List of LCDs with/without "grid-induced color distortion/streaking

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xIps

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Some LCD panels suffer from artifacts induced by a checkerboard or grid pattern that alternates every pixel.

This thread is about either or both of (photos/videos below):
* Static color changes on the grid area.
* Horizontal streaking all the way from the grid to the edges of the screen.

The amount of color distortion in the grid and streaks depends on how much "grid pattern" is present in each pixel row.

This thread is not about flicker on the grid while it's moved or while stationary, though it is possible the root cause is related (voltage inversion between pixels, see more details on Techmind and Lagom).

Following are lists of monitors/panels that are reported to exhibit, or not, these artifacts. The lists include desktop monitors, laptop monitors, and TVs.

ARTIFACTS PRESENT

Code: 
[b]MONITOR                             PANEL YEAR, TYPE, MANUFACTURER, MODEL, REFERENCE[/b]

Asus PG278Q 27"                     2014? TN           AUO M270Q002.0   [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041293024#post1041293024]cybereality[/url]
Asus Zenbook UX32VD 13.3"           2011  AAS (~IPS)   CMI N133HSE-EA1 / CMN1343 
BenQ BL3200PT 32"                   2013  AMVA         AUO M320DVN01.0
BenQ BL3201PT 32" 4K                2014  AHVA (~IPS)  AUO M320QAN01.0  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041314966#post1041314966]=)(=[/url]
BenQ EW2750ZL 27"                   2014  AMVA+        AUO M270HVN02.3  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042075910#post1042075910]Daniel_Chang[/url]
BenQ V2210 22"                      ?     TN           ?                [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042066138#post1042066138]Mr Evil[/url]
BenQ XL2720Z 27"                    2013  TN           AUO M270HTN01.0
Dell 3008WFP 30"                    2009  H-IPS        LG LM300WQ5-STA1 [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042068791#post1042068791]munkle[/url]
Iiyama XB2483HSU 24"                2013  AMVA         AUO M240HVN02.1  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1844919#post1041294013]igluk[/url]
Monoprice 12520 (MPLE27QPM-R2) 27"  2014? AHVA?        AUO? (might be LG AH-IPS) [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042067126#post1042067126]Daniel_Chang[/url]
Philips BDM4065UC 40" 4K            2014? VA           TPV TPT400LA-K1QS1.N Rev SC1A?
Seiki SE39UY04 39" 4K               ?     VA?          ?                [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042069359#post1042069359]munkle[/url]
Sony 50W705B 50"                    2013? VA           AUO T500HVF04-2
Sony 50W805B 50"                    2013? VA           AUO T500HVF04-0  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041292535#post1041294276]TheManko[/url]
Sony 50W800C 50"                    2014? VA           ?                [url=http://www.rtings.com/reviews/tv/lcd-led/sony/w800c]rtings[/url]
Sony 55W805B 55"                    2013? VA           AUO T550HVF05-0
Viewsonic VX922 19"                 2006  TN           AUO M190EN04

ARTIFACT FREE

Code: 
[b]MONITOR                      PANEL YEAR, TYPE, MANUFACTURER, MODEL, REFERENCE[/b]

AOC LM729 17"                2002  TN     AUO M170ES05.V1   [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041294258#post1041294258]igluk[/url]
Apple Cinema A1316 27"       2010  H-IPS  LG LM270WQ1-SDB1  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042067126#post1042067126]Daniel_Chang[/url]
Asus K55A 15.6"              2011  TN     Sam LTN156AT24-P01 / SEC324A
Asus VH222H 22"              ?     TN     ?                 [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042066138#post1042066138]Mr Evil[/url]
Dell P2414H 24"              2013  AH-IPS LG LM238WF1-SLA3  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041705508#post1041705508]Kreon[/url]
Dell U2412M 24"              2011  IPS    LG LM240WU8-SLA2  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041293064#post1041293064]MrMike[/url]
Dell U3011 30"               2010  H-IPS  LG LM300WQ5-SDA1? [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041377364#post1041377364]imyourzero[/url]
HP 25xw 25"                  2014? AH-IPS? LG? LM250WF*?    [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042070882#post1042070882]Daniel_Chang[/url]
HP ZR2740w 27"               2011  H-IPS  LG LM270WQ1-SDDA  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042066138#post1042066138]Mr Evil[/url]
Innolux panel 5.6"           2009  TN     Innolux AT056TN52 V.3  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042066138#post1042066138]Mr Evil[/url]
LG 34UM95 34"                2013  AH-IPS LG LM340UW1-SSA1  [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1041293064#post1041293064]MrMike[/url]
LG L17NT-A / L1732TQ-SF 17"  2004  TN     CPT CLAA170EA-07Q
Samsung S27B550V 27"         ?     TN     ?                 [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042077079#post1042077079]Daniel_Chang[/url]
Samsung U32E850R 32"         ?     PLS    ?                 [url=http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1042066138#post1042066138]Mr Evil[/url]
Sony 42W654A 42"             2013  VA     AUO 420HVF04-0

