KDS K-2626mdhwb - 26" LCD

gigasmack

gigasmack

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I've seen a few threads from users asking questions about this monitor. I just wanted to let everyone know that I took the plunge and ordered the monitor from Newegg and it arrived yesterday. I've only been able to use it for a few hours, but this monitor is top notch! Not a single stuck or bad pixel on the entire panel. The picture is nice and crisp, colors are bright, and the blacks are black. I know that some TN panels have issues with rendering black but I don't have any problems with the black color tones appearing washed out. I tested this with a few DVD’s; all passed the test with flying colors! As for gaming, so far I've tested WoW, Half-Life 2 and CoD4. All of the games look amazing and I can report no ghosting or image anomalies. I will do more testing tonight and report back.
 
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10e

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They are likely using Samsung or LG's 26" panels which are both high-gamut TN LCD units, so I'm sure the picture is well-saturated, bright, and contrasted.

But I would also echo that pictures would help :)

Regards,

10e
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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DSCF2200.JPG


DSCF2201.JPG
 
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Comte

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10e said:
They are likely using Samsung or LG's 26" panels which are both high-gamut TN LCD units, so I'm sure the picture is well-saturated, bright, and contrasted.

But I would also echo that pictures would help :)

Regards,

10e
Click to expand...

And what super secret information is leading you to that conclusion?
 
GoldenTiger

GoldenTiger

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Th-thr-thre-thread ressureeectiioonnnn!!!! :p

Anyone know if this uses a TN panel or an MVA for sure?
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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Biges said:
May I ask what game is this?
Click to expand...

It's World of Warcraft

matrix563 said:
i dunno if that is a tn or not. angles look pretty good in the first pic
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it's a tn panel or not, I guess I should check... just too lazy. As for the picture and side viewing angles, the picture is great. I would recommend this monitor to anyone who can find it.

Click me
 
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iamap

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blix said:
I'm not sure if it's a tn panel or not, I guess I should check... just too lazy. As for the picture and side viewing angles, the picture is great. I would recommend this monitor to anyone who can find it.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure it is a TN panel based on specs but what I'd like to know, before ordering, is how does it scale to 16:9?

Would you please set the following image to you desktop background to test?

http://www.tigerdave.com/images/testpatterns/1920x1080_overscan.gif

The circle should be round not elliptical and the edges should not be cropped if it maps properly.

Thanks...

EDIT:
Here are better instructions for testing:
http://www.tigerdave.com/ht_menu.htm
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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Just the way that I took the picture... I wasn't aligned properly and I took the picture at a slight angle. When I adjust my resolution to 1920x1080 and apply that wallpaper, it looks like a circle, albeit a little fuzzy as it's not native resolution.

But if you have doubts about the monitor, that's cool. I'm not going to try and force you into anything. I personally love this monitor, everything that I watch or play looks amazing.
 
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iamap

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blix said:
Just the way that I took the picture... I wasn't aligned properly and I took the picture at a slight angle. When I adjust my resolution to 1920x1080 and apply that wallpaper, it looks like a circle, albeit a little fuzzy as it's not native resolution.
Click to expand...
Could you, please, set the monitor's display mode to 1:1 pixel mapping, like e10 did, and see if it looks different or better at that resolution?

But if you have doubts about the monitor, that's cool. I'm not going to try and force you into anything. I personally love this monitor, everything that I watch or play looks amazing.
Click to expand...
Don't take my questions personally, I'm not knocking you or the monitor. If you don't want to test 1:1 and report, that's fine. I'm very interested in buying one, it's just a technical question since there aren't a lot of reviews of this monitor. As e10's thread proved, the Samsung doesn't scale well at 1:1, I just want to know if the KDS is like the Samsung or the BenQ. Personally, I don't think the KDS can be beat for the price, based on the size and specs.
 
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DG25

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Blix, have you tried playing games in lower resolutions then the native one? I'm curios about how good it handles interpolation...
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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DG25 said:
Blix, have you tried playing games in lower resolutions then the native one? I'm curios about how good it handles interpolation...
Click to expand...

