LCD Televisions with 4:4:4 Subsampling and low Input Lag.

Anyone have any information on the new Viore televisions at Sams Club? 42" and 39" (yes, a 39 inch TV, lol). Viore's own website does not list any models resembling the ones sold at Sams, which is quite strange.

Based on my eyes, the 42" on display has chevron-shaped subpixels, which means a S-IPS panel. The 39" has rectangular subpixels, so I'm guessing its a *VA of some sorts.
 
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Thanks guys for the 3225 vs 450 comparison. I didn't realize the 3225 was becoming rare. I could've swore the 3225 was sold at a bunch of B&M stores (e.g., Target, Walmart, Sears). Oh well, why'd you guys have to open your big mouths and let the secret out :p

They were sold at a bunch of B&M (brick & mortar) stores but, they were also on "clearance"/sale starting at the end of November through December. Everyone has been shoving them out to make room for the LED version. Sadly, Westinghouse will not be offering a 32"1080p CCFL set this year according to CES. They will have a 32" 720p CCFL set instead. The 37" however will have a 1080p CCFL set so there's some good news for those of you that own the VR-3730 (assuming the 2012 model is as good).


I'm sure many would be curious to see your results with the Dynex. I hope this turns out to "the one" :)

As do I. If it's not, I'm going to end my "adventure" and wait for the prices to bottom out locally on the 32LK450. I wouldn't mind testing an endless amount of sets if I worked for a review site but I don't. This will be the third set and, three sets is where I draw the limit for a "reasonable" amount of returns (barring manufacturer defects). I guess you could say I'm really on the second set given that the LC32iF90 was actually a 720p but, I'm tired of returning sets at this point. I don't mind the testing phase but, I know how returns affect the P&L (profits & losses) for the day/week and how often people truly abuse the return policy especially around the times when a "major" sporting event is going to take place. That was actually why I made sure to return the LC32iF90 prior to the Super Bowl and it's why I didn't really want to make another purchase until after it was over.
 
Anyone have any information on the new Viore televisions at Sams Club? 42" and 39" (yes, a 39 inch TV, lol). Viore's own website does not list any models resembling the ones sold at Sams, which is quite strange.

Based on my eyes, the 42" on display has chevron-shaped subpixels, which means a S-IPS panel. The 39" has rectangular subpixels, so I'm guessing its a *VA of some sorts.
It could be an S-IPS, but i had always thought that Samsung also produced certain panels that sorta looked chevron shaped, pics.

I'm also seeing oddball shaped TV sizes, didn't Samsung start that? I know Dynex or Insignia has models like that.
 
I don't mind the testing phase but, I know how returns affect the P&L (profits & losses) for the day/week and how often people truly abuse the return policy especially around the times when a "major" sporting event is going to take place. That was actually why I made sure to return the LC32iF90 prior to the Super Bowl and it's why I didn't really want to make another purchase until after it was over.

If you don't have your eyes on a particular set, you could always scour for "open-box" TVs for the sole purpose of testing. Its what I did during my 2010 TV search for a perfect PC monitor (went through 7 different TVs until I found the one that met my criteria). I'm assuming there really isn't much of a loss for returning an already returned item, since there isn't a 'new-ness' factor anymore for depreciation.
 
UN32D5500
belle-nuitUN32D5500HDMIPCC.jpg

i picked up a magnifying glass last night to take a closer look at the pixels. the camera i was using accentuated how much the other pixels are being lit. to the human eye they are barely lit to the point that i think most people wouldn't notice if they weren't looking for them. and this is while examining the screen with a magnifying glass. i tested all of the hardforum examples and the windows network meter gadget examples in thepoohcontinuum's AVSforum thread and they all look as they should.

i don't think this tv can be technically classified as passing the belle-nuit test but it doesn't much matter to me. to my eyes text looks perfectly crisp. the thing i was having a hard time with was adjusting to the larger pixel pitch. i'm still adjusting to it but i'm going to keep this tv. everything looks great on it.
 
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About UN32D5500, if you played any fast PC games on it, how is the input lag on it? Can you feel it? What's the connection to the pc? VGA or HDMI?
 
i'm using HDMI and there is no perceivable input lag to me when comparing to my ASUS TN panel (supposedly 2ms response). televisioninfo.com rated this set highly for motion, not sure how that translates to PC use. also HDTVtest rated the european version of this tv at 16ms compared to a CRT but the US version doesn't necessarily have the same components so i'm not sure that carries much weight. i can't find an input lag test for the US version UN32D5500. the only downside i've found to this tv is while playing BF3 i notice some 'pixel blur'. at least i think that's the correct term. textures blur some when turning fast.
 
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Thanks. It seems to be a fine tv for PC, as long as you use the PC labelled HDMI1 input.
 
If you don't have your eyes on a particular set, you could always scour for "open-box" TVs for the sole purpose of testing. Its what I did during my 2010 TV search for a perfect PC monitor (went through 7 different TVs until I found the one that met my criteria). I'm assuming there really isn't much of a loss for returning an already returned item, since there isn't a 'new-ness' factor anymore for depreciation.

Sorry, I have been waving my hands wildly about after my PC popped BSOD about 16 hours into a 24 hour run of Prime95 on blend to test out a new overclock. Granted 3 hours is enough, 6 hours is more than enough, 12 hours is overkill, and 24 hours is absurd but I go for broke. The BSOD was really irritating as I obviously have no screenshots so *grumble grumble grumble blarg*

Anyway, I wouldn't say I'm locked into any set over another. As long as it can do 4:4:4, is 1080p native with 1:1, isn't a TN panel, has a proper amount of adjustments, has a solid PQ for movies, and is under $300 (preferably out the door) I'll be good. I know, I know I want the world for "free" lol. I may take a look at some of the open boxes but the selection is pretty sparse locally thus far as it's usually the sets that are way to large and expensive that are lying about.

As for how open boxes affect P&L, it would depend on the profit margin on the item. Honestly, electronics was never a P&L issue for where I worked in the past as well always just D&D (defect & destroyed) everything that came back. We didn't sell TVs though and I would say we actually sent around 95% of electronics back to the manufacturer in order to receive vendor credit on the items. In the grand scheme of things (at the end of the fiscal year) returned electronics really didn't affect our total P&L much. On a daily/weekly/monthly basis though it can hit you pretty hard to where you don't meet your numbers and you'll be in the "red" (loss) instead of in the "black" (profit). As a customer, I really shouldn't care about that as much as I do but, I was on the other side of the fence for seven years and that's not just not a point of view I can stop having. It's like walking into a store and trying not to notice that the merchandising in it is a total wreck.
 
After having read all the great things about this TV, I ordered the 42LK450 on Amazon, hoping that I might win the lottery with the S-IPS panel. It came in today, and while the box was pretty banged up, I lucked out with the "Y" in the product code - SCORE!! I haven't validated yet that it's the S-IPS panel using the "loupe" test mentioned here, but I'm confident that it is.

Well, after getting it all setup, much to my chagrin, I find about 4-5 round clusters of purple pixels, mostly towards the top-right corner of the screen. They are extremely visible on a black background, but not nearly at all otherwise. From what I've read, it sounds like some bad caps. I can upload a crappy cell phone pic or two if anyone's interested in seeing it. Any possible ideas as to what else it might be?

I don't have the wherewithal or desire to open the thing up and attempt to replace the caps myself, so my options are to either keep it and place a service call through LG to have a tech come and take a look at it, or send it back to Amazon and play the lottery again. After having won it once, I'm thinking that I'm better to not press my luck again and just place a service call.

Shame too, since this is a pretty stunning set for what I paid ($499 USD)
 
I don't have the wherewithal or desire to open the thing up and attempt to replace the caps myself, so my options are to either keep it and place a service call through LG to have a tech come and take a look at it, or send it back to Amazon and play the lottery again. After having won it once, I'm thinking that I'm better to not press my luck again and just place a service call.

Shame too, since this is a pretty stunning set for what I paid ($499 USD)

I would just exchange it back with Amazon -- much less headache. And I believe all 42" and 47" LK450's are s-ips panels. Its only the 32" and 37" that have the lottery.
 
I would just exchange it back with Amazon -- much less headache. And I believe all 42" and 47" LK450's are s-ips panels. Its only the 32" and 37" that have the lottery.

