefully, i wont need as many special details because it looks so much better at a higher res. And i will be turning AA the hell off!
Click to expand...

When you first turn it on there is a minor buzz, but to me it is like anything else you just turn on. I don't notice it though or worry about it as it is not louder than my case fans which are pretty silent. My contrast setting is default "50" and brightness is "28". Those who say the monitor is not bright enough, well I beg to differ.

Scaling looks good on this monitor. Some games I run at 1280x1024 minimum, 800x600 hmm, I would not do it.

Helpful info:
http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/



Contrast:
CRT 75-100%
TFT/Analog 30-50%
TFT/DVI 10-30%

Brightness:
CRT 10-50%
TFT/Analog 30-75%
TFT/DVI 20-50%
 
I just picked one up at best buy yesterday and I'm loving it so far.

I have a quick question though. I am having issues with the EZTune software. After installing my PC hangs and is completely unresponsive once the software loads. I had to reboot in safe mode and disable it in msconfig. It does that if I start it manually too.

Is this a known issue or what?
 
cunnelatio said:
I just picked one up at best buy yesterday and I'm loving it so far.

I have a quick question though. I am having issues with the EZTune software. After installing my PC hangs and is completely unresponsive once the software loads. I had to reboot in safe mode and disable it in msconfig. It does that if I start it manually too.

Is this a known issue or what?
Click to expand...

yea, even though my worked flawlessly, a lot of people who bought this monitor have problems with eztunes like the ones u mentioned
 
Hello all. I have been following this thread very closely because I really like this monitor. However, there are 2 problems which seem to be common to this monitor and are really affecting my purchase decision.

1) Banding: Even though this is an 8bit panel, some have complained of banding of colors. That is, when looking at a gradient, the color transistion is not smooth, but rather, you can make out sharp transistions between colors. Could all of you with the FPD2185W take a look at the following image, and chime in if you see banding or not: http://www.imagedump.com/index.cgi?pick=get&tp=357564
If you do see banding, could you take a picture of the monitor so the readers of this forum can assess for themselves the severity of the problem.

2) Dark component input: One thing I like about this monitor is its component input which makes is reasonable to use as an HDTV or with a videogame console. However, many have complained that the image is just too dark using component, and this problem does not appear when using the DVI input. Again, could anyone chime in if you have or have not had this problem with your FPD2185W.

Other common problems: Color washing (as you switch your viewing angles, the colors change slightly) and VGA input is not nearly as good as DVI (I consider this a non-issue).

For me, I know the banding issue would really annoy me the most. Thanks you for your help.

Stay [H]ard,
Ross
 
I have tried Ninja Gaiden via composite and the image was great. They really do terrific scaling on the monitor and I can't wait to try XBox 360 or HDTV. Make sure you get a DVI cable though. You're really missing out if you don't.

The only problem is the banding. In much of WoW and CoD2 its unnoticable, but I have a feeling it'll be quite obvious in Doom3 and dark games like it. Best bet is to go check out the monitor for yourself and see if it bothers you. If you are fine with the banding, then this monitor is *perfect* otherwise.
 
Here is that gradient, keep in mind it IS slightly worse IQ than the original BMP I made it from....but very close....





band.jpg
 
TheRapture,

Is that a screenshot, or did you actually photograph your monitor? It looks like a screenshot.
 
rek981 said:
TheRapture,

Is that a screenshot, or did you actually photograph your monitor? It looks like a screenshot.
Click to expand...


I guess you wanted a pic? :p


I might get to do that in a bit....it seems taking a pic of the display is hard.....
 
