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Planar SA2311W

Received a call from Planar support this afternoon confirming that they are ready to send me a monitor with the firmware update and asking that I keep in touch with them after I receive it to let them know whether or not it resolved the issue since I am "one of the first" getting the fix.

Makes me a little nervous, but they've done right so far, so we'll see what happens.
 
I can't wait to hear about your results. If it does resolve the screen tearing let us know if there is any difference in 3d performance. If you could use a high contrast game like Mirror's Edge to really show off any crosstalk that would be great.
 
I'm only using it for 2D 120Hz, so I'm afraid I won't be able to offer any insights on 3D performance :(
 
Ok, I'm starting to get a little annoyed by the screen tearing. Seeing a line slowly moving up the screen while playing Titan Quest is not fun. I noticed that this does not happen while the monitor is in 3d mode.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Did they cross ship it to you?
Click to expand...

They shipped first with a return box and prepaid label, with the caveat that they needed a credit card to place a temporary authorization on until they receive my return. I was/am very satisfied with that option, as few companies offer it anymore. They also offered the option of me shipping first.
 
Sabrewulf165 said:
They shipped first with a return box and prepaid label, with the caveat that they needed a credit card to place a temporary authorization on until they receive my return. I was/am very satisfied with that option, as few companies offer it anymore. They also offered the option of me shipping first.
Click to expand...

Thanks, thats good to know. There are very few companies that offer cross-shipping anymore. I really hope that the new monitor fixes the screen tearing issue.
 
Have only had it plugged in for a few minutes and did a couple of very brief dry runs in a few games, but out-of-box impression is good... seems much improved. Will add more when I've had a chance to test more extensively.

Gotta say though, less than thrilled about the condition the box arrived in (UPS :mad: )

planar1.jpg


planar2.jpg


I haven't done a thorough surface examination but there is definitely one scratch near the top left corner, about 2mm long. Noticed it without specifically looking for it due to diffraction. Not really sure if I should make a fuss about it or not :(
 
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Yeah, and I'm supposed to send the old monitor back in that box.....

I could use MY box to send the old one back I guess, but then I'm stuck with the holey one.
 
Yeah, thats pretty bad. At least it seems to be working fine. I can't wait to hear how the display works out for you after you spend some time with it.
 
Just got done playing about 90 minutes of Supreme Commander and did not notice any tearing (even with vsync off). Gonna fire up UT'04 for a bit now. Netflix playback seems much improved as well.
 
I don't claim to be an authority by any means, but at this point I'm comfortable saying that the problem appears fixed by the new firmware.
 
Hello Sabrewulf, I am thinking about getting this monitor. I'm only interested in 2D gameplay.

Have you played 2D games on a very good 60hz low response time LCD? (e.g. LG W2442PA) Is the 120Hz worth getting?

ALSO: Can your Planar do a conversion to a 4:3 ratio easily, by putting black bars on the side? Since I do play some older games which were made for the 4:3 ratio, I would like a monitor that can keep the normal image, without stretching it horizontally and distorting the view...
 
My last monitor was a 22" 1680x1050 LG 226WQ that I'd had for several years. I don't know whether that's considered "good" in terms of input latency or not, however in retrospect, I would say that the jump from 60 to 120Hz alone is probably not worth the pricetag, at least not for me. It does help with fast-paced twitch shooters like UT and Quake, and the improvement is noticeable (and nice) elsewhere, but not quite as amazing as I'd been led to expect. That said, I didn't "just" get 120Hz, I also got a bigger monitor, bigger resolution, better colors, and better connectivity options, so I'm not at all disappointed with the purchase.
 
I'm quite interested in this monitor. Do all the units out now have the updated firmware? Is it something I could do myself or is it something the factory needs to do? I've been waiting patiently for a 120 Hz monitor that seems to be head and shoulders above the rest, and from the descriptions this might just be the one that finally replaces my CRT.
 
I asked that, too, about the firmware, and both the e-mail and phone representative said this: "I do not believe that TigerDirect will have the firmware upgrade on their inventory. The screen tear issue does not appear in all units, in fact it is very rare. If you were to purchase from TigerDirect and later find out that you had this issue, we would be able to replace with firmware upgrade."
 
I'll defer to hairymountainwoman (lol) as I have not asked anyone at Planar or Newegg about the matter.
 
I just ordered mine as well :) (from Buy.com)

Excited. Hopefully it won't have any tearing as is so I don't have to wait longer for a firmware-updated one from Planar to arrive.
 
Lapp said:
I just ordered mine as well :) (from Buy.com)

Excited. Hopefully it won't have any tearing as is so I don't have to wait longer for a firmware-updated one from Planar to arrive.
Click to expand...
Well, I heard you might still get some ordinary tearing in games if the FPS they run at is slightly mismatched from the Hz you run your Planar at...but, it's reassuring to know that if you get the WEIRD horizontal tearing that shouldn't be there, you can contact them and they will send you a new one while you use the defective one. Sounds like we can't really go wrong. :)
 
One thing I do hope to ask about is when the firmware fixes are fully completed, whether they can post it for us to download off the internet. I recall updating the firmware on one of my all-in-one printers by downloading the .exe off the company's website...
 
It seems like we might have just gotten one from a bad batch. Every person that has had this issue here got the monitor right around the same time.
 
Hi, I received the Planar yesterday and played around with the settings. Finally, using nVidia Control Panel (which is different from the above), and after setting the monitor's OSD display to "Aspect", I customized my resolution to 800x600 at 100hz. Great, exactly what I was trying to do!

Unfortunately, I did not notice a difference from 75hz in the games that I play. So, despite it being a beautiful monitor, I paid too much for what I will primarily use it for (playing older games at lower resolutions) and thus I will be returning it today and picking up the LG W2442PA instead.