--- Original message ---

Hey everyone. I'm getting strange visual bugs on a Sony W705B TV even when all image processing/enhancement features are disabled. Can anyone with a 2014 Sony model check if it happens for them as well?

Here's one manifestation. I'm getting this shown:


While the actual image is this:

1920x1080 test image. Click and view at 100% size for testing.

The above shot was taken with the latest firmware version, in "Game-Original" picture mode, all image processing disabled. It happens to a varying degree in other modes as well, depending on the settings.

Videos of the problem as it changes dynamically:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ca6aa
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c8yh7
 
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I don't know what's going on but that second image jacks up my Asus Rog Swift. There are lines that extend past the browser window boundary. It doesn't make sense how that is possible.

strange_lines.jpg
 
cybereality said:
I don't know what's going on but that second image jacks up my Asus Rog Swift. There are lines that extend past the browser window boundary. It doesn't make sense how that is possible.

http://cybereality.com/images/strange_lines.jpg
Click to expand...

Some VA and TN panels have issues with patterns like that or this. There was a lot of discussion about patterns like this in the BL3200PT thread.

I tested a 34UM95 and a U2412M, neither have this behavior. BL3200PT and it's sister monitors do as does a much older 19" Sony VA.
 
cybereality said:
I don't know what's going on but that second image jacks up my Asus Rog Swift. There are lines that extend past the browser window boundary. It doesn't make sense how that is possible.
Click to expand...

Now that's unexpected. A similar problem on another monitor, and a computer monitor at that. If you have different "graphics modes" available on the monitor, does it happen on all of them?

What happens if you move/resize a Notepad window on the magenta grid area? Does it distort the colors horizontally to a varying degree depending on the width of the window, like in the first video above?

And last, this white grid, does it look white or colored when viewed at 100%?

MrMike said:
Some VA and TN panels have issues with patterns like that
Click to expand...
The thing is, with different settings on the TV the problem is not as bad. It looks like some sort of content-aware image processing that's stuck enabled. I didn't have this problem on a very similar Sony model from 2013, and I have one unconfirmed report from a very similar 2014 model, with almost the same panel, that does not show the problem.

MrMike said:
There was a lot of discussion about patterns like this in the BL3200PT thread.
Click to expand...
I found a few posts, but not many details. Was there any conclusion on what the source of the problem is?
 
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MrMike said:
Some VA and TN panels have issues with patterns like that or this. There was a lot of discussion about patterns like this in the BL3200PT thread.

I tested a 34UM95 and a U2412M, neither have this behavior. BL3200PT and it's sister monitors do as does a much older 19" Sony VA.
Click to expand...

yeah, same on 24'' VA
never encountered outside these test images so I wouldnt worry

out of curiosity I also tried that image on some ancient and slow TN with CCFL..its even crazier
there is motion in it even when not moving..like thousands of worms wriggling around..also strong black flicker inside window when moved. but nothing outside there.
 
shae said:
The flicker while the image is static might be due to inversion: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

This isn't a problem on the above monitor, at least not with the patterns I've tried.
Click to expand...

yes that is certainly it.
the monitor was not in use anymore, I just quickly plugged it in via VGA, didnt set any clock/phase and looked at the image
should not happen if screen is connected via DP/DVI like it is standard nowadays.
 
It happens in pure digital as well. What the description at the top mentions, probably, is that before checking the inversion patterns you need to adjust these things if you're using an analog connection.
 
cybereality said:
I don't know what's going on but that second image jacks up my Asus Rog Swift. There are lines that extend past the browser window boundary. It doesn't make sense how that is possible.
Click to expand...

It see the same thing on my display when I open the second image.
 
Interestingly, on that Philips the magenta still looks magenta, right? Here the magenta becomes slightly brown (except the areas beside the white window). When you view this white checkerboard, what color does it look?

