Planar PX2611W 26"

FYI: Forget about trying to get this monitor from Buy.com. I ordered one 10 days ago and they have yet to process the order. Multiple emails and phone calls have yet to yield any progress either. :mad:
 
That sucks. I ordered through Amazon and it processed right away. My only complaint was because I did the cheap delivery option it took UPS a good 5 days to get it to me.
 
lobski said:
Do you guys know if the Planar is guaranteed to come with a A-TW polarizer?

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1310536
Click to expand...

I've had 3 of them, and none came with the A-TW polarizer. All 3 were great monitors though; I ordered from CDW, so when I found 2 stuck pixels on the first, I exchanged it for a new one. Then Toasty got the Doublesight with the polarizer. Since he guessed they were manufactured by the same company, and since the Doublesight manual was clearly for the Planar rather than the Doublesight, I decided to try my luck at the very end of my 30 day return period. The third one was the same as the other two, except it had a tiny bit of backlight bleed top center. So I sent it back and kept the second.

I'm completely satisfied. I got 3 brand new 26" monitors to choose from, and kept the one with NO stuck pixels or backlight bleed. All 3 Planars were vastly superior to my previous LCDs (ViewSonic VP2130b and NEC 2470WNX), and had Toasty not discovered the DS with the polarizer during my 30-day exchange period, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
 
Hi all,

Have this monitor and overall I love it. However, even at lowest brightness, I'm noticing in dark games like Bioshock (only at night when the room's pich black), the backlight bleed is annoying me. Good example...in the very beginning of the game right after you get out of the water and head into the tower, the lights come on...but you can walk around the little area there through parts that are pitch black. It's almost like there's a fog or cloud on the screen during the darkest sections (and since it stays still while the rest of the screen moves, it's distracting)...

In the daytime (just tried it), it's completely unnoticeable and looks like it should. It's only at night when you can see the glow from the monitor.

I dunno - is this just a fact of life with this type of monitor? Or is mine likely worse than normal and should be swapped out for a replacement? (I also have two pixels that don't like me, though they're pretty unnoticeable and seem to only present as faulty when displaying certain colors).

Thanks for any feedback!
 
That's the white glow the A-TW polarizer fixes. You can adjust monitor height and tilt to alleviate it somewhat (ie, make it only visible in extreme corners), and you should also calibrate if possible. If not, leave the contrast at 50, turn the brightness down to 25 or less, and adjust gamma via your video card's control panel using test like those on this site: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/#gammacalib. You should also turn sharpness down to 40, although it has no effect on the glow.

My current settings are brightness 25, contrast 50, and gamma 25 (which is lower than the recommended 2.2, but I like it).

The fact that it goes away when the lights are on proves its not "backlight bleed", as that is relatively constant regardless of lighting or positioning. If you look at the "white" area straight on and it disappears, its not bleed...its the H-IPS white glow.
 
Thanks - I'll take another look tonight and let you know my findings. May try calibrations too.
 
Okay, here's a picture of what I'm seeing.

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/350/img0035kb6.jpg

One note - my camera excentuated that a great deal. It's actually maybe...1/8 that bad in games - not nearly as visible, but still visible. I'm not sure why it doesn't bother me when the room's bright, but it doesn't. But it's definitely what I see, and I think it *has* to be the backlight.. See the big white cloudlike thing in the middle coming from the bottom of the screen? Brightest spot is top left to near the middle of the screen, but it's the center part that's so bothersome.

Now the orange (easily distinguishable fromt he right) at the top right and left side as well as bottom left - I agree - that's lack of the A-TW, and it's not a problem at all for me. It's the other stuff, and I'm wondering if this much bleed is normal...
 
Thanks again for all the feedback so far. It occurred to me I'm using a third party stand, so I was a little worried about the screws being too tight. So loosened and redid that. Also wiped the screen with a cloth (that can make a significant difference by the way...moves the light around...) and adjusted using that guide link (thanks by the way - great easy to follow resource). Now things look quite a bit better. I think it's just a fact of life with an LCD there will be some, and I need to learn to not let it bother me is all. Still welcome to opinions if you think it's out of the ordinary or a replacement would significantly help this problem. (If you look at that picture, the center blob is now much more disperesed...there are still some lighter spots but not as pronounced at all).
 
Yikes. Judging from your picture, that is backlight bleed. Can you exchange it?

Even if you can't, the Planar warranty should cover it.
 
My panel is uniform as well. Luthor's right...you gotta return that one...that's not the glow I was talking about.
 
