Planar PX2611W 26"

Very off topic here, but has anybody experienced greyed out OSD menus when any monitor is hooked up via DVI? When connected via VGA, all menu options are available. But via DVI, some options are greyed out especially when tryin to change RGB values under custom Color Temp. Is this a fault with the OSD or is it normal? Am i therefore restricted to using the ATi Control panel for RGB values?
 
@potential: What is your sharpness set at? Try setting it at 40%. I had mine set higher and saw some banding here and there; lowering it to 40% got rid of it for me.

@Surferp: I too have to have overscan turned on to get the picture to go edge-to-edge on my display. This happened both with my old PowerMac G5 with Radeon 9800 video card running Tiger, and my new Mac Pro with Radeon HD 2600 XT running Leopard. Sorry to hear about you buggy 8800GT -- I am going to upgrade to the Radeon 3870 at some point myself.
 
Second, the inputs are at the bottom of the monitor. Combine a small working space to put plugs into this place, and the fact that adjusting the monitor so you can actually get to these things is a PITA, and you have a project on your hands.

Take the plastic connector cover off. :D
 
Very off topic here, but has anybody experienced greyed out OSD menus when any monitor is hooked up via DVI? When connected via VGA, all menu options are available. But via DVI, some options are greyed out especially when tryin to change RGB values under custom Color Temp. Is this a fault with the OSD or is it normal? Am i therefore restricted to using the ATi Control panel for RGB values?

DVI use digital signal thus the graphic card and monitor does automatic adjustments to certain settings like sharpness. VGA connection is analog thus monitor cannot automatically adjust certain information without your interference. RGB value should be change-able in both dvi and vga connection. Only thing that I can think of that you will not be able to adjust is Sharpness and position of the displaying area.
 
so i got my monitor and have been using it for a couple of days. so far it's great. one problem that i am having though is that i am getting these red little dots around dark images on the display. they look like little red sparkles. they move WITH the image if i drag it around the screen. anyone ever see these before? i'm powering the display with the 8800gt in my 8 core mac pro. i'm trying to figure out if this is the display or the video card. i read this... "those are most often referred to as sparkles. The fixes include the following.

Tweaking of a few of the voltages on the Y sustain board. These adjustments are often only a temporary fix.

Replacement of the X and Y sustain boards along with the Logic board.

Finally, if these do not solve the issue you'll have to replace the PDP panel itself. Not cost effective in most instances. "

but i'm not sure if this applies to my display because that was from a plasma tv forum but it sounds exactly like the problem i'm having. any suggestions.

here is a link to a photo i took of my display...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3066/2888551285_bf583f7fe9_b.jpg

it's not specific to one portion of the display either. it can happen top, left, right, bottom, center. and it's usually in the area where darker colors are being displayed on the monitor. i did an LCD tester, solid black, white, red, green, blue and it's not visible there. only on mixed color images, webpages, content

Hmm, try uninstall your driver then test it, or use a different version of the driver after uninstall your current one. Try switch from DVI to D-Sub/VGA cable and see if it still happen. Last, call your planar tech support for warranty service.
 
RGB value should be change-able in both dvi and vga connection.
This is the weird thing: I am certain I was able to select a 'USER' mode for Color Temperature and play around with the sliders via DVI. On this new monitor I have, for some reason this option is blanked out. It's available via VGA only....weird...
 
The wide gamut is going to make colors in any non-color-aware application terrible, regardless of calibration.

Calibrating mine with the OS X calibration tool and then turning on color management in Firefox 3 (and setting the color profile to the one I calibrated) was a big improvement for websites. But still, small things like desktop icons and and some parts of applications look horrid.

I guess to get it looking at its best you need to buy a hardware calibrator. The Eye One Display 2 was recommended to me.
I don't think I understand wide gamut very well then. Is it something intentional by Planar? Because my color does just seem a little oversaturated or off and by adjusting the manual settings I still don't seem to be finding the "sweet spot". Maybe I need to wait and check this out when I get my new computer (radeon 4870 instead of GF6200).

I thought that getting this monitor would mean I would have great color for art design, so maybe I should have researched this out more. Am I wrong?
 
I don't think I understand wide gamut very well then. Is it something intentional by Planar? Because my color does just seem a little oversaturated or off and by adjusting the manual settings I still don't seem to be finding the "sweet spot". Maybe I need to wait and check this out when I get my new computer (radeon 4870 instead of GF6200).

I thought that getting this monitor would mean I would have great color for art design, so maybe I should have researched this out more. Am I wrong?

I am having the same regrets, too, my friend.

The good news is that what's important (your web or print design work) will be OK. If you do print design, the wide gamut will actually be a good thing, as you will be able to get colors more accurate to print.

If you do web design, everything will be okay, because Photoshop and FireFox 3 are color-aware and will look fine.

