LTM240M2 panel displays

S

SD45

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
164
I have decided to admit that I'm a collector and might as well be honest about it.

I have the NEC LCD2490WUXi-SV, which I reserve for photo editing. I mention that because it provides a benchmark. I've debated whether I want to use it for other stuff but after spending $1300, no.

I bought an HP LP2465 (Samsung LTM240M2 S-PVA panel) on Ebay cheap, and use it for Internet work. It's on all day long so I figure it will burn out sooner rather than later. It's been great but is a little too bright, which I figure will diminish over time.

I was sufficiently impressed that I snapped up another LTM240M2 panel, the Samsung 244t, when I saw it cheap. This one is in use daily for writing and math but not nearly the same hours as the Internet machine. I love the color and contrast but, let's face it, it's more dramatic and less accurate than the NEC 2490. It doesn't replace the 2490 because for some of the photo work I do, I need to be sure that the image is calibrated and accurate--especially the light and dark, because I am working with scanned black & white historical images.

Then this factory refurb NEC LCD2470WNX (also Samsung LTM240M2 panel) popped up at an unusually low price. I had a lot of trouble justifying it but bought it as a backup. It comes tomorrow. We'll see whether it will bump the 244t aside. The "loser," so to speak, becomes the backup.

Why a backup? (This is how I justified it to my significant other.) The Samsung LTM240M2 panel displays were real winners, apart from input lag which is not an issue for me. The new ones are disappearing fast--these are 2006-08. They're not IPS, and they're certainly not A-TW, but they are, IMHO, the next best thing. Meanwhile, the manufacturers seem to have decided upon the 16:9 aspect and wide gamut. I prefer 16:10 and see no advantage whatsoever in going to 16:9. Nikon cameras take a photo that has a 15:10 (3:2) ratio, which is close enough to 16:10 to allow the image to be stretched. The principal competing photographic alternative is the 4:3 ratio which would equal 16:12--so 16:9 is going the wrong way for me. And I am not interested in wide gamut, either.

Feel free to pat me on the head and say, that's nice. Maybe this will be useful information to someone. Apart from the NEC 2490, I have a total of $1050 invested.
 
Lagom: Don't know, haven't tried it. The reviews I have read indicate that black levels with these displays are deeper, and contrast ratios higher, than with IPS. My experience confirms that. The price, of course, is the black crush problem associated with S-PVA. My HP LP2465 has a little of that, the Samsung 244t has a bit more.
 
NEC LCD2470WNX availability: Tech for Less is regularly offering them on Ebay for about $550 and about the same (incl shipping) on their own site. I got mine from an individual seller with a good story. I've been watching Ebay and I haven't seen other offers.
 
Thanks for the link. I was there over the weekend but missed the refurb page.

Has anybody ever ordered from the NEC store? I wonder how they are to deal with. Since the linked monitor is a refurb if it were to come in and not be in decent shape what their return policy is.
 
$239 is a great price for an NEC factory refurb--better than the price I paid. Good find.
 
I ordered a 20wmgx2 during the sale and it came like new. If you read the thread under hotdeals about it everyone has nothing but good to say. If you have any problems they will gladly exchange or repair it.
 
An update: I got the NEC LCD2470WNX and compared it to both my LCD2490WUXI and Samsung 244t (same panel as the 2470). Each display was running its own profile, which in the case of the 2490 is supplied by a Spectraview calibration. The 2470 was so close to the 2490 that I could not tell them apart. I unplugged the 2490 and substituted the 244t so I could toggle between that and the 2470. The 244t is significantly more contrasty (even after lowering the contrast) and blacks are deeper, but next to the 2470 it's clear that the 2470 is more real. I love the 244t's images, but I am trading up. The little tinge of guilt somewhat resembles, hopefully on a smaller scale, what one would feel trading up in women. Since I cannot tell the 2470 and the 2490 apart, other than the former's horizontal gamma shift, hopefully this will be the end of the quest.
 
I'll add this: The NEC 2470 has a sharpening feature that improves text but makes images look oversharpened. I realized when experimenting with this that the sharpened images looked like those on the 244t. Perhaps the latter has some extra sharpening built in, and this is one of the reasons why it looks more contrasty?
 
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