Glossy HP zr2740w How-To (AG Removal)

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smonska

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I've finally found a monitor I like! (tried Samsung PLS, u2711, etc), The HP zr2740w. One catch, I'm not usually bothered by AG coatings, but this was so bad at .233 dot pitch I had to zoom in on some websites to make it readable. So, rather than wait for my perfect monitor to be made by someone, I decided to fix this one. It's really not hard to peel the AG sheet off the screen, the hardest part is getting the front bezel off. all tolled 15 minutes of work and 2 hours of waiting. Here goes!

0) Tools: paper towels, small Flathead screwdriver, #2 Phillips head screwdriver, razor blade.

What to expect inside: the monitor is a sandwich of 3 main parts, the front bezel, LCD assembly, and the back cover. You won't need to disassemble further than this.

1) With the monitor off the stand, set it on a soft surface. Remove the four screws that hold the back cover on. It will not come off here, don't try to force it.
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2) Grab the INSIDE of the front bezel, be careful not to push your fingernails into the screen, and lift out away from the screen. You'll probably have to do all 4 sides separately to get it to pop off completely. Be careful about the little wire that goes from controls on the front bezel to the LCD assembly.
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3) Lift the whole LCD assembly out of the back cover.
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4) There is an inner "bezel" made of steel going around the edge of the screen, we'll have to take it off to get at the edge of the AG sheet with a razor blade. It comes off with 3 screws on each side, and some gentle prying with a small screwdriver along the bottom where it is "clipped" on.
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5) You should now be looking at this
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Wet some paper towers, but make sure they are not dripping (don't need water in the electronics), and lay them flat accross the screen. I left them on there about 2 hours, probably should have left them a bit longer as the glue had a little adhesion left and I ripped the AG a couple of times peeling it off.

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6) Take a razor blade and start at one corner of the screen, and get under the AG sheet so you can peel back the AG sheet from the screen. NOTE: there are 2 sheets on the screen, the top "Seran wrap" sheet is the AG, there is another, stiffer sheet under it. That is the polarizer. DO NOT remove the polarizer! Sorry, I didn't get any shots of this, I did it in about 5 seconds. You can see the sheet on the right. It's amazing how blurry that AG sheet is,

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7) Put the inner bezel back on
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8)Put the Front Bezel back on the LCD assembly,
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9) Drop the LCD assembly into the back cover. reinstall the 4 screws, and you're done!
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10) The screen is so clear when you are done, you won't understand how LG can put such a low-grade AG coating on their panels in good conscience. I've never had a problem with the AG on past monitors, but a today's tiny .233 pixels on high-res displays, along with "Sparkly" coatings make this mod an easy choice.
 
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Looks great!

May I ask, Why do you prefer the hp over u2711 and s27a850 ?
 
I didn't like the colors or the AG on the u2711, it's older tech, not LED and has serious input lag. it was out fast. I tried a couple of Samsung SA850s, and if the QC on it were good, eg no backlight bleed and unifomity problems, I'd still have it. The AG on the samsung was perfect too, not glossy but no sparkles either. But such is life, Samsung made an IPS price tag panel that has the quality of a $99 Walmart TN panel. I'd swear it had TN panel like color shift as you changed angles too.
 
The front polarizer (the glossy part you're looking at now) is extremely easy to damage, so be extremely careful when dusting it off. :)
 
what do you guys think about possibly adding your own anti-reflective sheet over the panel after removal of the heavy ag coating? is this possible?

edit; like one of these - they have 3 or 4 different types available

http://www.photodon.com/c/LCD-Protective-Films.html#order

looks like they will even cut custom sizes down to the millimeter if you like
 
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The screen looks very reflective already in the first pictures too (e.g. 2, 4 and 5). Was the AG coating really not removed when those pictures were taken?
 
Yeah John2000, you caught me. I took the pictures after I was already done. Though the instructional value should be the same. I don't think there is anything stopping you from putting on your own superior AG sheet, just be careful not to get any air bubbles in it, etc.
 
Can you show us some screenshots of how much of a difference removing the AG coating makes?
 
OP did a good job but unless you've got cash to burn I wouldn't attempt this. The problem is that its easy to destroy your monitor doing this. There is an older thread about a different monitor (I think the U2711) where a bunch of people did this and ruined their monitors. Even the people who initially appeared to have pulled it off later on found they had subtly damaged the polarizer which didn't become apparent until months later. You're literally rolling the dice on a ~$700 monitor against a Vegas odds dealer.
 
Oled said:
Looks great!

May I ask, Why do you prefer the hp over u2711 and s27a850 ?
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Or the ACD, since it's somewhat glossy now right?