I've honestly never played at anything under the native resolution, main reason I got this monitor was for 1920x1200 and the HDMI port. I suppose I can play WoW or CoD4 at some lower resolutions and report back.

iamap said:
Could you, please, set the monitor's display mode to 1:1 pixel mapping, like e10 did, and see if it looks different or better at that resolution?
Click to expand...

Picture

It looks round to me, but you need to be the judge...
 
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kleox64

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its been stretched verticaly to 1200 resolution from 1080, hence no 1:1 mapping (there would of been black bars top and bottom)
 
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iamap

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kleox64 said:
its been stretched verticaly to 1200 resolution from 1080, hence no 1:1 mapping (there would of been black bars top and bottom)
Click to expand...

That stretching would distort movies or games, even if slightly. :(

EDIT:
Since I don't have a widescreen monitor myself, I didn't realize that scaling is both a function of the video card and the monitor. Not only does the monitor need to be set to 1:1 pixel mapping but the Video card has to be told not to scale too.

http://www.widescreengamer.com/articles/widescreen_gaming_how_to_set_up_your_video_card_2.html

I hate to keep asking for more tests but perhaps this info will help...

Thanks again...
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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Alright, here's what I got after adjusting and setting GPU Scaling in the ATI control panel. It was previously set to stretch, so that's why the circle looked a bit off.

Picture
 
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DG25

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blix said:
I've honestly never played at anything under the native resolution, main reason I got this monitor was for 1920x1200 and the HDMI port. I suppose I can play WoW or CoD4 at some lower resolutions and report back.
...
Click to expand...

Thx, i'll appreciate if you do. :) Pls run COD4 at something like 1680x1050 or lower (maybe like 1440x900) and tell me how it looks to you. Some pics wold help too. :p Thank you.
 
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iamap

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blix said:
Alright, here's what I got after adjusting and setting GPU Scaling in the ATI control panel. It was previously set to stretch, so that's why the circle looked a bit off.
Click to expand...

Awesome, that looks more like a circle and there's still no overscan. That's just one more reason for people to buy the KDS, imo. If they hook up a blu-ray player or a gaming console (I have neither), they can still get a perfect picture without stretching nor overscan.

Thanks again blix, you've made my choice that much easier, I can't wait until mine gets here...
 
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albovin

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iamap said:
Awesome, that looks more like a circle and there's still no overscan. That's just one more reason for people to buy the KDS, imo. If they hook up a blu-ray player or a gaming console (I have neither), they can still get a perfect picture without stretching nor overscan.

Thanks again blix, you've made my choice that much easier, I can't wait until mine gets here...
Click to expand...

If they hook up a blu-ray player or a gaming console (I have neither), they can still get a perfect picture without stretching nor overscan.
Click to expand...

You are mixing up different things.
What was done here is playing with videocard resolutions. This is PC connection, not blu-ray or PS3. It does not answer the question about overscan/cropping.
To test hardware video support over HDMI you need hardware (blu-ray or DVD player, PS3) connected to HDMI - the only way you can test this.
Anyway even if HDMI does not support video on this monitor, you can make a switch - use DVI for HD and HDMI for PC - both are likely to work normally in this case.
 
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iamap

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OK, if you say so. I have neither a gaming console nor a blu-ray player (yet) but I feel better after seeing the test so that's still the monitor I'm getting. :D
 
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albovin

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iamap said:
OK, if you say so. I have neither a gaming console nor a blu-ray player (yet) but I feel better after seeing the test so that's still the monitor I'm getting. :D
Click to expand...

Yes, if you use a monitor not for video and games - just for a PC use - you shouldn't worry about overscan/cropping.
 
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iamap

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If blix could test with a console or a blu-ray/hd-dvd player I guess we'd have more info but it's good enough for me at this point.
 
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strider1

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So this has no 1:1 mapping?

also what kind of inputs does it have?

This monitor is kinda similar to the Benq g2400 but bigger. Do you think this monitor is better though?

