NEC P242W Review: 1920x1200 Semi-Glossy Professional IPS

I just ordered the P242W-BK-SV to replace my wife's Samsung 24A850DW.

I'll share my impressions when it arrives.
 
NCX said:
Art works for NEC :)

The P242W uses a 6 bit+FRC panel & has a 1khz PWM Frequency.
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Just reviving an old thread to try to clear up something:

P242W PWM frequency: 1 kHz as stated above, or 8.736kHz as stated on NEC web site (P242W page)?
 
It was listed as 1khz initially and later updated, but I did not update the thread, or finish my review. Both PRAD and Svete Hardware measured 8.7khz
 
I recently bought a refurb P242W thinking that I might replace an older display that I have in storage. I have used the P242W for a few days.

Pluses:
Monitor is almost new.
Darks are good.
Monitor can be calibrated using Spectraview II.
I calibrate to D65, 2.2 gamma, 120 cd/m2 intensity targets. Initial results: 6525K black body, 0.13 black level, 929:1 contrast ratio, and 0.23 Delta E.
The P242W has a Displayport connection, offering some protection if manufacturers stop making computers with DVI. And of course there are some technical pluses to Displayport.
Lower energy consumption.

Cons:
This W-LED monitor sits near a CCFL monitor. When I switch from the older one to the P242W, I notice the bluish-ness of the light. I guess W-LED still puts out an (inordinately) cool blue light, despite progress that supposedly has been made since that technology was first introduced. I calibrate all my monitors to 120 cd/m2 brightness. This one is the first that does not seem bright enough at that level; when I open a blank Word document, the white page looks grayish. I guess I do not understand how a monitor that calibrates almost perfectly can look distinctly "cool" to the eye when compared, for example, to an LCD2490WUXi, which I have calibrated to the same target.
 
I guess I do not understand how a monitor that calibrates almost perfectly can look distinctly "cool" to the eye when compared, for example, to an LCD2490WUXi, which I have calibrated to the same target.
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Observer metamersim. The CMFs of normative observers (2 degree CIE for ICC workflows) don't fully replicate your personal sensitivity. To achieve a visual match for neutral tones under your conditions (two screens in parallel operation with different spectra) the calibration target has to be adapted.
 
OK, I get it on an abstract, I'll-have-to-look-it-up basis. In real life, not at all. Actually, I have already looked it up.
 
Hi Art,

The 6 bit + FRC scheme is adequate for displaying 8-bit colour, right? Are there any real limitations to this that you can describe?

Also, the LCD-EA244UHD sounds like the exact name of the next monitor I would like to purchase. Are the reported prices off the mark? Can you explain how this model fits within the existing series?

Thanks.
 
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Whoisthisreally said:
The 6 bit + FRC scheme is adequate for displaying 8-bit colour, right? Are there any real limitations to this that you can describe?
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Yes, it is designed to replicate 8-bit color when working with a 6-bit panel. From our perspective there are no limitations compared to 8-bit color.

Whoisthisreally said:
Also, the LCD-EA244UHD sounds like the exact name of the next monitor I would like to purchase. Are the reported prices off the mark? Can you explain how this model fits within the existing series?
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That might be worth another thread... that display is not announced in North America yet so I am not allowed to comment on availability or plans for it, unfortunately.
 
Art Marshall: Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain why the light from P242W looks more bluish than the CCFL monitor it sits next to, or the LCD2470WNX or LCD2490WUxi in storage. All calibrated. Thank you.
 
Art Marshall: Perhaps you would be kind enough to explain why the light from P242W looks more bluish than the CCFL monitor it sits next to, or the LCD2470WNX or LCD2490WUxi in storage. All calibrated. Thank you.
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As I said, that is completely normal in this scenario due to constraints of colorimetry. NEC even implements a convenience feature (METAMERISM in the advanced OSD) that can attenuate these effects - but this is only helpful when not calibrating the screen by yourself. What you can do: Choose an other whitepoint target for one of the screens. Just experiment a little. In my own setup (two screens with WCG-CCFL and CCFL blu) the difference is ~ dE = 10 (!) to achieve a visual match. In your case the deviations shouldn't be as high because the spectra of both screens are not so narrow banded.

http://mysite.verizon.net/rajeevramanath/Research/observerMetamerism-CRA-09.pdf
http://mxchg.fogra.org/products-en/download/Fogra_News_05web.pdf
http://mxchg.fogra.org/products-en/download/Fogra_News_06web.pdf
 
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From the third of your three links:

"The spectral sensitivity of the [different] cone types of the retina of human observers vary considerably from person to person. This is the reason for the so-called observer metamerism. It identifies the case in which an observer perceives two colours as identical, while another observer sees a colour difference." (FOGRA News No. 6, January 2008, page 2)

Observer error, in other words.