Hmm, that's the first that I've read of all 42" being S-IPS. Is this confirmed? If so, then yeah, I'll definitely just go with the return route if I'm assured to get an S-IPS.
 
Definitely not bad caps btw, the defect is within the pixels themselves, and only the pixels.

As for 42" and IPS panels, pretty sure you can get a confirmation of sorts from the LK450 owner's thread.

But either way i would try to go for Amazon's hassle-free exchange, even *if* there's a minimal panel lottery risk with the 42" size (?).

I know with the 32" and 37" size the *risk* of a VA panel is much greater than with the 42".
 
Hmm, that's the first that I've read of all 42" being S-IPS. Is this confirmed? If so, then yeah, I'll definitely just go with the return route if I'm assured to get an S-IPS.

I don't think its 100% absolutely confirmed, but I've been following the LK450 thread that Sjetski linked to for a few months. And I don't recall reading any posts about a *VA panel on 42+" sets.

Edit: Nevermind. I take it back, there's one report of a 42" VA. http://larchive.avsforum.com/www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=21309062#post21309062
 
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I don't think its 100% absolutely confirmed, but I've been following the LK450 thread that Sjetski linked to for a few months. And I don't recall reading any posts about a *VA panel on 42+" sets.

Edit: Nevermind. I take it back, there's one report of a 42" VA. http://larchive.avsforum.com/www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=21309062#post21309062

Yeah, I took a pretty good read through that thread before deciding to purchase the TV, and found a few reports of the 42LK450 having the VA panel. Hopefully, as you and SJetski have mentioned, I'll have a good chance of winning the lotto a second time with the 42".
 
On that note, my Dynex DX-32L230a12 should arrive in about a week. I really wish this was an in-store item as I saw >9k of the DX-32L200a12 (720p version) today. Dedicating that much stock space to a 720p and not carrying the 1080p upgrade is just silly. >9k is obviously an exageration but, there were a ton of them. It was by far the most in stock set there.

FYI this model is on sale at Best Buy right now for $249
 

I know, I ordered one Sunday which is in the first sentence of your quote :p

Good looking out though as I really do appreciate the heads up.

Speaking of things I ordered, my Monoprice order arrived early today. Now of only my set would arrive early lol. Speaking of cables, good lord at the 22AWG male 3.5 mm to male 3.5 mm and 22AWG male 3.5 mm to male RCA cables I got. Surely these will never break/wear out like the paper thin ones do. Speaking of thin, the 28AWG DVI to HDMI cable looks a bit scrawny next to my DVI to DVI cable as it's 22AWG. I'm sure the 28AWG will be fine though given that it is considerably shorter.

Now, if only the 12th would get here.
 
I know, I ordered one Sunday which is in the first sentence of your quote :p

hell of a deal, i'll be keeping an eye on this thread to read your impression of if. yeah i love monoprice cables. quality stuff.
 
it's a semi-glossy finish. my Sony tv is considered semi-matte, i really like screen coatings that fall somewhere in the middle. (the Samsung is definitely more glossy than matte)
 
Update: I processed my return online through Amazon Friday morning, and the replacement was delivered Saturday afternoon. And to top it off, it was another IPS panel as well. I'm just completely blown away at how quickly Amazon came through with getting me the replacement. I wasn't expecting it until sometime next week!

Got the new one all hooked up now, and (knock on wood) everything seems perfect so far. Outstanding TV for the price.
 
Nice. Good on Amazon. When I picked up my 42LK450 from BB a bit over a week ago, all of the 37's they had boxes for on the floor were CUSD's. I asked one of the blue shirts to check if their 42's were CUSY. He ran back to check and came back out and said that they were and I took one on the spot.

Then I had to get them to adjust the price to what it was showing once it was in the cart. They couldn't seem to find that price in their system. I swear that I could spoof their webpage and show it to them from my phone and they'd do a price adjustment -- provided I was that unscrupulous. ;)
 
Prepare yourselves for informational overload . . .

*EDIT* Please note that I have added a large amount of information to this post since I originally made it as new tests were done and new details needed to be added. I have done this so that this post is as concise as possible for anyone following the progress on this set and for new readers to this thread.

I picked up my Dynex DX-32L230A12 a little bit ago. I was surprised to see the base i a metal plate with a plastic cover over it and that the bracket (which is attached to the TV) is also metal. It has some "flex" to it but it's far better than the 100% plastic mounts I have been dealing with. None of you care about that though.

First things first, I had the TV unplugged and the PC off per the connection instructions. Then I hooked up the VGA cable, powered the TV on, and then booted the PC. I'm going to stop right here for a second because:

There is a line of jacked up horizontal line of pixels all the way across the screen in the middle. To say I was pissed off after waiting a week for this set would be putting it mildly. However that's still not what you care about so back to the actual review.

4:4:4 VGA signal:

As far as I'm concerned, the TV can not do 4:4:4 over a VGA signal and that really left me with very little hope. However, I decided to try stuff out to see if it's even worth trying to replace. The reason I say it fails with a VGA signal is because I can see dimly lit red sub-pixels with my eyes on all the test images. This doesn't really show up with the camera but, I assure you it is there. Changing the name of the input channel appeared to have no effect and I didn't try the EDID override in the registry. Switching the 4:4:4 in the Nvidia control panel was pointless as it defaulted back to RBG. The good news is that the default resolution is 1920x1080 and the text isn't multicoloured garbage.

2012-02-12134634.jpg


2012-02-12134512.jpg



4:4:4 DVI to HDMI signal:

That brings us to the DVI to HDMI connection. I have concerns about it passing 4:4:4 on the blue lines but it certainly passes the 4:4:4 red test. You will notice however that there are blue sub-pixels lit next to the magenta lines so I'm going to sya it fails the 4:4:4 test from just using the DVI to HDMI cable. Changing the name of the input channel appeared to have no effect and I didn't try the EDID override in the registry. I am however getting ready to do so and I will post those results after I have done so. Switching the 4:4:4 in the Nvidia control panel was pointless as it defaulted back to RBG. The good news is that the default resolution is 1920x1080 and the text isn't multicoloured garbage. However, the default resolution of 1920x1080 was the PC version and I had to manually switch it to 1920x1080p. Damnit, I just realized the jacked up pixel line is in these images. Oh well lol.

2012-02-12140627.jpg


2012-02-12140541.jpg



PC PQ (picture quality) DVI to HDMI signal:

Let's talk about PQ (picture quality) for a moment. The Blu-ray rip/conversion to MP4 (1280x544) I have of the Star Trek movie (the reboot/remake/alternate timeline one) looks absolutely stunning playing back through MPC HCE (Media Player Classic Home Cinema Edition) even when sitting close. The Dark Night and other SD (480) DVDs on the other-hand are lacking and are a bit blurred. Unfortunately, there is no way to correct this issue with SD (480) DVDs as the sharpness, colour, tint, and advanced contrast features in the TV menu are all locked out. You can however control the brightness, contrast, backlight, colour temperature (normal/warm/cool), and you can turn the overscan on and off. The TV menu lockout is rather disappointing especially concerning the sharpness setting and I have serious doubts that an EDID override will unlock these features as that tends to disable them. This is really only an issue if you are trying to use the PC as your DVD player though and it should be pointed out that the DVD drive in my PC isn't a Blu-ray version.


DV-250 PQ (picture quality) Component (Y/PB/PR) signal:

With the PC PQ out of the way, I wanted to test out how the Pioneer DV-250 did with this set. The PQ of SD (480) DVDs greatly improved as the TV wasn't trying to display them as 1920x1080p. They were displayed at their native resolutions of 720x480i so that's pretty awesome that this set won't try to "upconvert" a signal over Component (Y/PB/PR). What's also really nice is that I can turn of the overscan here as well. Sitting close is out of the question unless you want a hawt mess and, just like the iSymphony set I need to sit further back than I did with my Orion/Toshiba 34HF85. With the current settings, Transformers III looks incredibly fake as it it is obvious when something is CGI. It just looks like really dated CGI does where you can tell that the images weren't "blended" into their surroundings as well as they could have been. I'm afraid it's time for me to have to migrate to Blu-ray.