Anyone have any other comments on this vs the benq?
 
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iamap

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The KDS does have 1:1 mapping but we haven't tested it with a game console or an external blu-ray player yet. The specs are very close and blix seems happy with his. I just ordered my KDS tonight so I doubt I'll see it this week. Most reviews that I've seen are positive. I couldn't pass up the bigger size.
 
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10e

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The best way to know if it at least supports 1920x1080 is to set the display adapter to "centred timings" with the "Enable GPU scaling" set to OFF in CCC.

In nvidia control panel it's called "enable display/flat panel scaling".

Then you need to go into the OSD and see if there is some option to enable 1:1 mapping. There is no manual posted on their web site for me to look and see what/where it is and what they call it.

You will know if the image is properly scaled to 16:9 because it will not look vertically stretched in the desktop. This is the first step. The next step is setting it up with a console.

Now, the PS3 over DVI still may overscan, but the 360 seems smart enough to know it's connected to DVI.

If it does work, that would be great. There aren't many inexpensive displays that do this right. The BenQ G2400W/WD/V2400W do it, and the older Hyundai W240D does it, but only with pure 1:1 set up, which can be problematic with the PS3, because the PS3 plays most games at 720p. Otherwise it overscanned a bit (like 2%) with PS3.

Regards,

10e
 
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iamap

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10e said:
The best way to know if it at least supports 1920x1080 is to set the display adapter to "centred timings" with the "Enable GPU scaling" set to OFF in CCC.

In nvidia control panel it's called "enable display/flat panel scaling".

Then you need to go into the OSD and see if there is some option to enable 1:1 mapping. There is no manual posted on their web site for me to look and see what/where it is and what they call it.

You will know if the image is properly scaled to 16:9 because it will not look vertically stretched in the desktop. This is the first step. The next step is setting it up with a console.
Click to expand...
That test blix did, as you can see above. It does scale 1:1 at 1920x1080.

Now, the PS3 over DVI still may overscan, but the 360 seems smart enough to know it's connected to DVI.

If it does work, that would be great. There aren't many inexpensive displays that do this right. The BenQ G2400W/WD/V2400W do it, and the older Hyundai W240D does it, but only with pure 1:1 set up, which can be problematic with the PS3, because the PS3 plays most games at 720p. Otherwise it overscanned a bit (like 2%) with PS3.
Click to expand...
That test hasn't been done on the KDS yet and I don't own consoles to test that. *shrug*
 
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iamap

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I received my KDS K-2626mdhwb on the July 3rd, from NewEgg, and I'm very happy with it so far. I also ordered a VisionTek Radeon 4870 that I haven't installed yet but I'm sure it'll look just as nice as it does with my 8800GT.

Thanks for all of the info...
 
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sethk

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Blix's screenshot used GPU scaling, that is the video card is outputting 1920x1200 with black bars top and bottom and doing the work. This will not work with a 360, PS3 or any other 1080p device other than a computer with an ATI or Nvidia GPU that can do the scaling for you.
 
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DemoKnight

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Hey blix,
Anything more to say about the display after some extended use? Might pick one up just worried about longevity of it being I never heard of KDS before.
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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I'm still loving it!

This monitor can handle anything that I throw at it. Warhammer Online looks amazing, CoD4, TF2, L4D, etc... I've also hooked up my Xbox 360 up to the panel for some Gears of War 2, which looked amazing in 1080p! I've never encountered any ghosting on the LCD panel, the darks look great and are not washed out.

I've had the monitor for a little over six months now and I the monitor looks as good today as it did when I unboxed it. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase of this monitor!
 
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GJSNeptune

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I've had my eye on this monitor. Some people complain of pretty significant backlight bleeding. Is this the case?
 
gigasmack

gigasmack

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There is a little backlight bleeding, but it's not the entire panel. I wouldn't say that it's any worse than any other monitor out there. When I game with the lights off, I can't notice excessive bleeding while gaming during extended hours. I still feel that the screen it top shelf with excellent viewing angles.
 
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