Any idea what panel that Philips uses?
 
I have a Sony 55" W805 and I get that effect too, but only if I maximize the image in the browser. If I let the browser scale it the artifact doesn't happen, and if I maximize it, without changing the size of the browser window, it flips out. Bizarre.
 
igluk said:
the box light grey here, with no color hues
Click to expand...
I think no color tinting because of the pattern. This white-black grid might show as green.

BTW, what's your TN that does not show the problem? (Beyond the unpleasant, yet common, pixel inversion issue on grids in motion.)

TheManko said:
I have a Sony 55" W805 and I get that effect too, but only if I maximize the image in the browser.
Click to expand...
Is that a W805B (2014 model) or W805A (2013)? Can you confirm the panel is T500HVF04-0? (Start the TV by pressing on the remote: I+, 5, Vol-, Power. The panel model is near the bottom as "PNL:".)

The image needs to be at 100% scaling to have the each grid pixel 1 physical pixel.

So, how annoyed are you all by this? I would avoid the monitor I have if I knew in advance it suffers from this. Not sure what to do about it now.

Is it worth it to start making an organized list of monitors/panels that exhibit the problem? So far all the confirmed monitors that suffer from it use an AUO VA or TN panel. The confirmed ones that don't are some TNs, and LG IPSs.
 
shae said:
Is that a W805B (2014 model) or W805A (2013)? Can you confirm the panel is T500HVF04-0? (Start the TV by pressing on the remote: I+, 5, Vol-, Power. The panel model is near the bottom as "PNL:".)

So, how annoyed are you all by this?
Click to expand...

It's the 55W805B, panel type T550HVF05-0.

As for how annoying this is, I'm not sure it's something to worry about. I guess there's the possibility of running into real world material that would cause this to happen outside of that image. But I haven't encountered it.

It'd be good to know if you're doing the kind of work with the monitor where images like that appear. But as far as I can tell from my usage there's nothing that causes that effect to happen in any games, movies or photos. That said, I'm not ruling out it being a deal breaker for some.
 
TheManko said:
It's the 55W805B, panel type T550HVF05-0.

As for how annoying this is, I'm not sure it's something to worry about. I guess there's the possibility of running into real world material that would cause this to happen outside of that image. But I haven't encountered it.
Click to expand...

I also haven't encountered it and I hope I never will.
 
igluk said:
AOC LM729
Click to expand...
What panel does it use?

TheManko said:
It's the 55W805B, panel type T550HVF05-0.
Click to expand...
Oh, right. It's the 55" version.

So, would this problem be a factor you'd consider when buying a monitor?

One aspect that makes this problem more serious is that it affects the whole line and not just the triggering pattern. I can't know what I'll do on the monitor in the following years. Games, software, graphics work. I'm annoyed with just having this waiting to unleash if I display the wrong thing. Manufacturers should disclose it in the specs: "This monitor does not support displaying grid patterns."

So far I've found it adds a green tint to Age of Empires fog-of-war areas, and there's a slight horizontal color distortion when menus are open over it. But in AoE there's not much magenta, which is a worse trigger.
 
Thanks.

igluk said:
btw. this brownish discoloration of the magenta screen only appears to happen on the television...
it stays magenta on the ROG, Philips, and mine
Click to expand...

On the Asus, and especially the 4K Philips, maybe if the screen was filled with the pattern it would turn more brownish. On yours, what would you say the color difference is between the horizontal streaks and the same pattern above/below?
 
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I looked at the image with my Benq BL3200, and it has the same effect, although much milder. It's the first time I noticed that the image is a pattern of every other pixel being black and magenta. No wonder that doesn't happen normally, as that is an unusual pattern. The only places I can imagine you'd run into black and magenta pixels is maybe some retro themed tumblr page. But they might have larger pixels than that, and then the phenomenon doesn't occur.
 
Doesn't have to be magenta, just an alternating pattern that is pixel sized. One "real" place I found it, but milder due to the colors involved, is Age of Empires (1, probably 2 as well).

It also happens on the 50" version of your TV: KDL-50W805B, with panel T500HVF04-0.

I would like to find out what exactly the trigger is, and why.
 
shae said:
So far I've found it adds a green tint to Age of Empires fog-of-war areas, and there's a slight horizontal color distortion when menus are open over it. But in AoE there's not much magenta, which is a worse trigger.
Click to expand...

Swj2DZA.jpg


AoE II HD.
 
