Return Dell U2412M?

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footballcoach

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I just bought a U2412M and it arrived last Friday. I am having a hard time adjusting to it and I am posting in the hope that someone may be able to help me pinpoint exactly why. First, here are my settings:

Brightness 40
Contrast 75
Custom Color: Red 96, Green 93, Blue 84
Energy Smart: Off
DDC/CI Enable

So, staring at this thing is giving me a great deal of eyestrain/fatigue. Text seems very "fuzzy" or out of focus at times. I am not sure if it is the backlight or the AG coating maybe? I have tried enabling/disabling Clear Type in Win7, but without it enabled it's even worse.

The backlight also seems almost too bright to me even with the brightness setting at 40. It's hard to explain I guess, but it is almost overwhelmingly bright and causes me to see "spots" when switching from a dark background to a light background.

I had previously been using a Dell 2405fpw for the last 6 years and was very happy with it. Last 3 monitors have been Dell Ultrasharps, but this one is making me reconsider unfortunately.

Hopefully, one of you with a lot more knowledge than me can point out something that I can try. I am thinking of sending it back and trying something else at this point. (Note: the Menu button for the OSD seems to stick. It requires several pushes to get it to recognize the input...the others work fine).

Thanks for any help...
 
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Did you try adjusting the sharpness setting? That might help with the fuzzyness.

And why not turn the brightness down a notch? Or does that affect the color too much? I know I usually don't like my LCDs to be very bright, so give it a shot if you haven't already.
 
Also, don't forget that you have settings on your gpu too (either nvidia control or catalyst control)

I at first had a huge problem with the same monitor but after playing with both the monitor setting and gpu setting, it's a farkin beautiful screen.
 
Phinominal said:
Also, don't forget that you have settings on your gpu too (either nvidia control or catalyst control)

I at first had a huge problem with the same monitor but after playing with both the monitor setting and gpu setting, it's a farkin beautiful screen.
Click to expand...

I have a 5850 (catalyst). So, I've looked there, but the color profile is already disabled. Is there another setting for the GPU that I am missing that might help? I am interested what kind of issue you had and how you resolved it?

Thanks again for suggestions.

@BanDeodorant: Yes, I have tried sharpness, but it doesn't seem to do much at all. Brightness is already at 40. If I turn contrast down below 70 the colors fade.
 
Try turning off ClearType in Windows and see if that improves things.

I find ClearType makes text worse and fuzzy for me. Keep the contrast around 75, there is no reason to reduce it. You can also try going below 40 for brightness, especially if you have a dark room.
 
I had a very similar problem with this monitor. Whenever reading text for a while, my eyes bothered me. The text just didn't seem 'right', regardless of what I did.

I changed lots of settings, raised/lowered brightness, altered contrast, changed video card settings.

I eventually realized it simply was the AG coating. The 'sparkly/dirty' effect was just too annoying to me. Unfortunately I had to return the monitor myself.

I expect for most people the AG coating isn't a problem. But I was coming from the Trinitron world, used to glossy/glass screens, where white is white, black is black... not white = sparkly/dusty/dirty white.

Only tip I can provide is lower that brightness some. I found it best at about 30ish, myself. But it didn't help enough for me. Turning off ClearType is another option, although as a new Win 7 person, I find it makes things even worse. For whatever reason, Win 98/Me can display text better (at least in browsers), than Win 7 can with ClearType off.
 
Namelessme said:
I had a very similar problem with this monitor. Whenever reading text for a while, my eyes bothered me. The text just didn't seem 'right', regardless of what I did.

I changed lots of settings, raised/lowered brightness, altered contrast, changed video card settings.

I eventually realized it simply was the AG coating. The 'sparkly/dirty' effect was just too annoying to me. Unfortunately I had to return the monitor myself.

I expect for most people the AG coating isn't a problem. But I was coming from the Trinitron world, used to glossy/glass screens, where white is white, black is black... not white = sparkly/dusty/dirty white.

Only tip I can provide is lower that brightness some. I found it best at about 30ish, myself. But it didn't help enough for me. Turning off ClearType is another option, although as a new Win 7 person, I find it makes things even worse. For whatever reason, Win 98/Me can display text better (at least in browsers), than Win 7 can with ClearType off.
Click to expand...

Wow...these have been my experiences exactly as well. I couldn't have written it better myself. I had a 2405fpw and it died on me two weeks ago after 6 years. I thought another UltraSharp (u2412m) would be ideal, but I think you are right...the AG is what is doing it. Edit: I realize the old 2405fpw also had an AG coat, but since it was a different type of display (non-IPS, non-backlit) I think I didn't notice it as a problem. If I had to harbor a guess I would say that the combination of the AG with LED backlight is what causes the sparkly/dirty effect?

Like yourself, my eyes bother me after sitting in front of it for awhile. I also see "spots" when moving my eyes from a dark screen to light and vice-versa. Almost like a halo effect. I also tried turning off ClearType and it makes it worse. The text is as you describe...it just doesn't look right. So...I ordered an HP2711x and it should be here this afternoon. I have not yet sent the Dell back, but as soon as I get the HP I am planning on it.

Thanks for your post! I thought I was the only one having this issue. :)
 
I don't think it's AG + LED causing the effect, as others with the 2410 have stated similar things (although again, it doesn't bother everyone). And the 2410 doesn't use LED.

