Planar PX2611W 26"

EW27 said:
Name one other manufacturer that replaces for 3 pixels or less...?

While I would love it if everyone would replace for just 1 dead pixel, Planar's warranty is better than the competition, so its not a HUGE risk or VERY VERY RISKY as you put it. They pay shipping both ways and guarantee your replacement within 48 hours. Name one other company that offers that.

Obviously you haven't researched this very well...
Click to expand...

when i bought my Samsung 245BW it had 1 stuck pixel and i brought it back and they exchanged it with a brand new one in a box. Planar doesn't do or offer this. this is why its risky to buy direct from Planar because they will not replace the monitor at 3 stuck or dead pixels and less. this is bad customer service. i only found 1 company who would exchange for a bad pixel problem and that is CDW. the rest are all buy at own risk.
 
Wolfmyst said:
...For office, web, and basic photo stuff, my 22 inch TN BenQ does fine. But it is awful for anything more than that. Shadows are the worst offender....
QUOTE]

If I remember well, the argument was made that HD content will eventually make it on the PC (BRay drives, games, web content) and that 1080 horizontal lines cannot be 1:1 pixel mapped on 900 or 1050 horizontal lines of a regular 22". I do not know to what extent the argument has any real merits, but at the time it seemed to make some sense - at least arithmetically.
Click to expand...
 
px2611wm said:
Wolfmyst said:
...For office, web, and basic photo stuff, my 22 inch TN BenQ does fine. But it is awful for anything more than that. Shadows are the worst offender....
QUOTE]

If I remember well, the argument was made that HD content will eventually make it on the PC (BRay drives, games, web content) and that 1080 horizontal lines cannot be 1:1 pixel mapped on 900 or 1050 horizontal lines of a regular 22". I do not know to what extent the argument has any real merits, but at the time it seemed to make some sense - at least arithmetically.
Click to expand...

It's not the resolution that is the problem. Unlike games, videos tend to do just find being blown up and shrunk down from their native res.

The problem is that the shadows are horrible. There is extreme banding going on with dark shades of different colors like magenta and green. It is very distracting when watching movies or looking at pictures.
Click to expand...
 
i have the Samsung 245BW monitor and a LG Bluray/HD-DVD reader/burner. and watching movies on this monitor is AMAZING. I have it equipped with a Nvidia 8600GTS Video Card that has all the features to watch Bluray and HD-DVD at its maximum. i also use the Cyberlink Bluray/HD-DVD software player where i can stretch the image on top and get full scree without any degradation to the picture on a 16:10 monitor
 
After spending some time taking a good look at this monitor, I found some good and bad things.

The good things are that there are no dead pixels, the color is awesome, viewing angles are nice and the input lag and ghosting are low enough that I don't notice either while play fps's.

The bad things I need some help with. The first is more of nitpick, but when viewing a solid color the display appears a little splotchy with several VERY slightly darker splots. They aren't really noticeable unless I'm moving a solid colored window around.

The 2nd bad thing, which I can also live with is the backlight bleeding. It's not bad, and not noticeable unless the whole screen is black.

The last bad, and worst is what I need help with. I have serious banding issues. I used this program: http://www.passmark.com/products/monitortest.htm and also created gradients in paint.net. Banding is really bad with DVI input, and a little better with VGA on my 7800 gtx. I tried switching the DVI cable, and AC cable with no benefit. I also tried testing on a different machine with a Radeon 9800 pro with DVI and VGA. The banding was perfect using VGA on the ATI card, but still very bad using DVI. I have tried all the different modes (text, standard, etc). I also tried adjusting the contrast and brightness, but contrast only changes how the banding looks, it does not eliminate it. I tested with my old LCD in clone mode with the new one and while the old one had banding, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Planar.

The OSD info says VER: 1.02MGGK0 and was bought from CDW yesterday.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue? I want it to be the video card (so I have a real need to upgrade), but it seems like DVI input on the monitor is the culprit. I'm willing to try any suggestions.
 
it sounds like youre running some kind of program that changes the LUT in your video card. Make sure youre not using adobe gamma or anything like that and make sure in your nvidia control panel you have no color/contrast/brightness changes made.

There is no banding to be seen on this display unless you introduce it somehow
 
Wolfmyst,
try this online tool too: http://tft.vanity.dk/

1. I guess no back (base) white panel (the one that reflects the light) is perfectly flat and that gives variable light reflection angles that get through the next (polarizing, LCD) layers unless is compensated by the factory like NEC does. Don't think it can be done with Planar. Well, might be the polarizing layers too... guess you can change colors and see if the same spots are darker.

2. I have no banding (that I can notice).
I use an ATI X1600 Pro w/ 512MB DDR2 + 128 MB from RAM (1 GB HyperX PC3500) in BIOS and Vista (4.3 graphics, 3D score) with 8.2 ATI drivers; guess this ATI is (one of?) the last AGP card(s); I did not instal ATI CC. Either DVI or VGA look similarly.
I would look in BIOS for RAM alocated to video - some say it makes no difference, - then get rid of CCC; make sure the DVI cable is good and correc tly hooked up.
 