DVP3982 PQ (picture quality) HDMI signal:

The quality was pretty much identical to the DV-250 but it did better overall. Please note that the DVP3892 actually has contrast, brightness, and colour settings of it's own that I didn't feel like adjusting from the default. I had it set to auto on its resolution settings and it sent a 1920x1080 signal to the TV. No idea why as it should have sent a 720x480i signal. I want to stress that I believe this is an issue with the Phillips DVP3982 and not the Dynex set. I however have no other hardware to test a HDMI to HDMI connection on to see if it auto-senses the actual resolution of the DVD being played. This is probably something most of you aren't going to care about though. Anyway the image quality was a little better in some respects than my Pioneer DV-250. After setting the Phillips DVP3982 to 480p, it got rid of some "artifacts/fuzziness" that Transformers III had when it was sending a 1920x1080 signal. All in all it had about the same results with the black levels, colours, etc. as the Pioneer DV-250 via Component (Y/PB/PR) signal. The HDMI connection was better to some extent but, in the end it's still a SD (480) DVD and there is only so much i can do on a 1920x1080 screen.



Light Bleed:

To my astonishment (and yours), I don't see any at all. I'm sure it will come in time but I honestly can not detect any. It is however still light outside which gives ballast lighting behind my TV. I would think the light bleed would still be obvious though. There is also no clouding as far as I can tell. This makes me absolutely heartbroken that I have a line of jacked up pixels running across this set.

*EDIT* There is a slight amount of light bleed that either has developed or that I couldn't spot during the daytime as a result of ambient light acting as ballast lighting behind the TV. The light bleed is at the top about 2/5ths of the way towards the middle from the left. It was going to happen at some point though. It's noticeable on all of the inputs but, it's not to the effect of "holy crap look at that light" like the LC32iF90 was. There also may be some very, very feint light bleed in the top left corner. I also need to point out that this is only an issue when sitting away from the set at a distance beyond (a wild guess) of 5 feet. If you are sitting close to the set like you would a 22" to 24" monitor you can not notice it. You can also minimize it a bit by playing with the contrast/brightness/backlight but you can not get rid of it. It's a fairly small flaw considering everything this set is doing at the sale price of $249.99 though.


PC Viewing angle DVI to HDMI signal:

This set has the same "complaint" that I had with the iSymphony I tried out. The image is darker where your eye level is. However, that area is much wider on this set so it's not as "noticeable". Make no mistake though, you absolutely still notice it. The shift happens rather fast as far as I'm concerned when it comes to black levels washing out. When it comes to colours washing out though it's very subtle. It happens but it is no where near as pronounced as the black level fade. Please keep in mind that the current TV settings were set for video playback. I need to adjust them for the browser/desktop/programs and then go in and edit my MPC HCE (Media Player Classic Home Cinema Edition) settings to handle the video playback adjustments that will be required.


DV-250 Viewing Angle Component (Y/PB/PR) signal:

This is pretty much the same as the PC viewing angles with the exception of the colours. The fade is far more noticeable on the colours but, this is an old DVD player and it is hooked up via Component (Y/PB/PR) cables.


DVP3982 Viewing Angle HDMI signal:

This was pretty much the same as the DV-250. Please note that the DVP3892 actually has contrast, brightness, and colour settings of it's own that I didn't feel like adjusting from the default.

PC Black levels DVI to HDMI signal:

I have only done a quick and dirty tune on the brightness/contrast/backlight which has resulted in a little bit of a crush as I wanted the darkest black to match the letterbox bars. There is probably a lot of balancing left on the table but I was surprised the current settings didn't introduce a metric ton of black crush as that is the typical result. To be fair, I am running custom settings on the brightness/contrast/saturation in MPC HCE (Media Player Classic Home Cinema Edition) and these were for the iSymphony set.


DV-250 Black levels Component (Y/PB/PR) signal:

The black levels are pretty much the same as the PC but I couldn't go quite as dark as the crush was more noticeable. I was still able to go pretty dark though in my opinion. Te scene in "The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring) where the Nazgûl (Ring Wraiths) are riding out of Minas Morgul (The Dead City) after Gollum screams out "Shire, Baggins" still looks bad. There is a black outline around all of the Nazgûl from where they were digitally pasted in. The only way to fix that was to lower the brightness which caused an incredible/unacceptable amount of "black crush". It's dated content on a SD (480) DVD though and there is a lot of "odd" lighting in that scene.


DVP3892 Black levels HDMI signal:

There was just a tiny bit more crush compared to the DV-250. I don't think it's because of the HDMI signal though as the DVP3892 actually has contrast, brightness, and colour settings of it's own that I didn't feel like adjusting from the default.


The Panel:

There are a ton of vents on the back of this set which makes the labels easy to see. I couldn't see the label on the PSU, T-Conn, and Inverter boards though.

The main board is a Panasonic ENV56U02D8F.

The lcd panel is from the AU T315HW04 A-MVA series (link provided by SJetski71). Please note that I am not guessing based on the main board as the actual panel label is visible. The one I actually have is the Rev. D variant

*EDIT* The panel is what I would call "semi glossy". It clearly casts a reflection if light is shining onto it but, it's no where near a mirror. You can make out shapes and silhouettes but not any of the details.


Backlight control:

For the sake of clarity, yes this set does have a separate backlight control. You can change it over the VGA and HDMI inputs. It can also be changed in the Component (Y/PB/PR) input as well but you have to go into the "Picture" menu, then into the Advanced Video" sub-menu, then into the "Advanced Contrast" sub-menu and turn off the "Adaptive Contrast" and the "Dynamic Contrast Ratio". HOORAY for being able to disable processing features I hate!!!1 You can also do that with the Composite (crappy single RCA cable connection) input as well as the Coaxial (antenna) input and the HDMI input.


Overscan control:

You can turn off the overscan feature on every input except the Composite (crappy single RCA cable connection) input. You also can't turn it off on VGA as that option is locked out but it does 1:1 pixel mapping over the VGA input anyway.


TV settings that are locked out:

So far the only major settings locked out are the ones for Colour (saturation), Tint, and Sharpness over the VGA input and the DVI to HDMI input. I'm getting ready to test the HDMI to HDMI connection to make sure nothing useful is locked out via that type of input.

*EDIT* None of the settings are locked out via a HDMI signal other than the backlight control. That can be unlocked by going into the "Picture" menu, then into the Advanced Video" sub-menu, then into the "Advanced Contrast" sub-menu and turn off the "Adaptive Contrast" and the "Dynamic Contrast Ratio".


Lag:

There doesn't appear to be any input lag or unusual client side lag in WoW. I don't play any FPS (first person shooter) games so a lot of you may be disappointed when you are reading this section. Even if I were to borrow one, I would be so bad that I would have no idea if lag was involved or not. I will however try to do an actual lag test compared to a TN lcd monitor and a CRT monitor prior to returning this damaged set. If I am not able to get this test done, I will test it's replacement once it arrives.


Closing thoughts:

There is a lot of potential in this set. I will be back shortly after I do the EDID override to see if I can't get this set to do a proper 4:4:4 profile.

*EDIT* It doesn't look like it's possible to do an EDID override as Phoenix is showing the extensions are already at 0. This is in contrast to MonInfo and to one of the registry entries. However, this is a moot point as the newer screen captures I made appear to pass the 4:4:4 tests. The new results of the 4:4:4 tests can be seen here, here, and here


In the meantime, here is what MonInfo reports:

VGA

Monitor Asset Manager Report, generated 2/12/2012
Copyright (c) 1995-2011, EnTech Taiwan.
---------------------------

Monitor #1 [Real-time 0x0011]
Model name............... DX-32L230A12
Manufacturer............. BBY
Plug and Play ID......... BBY0042
Serial number............ 1
Manufacture date......... 2011, ISO week 1
Filter driver............ None
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.3
Input signal type........ Analog 0.700,0.300 (1.0V p-p)
Sync input support....... Not available
Display type............. RGB color
Screen size.............. 1020 x 570 mm (46.0 in)
Power management......... Not supported
Extension blocs.......... None
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... Not supported

