NEC LCD2090UXI

F

freedumb87

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Apr 20, 2008
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What do y'all think about this monitor:
http://www.directron.com/lcd2090uxibk.html

It's an S-IPS panel that sells retail for ~$800 and directron is selling a refurb for $250. I did a search for this model on the forum and google but there was very little information. There was a lot more info on the 24 and 26 wide version. It is somewhat an older model with a release date of 2/18/2006 (according to http://www.prad.de/en/guide/screen2730.html). For the features, it seems like a nice deal.

Thanks
 
There might be a reason why they have refurbs for $250.00. Not to bash it, I havent seen any reviews of it. On the other hand for $250.00 it seems like a good deal! It might be worth giving it a shot and just Ebaying it if it's not that great.
 
I have the 2090uxi.. I don't game so I can't comment to how it does for gaming, but for photo and video editing it works great. I have mine calibrated via spectraview so color wise it's fine. However, I do not like the sparkly quality of this monitor. White backgrounds have excessive chroma noise-ish quality to it. Reading text, spreadsheet work is far far better on my ancient Dell PVA 2405fpw. Reading the Hardforums is fine because of the black background, but white background and the smallish dot pitch on this monitor gives me a headache.

Nearly all the the newer S-IPS panels have better AG coatings with less of that sparkly quality.
 
Do you know how sparkly it is compared to a Dell 2007wfp or one of the Apple Cinema Displays? I'm thinking about getting this NEC. I was a bit disappointed by the NEC 20WMGX2, because of major pixel-walk, but I like my Lacie 19" at work ( a rebranded NEC).
 
The biggest worry I'd have is that aside from DOA there're no returns, which could easly equate to getting a panel with a bunch of dead/stuck pixels. For that price though I'm strongly tempted to chance it though.

Edit: Like all multisync 90 series panels it has 2 frames of input lag.
 
I wouldn't mind a little bit of input lag, as I would be using it as a secondary monitor in portrait mode next to a 3007WFP. The input lag isn't as bad as the Dell 2405, right?. That one was annoying just using desktop applications.

If you get a bad panel, you can still deal with NEC for an exchange.
 
I don't know what the 2405 is, but assuming it's a PVA it's probably significantly worse than the multisync90's 2 frames (33ms)
 
If your looking for one of the best bargains going go over to the SOYO 24" monitor post. They sell these monitors at retail only at Office Max. If you can find one with a box that says 6ms on the outside it will be an older VA screen version. I just got one for $280.00 and it's truly awesome. The viewing angles and picture quality our on par with a much more expensive monitors. I had a doublesight 26" S-IPS monitor and now I'm selling it to keep the SOYO.
 
I just pulled the trigger for two of these. It's the setup I was originally hoping for before seeing how many issues the $500ish 20" IPS screens were having in reviews. Worst case, I should be able to recover my expenses flipping them on ebay if they have issues.


Shipping was $35 for both, so I'm actually under the price point for the doublesight and will be only slightly over it if I decide to upgrade to a calibrator in the future (short term will probably come down to how close they are to matching out of the box).

Will post back with results once they arrive. My current GPU only has one DVI port, which'll might end up pushing that upgrade from after my new build to before it.
 
Yeah I went ahead and ordered 2 as well. Shipping was only about 23 bucks and there was coupon code for 15 off so really only 10 bucks shipping. I may be taking a risk but it lists on the Directron's site to have a one year warranty through NEC.

For the person that mentioned the 24" Soyo, I already tried my local store and they are only selling at regular price and I didn't feel like trying to do the online order in case I got a TN panel. Hopefully this will work out ok. Good luck to the others who are buying as well (as long as I get my 2 :D)

Thanks
 
Got a call a minute ago from directron and the rep said the monitors are shipping from another warehouse and they will not get to Houston (Directron's facility) until May 2nd. He just wanted to make sure that I can wait that long. From there they will ship 1-2 day to my house. Just wanted to update anyone interested.
 
Directron's website still fails to give me a tracking number when I input my order number, but I found a notice on my door that UPS tried to deliver a pair of signature required items to my door today. I'll be working from home tomrorow and will see what shows up.
 