Some shots of COD2 XBOX360 version hooked up by component. Sorry, pics are not that great since camerea is only a 2 mp. I just recieved this monitor about 3 hours ago and im still messing around with it. COD2 did seem a little dark but not dark dark. Brightness was set at 90 in these pics and everything else I did not touch.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/DEATHWISH/Gateway/DSCF1391.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/DEATHWISH/Gateway/DSCF1387.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/DEATHWISH/Gateway/DSCF1386.jpg
 
I have had the 2185 for about 9 days now and am 'on the fence' as far as returning it. It's not that I don't like the monitor, but I do have a 22 inch NEC Diamondtron CRT so I need to justify this lcd over that. For $200Cdn more, I could order the Dell 2405 and although it's bigger, I don't think it's better than the 2185. With the higher resolution it would surely be a little bit slower on the response time irregardless of what they are factory rated at.

3 months ago I bought my first LCD for my computer and I wanted a big screen so I bought a 26 inch LCD TV with DVI input. It was the Best Buy 'Insignia' brand and was supposed to be 15ms as stated on the box. I really like the aesthetics of the unit, but response time was terrible for gaming. After 1 day there was a bad pixel so I took that unit back. My next purchase was a 26 inch LG which performed much better, but the DVI stopped working every time I turned the monitor off. I had to unplug the monitor each time to get it to work again. It perfomed ok, but there was some motion blur and the 'lag' on the tv controls was horrible.
This was returned and I tried a samsung 26 inch LCDTV. Let me tell you that DVI to HDMI with an adapter does not work on the PC. I simply could not get the proper picture and scaling with this thing.

Now I have the Gateway 2185.

- Yes, EZTUNE causes me problems. It makes games flicker and my computer crash

- Yes, I see some banding in that gradient picture that was posted here. For a graphic artist it would definately not be acceptable. For the casual user and gamer, I'm sure you will never notice it much. The darker banding transitions in fear are quite noticeable, but I can also see this on my CRT, just not as much.

- No buzzing from my Gateway. No dead pixels

- Colour wash. You only notice this with certain colour combinations. It's not a big deal for me.

- Doom3 was a dark game to begin with and once the ingame gamma is set, I have no problems seeing detail.

- Motion blur. There is a bit of motion blur and blacks will smear into whites. Sometimes this can cause a bit of a ghosting effect, but it's completely dependant on what the screen is displaying. For me the motion blur is really noticeable on COD2. The question is can I live with this or not? I don't know.

- Tilt. The tilt on mine seems to tilt 88 degrees rather than 90. It does go 90, but needs a little encouragement.


Finally, CRT's are not perfect either. I'm on my third replacement NEC CRT in 16 months of ownership. The first one had problems with red on the left side of the screen. If you brought up a totally red screen, the left side had what looked like a faded patch. The second monitor worked ok and had better red, but after a while started making internal noises that would make the picture jump. The third one was a new replacement and after several months started to become very blurry. Sometimes when I turned it on it would be horribly blurry for 10 seconds and need up to 5 minutes to get to a somewhat acceptable sharpness level. The FOURTH one I received 2 months ago and while it has good focus/sharpness, it has the red problem again. If you compare the lcd to the crt side by side, the crt just does not have anywhere near the white level of the lcd. Black on the lcd is pretty good too, I see no problem with that.

In conclusion, I was most torn between buying a computer lcd and a tv lcd. Will I keep the 2185? I have a few more days to think about it.

Rob
 
RobG, I'm impressed. Not many people churn through 8 displays (by my count) in a period of less than a year and a half.
 
I got a great deal at BB on this monitor (staff discount) for $650 CDN but I still returned it.

Here's my reason why:

Dark areas you cannot see any details. I tried playing Prince of Persia: Two Thrones on my xbox via component..doesn't matter how you adjust, the contrast and brightness it was still hard to see. And if you up the contrast and brightness, you start to lose detail in the brighter area.

And it's true about looking at the monitor straight on it's darker then if you look at it from a slight angle.

There is a buzzing noise but it's not loud and I believe it only happens when you're using VGA mode.

The buttons for the OSD isn't that good but then again on most monitors these days it's like that...try LCD TV..it's worse.