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.663 - Ry 0.325
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.285 - Gy 0.613
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.140 - By 0.067
White point (default).... Wx 0.280 - Wy 0.290
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Horizontal scan range.... 30-80kHz
Vertical scan range...... 55-76Hz
Video bandwidth.......... 170MHz
CVT standard............. Not supported
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 136.500 1920 1952 1984 2048 1080 1081 1084 1111 +hsync +vsync
Detailed timing #1....... 1280x768p at 75Hz (15:9)
Modeline............... "1280x768" 102.250 1280 1360 1488 1696 768 771 778 805 +hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported
720 x 400p at 70Hz - IBM VGA
640 x 480p at 60Hz - IBM VGA
640 x 480p at 72Hz - VESA
640 x 480p at 75Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 56Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 60Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 75Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 60Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 70Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 75Hz - VESA
1280 x 1024p at 75Hz - VESA
1280 x 1024p at 60Hz - VESA STD
1280 x 1024p at 75Hz - VESA STD
1920 x 1080p at 60Hz - VESA STD
1280 x 720p at 60Hz - VESA STD

Report information
Date generated........... 2/12/2012
Software revision........ 2.60.0.972
Data source.............. Real-time 0x0011
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,08,59,42,00,01,00,00,00,01,15,01,03,00,66,39,78,0A,D0,DD,A9,53,49,9D,23,
11,47,4A,AF,4F,00,81,80,81,8F,D1,C0,81,C0,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,52,35,80,80,70,38,1F,40,20,20,
13,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,F1,27,00,A0,51,00,25,30,50,80,37,00,80,80,21,00,00,1A,00,00,00,FC,00,44,
58,2D,33,32,4C,32,33,30,41,31,32,0A,00,00,00,FD,00,37,4C,1E,50,11,00,0A,20,20,20,20,20,20,00,56

---------------------------

Hardware data
BUS_SLOT = PCI00000.PCI00004.PCI00008.PCI0000C.PCI00010.PCI00014.PCI00018.PCI0001C
00000000 = 5A141002.20100002.06000002.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000010 = 5A161002.00100007.06040000.00010010.00000000.00000000.00010100.2000E1E1
00000048 = 5A1C1002.00100006.06040000.00010010.00000000.00000000.00020200.200001F1
00000088 = 43911002.02300007.01060140.00002000.0000F091.0000F081.0000F071.0000F061
00000090 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD50A000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000098 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD508000.00000000.00000000.00000000
0000009A = 43961002.02B00006.0C032000.00002010.FD507000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A0 = 43851002.02200403.0C050042.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A1 = 439C1002.02200005.01018A40.00002000.00000001.00000001.00000001.00000001
000000A2 = 43831002.04100006.04030040.00002010.FD500004.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A3 = 439D1002.0220000F.06010040.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A4 = 43841002.02A00427.06040140.00814000.00000000.00000000.40030300.228000F0
000000A5 = 43991002.02A00006.0C031000.00002010.FD506000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A8 = 43A01002.00100007.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00040400.2000D1D1
000000A9 = 43A11002.00100007.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00050500.2000C1C1
000000AA = 43A21002.00100006.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00060600.200001F1
000000B0 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD505000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000B2 = 43961002.02B00006.0C032000.00002010.FD504000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C0 = 12001022.00100000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C1 = 12011022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C2 = 12021022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C3 = 12031022.00100000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C4 = 12041022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000100 = 064010DE.00100007.030000A1.00000010.FC000000.D000000C.00000000.FA000004
00000200 = 10421B21.00100406.0C033000.00000010.FD400004.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000400 = 34031106.00100007.0C001001.00000010.FD300004.00000000.0000D001.00000000
00000500 = 10831969.00100007.020000C0.00000010.FD200004.00000000.0000C001.00000000
00000600 = 10421B21.00100406.0C033000.00000010.FD100004.00000000.00000000.00000000
--------
01010000 = 00FFFFFF.FFFFFF00.08594200.01000000.01150103.00663978.0AD0DDA9.53499D23
00000020 = 11474AAF.4F008180.818FD1C0.81C00101.01010101.01015235.80807038.1F402020
00000040 = 1300C48E.2100001E.F12700A0.51002530.50803700.80802100.001A0000.00FC0044
00000060 = 582D3332.4C323330.4131320A.000000FD.00374C1E.5011000A.20202020.20200056

DVI to HDMI

Monitor Asset Manager Report, generated 2/12/2012
Copyright (c) 1995-2011, EnTech Taiwan.
---------------------------

Monitor #1 [Real-time 0x0021]
Model name............... DX-32L230A12
Manufacturer............. BBY
Plug and Play ID......... BBY0042
Serial number............ 1
Manufacture date......... 2011, ISO week 1
Filter driver............ None
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.3
Input signal type........ Digital (DVI)
Color bit depth.......... Undefined
Display type............. RGB color
Screen size.............. 1020 x 570 mm (46.0 in)
Power management......... Not supported
Extension blocs.......... 1 (CEA-EXT)
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... Not supported

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.640 - Ry 0.329
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.300 - Gy 0.600
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.149 - By 0.060
White point (default).... Wx 0.271 - Wy 0.277
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Horizontal scan range.... 15-80kHz
Vertical scan range...... 48-76Hz
Video bandwidth.......... 150MHz
CVT standard............. Not supported
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 136.500 1920 1952 1984 2048 1080 1081 1084 1111 +hsync +vsync
Detailed timing #1....... 1280x768p at 75Hz (15:9)
Modeline............... "1280x768" 102.250 1280 1360 1488 1696 768 771 778 805 -hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
720 x 400p at 70Hz - IBM VGA
640 x 480p at 60Hz - IBM VGA
640 x 480p at 72Hz - VESA
640 x 480p at 75Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 56Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 60Hz - VESA
800 x 600p at 75Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 60Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 70Hz - VESA
1024 x 768p at 75Hz - VESA
1280 x 1024p at 75Hz - VESA
1280 x 1024p at 60Hz - VESA STD
1280 x 1024p at 75Hz - VESA STD
1920 x 1080p at 60Hz - VESA STD
1280 x 720p at 60Hz - VESA STD

EIA/CEA-861 Information
Revision number.......... 3
IT underscan............. Not supported
Basic audio.............. Supported
YCbCr 4:4:4.............. Supported
YCbCr 4:2:2.............. Supported
Native formats........... 3
Detailed timing #1....... 1280x720p at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1280x720" 74.250 1280 1390 1430 1650 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync
Detailed timing #2....... 720x480p at 60Hz (4:3)
Modeline............... "720x480" 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync
Detailed timing #3....... 1920x1080i at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1094 1124 interlace +hsync +vsync

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
1920 x 1080i at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
1280 x 720p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
640 x 480p at 60Hz - Default (4:3, 1:1)
720 x 480i at 60Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 8:9)
720 x 480i at 60Hz - Doublescan (16:9, 32:27)
1920 x 1080p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

CE audio data (formats supported)
LPCM 2-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48 kHz
AC-3 2-channel, 640k max. bit rate at 32/44/48 kHz

CE speaker allocation data
Channel configuration.... 2.0
Front left/right......... Yes
Front LFE................ No
Front center............. No
Rear left/right.......... No
Rear center.............. No
Front left/right center.. No
Rear left/right center... No
Rear LFE................. No

CE vendor specific data (VSDB)
IEEE registration number. 0x000C03
CEC physical address..... 1.0.0.0
Supports AI (ACP, ISRC).. Yes
Supports 48bpp........... No
Supports 36bpp........... Yes
Supports 30bpp........... Yes
Supports YCbCr 4:4:4..... Yes
Supports dual-link DVI... No
Maximum TMDS clock....... 225MHz

Report information
Date generated........... 2/12/2012
Software revision........ 2.60.0.972
Data source.............. Real-time 0x0021
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,08,59,42,00,01,00,00,00,01,15,01,03,81,66,39,78,0A,DE,58,A3,54,4C,99,26,
0F,45,47,AF,4F,00,81,80,81,8F,D1,C0,81,C0,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,52,35,80,80,70,38,1F,40,20,20,
13,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,F1,27,00,A0,51,00,25,30,50,80,37,00,80,80,21,00,00,1C,00,00,00,FC,00,44,
58,2D,33,32,4C,32,33,30,41,31,32,0A,00,00,00,FD,00,30,4C,0F,50,0F,00,0A,20,20,20,20,20,20,01,6B,
02,03,20,73,48,05,04,03,02,01,06,07,90,26,09,07,07,11,07,50,83,01,00,00,67,03,0C,00,10,00,B8,2D,
01,1D,00,72,51,D0,1E,20,6E,28,55,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,8C,0A,D0,8A,20,E0,2D,10,10,3E,96,00,13,8E,
21,00,00,18,01,1D,80,18,71,1C,16,20,58,2C,25,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,9E,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,57