Thanks for the great feedback - fortunately, Planar's got a pretty great return policy (with advance replacement even), so I'll definitely consider that. After readjusting the stand attachment and working with the screen a bit, I got it much better than that picture, so I may be okay now, but we'll see...if the problem returns I'll definitely return it, and I may talk to tech support and see their thoughts as well.
 
I'm seriously debating this monitor, I've read through this entire thread but I don't see enough comments on consoles being hooked up to this monitor. How is the quality of PS3/X360 hooked up to this monitor?
 
I remember Toasty saying something about there being banding on 1080 @ 1:1. Below is from Benchmark Reviews look at the Planar:

"One unfortunate note: There is undesirable color banding at 'real' (1 to 1) mode at 1080p and 1080i (1920x1080). This applies to devices like a PS3 or cable boxes or any device that sends a 1080p or 1080i "high definition" signal to the display. The banding is not visible in movies but it is in games. The banding disappears in 'full' aspect mode. This means that you might notice some quality loss at 1 to 1 in those modes. If you use 'full' aspect mode, the image will be stretched vertically some but have no banding. These modes are the only ones where I noticed the banding. Native 1920x1200 doesn't have that banding nor does any other resolution I tested. Planar could perhaps release a firmware update to fix the 1080p/1080i color banding if enough people complain. To be as clear as possible: the color banding does not happen with PC's or Macs at 1920x1200 at 32bit color when DV mode is at the default TEXT mode even if you are playing a movie or game."
 
Does the above note about banding apply to all inputs (i.e. DVI, VGA, etc.)?
 
Vidmar said:
FYI: Forget about trying to get this monitor from Buy.com. I ordered one 10 days ago and they have yet to process the order. Multiple emails and phone calls have yet to yield any progress either. :mad:
Click to expand...

Two weeks now and still no progress with Buy.com on my order.

People do yourself a favor, DO NOT buy from Buy.com.
 
EW27 said:
I remember Toasty saying something about there being banding on 1080 @ 1:1. Below is from Benchmark Reviews look at the Planar:

"One unfortunate note: There is undesirable color banding at 'real' (1 to 1) mode at 1080p and 1080i (1920x1080). This applies to devices like a PS3 or cable boxes or any device that sends a 1080p or 1080i "high definition" signal to the display. The banding is not visible in movies but it is in games. The banding disappears in 'full' aspect mode. This means that you might notice some quality loss at 1 to 1 in those modes. If you use 'full' aspect mode, the image will be stretched vertically some but have no banding. These modes are the only ones where I noticed the banding. Native 1920x1200 doesn't have that banding nor does any other resolution I tested. Planar could perhaps release a firmware update to fix the 1080p/1080i color banding if enough people complain. To be as clear as possible: the color banding does not happen with PC's or Macs at 1920x1200 at 32bit color when DV mode is at the default TEXT mode even if you are playing a movie or game."
Click to expand...


yea I saw when ToasyX posted that, wondering if it's a major issue to those who have it though. I'm between either upgrading my 2007wfps to a 23/24 and buying an HDTV or getting a 26 and use it for both computing/console gaming.
 
so I take it this monitor is unacceptable playing on PS3? it's a shame as this monitor had everything else I was looking for.
 
Vidmar said:
Two weeks now and still no progress with Buy.com on my order.

People do yourself a favor, DO NOT buy from Buy.com.
Click to expand...

Three weeks since I placed my order and yesterday they cancelled my order for no reason. Idiots.
 
The Planar PX2611W has taken a sudden price drop. $764 US at Provantage. Maybe I can finally get them to spring for one at the office.
 
I third the motion for provantage, used them for various things (including two LG245WP) and they were always reliable.
 
Well, I just ordered one of these from Provantage. It looks like a nice upgrade to my 10 year old dying 21" Trinitron.

One thing I haven't found out by searching around is, does this monitor include a DVI-D cable in the box?
 
I've been looking at this monitor, the HP 24in, and the DS-265W quite a lot in the past month, and I'm having a tough time deciding. If gaming, web browsing, and word processing is what I spend most of my time on the computer doing, which of these monitors would be the best for the job? I'm leaning toward the DS-265W the most right now due to no wide gamut color and the 26 inches of space.
 
Dezuria said:
Well, I just ordered one of these from Provantage. It looks like a nice upgrade to my 10 year old dying 21" Trinitron.

One thing I haven't found out by searching around is, does this monitor include a DVI-D cable in the box?
Click to expand...

Looks like it does:
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/24-016-084-17.jpg

You just need a DVI-I (Digital) single link to use this monitor, dual link is for resolution greater than 1920x1200 and is much thicker and hard to move around.
 
