HP 27xi glow and viewing angles

[silverwolf0]

Hello. Can you tell me why the AH-IPS panel on the HP 27xi looks like this? I was expecting something similar to what I already had, but it seems a lot worse. AH-IPS is LG's newest IPS tech no? Even when looking straight on, there is a white "glow" on darker areas of images, and it's uneven and shifts around when you move your head. Is this because of a lack of A-TW polarizer, and this is normal for IPS panels these days? I always thought the glow was only suppose to be from extreme angles? The panel in general looks washed out with poor contrast in darker areas, and gets even more washed out at varying angles. You can see in the images how much better the Panasonic 32LZ800 looks. It's a 4-5 year old HDTV I've had for ages now. It's glossy, but the reflections are minor and dark. The 27xi, on the other hand, is very reflective with the thick plastic layer, even in my dim fluorescent room. The brightness is set to 40. Any lower and I'll constantly see my face. I've fiddled with the settings, but nothing really changes the overall problem.

I really wanna know if all IPS panels in monitors nowadays are suppose to look like this or not. And whether it's because of the white glow or if its viewing angle issues, which IPS shouldn't really have. And why my TV looks different, what IPS tech is it using, and what new monitors/TVs nowadays have similar if not better tech than the 32LZ800, because clearly the 27xi is falling short of expectations.

 

[Namelessme]

Going to take a guess, but do you happen to have the 27xi hooked up by hdmi? If so, do you need that driver hack to get proper black levels?

As for glow... I can't say if that's normal for that monitor or not. But some IPS models give off more glow than others. It may help if you sit a bit further back from the monitor. And most IPS monitors look sort of lousy (with blacks, anyway) in dark rooms, and I expect the glow won't help matters.

 

[silverwolf0]

It's via DVI. Even ignoring the poor black levels, the glow and straight on viewing angles and polarized neon look, which are independent of calibration, are still there. Dark room or not. Even with the camera several feet away you can still see the washed out look. The thing is, my old HDTV is also IPS. It doesn't have any of these issues. The viewing angles are perfect on it, as you can see from the extreme side pictures. If AH-IPs is suppose to be this bad, I want to be sure it's because of AH-IPS so I can avoid it in the future. And what IPS my HDTV has so I can find something similar or better. There are so many IPS technologies out there with all manner of alphabet soup names. I'm still thinking it's because of the A-TW polarizer that my HDTV looks like that and the 27xi looks so much worse since it doesn't have one. My iPad also doesn't have the same problems as the 27xi. However, aside from forum posts here and there, I am only speculating that it is because of the A-TW polarizer, as there is very little info or standardization on it. It could be because of some other filter or polarizer.

I'm trying to search for something better than what I already have, but this is becoming disheartening. Most stores only have cheap displays that are poorly calibrated and running some low resolution, so the only avenue is through internet recommendations and online only products, which is also a big gamble even with benchmarks and "expert" reviews. I was assuming my cheap and now old HDTV had some budget IPS display, and that a dedicated and well praised modern monitor would be higher quality since computer users are more critical than TV watchers. If the tech hasn't advanced at all or has gotten worse in order to reach these cheaper price points, and there isn't anything better than what I already have beyond shelling out a few grand for a professional grade monitor that is only better with color accuracy which is not a priority to me, it would be good to hear some confirmation from people more experienced with IPS panels that this is the case and I should stop looking for a replacement.

 

[Namelessme]

You'll need an owner of this model to speak up then -- perhaps there is a menu setting that can help somewhat. It does appear a bit 'washed out', but am not sure if that is normal for this model.

The only other thing I can recommend is lowering the brightness some. If you have the brightness cranked up super high, the image will be washed out and glow will be worse.

And does your TV have an A-TW polarizer? The purple glow reminds me a bit of the older S-IPS panels, or at least the images of them I have seen online. And unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of A-TW monitors available anymore ... it'd be something like a used NEC 2490/2690 or a high end 27" Eizo. The former will have lousy black levels (and have the risks of getting a used model), and the latter will drain your bank account.

Another option is one of the newer VAs, like that Samsung 27"er mentioned here recently. Lousy stand, but nice blacks/contrast. But if a big gamer, it may not be suitable.

 

[LiquidX]

Maybe the gamma is on high? It does have 4 settings. I set it to off.

Also what are your brightness/contrast levels? The default settings are pretty damn high.

 

[silverwolf0]

I already sent it back to newegg so can't mess around with it anymore. There were some other issues with the 27xi, mainly that the panel was loosely housed in the black shell surrounding it and you could push along any edge and cause it to wobble, or try to adjust the tilt and the thing would wobble inside the shell. Very disconcerting. I talked to them over chat and newegg was kind enough to offer a UPS label and no restocking fee, which is awesome. I've been buying stuff there for over a decade and this is my first return.

I did mess with the settings. Lowering brightness doesn't fix it, although it reduces the intensity of the glow. Anything below 20 and the whole image just gets dark period. The contrast is set to something high so I left it high. I played with all the gamma options and it doesn't alter the glow. Color temperature just changes the color temperature. Yeah, its the panel itself and no OSD setting can fix it. If you were wondering about RGB limited/full RGB, I use the Nvidia RGB toggle program and it makes no difference either way. It just crushes the blacks on my TV when set to full RGB, because my TV is limited RGB.

I just really want to confirm that it is because of the A-TW polarizer so I can just avoid IPS monitors in general in the future that don't have it. I went to Best Buy and looked at a few wide viewing angle TVs and they don't have the glow of the 27xi either. Is it because they are using something else besides IPS tech, or is it because most TVs have IPS with an A-TW polarizer and it is only crappy desktop monitors that don't? I'm not too familiar with VA screens other than an old 19" Samsung PVA one that didn't look very good. Samsung also has an IPS-like tech called PLS that some of those Korean knockoffs use. Does PLS have the IPS glow as well? I'd like to reiterate I don't know if its really because of the IPS glow as I don't really know too much about it. My iPad 2 has a very minor glow when you look close enough, which doesn't bother me. IPS phones like the HTC One and Optimus G have a prominent glow when looking at them straight on. That's why I usually choose a Samsung phone with AMOLED. Now that I think about it, it might even be because the 27xi, based on some reports, has a certain antiglare coating to reduce reflections that other edge-to-edge monitors like the Dell s2740l don't have. It could be like those smartphone screen protectors that make the image polarized to reduce reflection. If you wear polarized sunglasses and look at a polarized screen, it goes ack and parts of it disappear. Maybe most IPS smartphones have this built in and that's why they look terrible to me. So it might just be HP's polarized filter and not the IPS glow. I dunno. Just throwing random stuff out there speculating. I really don't know much about display tech in general.