Unless you need something else then DP, this seems like a bad choice of buying the wrong monitor
 
Unfortunately, I don't have any "before" shots, but here is what it looks like now. Blacks are much "blacker" than they used to be and text is clearer. I took a picture during the middle of the day when it is brightest so you can see the reflections in the glossy screen. Doesn't really bother me in the room that it's in, especially at night. The second I just took right now at night.

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IMGP9683.jpg
 
Very nice work. Almost makes me wish I'd had kept mine to remove the AG coating. Oh well, it had a bezel and screen defect anyway.
 
As for risking polarizer damage, I fly single engine aircraft, skydive, and ride a 1000cc motorcycle. This was easy ;-) Haha.

Yeah, I agree glossy isn't perfect, I'd prefer a samsungesque AG coating myself. There's a drawback either way with glossy or keeping LG's AG, and glossy has superior blacks, contrast, and especially text clarity, which to me outweigh the reflections by quite a bit.
 
quite interesting to say least :)

I have u2410 with damaged AG (scratches and one nasty mark) that I bought cheap and without warranty. AG don't really bother me at all and certainly not enough to risk damaging panel but if such operation remove scratches then I would have very cheap good condition glossy wide-gamut IPS monitor no one even make and only few crazy enough people have :cool:

it's not mine but show that difference in looks of monitor without AG is quite astounding
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When my courage meter fills up I will certainly do it like I did to FW900 but as here it's more risky it probably will be longer than few days ;)
 
Wow, the one without AG really looks like a mirror. Those reflections would be extremely annoying to me... :eek:
 
That mod looks gorgeous OP. :)

Also, there was a guy in the U2711 forum that did an AG removal, and he said he was able to get a custom glass cover made by Islington Glass. They did a custom bevel so the glass would sit nice and snug inside the bezel, dunno if you could get someone to do something like that for your HP?
http://www.islingtonglass.com/
 
did some reading a while ago on how it looks on U2711 and stopped worrying about destroying monitor in the process of removing AG as it's rather easy task to do. But there is major issue with cleaning of such monitor. After removing AG option one is to wash glue and risk destroying polarizer (vertical sparkly lines) or option two is to left glue and have dusty monitor that I cant touch, sneeze at or even breath in front of it...

and finally option three is to get some coating to put on glue that is left so I don't have to wash it out. Any coating should be better than original AG, especially scratched one... but its so damm hard to find ANY coating at all for such display... still I won't remove AG without applying another coating, even normal non image-specialised as it will be better that glue or damaged polariser...
 
Unless you put on a secondary coating or a piece of glass, over time you will damage the polarizer substrate as the removed AG coating protected it.

Why not just buy the Apple 27" glossy screen to begin with?
 
Can't believe no one has tried to buff the AG yet. You know with rubbing and/or polishing compound and a good flat buffing pad. I paint cars for a living and have buffed everything when I worked in the main shop. Glass, plastic, chrome all to shine. I like AG so I have no reason to fuck with it but it's worth a try. Worst that can happen is you just take off your fail layer which you didn't like anyway.
 
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ZoNe said:
Can't believe no one has tried to buff the AG yet. You know with rubbing and/or polishing compound and a good flat buffing pad. I paint cars for a living and have buffed everything when I worked in the main shop. Glass, plastic, chrome all to shine. I like AG so I have no reason to fuck with it but it's worth a try. Worst that can happen is you just take off your fail layer which you didn't like anyway.
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I think you may have issues with inconsistencies in the coating if you tried this, but it could be possible. Might pick up some 3m rubbing compound and give this a shot :)
 
ZoNe said:
Can't believe no one has tried to buff the AG yet. You know with rubbing and/or polishing compound and a good flat buffing pad. I paint cars for a living and have buffed everything when I worked in the main shop. Glass, plastic, chrome all to shine. I like AG so I have no reason to fuck with it but it's worth a try. Worst that can happen is you just take off your fail layer which you didn't like anyway.
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steal said:
I think you may have issues with inconsistencies in the coating if you tried this, but it could be possible. Might pick up some 3m rubbing compound and give this a shot :)
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smonska,
If you haven't already thrown away the AG layer, perhaps you could give it a try?
 
I do still have the sheet. It is a plastic film almost like seran wrap you would put over food, I have a feeling the blurriness is through the plastic, and not just due to a rough surface you could hit with polishing and rubbing compound. I have some rubbing compound out in the garage though, I'll see if I hold it flat if it does anything to it, though.
 
Vega said:
Unless you put on a secondary coating or a piece of glass, over time you will damage the polarizer substrate as the removed AG coating protected it.