DanNeely said:
Directron's website still fails to give me a tracking number when I input my order number, but I found a notice on my door that UPS tried to deliver a pair of signature required items to my door today. I'll be working from home tomrorow and will see what shows up.
Click to expand...

Hmm, well that's interesting. I put my order in on Friday around midnight and got a call Monday that they were backordered as I said in my previous post. The guy that called said they would be shipping out of a California location instead of their normal Houston faciity. If you are on the west coast it is possible they shipped it straight to you from that other location. I also clarified with the rep on the phone that NEC does offer a one year replacement warranty on the displays. Goodluck, but I hope you didn't get the last 2 :(
 
freedumb87 said:
Yeah I went ahead and ordered 2 as well. Shipping was only about 23 bucks and there was coupon code for 15 off so really only 10 bucks shipping. I may be taking a risk but it lists on the Directron's site to have a one year warranty through NEC.

For the person that mentioned the 24" Soyo, I already tried my local store and they are only selling at regular price and I didn't feel like trying to do the online order in case I got a TN panel. Hopefully this will work out ok. Good luck to the others who are buying as well (as long as I get my 2 :D)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Despite what Directron's site says, NEC will warranty them for 90 days. You can find a lot of information about Directron and NEC refurbs in the thread dedicated to the NEC 20WMGX2. Check post # 368:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1287827&page=19
I'm torn between a pair of the gx2's and a pair of of these uxi's you're talking about. These would look better on either side of a 30" in portrait mode, but the gx2's would be great standalone or paired up on a workstation.
 
runner6m said:
Despite what Directron's site says, NEC will warranty them for 90 days. You can find a lot of information about Directron and NEC refurbs in the thread dedicated to the NEC 20WMGX2. Check post # 368:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1287827&page=19
I'm torn between a pair of the gx2's and a pair of of these uxi's you're talking about. These would look better on either side of a 30" in portrait mode, but the gx2's would be great standalone or paired up on a workstation.
Click to expand...

Well, that sucks about the warranty. I wonder why NEC allows Directron to list 1 year (maybe they are unaware). When I talked to the Directron rep, I did tell him that most sites list only 30-90 day warranty period for refurbs and he assured me that it was a year. I might shoot NEC an email (so I can get it in writing) and see what they say. If they verify that it is 90 days then I will send a copy to Directron to see what they have to say about it. Since I pointed it out to Directron and they still tell me it is a year, then I think they should be liable for the other 9 months.
 
runner6m said:
I'm torn between a pair of the gx2's and a pair of of these uxi's you're talking about. These would look better on either side of a 30" in portrait mode, but the gx2's would be great standalone or paired up on a workstation.
Click to expand...

I'd go for the 2090UXI. I am a bit dissapointed in my gx2. The 2090 probably has better quality control, as it is in the professional line of monitors. I wouldn't want a pair of glossy screens.
 
runner6m said:
Despite what Directron's site says, NEC will warranty them for 90 days. You can find a lot of information about Directron and NEC refurbs in the thread dedicated to the NEC 20WMGX2. Check post # 368:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1287827&page=19
I'm torn between a pair of the gx2's and a pair of of these uxi's you're talking about. These would look better on either side of a 30" in portrait mode, but the gx2's would be great standalone or paired up on a workstation.
Click to expand...

Emailed NEC about the warranty discrepancy and here is the response:

Dear xxxxxxx

New displays with 3 year warrantys converts to a refurbished 1 year warranty.
And New display with 1 year warrantys converts to a refurbished 90 day warranty.

If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us in the future.
Click to expand...


Well there you have it. Cut and dry.
 
Yelnats said:
I'd go for the 2090UXI. I am a bit dissapointed in my gx2. The 2090 probably has better quality control, as it is in the professional line of monitors. I wouldn't want a pair of glossy screens.
Click to expand...

I'll take that into consideration, thanks!

freedumb87 said:
Emailed NEC about the warranty discrepancy and here is the response:




Well there you have it. Cut and dry.
Click to expand...