Wolfmyst said:
After spending some time taking a good look at this monitor, I found some good and bad things.

The good things are that there are no dead pixels, the color is awesome, viewing angles are nice and the input lag and ghosting are low enough that I don't notice either while play fps's.

The bad things I need some help with. The first is more of nitpick, but when viewing a solid color the display appears a little splotchy with several VERY slightly darker splots. They aren't really noticeable unless I'm moving a solid colored window around.

The 2nd bad thing, which I can also live with is the backlight bleeding. It's not bad, and not noticeable unless the whole screen is black.

The last bad, and worst is what I need help with. I have serious banding issues. I used this program: http://www.passmark.com/products/monitortest.htm and also created gradients in paint.net. Banding is really bad with DVI input, and a little better with VGA on my 7800 gtx. I tried switching the DVI cable, and AC cable with no benefit. I also tried testing on a different machine with a Radeon 9800 pro with DVI and VGA. The banding was perfect using VGA on the ATI card, but still very bad using DVI. I have tried all the different modes (text, standard, etc). I also tried adjusting the contrast and brightness, but contrast only changes how the banding looks, it does not eliminate it. I tested with my old LCD in clone mode with the new one and while the old one had banding, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Planar.

The OSD info says VER: 1.02MGGK0 and was bought from CDW yesterday.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue? I want it to be the video card (so I have a real need to upgrade), but it seems like DVI input on the monitor is the culprit. I'm willing to try any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Adjusting the gamma can definitely cause banding, but I'd return it just because of the "splotches". This is a $1000 monitor, so you shouldn't have to live with problems like that, especially since you went CDW. They won't even question you about whats wrong with it, they'll just ship out a new one and pay return shipping for the old one.

I have the same version you do (1.02MGGK0), and don't have banding or splotching. I had a very small amount of backlight bleed that disappeared completely after the first day or two. So just return it and get a good one.
 
I can just drop by a pick up a new one as I live near Vernon Hills.

When you say Gamma, what do you mean? I went into NVIDIA's control page and made sure that everything was not at wacky levels. I also profiled the monitor with an EyeOne Display 2 and it seemed to make things worse. Instead of bad banding on grey colors, I got bad banding with grays turning different colors at certain spots.

Adjusting the brightness levels on the monitor had no effect on the banding at all, it just made the screen brighter or darker.

The splotches are very minor and they don't really bother me. I just want to be certain that the cause of the banding is the monitor and not something else before I exchange it. Can someone run the test on their Planar w/DVI and check to see if their gradient is smooth?
 
gradients are perfectly smooth on my monitor. If you're running calibration software that is changing your luts that may be whats doing it.
 
Draziom said:
this is an excellent monitor but VERY risky to buy. if you have 3 dead or stuck pixels they WILL not replace it for another one. this is crap service. people buy an expensive monitor to have a perfect image. but if you get 3 or less stuck or dead pixels your STUCK with this monitor they will NOT replace it with another one that doesnt have any dead or stuck pixels. great monitor but VERY VERY RISKY to buy because of this.

i was gonna buy this monitor but now that i heard about this 3 pixel policy i will PASS. its not worth it to pay $1000 for a HUGE RISK for a bad picture.
Click to expand...

Seems like you didn't read the thread. I got a replacement from Planar even though my first monitor only had 1 stuck pixel. And of course, it's free.
 
notnyt said:
gradients are perfectly smooth on my monitor. If you're running calibration software that is changing your luts that may be whats doing it.
Click to expand...

I uninstalled the profiling software, installed a beta nvidia driver. In text mode, gradients are now smooth, though the other modes still have wierd banding issues. Which mode do you run in?
 
Wolfmyst said:
I uninstalled the profiling software, installed a beta nvidia driver. In text mode, gradients are now smooth, though the other modes still have wierd banding issues. Which mode do you run in?
Click to expand...

I have the same issue in any mode other than Normal and Text.. No real use to the extra modes anyway.. They all just make everything ugly it seems.
 
the other modes are rubbish. I don't take my monitor out of text mode. no need.
 
I'm moving from a VP191b and I'm concerned about brightness. I keep my VP191b at 0 brightness, and it is still a bit bright. This thread indicates that the PX2611W can go down to ~120 cd/m2. Does anyone have a comparison shot of the Planar with a VP191b (both 0 brightness) or know what the VP191b's true luminance is at 0? I don't have any calibration equipment lying around. Thanks for any help.
 
Draziom said:
i just called CDW Canada and they will replace the monitor with bad pixels. awesome.
those other companies i called were corrupt frauds. thanks guys for the link to CDW Canada. i'm gonna buy it and i hope all goes well and i dont get a bad pixel monitor.
Click to expand...

I picked mine up from Cendirect, no sales tax to Ontario from Quebec
and currently $1006 there vs $1,066.99 cdw
not sure you'll like the return policies though.
http://www.cendirect.com
mine was perfect on arrival.

