VX2025WM has glassy effect?

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jook

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I'm using 2x Viewsonic VX2025WMs here, and I've noticed that the "antiglare" layer that viewsonic used on the panel has a "glassy" effect (for lack of a better term), where bright colours, especially when viewed close up, have a bit of a sparkle (although not in the way that you would describe video etc)... it basically looks a little like its behind a glass panel.

I've seen only a few mentions of this in previous post (one user commenting that it is similar to the effect on an iPod Mini's screen), and it seems to be completely omitted from professional reviews of the monitor on various sites.

Do other users notice this problem? I know most say that it's less noticable when sitting further back, but it's quite noticable here, especially when I have alot of white background windows, but also on many other bright colours. I find it a little fatiguing to stare at.

For those who do notice it - have you used other 20" widescreen monitors and which ones do or do not have this similar issue? I'm curious about the BenQ FP202W in particular, despite the fact that it is technically inferior if you compare all the specs - if it just doesn't have this glassy effect, it might suit me well enough.
 
jook said:
I'm using 2x Viewsonic VX2025WMs here, and I've noticed that the "antiglare" layer that viewsonic used on the panel has a "glassy" effect (for lack of a better term), where bright colours, especially when viewed close up, have a bit of a sparkle (although not in the way that you would describe video etc)... it basically looks a little like its behind a glass panel.

I've seen only a few mentions of this in previous post (one user commenting that it is similar to the effect on an iPod Mini's screen), and it seems to be completely omitted from professional reviews of the monitor on various sites.

Do other users notice this problem? I know most say that it's less noticable when sitting further back, but it's quite noticable here, especially when I have alot of white background windows, but also on many other bright colours. I find it a little fatiguing to stare at.

For those who do notice it - have you used other 20" widescreen monitors and which ones do or do not have this similar issue? I'm curious about the BenQ FP202W in particular, despite the fact that it is technically inferior if you compare all the specs - if it just doesn't have this glassy effect, it might suit me well enough.
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Its the antiglare coating. Its just the way the panel is desighned and nothing you can do about it. Don't freaking sit so close to the monitor and it won't be problem. I only see it when I put my face right up to the monitor, but im usually 2 feet back so its perfect to me. If its that big of pain to you, get a different monitor.

This has been covered over and over in my official VX2025wm thread

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1026462
 
Coldtronius said:
Its the antiglare coating. Its just the way the panel is desighned and nothing you can do about it. Don't freaking sit so close to the monitor and it won't be problem. I only see it when I put my face right up to the monitor, but im usually 2 feet back so its perfect to me.
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I'm sitting a fair way back (at least 2 feet) and I can still notice it. I can understand that not everyone has the same sensitivity with their eyes, and I'm glad its perfect for you, but I'm bringing this up from the perspective of someone who sees it and finds it fatiguing. No need to take this personally, I'm not dissing your monitor of choice, it's just my experience and my observation.

I thought about it a bit more and it's kinda like having one of those transparent stickers stuck over glass, and you get that slightly warpish effect on some colours, but at a much higher resolution (so its very subtle).

I did read some comments that mentioned the problem in passing in the other thread (I paraphrased them in my original post because the posts are so buried I can't find them again, and the way people have described the effect has been different every time, so it doesn't seem clear if everyone is describing the same problem.)

I also thought there's more to address: are there very few people that see this, or are a lot of people ignoring it? Also, my other question was whether anyone has compared other 20" LCD screens and if they also have this problem, or if the antiglare layer is unique to Viewsonic.
 
the Dell 2007WFP i received yesterday definitely does not exhibit this "glassy" effect you're talking about, but i do know about that sparkly look you're talking about from my friend's VX2025WM.

would you mind checking out my thread and comparing the look of your VX2025WM with a solid black screen at angles to mine? thanks!

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1071189
 
NEC 20wmgx2 doesnt have that problem either. It looks like there is no protective layer of anything between you and the liquid crystal :p
 
Dell WFP definitely DOES have the same coating. It's the reason I returned it!
 
the monitor is a pretty decent performer but the shimmer was a deal killer for me so i returned it.
 
The Acer AL2051W / 20" Wide / 8ms / 800:1 / WSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 / DVI-VGA / LCD Monitor is the same screen as the Viewsonic 2025WM, but uses a glossy (reflective) screen coating rather than the anti-glare (frosted) screen coating that the viewsonic uses.

I have the viewsonic 2025 WM.

The anti-glare coating bothered me alot at first but after installing a second one at my mother's house I noticed it wasn't very noticable on hers at all, and the text was very easy to read.

I realized several factors that subdued the anti-glare coating a ton (almost completely after I got used to it) :

- -- For one thing she had alot more room lighting than my monitor had, most notably a large globe ceiling fan light providing soft full room lighting from overhead mid-room. It seemed that room lighting hitting the anti glare layer from the outside diffused, subdued, or otherwise muted the reflection of the anti-glare 'frost' layer 'crystals' alot.

-- The other thing I realized is that her video card was different from mine and had different default display settings. I stumbled across the image sharpening slider in my nvidia drivers color correction settings and when I bumped it up alittle I was amazed at how much clearer the text was on my monitor.

-- The monitor was so bright it was like staring into a lightbulb out of the box. When I turned the brightness WAY down, and adjusted the contrast and tweaked the vibrance up a touch, this monitor was very easy on the eyes. Before that my eyes were very strained viewing this monitor and reading text on it. It bothered my eyes alot instead of being the 'easy reading' LCDs were supposed to provide. Now its a joy.
The lowered brightness also subdues the anti-glare frost layer, probably because the crystals aren't being blasted by an overbright light from inside the monitor.

With the brightness lowered to where it should be in my opinion, and the addition of adequate room lighting and bumping the image sharpening up slightly this monitor looks great. Those three main things overcame the anti-glare for me. It is greatly subdued and I rarely notice it anymore except on some solid fields of color in high quality photos if I think about it. Before I calibrated / adjusted this monitor and the room lighting I was considering returning it, now I like it alot.

The things that especially bother me about LCDs are the blacklevels(though fairly decent on this monitor when tweaked correctly), non-native resolutions, and screen motion blur. They all suffer from motion blur/afterimages.
 
El Barto said:
Wow, who pissed in his cheerios?
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I dunno, I'd wager he's pissed because someones talking about the VX2025WM and not doing it in 'his' thread.

*shrug*

I've noticed the effect and while I wish the monitor had come with a glossy coating there just isn't another unit in the same pricerange that can compare to this one. Even the Asus that uses the same panel (and is like $150 more) doesn't seem to have the same color purity that the viewsonic does.

So I'm happy with my purchase... :)
 
elvn, great post, thanks for those tips and observations. I think you're right, the lighting and brightness of the monitor plays a big part.

elvn said:
The monitor was so bright it was like staring into a lightbulb out of the box. When I turned the brightness WAY down, and adjusted the contrast and tweaked the vibrance up a touch, this monitor was very easy on the eyes. Before that my eyes were very strained viewing this monitor and reading text on it. It bothered my eyes alot instead of being the 'easy reading' LCDs were supposed to provide. Now its a joy.
The lowered brightness also subdues the anti-glare frost layer, probably because the crystals aren't being blasted by an overbright light from inside the monitor.
Click to expand...

What brightness setting do you have? I've already got mine turned down to 41. My contrast is still fairly high though, maybe it needs more tweaking.
 
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