Today, 07:45 PM
lifanus n00bie, 9 Days

Planar PX2611W 26" Gradient(Banding) Performance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,

Whoever used/owned tested the Planar PX2611W 26" monitor before, could you comment on the gradient or also know as banding performance of this monitor?

I tried out a NEC 2690, the gradient on this monitor looked almost perfect, however monitor's quality control is not superb, so I have to return it; I also have a samsung 932BF (19" tn panel), the gradient on this monitor looks like it was made by a whole bunch of patches, in other words, plain horrible.

You can test gradient here. A good monitor should not have any visible color banding or patches in the gradient image.
 
albovin said:
Today, 07:45 PM
lifanus n00bie, 9 Days

Planar PX2611W 26" Gradient(Banding) Performance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,

Whoever used/owned tested the Planar PX2611W 26" monitor before, could you comment on the gradient or also know as banding performance of this monitor?

I tried out a NEC 2690, the gradient on this monitor looked almost perfect, however monitor's quality control is not superb, so I have to return it; I also have a samsung 932BF (19" tn panel), the gradient on this monitor looks like it was made by a whole bunch of patches, in other words, plain horrible.

You can test gradient here. A good monitor should not have any visible color banding or patches in the gradient image.
Click to expand...

Assuming you use the default TEXT mode, there is no banding at all unless you lower the gamma too much, which will cause banding on any monitor AFAIK.
 
Takeda Kenshi said:
I've been looking at this monitor, the HP 24in, and the DS-265W quite a lot in the past month, and I'm having a tough time deciding. If gaming, web browsing, and word processing is what I spend most of my time on the computer doing, which of these monitors would be the best for the job? I'm leaning toward the DS-265W the most right now due to no wide gamut color and the 26 inches of space.
Click to expand...

The DS-265W is wide gamut (all three are).
 
Looks like the 265W is in stock at newegg as of a little while ago.


Now I have a dilemma. Planar seems to have better customer service than DS, but the 265W has HDMI.
 
emullet said:
Now I have a dilemma. Planar seems to have better customer service than DS, but the 265W has HDMI.
Click to expand...

I know its says it has HDMI, but I didn 't see an HDMI port on that monitor, you may want to check the NewEgg pics again. Can anyone actually confirm that it has HDMI???
 
Vidmar said:
I know its says it has HDMI, but I didn 't see an HDMI port on that monitor, you may want to check the NewEgg pics again. Can anyone actually confirm that it has HDMI???
Click to expand...

Doublesight says no HDMI, but yes to HDCP.
 
I just got my Planar today, and aside from 1 stuck pixel, it's an amazing monitor! I've been checking out all my games just to see how great they look. :)

Much better than the 8 year old 21" CRT I replaced.
 
d3viant said:
So what s-ips monitor has hdmi and usb ports on ? 26 inch monitor?
Click to expand...

The LG W2600HP has both hdmi and usb ports. Although I believe the NA model is gimped compared to the European one, someone correct me on this.
The Hazro HZ26Wi 26" has hdmi, but no usb ports.
The Planar PX2611W, Doublesight DS-263N, NEC 2690Wuxi have usb ports but no hdmi.
The new DS265W doesn't have hdmi OR usb ports. But it has speakers! And to accomadate them they made the bezel 2" thick. Pure genius.

I wish NEC would release a 24" or 26" fully featured version of the 20WMGX2 with added hdmi. An atsc tuner and atw polarizer would be nice. These would sell like hot cakes. Too bad it'll never happen :(
 
Dezuria said:
I just got my Planar today, and aside from 1 stuck pixel, it's an amazing monitor! I've been checking out all my games just to see how great they look. :)

Much better than the 8 year old 21" CRT I replaced.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, what settings are you using?
 
Well , im strongly now thinking about the making a purchase on the 26 inch planer.
giving up on the doublesight 265W , im just wondering is there a new revision out
for the planar since its release?
 
d3viant said:
Well , im strongly now thinking about the making a purchase on the 26 inch planer.
giving up on the doublesight 265W , im just wondering is there a new revision out
for the planar since its release?
Click to expand...

Not that I know of. I had 3 Planars over a 3 month period, and the last was after Toasty got the Doublesight with the A-TW polarizer. All 3 were the same revision, and none of them had the polarizer. However, the polarizer is the only thing that could make this monitor any better IMO...and if you want it, you'll just have to pay $400 more for the NEC 2690, which also has twice as much input lag as the Planar.
 
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