Either way, a hardware calibrator would probably be needed to get the best colors. I did a lot of tweaking with the OS X calibrator, and got everything to look okay, but there's probably room for improvement.

With Firefox 3, download the color management plugin, and make sure you set the path to your calibrated icc monitor profile.

Man, I wish I went for the NEC 2490. Not being able to game on my monitor (due to input lag) would be much, much preferable to wide gamut :(
 
Thanks. I'll start looking at Firefox's plugin. Doesn't adobe make a color management app of some kind?

Right now I'm working in Painter, the adobe apps, and 3D programs. I'm making posters for print tho, so I want accuracy there.

If this $800 monitor isn't what I truly wanted, then this is difficult to digest. I did buy this for art and gaming. I thought that the price tag meant I was getting a great image. I don't understand much of the TFT screens and all that, so I'm not sure what is different between this and the Samsung's at Best Buy. That's not meant as another knock at the monitor. I really don't know.

So if there's a "hardware solution", I'd also be interested to know what we are talking. Something I install into my computer to affect the color calibration?

I've got to figure something out, because this is going to be hard to live with. I can't depend on each application to have color management settings.
 
With Firefox 3, download the color management plugin, and make sure you set the path to your calibrated icc monitor profile.
I downloaded the plugin, but I don't see where to come up with that profile. Is it already local? I don't know where to browse to.
 
I downloaded the plugin, but I don't see where to come up with that profile. Is it already local? I don't know where to browse to.

You don't download plug-in. Firefox 3 support color management internally. Careful not to download any suspicious programs...

Type in firefox 3's url bar "about:config"

then type "gfx.color_management"in filter field, you should see the option pop up, double click it and make sure it says "Enabled" done, your color should look normal in fire fox 3 now.

"Painter, the adobe apps, and 3D programs" all the programs you work with are color aware programs, sure you can live with it :)

Good place to read about color management and color theories for a graphic artist would be http://www.digitaldog.net/
 
Well , it looks as though my Planar monitor has been shipped from CDW canada.
should be getting it tomorrow or tuesday! man I can't to see this monitor.. most of
all can't wait to toss this 10 year old 17inch dell out the window! whoooooop.
 
Nice, make sure no one is out the window when you throw it out, otherwise you're returning the Planar to pay for the lawsuit :)
 
After reading this thread and some of the others for about a month, I decided to go with the planar. I figured it would be smart to pay a little more and go with CDW to be safe and I was right... after two returns, got one with no dead pixels and no light bleed. I'm a very happy camper to say the least. This monitor is amazing. IPS is the only way to go (IMO). No more TN suffering. Thanks to all the posters for the useful info.
 
My planar should be at my door in minute now!!! IM praying I dont have to send it back.
PLEASE PLEASE no dead pixels or light bleeeeeeeed! Pleeeeeeease.. lol
 
My planar should be at my door in minute now!!! IM praying I dont have to send it back.
PLEASE PLEASE no dead pixels or light bleeeeeeeed! Pleeeeeeease.. lol

Positive thinking

"I will get a monitor today that meets and exceeds all of my expectations, desires, and wet dreams"
 
I am having the same regrets, too, my friend.
Man, I wish I went for the NEC 2490. Not being able to game on my monitor (due to input lag) would be much, much preferable to wide gamut :(

Where did you order it from? If from NewEgg, then call them and tell them you bought the monitor for a specific purpose and it simply will not work for that purpose. So instead, you want to send it back and buy another monitor from them that costs alot more. I did this a few months ago (NEC 2470WNX to Planar PX2611W), and they took it back with no problems, even though they were out of stock on the Planar at the time.

I love my Planar, but it simply costs too much to be anything other than totally satisfied...which is why I sent two back to CDW and didn't stop until I had one with no stuck pixels, no backlight bleed, or any other problems.
 
After reading this thread and some of the others for about a month, I decided to go with the planar. I figured it would be smart to pay a little more and go with CDW to be safe and I was right... after two returns, got one with no dead pixels and no light bleed. I'm a very happy camper to say the least. This monitor is amazing. IPS is the only way to go (IMO). No more TN suffering. Thanks to all the posters for the useful info.

I did the same thing. CDW costs a bit more, but it was worth it since I got to keep my pick of 3 Planars.
 
Whoaaaa finally got the monitor !! wow sure looks great. but is very bright.. gonna have to fix that.
everything seems to be ok , dont see any dead pixels . gonna have to put it to the test.
 
Just tryiing to configure the monitor!! wasnt there a configuration thread somewhere on this board?
can't seem to find it anywhere , should I set my videocard to do the scaling or not?
 