---------------------------

Hardware data
BUS_SLOT = PCI00000.PCI00004.PCI00008.PCI0000C.PCI00010.PCI00014.PCI00018.PCI0001C
00000000 = 5A141002.20100002.06000002.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000010 = 5A161002.00100007.06040000.00010010.00000000.00000000.00010100.2000E1E1
00000048 = 5A1C1002.00100006.06040000.00010010.00000000.00000000.00020200.200001F1
00000088 = 43911002.02300007.01060140.00002000.0000F091.0000F081.0000F071.0000F061
00000090 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD50A000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000098 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD508000.00000000.00000000.00000000
0000009A = 43961002.02B00006.0C032000.00002010.FD507000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A0 = 43851002.02200403.0C050042.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A1 = 439C1002.02200005.01018A40.00002000.00000001.00000001.00000001.00000001
000000A2 = 43831002.04100006.04030040.00002010.FD500004.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A3 = 439D1002.0220000F.06010040.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A4 = 43841002.02A00427.06040140.00814000.00000000.00000000.40030300.228000F0
000000A5 = 43991002.02A00006.0C031000.00002010.FD506000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000A8 = 43A01002.00100007.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00040400.2000D1D1
000000A9 = 43A11002.00100007.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00050500.2000C1C1
000000AA = 43A21002.00100006.06040000.00810010.00000000.00000000.00060600.200001F1
000000B0 = 43971002.02A00006.0C031000.00802010.FD505000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000B2 = 43961002.02B00006.0C032000.00002010.FD504000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C0 = 12001022.00100000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C1 = 12011022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C2 = 12021022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C3 = 12031022.00100000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
000000C4 = 12041022.00000000.06000000.00800000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000100 = 064010DE.00100007.030000A1.00000010.FC000000.D000000C.00000000.FA000004
00000200 = 10421B21.00100406.0C033000.00000010.FD400004.00000000.00000000.00000000
00000400 = 34031106.00100007.0C001001.00000010.FD300004.00000000.0000D001.00000000
00000500 = 10831969.00100007.020000C0.00000010.FD200004.00000000.0000C001.00000000
00000600 = 10421B21.00100406.0C033000.00000010.FD100004.00000000.00000000.00000000
--------
01020000 = 00FFFFFF.FFFFFF00.08594200.01000000.01150103.81663978.0ADE58A3.544C9926
00000020 = 0F4547AF.4F008180.818FD1C0.81C00101.01010101.01015235.80807038.1F402020
00000040 = 1300C48E.2100001E.F12700A0.51002530.50803700.80802100.001C0000.00FC0044
00000060 = 582D3332.4C323330.4131320A.000000FD.00304C0F.500F000A.20202020.2020016B
01020100 = 02032073.48050403.02010607.90260907.07110750.83010000.67030C00.1000B82D
00000020 = 011D0072.51D01E20.6E285500.C48E2100.001E8C0A.D08A20E0.2D10103E.9600138E
00000040 = 21000018.011D8018.711C1620.582C2500.C48E2100.009E0000.00000000.00000000
00000060 = 00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000000.00000057
 
Last edited:
*update*

Actually, I can't do an EDID override. Phoenix already shows the extensions as 0 . . .

Any thoughts?


*EDIT 00*

Only Phoneix is showing 0 extensions. When I went ahead and loaded the EDID override driver, it's showing the extension is 1. Obviously I can change this to 0 in the registry but, I have no way to know the correct checksum as it's currently 6B in the registry and Phoenix shows the checksum as 55 if I change it to 1 extension.


*EDIT 01*

The registry entry showing an extension of 1 may be the VGA entry as there is another registry entry showing an extension of 0. This is the first set I have had that identifies itself with the same model number on both the VGA and DVI to HDMI signals. It would make sense for the entry with the extension as 1 to be for the VGA considering how badly it did at the 4:4:4 tests. At the same time though, MonInfo shows the DVI to HDMI as having "Extension blocs.......... 1 (CEA-EXT)" even though Phoenix is showing 0 as is one of the registry entries. Colour me confused lol . . .
 
Last edited:
Just another quick update.

I noticed that on the "passing" image "bspvette86" posted for his custom test image has blue sub-pixels illuminated next to the magenta ones as can be seen here:

GoodNewTest.jpg



I'm thinking I also had a camera issue on the 4:4:4 test images I posted so, doing nothing other than playing around with the focus of the camera and distance from the TV screen, I snapped the following images. The first one is massive as I didn't want Photobucket to re-size it since it was fairly focused.

2012-02-12183753-1.jpg


2012-02-12183249.jpg


2012-02-12184145.jpg


2012-02-12184535.jpg



I'm thinking it's passing with flying colours (lol pun) but I'll wait to see what yall have to say. If it is this was an absolute steal. They raised the price back up to $349.99 today though so keep that in mind if you are considering this set. Apparently they lowered it back down to $249.99 at some point during my "review".

I didn't get around to doing a return today because of all the testing and needing to write the review here. I'm starting to think it's worth doing an exchange on though rather than just a return. I dread having to wait another week but surely they would rush the replacement given the manufacturing defect involved. If everyone deems this as passing the 4:4:4 test I sincerely hope the replacement isn't damaged and that the panel is as "uniform" as this one is. I really wish this panel wasn't damaged but it is what it is.
 
Last edited:
Despite the row of bad pixels, i'm glad you have found something that, for all sake and purpose, really looks like it'll work, crossing my fingers that everything else pans out in your favor. To me it looks like it passed 4:4:4 on your most recent pics. Racer i imagine you have more testing to do, but i want to thank you for taking the time to post all of your research, with pics and everything, and we welcome any follow-up info you can provide, especially stuff like refresh/blurring/input lag perception etc etc. But we'll let you settle in first before we hold your feet to the fire :D.

That's a nice panel, 5000:1 static contrast etc etc, here are more panel specs. I'm also glad it isn't that Edge-lit silliness. The Dynex DX-32L230A12 may be a new budget contender in the $250-$350 price category. BestBuy.com still has it for $250 btw.


Edit: Try out the Text test here when you get a chance. Mouse over to the top of the screen to make the menu appear, then click the "TEXT" link to the right side of the menu. The slider bars will allow you to adjust the colors.

Edit #2: i didn't see if it was mentioned, but does the Dynex have a separate backlight control? If so then it's icing on the cake.
 
Last edited:
To me it looks like it passed 4:4:4 on your most recent pics.

Well there's one vote of confidence.


Racer i imagine you have more testing to do, but i want to thank you for taking the time to post all of your research, with pics and everything, and we welcome any follow-up info you can provide, especially stuff like refresh/blurring/input lag perception etc etc. But we'll let you settle in first before we hold your feet to the fire :D.

Yea there is a lot more I would like to toy around with but, I may wait until after I take this one back at some point tomorrow and the replacement arrives. I've jotted down my rough settings so that I can quickly mess with the replacement. I will go ahead and mess around in WoW here in a bit and see what that looks like. I don't play the FPS (first person shooter) stuff so I won't be able to comment on that which I'm sure will sadden several of you. Even if I were to borrow a copy of a FPS from a friend or relative, I would be so bad that I wouldn't be able to discern lag from lack of skill. In fact everyone I know is terrible at the FPS genre so, I doubt I will have anything to offer in that subject.

I do happen to have a CRT monitor lying around from a PC I fixed for a relative and I also have the Samsung 930b lcd here as well. If I can find the lag data on them, I will run the tests and post the results. Hopefully this camera can capture it. I really need to go dig mine out of storage but, that is several counties over lol.


That's a nice panel, 5000:1 static contrast etc etc, here are more panel specs. I'm also glad it isn't that Edge-lit silliness.

Thank you for that link. I have the Rev D version. I am also glad it wasn't an edge lit LCD and it's been hell trying to find a CCFL set that is affordable and isn't full of suck.


The Dynex DX-32L230A12 may be a new budget contender in the $250-$350 price category. BestBuy.com still has it for $250 btw.[/url]

I wonder if it was a glitch on their site earlier. Both the Dynex site and Best Buy's site had it back at full price earlier. Glad to hear it's still on sale though. Hopefully I can get enough of the other tests done before I take this back. I really need to get it back ASAP though to avoid any potential hassle over the screen defect. If all goes well, this certainly has a chance at becoming an additional "go to" set provided it's on sale as the regular price is way to close to the LG 32LK450.