Just wanted to let anyone who was looking for the same sort of settings to know that it can be done on this monitor.
 
I corrected myself. My friend tipped me off to check my monitor's settings in-game. It turns out that for some reason, the monitor would go from 800x600 100hz on desktop to 800x600 75hz (the default frequency for this resolution) in-game. When I specified a way to tell my game to set it to 100hz (e.g. if you play Counterstrike or some other Steam games, you can go into Launch Options and type in -freq 100) I checked again and THAT was when 100hz was on.

In case anyone wanted to know, this is how I created the custom resolution/frequency profile on nVidia Control Panel:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6j3wcz&s=7

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2e1ybsm&s=7

I am keeping it now. Yay!
 
Sabrewulf165 said:
I may be betraying my ignorance here, but why on earth would you play at 800x600 :confused:
Click to expand...
Counter-Strike is one of the most archaic games that is still widely played, and at the competitive level. Most pros use 640x480 or 800x600 because at those lower resolutions (for which the game was originally designed), the recoil/bullet spray is smaller and easier to control. Also, the models are bigger than if you use a higher resolution. Higher resolutions result in smaller models which mean smaller heads to target when seeking the headshot.

But mostly because of the recoil issue. At higher resolutions, the bullets spray is much more spread out.

I will also let ya'll know (if anyone out there is curious) that 1024x768 was also successfully done in 100hz. That's the res I play Quake Live at. :)
 
So I received my replacement today for the original replacement which had been damaged by UPS. Only thing is, I received two of them. Being the honest chap that I am (and because Planar support has been so amazing), I promptly reported the mistake and they simply said "pick whichever one you want and send the other one back"

Seriously, these guys have been great. Absolutely top-notch.
 
I don't have this display, but some people were complaining about screen tear and such? Are you using HDMI, displayport, or DVI? If DVI, a dual link DVI cable is necessary for correct 120hz display without tearing/juttering.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
I don't have this display, but some people were complaining about screen tear and such? Are you using HDMI, displayport, or DVI? If DVI, a dual link DVI cable is necessary for correct 120hz display without tearing/juttering.
Click to expand...

Dual link DVI.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
I don't have this display, but some people were complaining about screen tear and such? Are you using HDMI, displayport, or DVI? If DVI, a dual link DVI cable is necessary for correct 120hz display without tearing/juttering.
Click to expand...

It comes with such a cable, so no, the tearing problem is not related to that. Single link DVI and HDMI only work at 60Hz
 
Right, so I'm about to buy this monitor so I contacted the retailer I had in mind for the purchase. They claim to have been in contact with Planar, and that Planar told them that the problem isn't related to "screen tearing", but that there's a segment on the top of the screen, the top 5mm, where the frame doesn't synchronize. Does this sound familiar to those of you who have had issues with the Planar monitor?

Here's a picture they got from Planar to illustrate the issue:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/231/image002kv.jpg/

EDIT: Furthermore, they say that Planar told them that there's only one firmware update in mind for the SA2311W and that this update is directed to fix this issue.
 
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makawbird said:
Right, so I'm about to buy this monitor so I contacted the retailer I had in mind for the purchase. They claim to have been in contact with Planar, and that Planar told them that the problem isn't related to "screen tearing", but that there's a segment on the top of the screen, the top 5mm, where the frame doesn't synchronize. Does this sound familiar to those of you who have had issues with the Planar monitor?

Here's a picture they got from Planar to illustrate the issue:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/231/image002kv.jpg/

EDIT: Furthermore, they say that Planar told them that there's only one firmware update in mind for the SA2311W and that this update is directed to fix this issue.
Click to expand...

I've seen that once or twice, but I've just sort of shrugged my shoulders at it. What I've been complaining about affects the entire screen. It's like a line that travels from the bottom of the screen to the top, like it's scanning the screen. Sometimes one that goes from top to bottom, much more quickly.

I just figured the top screen thing was a manifestation of the same issue.
 
MorbidLilim said:
I've seen that once or twice, but I've just sort of shrugged my shoulders at it. What I've been complaining about affects the entire screen. It's like a line that travels from the bottom of the screen to the top, like it's scanning the screen. Sometimes one that goes from top to bottom, much more quickly.

I just figured the top screen thing was a manifestation of the same issue.
Click to expand...

I agree, though I'm not sure I've even noticed the issue illustrated in that picture.

Furthermore, of the (accidental) two replacement units I received for my scratched (but firmware-updated) unit, one exhibits the issue, and one does not. I checked the service menu, and both my scratched unit and the "fixed" replacement unit have the same firmware. The one afflicted with the tearing/scanning issue seems to have a lower firmware.

Pictures:

Previous replacement, fixed, but scratched (thanks UPS):
replacement_old_scratched.jpg


New replacement #1, fixed:
replacement_new_fixed.jpg



New replacement #2, defective:
replacement_new_defective.jpg
 
How bad is the color shift on this monitor. So when you're sitting in front of it, does the color change from the center outwards.
 
Just got mine hooked up 5 minutes ago. Is there an optimum color temperature/contrast/brightness? I'm coming off a CRT.
 
Galvin said:
How bad is the color shift on this monitor. So when you're sitting in front of it, does the color change from the center outwards.
Click to expand...

I don't notice any color shift unlike my last monitor.

AlmightyPants said:
Just got mine hooked up 5 minutes ago. Is there an optimum color temperature/contrast/brightness? I'm coming off a CRT.
Click to expand...

I like the brightness at 60 and the contrast at 70. I left the color temp at 6500 since it seemed fine to me.
 
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