It looks like, new, the gx2 had a three year warranty and the uxi a 4 year warranty.
Look at post 375 on the same page I quoted earlier. Maybe a problem with Directron not being an authorized reseller, so no warranty at all?
Maybe etech4sale is? http://etech4sale.com/NEC_Display_Solutions_REFURB_NEC/LCD2090UXI-BK-R/partinfo-id-421021.html
Let us know what you find out!
 
My monitors both arrived today. Directron's packaging left something to be desired. One monitor was in a fold over foam and cardvboard frame that wrapped it on all 4 sides. The second only had a pair of slide on foam inserts on the sides and top. The stand was left free to bulge the side of the box out by extending to within about an inch of maximum. Despite this it survived transit unharmed.

My other complaint is that they didn't ship with a DVI cables, instead only having power and 6' VGA cables in the box. My PC's on the outside of a large desk and the the provided cable isn't long enough to connect the 2nd at at all. None of my local stores have decent priced cables listed on their websites, so it looks like newegg's going to be getting some more of my money soon. They can overnight me two cables for half of what the local store would try and gouge me over a single cable.

Venting at directron aside the displays look great. I haven't done any dead/stuck pixel tests yet though.
 
DanNeely said:
My other complaint is that they didn't ship with a DVI cables, instead only having power and 6' VGA cables in the box.

Venting at directron aside the displays look great. I haven't done any dead/stuck pixel tests yet though.
Click to expand...

My other NEC refurb didn't come with a DVI cable, but I figured this one would, as it is a professional monitor... oh well.

Do any of the squares in this image flicker? http://lcdlagtester.googlepages.com/flickertest.gif
 
They do. Monitor 1 is flickering noticably the bottom right square. Monitor 2 (driven by laptop until I get longer cables) is noticably in the upper right, and barely in the upper left/lower right. Where can I find documentation about what this means, the main page only links to lag testers.

Am i right in assuming this is because I'm running over analog connections? At least until after my new PC build, one of the monitors will be analog because my current GPU only has a single DVI port.
 
Am i right in assuming this is because I'm running over analog connections?
Click to expand...
No.

Here is a page with more info:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

The image I linked is on a page of mine, I just made the image because the test at lagom.nl doesn't work with all monitors. The images on the right are the same, but offset by 1 pixel. NEC monitors seem to be effected by the images on the right.

My Dell wfp2007 flickers on either of the left two images, but not nearly as much as my NEC on the right two.
Do you have any other LCD monitors?

Would you mind testing this inversion test program I made? It gives more objective feedback on how bad the flicker is. You'll either need a camera, or you can adjust the numbers in the program.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032380981&postcount=337
 
not tonight, but I do have a few others I can play with. I have 3 laptops with LCDs (the two in my sig and a D620 for work). If the non camera version only takes a few minutes I might be able to run it on a 1905 at work. Cameras are banned in the building so that's not an option.
 
I'm not really interested in those specific monitors, as I haven't seen them.

The test should be run on the NEC2090uxi monitors. The test is simple. It tests the same property of the monitor that the image I posted did, but is more objective. You just adjust the saturation/brightness of a non-animated rectangular area to match the saturation of a animated area. The more saturated the color is, the worse the voltages are maladjusted. The default settings are what my monitor looks like.

If the voltage is set badly enough, you can see an animated patterns in areas of solid color. It bothers me with my NEC, and I am just wondering if these ones are as bad.
 
am I supposed to be trying to match the green, the purple, the gray, or something else entirely?
 
DanNeely said:
am I supposed to be trying to match the green, the purple, the gray, or something else entirely?
Click to expand...

hmm... it may not be working because your monitor uses a different resolution. I'll check the code. Is the middle gray?

I made a change that may help. You can just download again from the same location. After Clicking to make sure the app is active, Press "q" until the left is green and the right is magenta.
 
I'm not sure why it is flickering at the top, on mine it is is steady. The flicking isn't part of the test.

The two middle blocks are just drawn with flashing gray lines. Because the voltage isn't well adjusted, you can see colors with that particular pattern. Your monitor doesn't appear to do much better at the test than my NEC.

If you don't notice any problems with the display in normal use, I wouldn't worry about it. I notice the pattern even when looking at solid colors. Some people are more sensitive to it than others. Does your other monitor work similarly?