Edit: Try out the Text test here when you get a chance. Mouse over to the top of the screen to make the menu appear, then click the "TEXT" link to the right side of the menu. The slider bars will allow you to adjust the colors.

I messed around it with for a few minutes prior to making this reply. None of the single pixel text looked like it had any bleed or sub-pixels issues except for the magenta. If there is a specific colour combination anyone would like me to look at, just provide me with the colour codes and I will take a look and snap some pictures.


Edit #2: i didn't see if it was mentioned, but does the Dynex have a separate backlight control? If so then it's icing on the cake.

I mentioned it briefly but, it was mixed in various parts of the "quick" review I did. I really should have given it it's own category and I will go do that now. For the sake of clarity, yes this set does have a separate backlight control. You can change it over the VGA and HDMI inputs. It can also be changed in the Component (R/B/Y) input as well but you have to go into the "Picture" menu, then into the Advanced Video" sub-menu, then into the "Advanced Contrast" sub-menu and turn off the "Adaptive Contrast" and the "Dynamic Contrast Ratio". HOORAY for being able to disable processing features I hate!!!1 You can also do that with the Composite (crappy single RCA cable connection) input as well as the Coaxial (antenna) input.

You can turn off the overscan feature on every input except the Composite (crappy single RCA cable connection) input. You also can't turn it off on VGA as that option is locked out but it does 1:1 pixel mapping over the VGA input anyway.

So far the only major settings locked out are the ones for Colour (saturation), Tint, and Sharpness over the VGA input and the DVI to HDMI input. I'm getting ready to test the HDMI to HDMI connection to make sure nothing usefull is locked out via that type of input.
 
Forgot I had taken some pictures of some of the reference images Thepoohcontinuum provided in his 4:4:4 thread over at AVS. I should also point out I currently have all clearfont options disabled from my experiments with the Orion/Toshiba 34HF85 and the iSymphony LC32iF90 as it made them look terrible. I may turn it on at a later point but I don;t currently feel like having to go back through the registry to turn it all off should it have an adverse affect.

  • Test 2: CNN Home Page (reference image: link)
    • White text on red background - result
    • Black text on white background - result

My white text on red background result:

2012-02-12202926-1.jpg



My black text on white background result (ignore the progressive scan "roll" and the white discolouration from the camera):

2012-02-12203430-1.jpg



  • Test 3: Chowhound Home Page (reference image: link)
    • Black text on yellow background - result
    • Bolded red text on white background - result
    • Regular red text on white background - result

My black text on yellow background result:

2012-02-12205713-1.jpg



My bolded red text on white background result (it's actually a grey background not white):

2012-02-12205830-1.jpg



My regular red text on white background result (ignore the white discolouration from the camera):

2012-02-12210112-1.jpg



  • Test 4: Hardforums Forum Page (reference image: link)
    • Text graphic (White text w/ black shadow on orange background) - result
    • Underlined bold orange text on dark gray background - result
    • Underlined regular orange text on dark gray background - result

My text graphic (White text w/ black shadow on orange background) result:

2012-02-12203610-1.jpg



My underlined bold orange text on dark gray background result (text wash out is from the camera & out of focus):

2012-02-12203829-1.jpg



My underlined regular orange text on dark gray background result (text wash out is from the camera & out of focus):

2012-02-12204715-1.jpg




I also managed to get these pictures of the Belle-nuit test. I can't tell if it was a good focus on the pixels or a motion blur. I'm guessing it's motion blur as a "rope" pattern seems rather odd. Figured I would share them anyway though:

2012-02-12195007-1.jpg


2012-02-12194638-1.jpg


2012-02-12200438-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Very impressive work, Racer_J. As far as I'm concerned, based on all your excellent photographic proof, I would say the Dynex successfully renders 4:4:4. Specifically, red pixels aren't "smudged" on the belle-nuit and bspvette tests, and there's very little (if any?) text fringing on those website tests. Awesome find :)

It's odd how the Color, Tint, and Sharpness settings are locked out though. But for PC monitor use, I guess its no big deal since you can adjust these via driver/video settings.

As for input lag, I am **assuming** its pretty low (less than 2 frames). I have yet to find a barebones tv like this Dynex to have high input lag.

Two things I like you to double check for me...

1) Can you see if there's any text fringing with the "Test 1 - Light-blue text on black background" test? For me, there was some serious fringing when viewed on non-4:4:4.
2) Using the CNN "Politics" test, can you look to the left or right of it and see if you can make out the borders? From my "politics" test result, the block border completely disappears on a non-4:4:4 TV.

I have high confidence the Dynex will pass these, but just want to make sure :)
 
Very impressive work, Racer_J. As far as I'm concerned, based on all your excellent photographic proof, I would say the Dynex successfully renders 4:4:4. Specifically, red pixels aren't "smudged" on the belle-nuit and bspvette tests, and there's very little (if any?) text fringing on those website tests. Awesome find :)

There's another vote of confidence.


It's odd how the Color, Tint, and Sharpness settings are locked out though. But for PC monitor use, I guess its no big deal since you can adjust these via driver/video settings.

The colour isn't any big deal as I can drop out the "digital vibrance" setting in the Nvidia control panel. I just try to avoid it as I have to enable it's colour options and the contrast/brightness/gamma settings can be hell to fix and undo. That however would also allow for hue changes and actual white balancing should it need to be done. Honestly though, I don't currently consider this "oversaturated" like I typically do. I wouldn't say it's "perfect" considering how I usually setup my displays but, I wouldn't need to bleed out near as much colour as I usually would.

I'm guessing this is a result of using pretty much an identical EDID for VGA and DVI to HDMI connections but, I don't really know. It's a little dissapointing though as even the iSymphony would allow for those adjustments over DVI to HDMI. To be fair though it's EDID was a hawt mess and that set was beyond flawed. I doubt it will make a difference but, I can actually plug my dual-link male DVI to male DVI cable to female DVI to Male HDMI adapter into the Dynex to see if it unlocks those settings.


As for input lag, I am **assuming** its pretty low (less than 2 frames). I have yet to find a barebones tv like this Dynex to have high input lag.

I can't imagine it being much higher than that either given how well this set is working overall. Anything can happen though so I'll try to get the lag testing done before I take this back tomorrow.


1) Can you see if there's any text fringing with the "Test 1 - Light-blue text on black background" test? For me, there was some serious fringing when viewed on non-4:4:4.

I actually ran this test image but the damn camera just refuses to focus correctly. I keep forgetting to grab a cheap glass/loupe when I am out. The camera I have been using is currently unavailable but I'll try to get a shot of this image in the morning. My eyes are fairly worn out since it's past midnight but, going by the naked eye it could be sharper. That having been said, there is a distinct separation between letters and the "holes" in the letters "a/A", "b/B", "D", "e", "o/O", "p/P", the numbers "4", "6", "8", "9", "0", and the "%" mark are well defined. That is also true for all the font colours on that test image. That should give you at least some information to form an opinion with until I can get a picture taken that is in focus.


2) Using the CNN "Politics" test, can you look to the left or right of it and see if you can make out the borders? From my "politics" test result, the block border completely disappears on a non-4:4:4 TV.

Yes, I see the border assuming we're talking about the same thing. If I had caught that very subtle looking difference on the test result you posted, I wouldn't have cropped my result as much as I did. I was wondering why you included a screen cap in between the white words on the red background. I guess I skipped the last sentence in the description you included. Anyway, here is my result that isn't cropped as much as the one in my previous post to make sure:

2012-02-12202926-2.jpg
 
Just wanted to do an update real fast about an HDMI to HDMI connection via a Phillips DVP3982. I had it set to auto on its resolution settings and it sent a 1920x1080 signal to the TV. No idea why as it should have sent a 720x480i signal. I want to stress that I believe this is an issue with the Phillips DVP3982 and not the Dynex set. I however have no other hardware to test a HDMI to HDMI connection on to see if it auto-senses the actual resolution of the DVD being played. This is probably something most of you aren't going to care about though. Anyway the image quality was a little better in some respects than my Pioneer DV-250. After setting the Phillips DVP3982 to 480p, it got rid of some "artifacts/fuzziness" that Transformers III had when it was sending a 1920x1080 signal. All in all it had about the same results with the black levels, colours, etc. as the Pioneer DV-250 via Component (R/B/Y) signal. The HDMI connection was better to some extent but, in the end it's still a SD (480) DVD and there is only so much i can do on a 1920x1080 screen.