AoE1 and 2 non-HD use a grid for the fog of war, I think AoE2 HD doesn't.
 
Don't post AoE. Find other games/things with grids so that we'd have a good reference list to check on these monitors. :)

In the 2nd shot you're not using 1:1 pixel mapping. For AoE1 you can use the AoE UPatch to set a custom resolution.

But on 4K monitors 1920x1080 content might be problem free because each pixel is mapped to a 2x2 grid. If you're using filtered upscaling, and not nearest neighbor, there's also some blur added which I think is even less likely to trigger the issue.
 
shae said:
Thanks.

On the Asus, and especially the 4K Philips, maybe if the screen was filled with the pattern it would turn more brownish. On yours, what would you say the color difference is between the horizontal streaks and the same pattern above/below?
Click to expand...

If I view this in fullscreen, it looks normal and I don't even have the horizontal streaks.
The streak only appears when in browser windowed mode, and it looks slightly brighter. Above and below the pattern extends outward of the window, thats all.

 
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Odd. You'd think that in full screen you'd still have the darkening above/below.

Interestingly, I think I can see in your photo that the streaks on the background image have a grid-like pattern, like here.
 
Hmm, on a BenQ BL3201PT with AHVA panel it behaves like this:

When I open the purple notepad image, it does go out of browser but only when I type something in the adress bar. If I just open the image and click to zoom, it will flash one time fast outside of the browser then dissapear and flicker only inside the browser windows when I move it around.

sMUD4Ju.jpg


When I do the green magenta test it will stay in the browser only and flicker when moved around. As you can see it has different color then it had on the Philips.

Benq:

NQEnSEW.jpg


Philips:

6RmXvX1.jpg
 
I don't understand how it could depend on what you do in the address bar. Maybe the colored selection bar in the dropdown?

Does the white-black checkerboard streak outside or appear green?

I've started in the first post a list of positive and negative panels.
 
shae said:
I don't understand how it could depend on what you do in the address bar. Maybe the colored selection bar in the dropdown?

Does the white-black checkerboard streak outside or appear green?
Click to expand...

I don't know how or why address bar affects it.

I tested your link and it does not appear green, it appears grayish.
I get similar effect as with the green magenta test. When I zoom it, if flashes outside of the browser one time fast, then it stays in the browser and flickers only inside browser when moved.
 
Here is another test image (click to zoom) (this image does not make artifacts on the Benq, it just flashes when I move it around):



I have also noticed that the "save as dialog"/explorer window on top of the notepad image causes it to go out of browser, on the Benq:

9CPRWjf.jpg


You can see the white line on the left top side.

It does it on the green magenta test too, if I open Windows explorer and drag the window towards the top on the green magenta page:

Fgk1v4m.jpg


Now look the white grid image:

4TDOFeE.jpg


When Explorer Windows is behind it, it is white/grey but when Explorer Windows is on top of the image, it appears green.
 
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Yeah, all the strange symptoms. The grid that changes between white and green depending on how it's covered is similar to what you see in the second video I posted.

The blue/red grid image you posted, I suspect it will flash while moved on any LCD.
 
FWIW, I'm using my Dell U3011 at work right now and it does not have these artifacts.

Also, a minor blunder in the first post is that the 34UM95 is a 34" monitor, not a 32".
 
so after the initial hype of VA's black levels we are now seeing the downsides of VA ?
or is this something else ?

more investigation is needed.

its one thing to have backlight glow on IPS but id rather that than have horrible old CRT TV bugs ( used to get that band on slightly out of tune TV's, wonder if its the modulation circuit ? )
 
imyourzero said:
FWIW, I'm using my Dell U3011 at work right now and it does not have these artifacts.

Also, a minor blunder in the first post is that the 34UM95 is a 34" monitor, not a 32".
Click to expand...
Thanks. And yes, the 34UM is not 32". :)

phill1978 said:
so after the initial hype of VA's black levels we are now seeing the downsides of VA ?
or is this something else ?
Click to expand...
It's not only VA. If anything, currently the most common attribute is the manufacturer being AUO. But there's not enough info to conclude anything yet.

The problem with VAs is the viewing angles. The blacks get worse with the slightest angle, at least on the 42" and 50" VAs I've spent some time with.

horrible old CRT TV bugs ( used to get that band on slightly out of tune TV's, wonder if its the modulation circuit ? )
Click to expand...
The horizontal ghosting you sometimes get on poor CRTs looks rather different, if that's what you mean.
 
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