Thanks for testing my program.
 
I fixed the first link (had junk from teh ftp path in it), the 2nd should've been good as originally posted/
 
Well, I received my monitors today. Mine were packaged very well with strong foam padding inserts throughout. Received only a vga and power cable (no DVI :confused:).

The first monitor I pulled out seems flawless (so far). The second one has a small crack (about 3/4 inch long) in the bezel. You can only see it when you look closely because it is thin. Anyone know if a crack in the bezel is covered under warranty for refurbs? I'm assuming not, otherwise it wouldn't have been sent to me. I am still trying to figure out how to check the hours of use. If anyone knows let me know.

So currently I have one hooked up with a DVI cable and one with D-Sub. I will probably order another DVI cable from monoprice soon but I don't really notice much of a difference at the moment. Adjustment wise I haven't done much other than turning the brightness down to about 50%. Settings seem pretty decent right out of the box. I have discovered 2 stuck/dead pixels on the monitor with the cracked bezel.

Viewing angles are great and don't see much blacklight bleed. I returned a 24 inch LG TN panel a few weeks ago because the angles and picture quality were just not good. These monitors blow that one away.

If anyone has any questions I will try to answer them. I'm not much of a guru on displays like some here but I can try.
 
The image in my test should not flicker. If the green and magenta are switching places, it is because the program is not running at a steady 60fps.
 
Followup on my monitors. No apparent dead/stuck pixels. I tried looking for them with solid white/black images but everything I noticed turned out to be a dust mote. Not sure if I'm somehow missing them or won the lottery twice. Either way I'm not complaning.

Backlight bleeding is minimal on both and isn't noticable with anything other than an all black screen.

Using the lagom.nl test images to adjust brightness/darkness/contrast levels I was unable to make the 0-1 black and 254-255 white differences visible without severely crushing the contrast ratio. Otherwise everything's beautiful on that front. Smooth gradiants and gamma almost dead on.

The only color issue I have is that in sRGB with colorcomp enabled on both one of the screens has a slightly redder cast to it's whites than the second. It's only noticable in side to size comparisons though. I might do something about it eventually but I've got ~$1.5-2k worth of other eToys in the queue above a spectraview kit.

The only fly in the ointment is that one of the two monitors (the one with bad packaging) appears to've suffered minor damage to the stand. It's tilt adjust is stiff and requires manipulation from the back instead of the front for reasonably smooth movement. The curved peice of plastic that sits between the column of the stand and bracket attached to the panel itself is loose, and doesn't appear to have anything to adjust it. More annoying is that if free standing the vibrations from typing on my keyboard are enough to give it a slight counter/clockwise wiggle. At the moment it's stabilized by being braced against the bottom edge of the above monitor shelf on my desk. I'm not sure if going back to a single monitor setup for a few weeks of RMA is worth it to fix this or not.
 
I received mine from Directron Yesterday. At first I wasnt that impressed but after adjusting blacklevel and some other settings, this is the best display I have used since I gave up my 17" Viewsonic PF775 many years ago. I have since used a NEC 1760NX, Samsung 192T and the last was a HP LP2065. I have also seen a lot of other LCDs that I have not owned. Colors are extremely vivid but I am not certain how accurate they are in their current state since I dont have a calibrator. What is strange is that the LP2065 has the same panel as the 2090UXi but after the adjustments (some aspects looked worse than the LP2065 before the adjustments) the differences are night and day. There seem to be no dead pixels and the viewing angles are FANTASTIC.

The monitor is not perfect, however, on a full black screen only, there seems to be some backlight bleed and some strange line patterns on the left middle section of the screen. This would have been a deal breaker on a regular LCD monitor (I am very picky). But for me, those are minor given the overall quality of the 2090UXi and the fact that I paid $240 instead of the $800 for it. I am not sure when I will get the time, but I hope to do a proper review within the next few weeks.

Overall I am impressed, but it has only been one day and I sometimes pick up other issues that show up under certain circumstances later on. I guess I should also point out that I am using DVI as I had a few DVI cables from the previous monitors I have owned. I will try to run that test tonight if I get time. I am typing this on my laptop now.
 
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