I've correponded with Planar tech support (before and after purchase) and have been very statified with the professionalism.
 
as requested:
6500k, 2.2 gamma, 120cdm/2 calibration. brightness on display set to 0. The black level was 0.3 cd/m2

If you need a program to load these, I recommend xcalib.

px2611w-6500k-22-120cd.jpg


http://countercultured.net/cal/px2611w/px2611w-6500k-22-120cd.icc
 
also just found out why the lagom gama tests were all weird after calibration.

sharpness needs to be set to 40 to have no added sharpening. This gets rid of the rainbow effect quite a bit from cleartype as well.
 
I figured that out too after reading one of Toasty's posts. Not only does it fix the sharpness test pattern, it seems to make the gamma test circle blend in better, and as you said reduces the cleartype colored text thing. The best part is that lowering it to 40 doesn't seem to actually affect the sharpness of text at all.
 
I ordered the Dell 2408 and after reading about all the lag I returned it and ordered the Planar. I cant wait to receive this monitor.
 
Thank you for the icc profiles. I installed the first one as default in Vista Color Mgt. but I still have to work it in ATI CCC.
Thanks again!
 
I have been reading these forums for months, hanging on to my trustworthy Iiyama 22" CRT and being fearful of leaping into the world of the LCD, until I found this thread on the Planar 26".

No input lag or ghosting? Sounds perfect. I ordered from CDW and I jumped for joy when I plugged this sucker in for the first time! This monitor is gorgeous. There is 0 perceptible lag and no ghosting. The controls are easy to manage and the picture looks fantastic despite being uncalibrated.

So, I want to thank everyone who has participated in this thread - you have provided valuable insight and experience. Without your input, I may have taken a black eye with another LCD panel that doesn't deliver the 0-lag experience of the Planar.

Now I am wondering if calibration by Spyder will make a noticable difference. Do the majority of Planar users hardware calibrate?
 
I use the Spyder 3 Elite by Datacolor, great product. Noticeable difference.
 
I am very much considering this monitor. Few questions

Should I order from DELL or CDW or PROVANTAGE? Not considering cost. I am more worried about return policy (like if I hate the monitor, can i return it without a restocking fee?)

How bad is the backlight bleeding most people get? Or is it something that is rare now?


Thanks!
 
I just ordered one from CDW. This thread has a wealth of good info.

Thanks to all that contributed!
 
What about Amazon as a seller? Think if you had any problems they'd exchange it no questions asked?
 
Hey, would someone mind telling me how this Planar PX2611W compares to the Apple 23" Cinema Display in terms of viewing angles, colors etc etc. I'd appreciate it. Also, how long does it take for the Planar to power up and display a picture over DVI? One of the nice features of the Apple display is it takes less than a second and it's on and displaying a picture!

Thanks guys.
 
Got mine at Newegg and it's perfect. No dead pixels or bleeding. Took a gamble and it payed off. Love this display for gaming.
 
WilliamG said:
Hey, would someone mind telling me how this Planar PX2611W compares to the Apple 23" Cinema Display in terms of viewing angles, colors etc etc. I'd appreciate it. Also, how long does it take for the Planar to power up and display a picture over DVI? One of the nice features of the Apple display is it takes less than a second and it's on and displaying a picture!

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

takes about a second to power up. It's fast. Viewing angles are excellent without color/gamma shift
 
Thanks notnyt. So would you say, if you know, how it compares to the 23" Apple display. The Apple unit is the BEST screen I've ever laid eyes on, by a country mile, blowing away the Dell 2408WFP, the Samsung 245BW, and the LG 246WP displays. If the Planar is as good as the Apple, I'm sold. I'm just waiting for confirmation of this and I'm buying!
 
The Apple 23" screen is ok. It was the same screen that I had in my Sony 23". It is a really old screen, one of the first IPS wide aspect to come out about four/five years ago. Anyone who buys a model from Apple's current lineup has not done their research. They charge a premium for the oldest screens out there.
 
Vega said:
The Apple 23" screen is ok. It was the same screen that I had in my Sony 23". It is a really old screen, one of the first IPS wide aspect to come out about four/five years ago. Anyone who buys a model from Apple's current lineup has not done their research. They charge a premium for the oldest screens out there.
Click to expand...
It's not an old screen. It was silently updated a couple of years ago to the current revision of the 23" panel, so it's not the same screen as the Sony anymore. The Sony has the LM230WU2 panel while the current 23" Apple has the LM230WU3 panel. The new panel glows white instead of orange/purple and has a higher contrast ratio.
 
ToastyX said:
It's not an old screen. It was silently updated a couple of years ago to the current revision of the 23" panel, so it's not the same screen as the Sony anymore. The Sony has the LM230WU2 panel while the current 23" Apple has the LM230WU3 panel. The new panel glows white instead of orange/purple and has a higher contrast ratio.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this info. So would the Planar compare favorably to the Apple 23" display? My biggest concern aside from picture quality is whether the Planar makes any audible noise like the Apple displays (the reason I returned two Apple 23s.) Thanks again.
 
WilliamG said:
Thanks for this info. So would the Planar compare favorably to the Apple 23" display? My biggest concern aside from picture quality is whether the Planar makes any audible noise like the Apple displays (the reason I returned two Apple 23s.) Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Mine doesn't make any noise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top