All of which does not explain why, when I substitute for the P242W the CCFL monitor that was in use at that position (near another CCFL monitor), the bluish light is no more.
 
SD45 said:
From the third of your three links:

"The spectral sensitivity of the [different] cone types of the retina of human observers vary considerably from person to person. This is the reason for the so-called observer metamerism. It identifies the case in which an observer perceives two colours as identical, while another observer sees a colour difference." (FOGRA News No. 6, January 2008, page 2)

Observer error, in other words.

All of which does not explain why, when I substitute for the P242W the CCFL monitor that was in use at that position (near another CCFL monitor), the bluish light is no more.
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I don't think I'd call it "observer error", rather "observer differences". There's nothing wrong with what you are seeing, you just may be more sensitive to the effects, much like some users are more sensitive to PWM than others.

I think the first article was a bit more illustrative for me - the spectral power distribution is different for GB-R LEDs than it is for CCFL. I don't have any graphics that I can share, unfortunately, but they are not the same.

NEC displays do have a Metamerism function that will attempt to compensate for differences between the sensor and the human eye but Sailor_Moon is correct you will be better off using the 6-axis color control after calibration if you want a perfect match between an LED and CCFL.
 
The P242W is actually an W-LED display, is it not?

It would be of interest whether a GR-R LED display would look different to me. I guess the only way I would find that out is to buy one. Helluva sales proposition, but that's the way it is.

At least we have clarified that the "spectral power distribution" differs for LED vs. CCFL and that for some users, at least, this may result in light that looks different. Thanks for your reply.
 
SD45 said:
The P242W is actually an W-LED display, is it not?

It would be of interest whether a GR-R LED display would look different to me. I guess the only way I would find that out is to buy one. Helluva sales proposition, but that's the way it is.

At least we have clarified that the "spectral power distribution" differs for LED vs. CCFL and that for some users, at least, this may result in light that looks different. Thanks for your reply.
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You are correct - I had not corrected that line, but it is still true - W-LED spectral power distribution is different from CCFL.

-- Art
 
I don't know it all but the following is what my research shows. I was looking to use LED lighting to replace tungsten lights sources used to light amateur film. I have a 2490Wuxi2 because it was the best value and got me closest to sRGB based on my budget at the time.

LED is usually a red flag. They do not output light that is near the Studio Tungsten Simulation Index. They have a big blue spike and you can't color correct footage (to the same scene under tungsten) shot with them as the colors reflected back have missing shades as our eyes compare everything to what Sun light would do. White LED's are actually blue with yellow phosphor applied over the top. Over time this yellow coating changes for one reason or another and the color shift only gets worse. I think it is because the yellow phosphor is of such a tiny amount right on top of the LED.

Now, there is a way to counter this. See what Cineo Lighting is doing with their TruColor lineup. It is called "Remote phosphor". Basically much more phosphor is used and placed away (inches) from the LED.

Some terms to research:
  • Studio Tungsten Simulation Index
  • Television Lighting Consistency Index
  • Gamut Area Index
  • ISO Studio Tungsten

What does all this have to do with LED monitors? I'm not sure yet. But the "blueness" is there for a reason it seems. Are $600 LED monitors doing what it takes to counter the inherent negative color response that "white" LED technology provides? Remains to be seen.

LED seems to be about weight and power savings. For those of us looking for "perfect" color (matching sun, tungsten, or hmi) it is not there yet, with the possible exception of "Remote phosphor". But I've not see any of this in person yet to be the authority on this subject.
 
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If the color gamut of a WLED model is sufficient for your workflow there is no further limitation in using such a backlight solution. The visual result of an additive color mixture only depends on the color stimulus of the base colors and not their spectrum (your retina contains only three kinds of color sensitive cone cells). The whitepoint can be adjusted to your actual colour matching conditions too. Using this light source as illumination would be no good idea of course.
 
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