None of the Picture menu was locked out except for the backlighting adjustment. However that was fixed by going into the "Picture" menu, then into the Advanced Video" sub-menu, then into the "Advanced Contrast" sub-menu and turning off the "Adaptive Contrast" and the "Dynamic Contrast Ratio".

You can also turn off the overscan but, I would have thought that would have been disabled by default on a HDMI signal. Not really a big deal unless you despise overscan. If you don't you should lol.

Sadly during the course of this test I noticed some light bleed at the top about 2/5ths of the way towards the middle from the left. It was going to happen at some point though. It's noticeable on all of the inputs but, it's not to the effect of "holy crap look at that light" like the LC32iF90 was. There also may be some very, very feint light bleed in the top left corner. I also need to point out that this is only an issue when sitting away from the set at a distance beyond (a wild guess) of 5 feet. If you are sitting close to the set like you would a 22" to 24" monitor you can not notice it. You can also minimize it a bit by playing with the contrast/brightness/backlight but you can not get rid of it. It's a fairly small flaw considering everything this set is doing at the sale price of $249.99 though.
 
Just another quick update. I didn't see any lag in WoW but I was allegedly only running 32ms of latency through the internet connection and I wasn't in a 10 or 25 man raid. I grabbed a bunch of trash on the IQD (Isle of Quel'Danas) near the scar and then ran into FoS (Forge of Souls) and solo'd the first two NPCs. I have a ton of addons running and was spamming everything on my retadin (retribution paladin) including the AoE (area of effect) spells. To be fair, I should say I didn't notice any input lag. I'm unsure if I was experiencing any actual lag on the client side but, I don't think I was based on the attacks coming in and my health pool. Anyway nothing super fancy as I just wanted to do a quick test to have a general idea of the possibility of any discernible lag. I'll do a RBG (random battleground) in a bit and see what that looks like.
 
Had some lag in the RBGs I did but they were 40 man and that's to be expected with internet latency, addons and 80 people spamming every button they can. I'll try to get a proper lag test done before I return this but, no guarantees.

If only this screen hadn't been damaged. Luck of the draw I suppose.
 
Dynex DX-32L230A12 lag:

I used the Input Lag test posted by Rasmus Larsen here.

I want to stress that this is probably woefully inaccurate but I'm limited in capturing the image. The shutter speed on the camera on the phone is just not fast enough. However, the video recorder sort of is when you pause the playback. Again, I need to stress that I have absolutely no idea how accurate or reliable this is so please take it with a grain of salt. I also need to point out that the difference can vary quite a bit depending on when you hit the pause button. What is consistent though is that number is always higher on the CRT. As a result of this I'm not going to bother testing the Samsung 930b at this point in time.

That having been said, the CRT being used is a Dell M991 and I have no idea what it's lag actually is.

On average, the CRT is 00:00:00:050 higher than the DX-32L230A12.

00:02:58:533 vs 00:02:58:483


The lowest I have seen the gap is 00:00:00:033.

e.g. 00:02:57:933 vs 00:02:57:900


The highest I have seen the gap is 00:00:00:074

e.g. 00:03:03:157 vs 00:03:03:083


The thumbnail for the video clip shows the following:

00:02:54:683 vs 00:02:54:633

That's a difference of only 00:00:00:050 which again is by far the most common result from pausing the playback.


What have we learned from this? Beats the hell out of me as there is clearly a margin of error involved and I don't know that I would consider this reliable. For what it's worth (which is probably nothing lol) the average difference between the two monitors was also 00:050 using the input lag tests over at the Lagom LCD monitor test page.

e.g. 16:846 s [50] vs 16:794 s [47]


On a semi-related note, the text, icons, etc are horrible in cloned mode. Horrible is probably an understatement so I am unhooking the CRT. I don't know that I will be able to do this test properly as my camera is still in storage and I'm not going to be able to get anytime soon.

Now this next bit will probably sound a bit snobbish but, I will only provide the video clips to SJetski71 and Thepoohcontinuum as they are the only ones that would even be able to offer any sort of "verdict" on this being anything more than anecdotal evidence. However, here are some screen shots of the video playback for the hell of it:

000258833vs000258783.png


10583s34vs10552s33.png
 
1) Can you see if there's any text fringing with the "Test 1 - Light-blue text on black background" test? For me, there was some serious fringing when viewed on non-4:4:4.

I actually ran this test image but the damn camera just refuses to focus correctly. I keep forgetting to grab a cheap glass/loupe when I am out. The camera I have been using is currently unavailable but I'll try to get a shot of this image in the morning. My eyes are fairly worn out since it's past midnight but, going by the naked eye it could be sharper. That having been said, there is a distinct separation between letters and the "holes" in the letters "a/A", "b/B", "D", "e", "o/O", "p/P", the numbers "4", "6", "8", "9", "0", and the "%" mark are well defined. That is also true for all the font colours on that test image. That should give you at least some information to form an opinion with until I can get a picture taken that is in focus.

Just wanted to do an update for this particular question. The picture is a tad blurry but it is just hell to capture this image on camera. Looks like it's a pass but I could be wrong.

2012-02-13061038-1.jpg



It's really a lot sharper than that. Here is the uncropped version (click to enlarge):

 
Just in case anyone was curious what I mean by jacked up pixels I took some pictures. Ignore the dark circle in the first image. It's nothing more than the higher contrast ratio at eye level that's been "enhanced/exacerbated" by the camera. It's something that actually exists but it's no where near that level and the camera grossly exaggerated it. This is also a different camera that's much crappier than the one I have been using but, it served the purpose of showing the defect. There is maybe one dead pixel in that line as almost all of it changes colour depending on the colour of the background image. Also if you run the mouse cursor under the right half of the line, you can see part of the cursor in the line. I'm assuming the panel has some type of "tear" in it.

02132012065.jpg


02132012067.jpg


02132012066.jpg




*EDIT* I keep forgetting to mention this TV puts out almost no heat at all. Granted, the room is pretty cold as the CPU is running at 22 C on air at idle right now but this TV is running cool. I'm guessing it's all the venting in the back but it's nice to not feel anything coming off of it as the LC32iF90 put out some heat. If you put your hands near the screen of the DX-32L230A12, you can feel some warmth but you can't feel any at the back of its case.
 
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I just found something awesome over here. The service menu is full of options and is reached by pressing the following on the remote control:

Input, 2, 5, 8, 0

This allows you to turn the aging mode on/off (leave this alone as Google shows it will "break" the TV as it will get stuck in this mode)

You can adjust the following colour settings for each input:

Colour Temp.Source (VGA/DVI, VGA/DVI, YPBPR,ATV/CVBS/SV)
Color Mode (normal, warm, cool)
Gain Red (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)
Gain Green (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)
Gain Blue (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)
Offset Red (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)
Offset Green (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)
Offset Blue (-30 to +30 on VGA/DVI) (0-255 on the rest)


You can change the following video quality settings:

Picture mode (Standard, Energy Saving, Custom, Vivid)
Brightness (0-110)
Contrast (0-100)
Sharpness (oh hell yes screw your menu lockout) (0-100)
Colour (numbers don't change and this will scare you as it turns the screen green)
Adaptive contrast (on/off)
Dynamic Contrast (on/off)
Colour Mode (Normal, warm, cool)
Noise Reduction (on/off)
Backlight (105-255)


You can change the following sound quality settings:

Sound Mode (custom, standard, news, music, movie, then there is a blank setting)
Bass (0-100)
Treble (0-100)


Video Curve Setting:

Input source (this is set to whatever the source was when you entered the service menu)

  • Contrast
    OSD_0 (0-255)
    OSD_25 (0-255)
    OSD_50 (0-255)
    OSD_75 (0-255)
    OSD_100 (0-255)
  • Brightness
    OSD_0 (0-255)
    OSD_25 (0-255)
    OSD_50 (0-255)
    OSD_75 (0-255)
    OSD_100 (0-255)
  • Colour
    OSD_0 (0-255)
    OSD_25 (0-255)
    OSD_50 (0-255)
    OSD_75 (0-255)
    OSD_100 (0-255)
  • Sharpness
    OSD_0 (0-63)
    OSD_25 (0-63)
    OSD_50 (0-63)
    OSD_75 (0-63)
    OSD_100 (0-63)


