LCD nightmare

[Damion]

OK...a bit off-topic for this board, but I have to vent my frustration somewhere...

Several months ago, my Trinitron crapped out.

I bought a cheap 19" shadow mask Samsung (mistake) to replace it, but promptly took it back for far too many reasons to list.

After a few months research (and because of the non-availability of new Trinitron/Diamondtron CRTs), I decide to take the plunge and order an LCD online, which is admittedly risky...but none of the local stores sell an LCD I'm even remotely interested in (mostly cheap TN panels).

Being that I'm not totally loaded, my budget limits me to the 17 and 19" arena. 19" screens are out of the question, since I can't handle the pixelated look of 1280x1024 resolution on such a large screen.

I order a Samsung 711T, 17" 8-bit PVA panel, good reviews everywhere. It arrives with no defect pixels, nice monitor aside from the absolutely ridiculous backlight bleeding in two corners of the screen (badly washing out the colors there)...so I RMA it, wait almost three weeks to receive a refund.

Next, I decide to get an Eizo L568 (same panel as the Samung, but with better color reproduction (10-bit gamma correction) and much better OSD).  

Absolutely flawless and even backlighting, and very little streaking in games despite the rated 25ms response time (almost no blurring in the BF2 demo). The picture quality is phenomenal, at least the equal of my old Trinitrons. BUT...it has a nice little cluster of defect pixels...one semi-dead which flashes green sometimes, and one stuck blue, right in the middle of the screen. This is seriously aggravating, because the chances of getting defect pixels with PVA panels is *very* slim...let alone two, let alone right in the center of the screen.

So now what the heck do I do...send it back monday and wait forever...or live with it, remaining somewhat ticked that a tiny 17" Eizo I paid 500 bucks for has dead pixels. Maybe I should find something better to worry about...then again, I can't imagine my odds are in favor of getting yet ANOTHER bad one...(famous last words, heh)..

what a PITA :pissed:

[adz]

I bought myself a CMV CT720D, 17" 8ms 8-bit, for AU$420 a while back, no dead pixels, great picture quality and a 30 day zero dead/bright pixel warranty. I know several other people who have them and have had no problems. See a review here. Best of luck with your current one, if I were you I'd get a new one, dead pixels are really annoying. Another thing you could try is gently massaging the dead pixels with a soft cloth, sometimes it brings them back to life.

[Damion]

adz wrote:
I bought myself a CMV CT720D, 17" 8ms 8-bit, for AU$420 a while back, no dead pixels, great picture quality and a 30 day zero dead/bright pixel warranty. I know several other people who have them and have had no problems. See a review here. Best of luck with your current one, if I were you I'd get a new one, dead pixels are really annoying. Another thing you could try is gently massaging the dead pixels with a soft cloth, sometimes it brings them back to life.

Thanks man....yeah, I've decided to send it back...another few weeks is no biggie. I tried a gentle rub, also ran the PSP video that's been circulating the net (didn't expect much from that, but worth a shot I figured;-)). CMV has a killer pixel warranty, not sure if they sell that model in the States but I'll check it out.

cheers

:pint:

[odin]

I'm not sure if I'd buy an LCD....CRT still seems a better choice to me (if you have the room).

[adz]

odin wrote:
I'm not sure if I'd buy an LCD....CRT still seems a better choice to me (if you have the room).

From what I have heard from my suppliers, you may not have a choice next year...

[Damion]

odin wrote:
I'm not sure if I'd buy an LCD....CRT still seems a better choice to me (if you have the room).

Problem is, quality apperture grill CRTs (sadly) aren't manufactured anymore. You can still buy cheapola shadow masks, but those suck (IMHO) and fry my eyes in a matter of a few hours...so for me it's LCD for now, at least until SEDs become available...




 
 

[Wain]

Viewsonic makes a wide variety of monitors with Aperture Grills, they're fairly common, particularly among flat-screen CRT's.

[Damion]

Currently, only the P220F (22") is sold with an aperture grill. They are becoming somewhat difficult to find new these days, LaCie is the only company I'm aware of which still sells a 19" AG unit (and when they run out, that's it...Mitsubishi and Sony no longer produce the (AG) tubes).

 

[NoFastMem]

adz wrote:

odin wrote:
I'm not sure if I'd buy an LCD....CRT still seems a better choice to me (if you have the room).

From what I have heard from my suppliers, you may not have a choice next year...

All the more reason to grab one while you can, IMO.

Whether those dead pixels render a display defective also relies on the prominence of their position, if I recall correctly. I think having them right in the middle of the screen justifies a return and it'll be worth the short-term hassle to be rid of them.

I tried an LCD a couple of years ago (17" but I forgot the brand) and it gave me migraine headaches.  I have a 21" Flat screen Dell Trinitron CRT thanks to a friend and couldn't be happier.

Kinda like the difference between plasma TV's and my older 32" Sony Wega.  Plasmas have distinct advantages in size, HDTV, and the 16:9 ratio but in my opinion they have a long way to go.

... and since I can't yet to upgrade my satellite to HDTV or one of Lee's 55" Grand Wega sets, I'll just have to suffer.. :-)

Wayne