One interesting experiment I did was open a white screen in my browser, minimized it a bit, then simply moved that white box around my screen. It basically looked that a layer of random dust/yellow artifacts were on top of the image... and that is the AG coating.

I believe it's simply LG, the coating itself, regardless of backlight. They put that AG coating on most of their IPS panels. I personally find it rather bizarre myself. It's fine if most prefer AG coating, or at least don't mind it, but I'd think there should be some choice out there.

I'm not an LCD expert, but the only choices I have seen for myself (in the IPS world), is either an overpriced Samsung 24" PLS, semi-glossy, with terrible build and bleed issues, or an extremely overpriced Apple 27" display (16:9, which I also don't prefer). The choices out there aren't the greatest for me.
 
Take a look at the HP2711x if you can find one. I saw this display at MicroCenter yesterday and I was just happening to walk past it. Text, color, etc. were amazing. I guess it depends on what resolution you want to run at as it only goes to 1920x1080, but I thought the pixel pitch was fine. Great blacks, bright whites, and clear text.

I had never even considered an HP, but this one really blew me away. I compared it to an Asus VE278Q and a 27" ViewSonic (forget model) on the sales floor. I reset each to default values and played with the color temp, brightness, contrast, etc. The HP was far and away better than the ViewSonic and (imo) much better than the Asus as well.

It does have a glossy finish so if you are in a bright room then might not be ideal, but I found it so impressive I would have bought one on the spot (they were sold out). So instead I came home and ordered it from Amazon for $299.
 
I think the viewing angles and color accuracy might bother me on the HP2711x. One key reason I wanted an IPS was so that every time I tilt my head, the colors on the screen wouldn't change. Regular LCDs drive me insane due to that.

On a 27" that issue may be more pronounced, due to the size of the monitor. The HP2711x may be great for gaming on, but for general use I'm not sure if I'd like it. The glossy thing would actually be a plus for me though... the way my room is set up, glare isn't a giant issue.
 
VA may be a good alternative. But can anyone recommend a glossy VA, 16:10 ratio monitor? Do any even still exist?

I believe the older Samsungs were all PVA, but no idea who makes them now, or if any stores carry them. I sorta miss the days of being able to walk into a store and actually seeing the monitor before you decide to buy it.
 
Just an update...I received the HP2711x today and am typing this on it right now. I now definitely feel the issue I had with the u2412m was with the AG like you said Namelessme.

The 2711x is a wonderful display if you don't mind 1920x1080 in a 27". Text is nice and clear and the colors are outstanding out of the box. I just had to reduce the brightness some. Still evaluating it, but thus far I like it! Still getting used to the size of everything. The text is much easier to read because it's bigger too which in my case is good as I am 42 and my eyes are not as good as they once were.
:)

Quick Question: Do all the Dell UltraSharps have the AG coating? Even their 27" and 30" models?
 
Glad you like the monitor. How are the viewing angles on it?

I believe all Dell Ultrasharps use the AG coating. And I recall reading that on the 27" models it's even worse, due to the high dot pitch, making text a real pain to read. There are threads about as to people even trying to manually remove the AG coating themselves, but it appears very risky to do.

Those that did get it off said it looked comparable to the Apple glossy afterwards.

The only Dell IPS display that I am aware of that doesn't use AG coating is their 21.5:" touchscreen model. If it ever got cheaper, or came out in a 24" size, I'd consider it. Sad part is that I could care less about the touchscreen stuff, I just want it glossy.
 
The viewing angles are excellent for me. My eyes are about 3' away I would guess a little below center level of the screen. I don't notice any variation at all. I will do some more testing and let you know. Obviously if I stand up and look down at it the viewing angle is bad. However, if I move horizontally to the edge of the screen there is no discernible difference at all. No dead/stuck pixels, no backlight bleeding.
 
LG makes IPS panels, all of their matte IPS displays use the same grainy coating.
 
The thing I don't get is, why doesn't the AG coating bother more people? Are they simply used to it, and don't notice any difference, from using matte displays their entire life? I have a feeling if they could see that same panel without the coating, they'd choose it, and just live with glare.

As for my own monitor issues, I think I may have found a solution, albeit not a long-term one. I saw someone on craigslist selling two 21" CRTs the other day, which I randomly replied to. One of the CRTs was a 1997 Viewsonic, which wasn't very good, but the other was a NEC FE2111 (20" viewable). He claimed he used it for about 2 years or so for office work, then packed it away.

Just set it up today, and it's looking really great. The manufacturer date was the end of 2003, so it's not insanely ancient, even if he was lying about its 2 years of usage.

Blacks are nice, and superbright mode makes colors 'pop'... which I sorta missed with the U2412, as I think the coating made colors a tad dull overall. I ran some movie trailers on it and they looked better than the U2412 did (assuming my memory was accurate). Oh, and text is fine, whites are white, etc. Also prefer 4:3 too.

Just having an issue getting the NEC Navisoft program to work with my driver + windows 7, so far. Worst case I calibrate some stuff by hand using the monitor buttons.

For $20 total (for both monitors) and a VGA cable, it wasn't too bad a deal. Of course the thing looks weird on my desk, being so large, and it's insanely heavy to move... but that's the trade-off.

Hoping this thing gets me to OLEDs, and I can just bypass TN/IPS/VA panels completely.
 
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