Sound Curve Setting:

Curve Setting (HDMI volume, TruBass,Treble, DTV Volume, ATV Volume, AV Volume)
OSD_0 (0-100)
OSD_25 (0-100)
OSD_50 (0-100)
OSD_75 (0-100)
OSD_100 (0-100)


Other Setting:

EPROM Init
Power ON Mode (Memory, Off, On)
Backlight Max (0-255)
Backlight Min (0-255)
Logo Select (Black, Logo1, Logo2, Logo3)
SSC Setting:
  • MIU SSC Enable (on/off)
  • MIU SSC Span KHz (this took way to long to scroll through)
  • MIU SSC Step % (this took way to long to scroll through)
  • ODCLK SSC Enable (on/off)
  • ODCLK SSC SPan KHz (this took way to long to scroll through)
  • ODCLK SSC Step % (this took way to long to scroll through)
VGA ISP (on/off)
Store Setting Init
Gamma Select (0, 1, 2)
This sub-menu also tells you the following information:
Software Build (09/26/11/16:15:3)
Panel Info (AUO32_T315XW04VD)
Tuner Info (Panasonic)
DDR Info (Samsung)
Model Information (LC32MS63-04)
White Balance Info (OK)

Fac.Channel Preset:

SW Upgrade:

Shipment:


Absolutely incredible. I would have never imagined that this set would have so many settings in it. BTW, my pixels are in a rope pattern. I can make them out in the "bspvette86" test image with my naked eye. Well at least they are a rope pattern in the test images. Looking at white text on the black and grey backgrounds here makes the pixels look like ^ but, it may be a rope. My eyes have crazy focus today. Wish the camera did lol.
 
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Racer_J, I hope you're not skipping work just so you can grace us with all your TV testing :p

Your input lag results are surprising. ~32-74ms (2-5 frames) is unusually high for a cheapo TV like this. Did you run your lag test at 1080p/60 resolution? And is all the post-processing junk turned off? Also, I don't know if I read this wrong, but your WoW experience does not matter when it comes to calculating TV input lag. Any lag in WoW is part of internet latency and computer processing latency -- which is not a factor for TV input lag.

As for those two additional 4:4:4 website test results... they look good to me.

And nice find on the secret service menu (why the hell would Dynex lock these away? grr). When taking those extra user adjustable settings into account, looks like this Dynex might be better than the VR-3225. Granted, it doesn't use a *Samsung* A-MVA panel, but its still the same A-MVA technology. Lets just hope Dynex reliability is something that can be trusted.
 
Your input lag results are surprising. ~32-74ms (2-5 frames) is unusually high for a cheapo TV like this. Did you run your lag test at 1080p/60 resolution? And is all the post-processing junk turned off?

The DX-32L230A12 was at 1920x1080p/59 Hz during the testing. However, the Dell M991 wasn't and forcing an older monitor to a resolution it doesn't support is a bit out of my comfort zone as I am used to manipulating XP Pro and not W7. I've also never tested lag before so any specifics on how to force the M991 into that resolution on W7 would be welcome.

All of the post-processing was turned off on the DX-32L230A12 as you are able to do that via the regular TV menu and I always disable everything that I possibly can. By default, you are unable to use Noise Reduction, Adaptive Contrast, and Dynamic Contrast Ratio via the DVI to HDMI signal. Overscan is also turned off. I haven't changed anything in the service menu but, I didn't see any kind of "processing" in there that couldn't be turned off or that wasn't already disabled under the regular TV menu. There may be another issue at play here though because, the PQ went down drastically as soon as I switched to clone mode and there was no way it was still running 4:4:4. The difference was drastic and I'm unsure if renaming the input channel would have any affect on lag. For the sake of clarity, I can rename it to the following:

HDMI1, Antenna, Cable, Satellite, DTV, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, XBOX, Wii, PS3, Gamre Computer, VCR, DV, or a custom name up to 10 characters long.

I also didn't change the CRT to the primary monitor to make sure there wasn't a difference in lag as a result of which output was primary. I suspect that shooting the video footage and pausing it's playback to get the differences my be falsely inflating the lag as I did see it as low as 30ms a few times. Even if someone else were to try and mimic this, they would be using a piece of hardware that is already capable of capturing a proper still image due to their shutter speed. Granted, it's easy to sit here and blame the way I captured the image but it's also not the tried and true way of running the test so the results are far from definitive in my opinion. I'm not even sure if my old Olympus SP-310 would be able to grab the proper still image but it should given that it has
full Auto, Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual main exposure modes. Shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds, with a maximum eight-minute bulb option available as well. In addition to the available shutter speed and aperture settings, the user can also adjust Exposure Compensation (to lighten or darken the image), ISO (the camera's sensitivity to light), White Balance (to adjust the color), a white balance adjustment tool, Metering (to read light from the whole frame or just the center), and Flash modes.

It's still buried out in storage though and I've no idea when I will be able to grab it.


Also, I don't know if I read this wrong, but your WoW experience does not matter when it comes to calculating TV input lag. Any lag in WoW is part of internet latency and computer processing latency -- which is not a factor for TV input lag.

I sort of had a hunch that was going to be the case but, I keep reading about input lag resulting in the loss of 1-2 frames being acceptable, 2-3 being borderline, and 3-4 being bad. This was almost always in the context of a FPS (first person shooter) which would also rely on internet and processing latency. My Orion/Toshiba 34HR85 is a CRT so I've never really had to be interested in the issue of lag as it pertains to a TV set. I've no idea what the lag on that set is though.


As for those two additional 4:4:4 website test results... they look good to me.

That's great to hear. I figured they were good but this is all fairly new territory for me.


And nice find on the secret service menu (why the hell would Dynex lock these away? grr). When taking those extra user adjustable settings into account, looks like this Dynex might be better than the VR-3225. Granted, it doesn't use a *Samsung* A-MVA panel, but its still the same A-MVA technology. Lets just hope Dynex reliability is something that can be trusted.

I'm not sure why they would be locked. Well I'm not sure why the basic settings like the in depth colour settings wouldn't be available in the normal TV menu. To be fair, your average user can mess up their set rather quickly but colour balance should be a pretty standard feature these days. Some of the stuff being locked out over the DVI to HDMI signal makes no sense but, it looks like that signal is somewhat piggybacking off the available options for VGA for some reason. I've no idea why though given how closely related DVI is to HDMI but it is what it is. At least there is a plethora of options available to the more "advanced" users/owners.

As far as reliability goes, that remains to be seen. Unless I am mistaken, this is one of Best Buy's house brands so I can't imagine they wouldn't stand behind it. Standing behind something and product longevity/reliability are two different things though and only time will tell. I am still a bit shocked by everything this set has/is capable of. It's starting to look like the last missing puzzle piece is going to be the actual input lag results.
 
Your input lag results are surprising. ~32-74ms (2-5 frames) is unusually high for a cheapo TV like this. Did you run your lag test at 1080p/60 resolution? And is all the post-processing junk turned off?

The DX-32L230A12 was at 1920x1080p/59 Hz during the testing. However, the Dell M991 wasn't and forcing an older monitor to a resolution it doesn't support is a bit out of my comfort zone as I am used to manipulating XP Pro and not W7. I've also never tested lag before so any specifics on how to force the M991 into that resolution on W7 would be welcome.The DX-32L230A12 was at 1920x1080p/59 Hz during the testing. However, the Dell M991 wasn't and forcing an older monitor to a resolution it doesn't support is a bit out of my comfort zone as I am used to manipulating XP Pro and not W7. I've also never tested lag before so any specifics on how to force the M991 into that resolution on W7 would be welcome.

Wow I must have been tired as hell last night. No wonder the resolution looks so bad cloned. It's running in 1600x900. That is the highest widescreen resolution W7 or Nvidia control panel will allow me to choose. The next resolution up is 1600x1024.

That being said (and I'm flabbergasted by this) my crappy 2 MP camera on my phone is able to capture the still image from the lag test. The difference at a resolution of 1600x900p is 33 ms. there are times when they are a dead match. sometimes they are around 10 ms apart, sometimes 40-50 ms apart. On average though, they are usually under 30 ms apart. I'll get the images uploaded and posted in a few minutes.

I'm all ears about how to force the displays to 1920x1080 cloned though.
 
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