Well , ive had a few hours to play around with my new Planar PX2611 , Not much to not like
about this monitor, this is my first LCD upgrading from a 10 year old dell 17 inch Trinitron.
So its a huge step up for me . I love the size of the monitor. its perfect. Only real issue Im
having right now its my movies don't seem to look very good on this monitor . Is it a common
issue? Is there something I need to tweek? Other then that this beast runs nice .
 
Well , ive had a few hours to play around with my new Planar PX2611 , Not much to not like
about this monitor, this is my first LCD upgrading from a 10 year old dell 17 inch Trinitron.
So its a huge step up for me . I love the size of the monitor. its perfect. Only real issue Im
having right now its my movies don't seem to look very good on this monitor . Is it a common
issue? Is there something I need to tweek? Other then that this beast runs nice .

Having the same exact problem. None of my tweakings have helped.

To everyone in this thread, I'm probably going to be returning this monitor, either for a non wide-gamut model, or the new DS.

The 2 things that are bothering me, are the over saturation, and the slight banding (that makes it look like noise in tons of sources). For instance, if anyone has played Geometry Wars, you know that the game uses a lot of bright green colors, and it looks cool. On my Planar, the greens actually offend/hurt my eyes.

And then, my sources don't look all that great. I want to be blown away when watching a Blu-Ray source on my computer. I don't want to be like ".......meh, it looks alright".

Also, when trying to calibrate it properly, I have to always walk the line, because calibrating over stresses the saturation even more...

Anyways, before I give this thing away, if you guys could make an outline of what I should take a look at for you (or what I should take pictures of), I would appreciate it.
 
If any one has Windows color profiles for this monitor made with a colorimeter I think that would help a whole lot. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find one posted anywhere.
 
If any one has Windows color profiles for this monitor made with a colorimeter I think that would help a whole lot. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find one posted anywhere.

Look on page 39 and 40 for posts by notnyt. I'm not sure if the links are still active but he has posted profiles.
 
no, you can use something like xcalib to load them, vista color management app doesn't really do anything, its more for color matching.

My LaCie blue-eye software handles setting the colors for me, but I use xcalib and a batch script to load the profiles when bad software messes it up


C:\Windows>type cal.bat
xcalib -s 0 -c
xcalib -s 0 c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color\px2611w-2008030401-custom-22-356cd.icc
xcalib -s 1 -c
xcalib -s 1 c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color\fpd2485w-2008030335-custom-22-346cd.icc
 
UPDATE! So a couple pages/posts ago i stated that i had these red dots on my screen and intermittently red horizontal lines. I got a new 8800gt card for my mac pro from apple and was still having the same problems so i thought it was the monitor. One thing i didn't use from the Planar box was the DVI cable. So today i pulled out the planar supplied dvi cable, hooked it up and the dots are gone!!! USE THE PLANAR CABLE! I was using a very thick high quality cable, or so it seemed, but i guess it just couldn't handle the higher resolutions. SO happy i don't have to send away the monitor because it's perfect, no backlight bleed or dead pixels.
 
notnyt : ... Well I grabbed xcalib and made the batch file. when I goto run it
I get a message saying unable to calibrate display message. Not sure if I missed a step or what.
 
Thanks for the heads up on where to find this stuff. I'll give these profiles a try once I get home.
 
will some one kind enough to send me the display driver for vista x64 (can't find on planar website)

thx
 
Why would there be a display driver for the monitor? I dont think there is one . least never heard of one.
 
Why would there be a display driver for the monitor? I dont think there is one . least never heard of one.

now in my device manager it is shown mornitor as generic mornitor

i dunno i'm coming from NEC and all of their mornitor has driver

thx
 
There is actualy no purpose for a driver for lcds.
Sometimes the driver's only pupose is to limit the options for hz.
 
I forgot to post a couple weeks ago that I got my Planar from Provantage. No dead or stuck pixels :)

The only two complains I have is the wide gamut issue, which means I feel like I want to fiddle with the color settings all the time. It's not that big of a deal though, and I really don't notice it anymore.

The other issue is I wish the black level was better. Looking at my old TN based 20" LCD next to it I don't really think it's any worse than it was, but it sure is more noticeable in movies and TV... maybe because the monitor is bigger?

What are people talking about when they reffer to this monitor having an "adjustable backlight"? I always thought that was just the "brightness" setting on any monitor, but if it could help with getting darker blacks I'd love to know.
 
If anyone has one of these for sale I'm willing to buy one through paypal. PM if you're interested. Can't find a new one at a decent price so I might as well look for one of those used ones that have zero problems.
 
Is there any noticeable difference with regard to text quality on the PX2611W vs the NEC 2690? I've narrowed down my choices to these two monitors, and it seems like the Planar would be a better choice (although it seems to be out of stock everywhere at the moment) since it's less expensive and better suited for gaming, but I do a considerable amount of reading at the computer, so text quality/easiness on the eyes is a big issue for me.
 
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