Why not just buy the Apple 27" glossy screen to begin with?
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+1

Warning to those thinking of trying this. Search the net a lot. The percentage of problems seems very high (~50%).

In one long thread I read, even the people who think they are fine initially end up with problems later on from the glue residue left behind, polarizer damage that shows up later etc...

Even if you already own the screen and are unhappy with AG, I would sell it and buy the Apple/Hazro glossy displays, rather than risk this.
 
Sure would be nice if Hazro sold those in the USA, look like nice units. I am considering something to put over the polarizer. There has to be a market for selling non-agressive AG sheets or glossy protective sheets. What about ClearBra that is used on cars? I'm considering getting that done to my Corvette before I get rock chips on the front end, I'll see if the guy will give me a square slice for the screen...
 
I will order two 24" sheets, one matte and one glossy. I can have those with or without glue and second option will be better imho in this situation. Seller said matte finish is somewhat "crystalline" but he didn't saw any IPSes to compare... imho it couldn't be possibly worse than original finish so I will give it a try. He can also sell 3m coating that is matte but perfectly without any Twilight effects (;)) Drawback is that price is few times more for one sheet than cheaper two...

This mod without putting anything on top of polarizer is just destroying it as sooner or later it will start to deteriorate or get dust when glue is not removed and that would mean either using it with dust or destroy trying to wash it out... Putting some coating is necessary and sooner the better. I think even ordinary plastic foil would be better as temporary solution than using it with glue exposed on front...
 
Why not get a sheet of HEA2000K-clear to cover the screen after AG removal? Sure, it'll still be glossy, but the reflections will be much darker and the polarizer will be protected.
 
Has anyone tried coating the AG film with spray on clear lacquer or something? From what I understand covering the AG with tape is also supposed to reduce the sparkle but then you end up with lines. I know clear lacquer has been used for scratch repair on LCD's so I wonder if it'd work for this too.
 
I wonder if changing out the glass and polarizer from another monitor would be feasible, like a complete swap. Have come across a few broken 27" tn panels that have perfectly intact screens but are otherwise non functioning then again dont know if the different polarizer would work properly ,also not so keen on voiding warranty on my HP though. If this thing had a much reduced ag it would be killer but for now just gonna roll with The whole ISO noise look.
 
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mesyn191 said:
Has anyone tried coating the AG film with spray on clear lacquer or something? From what I understand covering the AG with tape is also supposed to reduce the sparkle but then you end up with lines. I know clear lacquer has been used for scratch repair on LCD's so I wonder if it'd work for this too.
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Lacquer is pretty hot meaning it melts most polymers, not to mention it yellows over time. I'd suggest a urethane if you're going to try a spray coating. But really with the glue residue still potentially there you're asking for trouble.
 
mesyn191 said:
Has anyone tried coating the AG film with spray on clear lacquer or something? From what I understand covering the AG with tape is also supposed to reduce the sparkle but then you end up with lines. I know clear lacquer has been used for scratch repair on LCD's so I wonder if it'd work for this too.
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Firstly, you'd need a lacquer that matches the AG's index of refraction when hardened.

Secondly, the lacquer (or pretty much any spray coating) is going to almost certainly be quite vulnerable to scratches, and over time the scratches will build up. (Tape, and any plastic that is not hard-coated, is also quite vulnerable to scratches.)

These things are designed to cover things that are much less sensitive to scratches than an LCD.
 
zone: I'm assuming you leave the AG on and spray over it so you wouldn't have to deal with glue issues. Would spraying urethane over the AG coating have any possible benefit? Most people seem to complain about the sparkles really. If you could eliminate or reduce that with another coating I think most people would be OK with current aggressive AG coatings.

Meta: thanks good to know. I have no idea how you'd go about getting reflectivity index info for either the AG or lacquer though. From the scratch repair stuff that I've seen it seems almost anything could work. But then they were fixing scratches and not coating the entire screen so who knows.
 
I'm not so sure a "spray" is really a good idea, because you are still looking through the AG and now this coating. I've been doing some reading and I think a replacement film of some sort is the **right** way to go about this mod. The two I've come up with are Photodon MXA and HEA2000K.

Does anyone know of a good source of clear photo-grade films or coatings? I'd be willing to try a few and report back.
 
smonska, have you got any pictures of inside the screen showing the panel part sticker for the HZ2740w?
 
The problem with applying a new film is that you have to strip off all the old glue first and get the polarizer super clean before applying it. You start scrubbing away, even gently, on the polarizer and you'll end up like all those poor guys in the U2711 thread.

Others have mentioned putting tape over the aggressive AG film helping. I have no clue why that would work but if some other coating over the AG one can do the trick without risking the panel then do it that way.
 
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