Some good things about it:

1) HDCP
2) Pivot, swivel (good base)
3) Xbox360 looks pretty good but still the dark areas are affected regardless using component or VGA cable.

I'm starting to think it's better to go with LCD TV if your prime usage is viewing TV and playing console games where the high resolution is not necessary as long as you can get 720P and have all the available inputs.

I've looked at some of the LCD TVs available on the market and they seem to be quite good in terms of contrast/brightness. Yes yes they are not as high res as monitors but like I said..for my usage it's fine.
 
To fix the buzzing noise, you need to increase the brightness. When I move from 83 to 84, the buzzing almost totally cuts out. At 85 brightness it is silent. Another poster mentioned it was 80 for them. Give it a try and it should fix the problem.
 
I picked up on of these last week. Overall, it's a fantastic monitor. My concerns echo many of those already listed. I bought mine at Best Buy last Thursday, and exchanged it last night. I'm taking the second one back.

My setup is as follows: Athlon 64 X2 4800+, A8N SLI Deluxe, 2x Asus 7800GTX, tested with sinle-link and dual-link DVI-D cables. No difference with either cable.

Terrible grayscale banding - this was very disappointing to me. I expected a smooth transition between shades, but there is clearly a hard delineation at regular intervals. Both monitors showed similar results.

Buzzing when the brightness value was set below 83-85. Both monitors affected. In the store last night, the "Geek Squad" tech said he couldn't hear it; duh! Maybe if I had a couple hundred customers and the Black Eyed Peas blasting overhead I wouldn't hear it either! The problem isn't restricted to VGA/D-Sub only. I don't want to increase the brightness, as it's already over-bright in my opinion. Turning down the brightness from the NVIDIA control panel (not via Direct Access) seems to affect gamma and washes out the colour slightly.

Minor corner backlight bleeding on the first monitor. The second monitor was a different story, especially in the top-right corner. It got progressively worse the longer the monitor was on.

The "colour wash" was evident, but is really just an artifact of the panel type, and not so much a defect. I could live with it.

In dark games, there was quite often a very harsh transition between dark colours. For example, on the COD2 setup menu, there's a lot of black on the left side. The border between two colours looked like an Etch-a-Sketch gone insane.

To add insult to injury with the second panel, I found two dead pixels smack dab in the center of the screen. One blue-ish, one dark.

High points in my opinion - range of inputs, excellent stand with pivot and tilt, very good contrast (blacks looked much better on the first panel, thanks to the lower backlight), scaling, PiP, clarity of text, and fast response in games with minimal blur. Unfortunately EZTune is a no-go because I'm using NVIDIA cards, and after coming from a 19" Viewsonic CRT (which couldn't do 1600x1200 at 75Hz), the real-estate offered by the Gateway was amazing! I'm really reluctant to go to a 4:3 ratio now.

Gateway tech support has so far been useless. It's obvious that first-line support are reading from a script, because my monitor was repeatedly referred to as a "system".

I'm torn as to whether I should exchange again in-store, or just ask for my money back. If the third monitor has zero dead pixels, smoother grayscale banding (my 19" Dell at work is almost perfect in this regard), and doesn't have that annoying buzzing sound when the brightness is reduced, I'd be very, very happy with it.
 
I returned mine and order the Dell 2405. Mine had some OSD/Menu lock up problem after restart and the USB hub stopped working with my G15 keyboard.
 
1280x768@60hz works great for me using a DVI cable, but with a VGA connection, I'm having difficulty getting the FPD2185w to look nearly as good as it does at the same resolution with DVI (and its not just because I'm using an analog connection). Has anyone else had success with 1280x768 over VGA?

Also using the VGA cable packaged with the FPD2185w, text and fonts looked terrible when my old GeForce Ti4400 was set to 1680x1050 using default drivers. I installed Powerstrip, and using the 1680x1050 LCD profile, text looks perfect - almost as good as with DVI.
 
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