2005fpw "screendoor" ?

[anandemide]

Right I need some members' opinions on this one...

I recently purchased a Dell 2005FPW from Dell. I was very happy with my purchase at first, but within minutes I began to notice several problems with it. The backlight was crap - massive leakage in ALL the corners. However, more annoyingly, I kept getting distracted by a very visible mesh/diamond grid-like pattern that overlayed anything that was moving/animated on the screen. This could clearly be made out whilst playing Battlefield 2 for instance: most noticeable whilst I was running about or things were mobile on the screen. I found the effect would reduce or disappear if I leaned in within 2-3 inches on the screen and was also invisible at certain angles (I could also make it appear/disappear by moving my head from side to side whilst focusing on a part of the screen). The biggest niggle was that, at any reasonable viewing distance, it was incredibly prevelant. Would this be the infamous screendoor issue??

I called up Dell and arranged a replacement. They shipped another the next day, and whilst the new one had a much more uniform backlight, the "mesh" effect was still there, clear as day. It's really irritating as I can't help but focus on it and if it wasn't for this I'd be perfectly happy with my screen. Wondering if I could get away with it, I rang to arrange another replacement. Next day, I found yet another Dell box waiting for me, only this time they didn't collect the old screen. Turns out Dell decided to ship me a 2001FP instead though. Out of interest I tried out this screen: its backlight is perfect though lighter than the 2005's, and the mesh effect, though still actually there, is very hard to make out (you have to lean in really close to certain parts of the screen to see it).

Now I'm in a bit of a quandry. I'm considering dumping the 2005FPW and keeping the 2001FP all because of this one problem (it's THAT annoying). However, I'd really rather go with the 2005, on the basis of it being widescreen and having the noticeably higher contrast ratio. What I'm really concerned about is that ALL 2005FPWs suffer from this irritating mesh effect, so in effect I'd be wasting my time ordering any further replacements.

Does anybody know this to be true? How many of you 2005FPW owners suffer from these same symptoms?

I'd REALLY appreciate any input. Cheers guys!

 

[ryanv12]

mesh? you must notice something that I can't. Although I think I know what you're talking about, but I stopped noticing it at all after a couple days of using it. Monitors are subjective though. If the problem persists, you'll just have to look into finding another one unfortunately. I'd wait to see if it "goes away" for you though

 

[ChuckHsiao]

There's two possible reasons that I can think of for this.

1. It looks like it uses an MVA panel (or actually, probably a PVA panel since most Dell panels are made by Samsung; PVA is Samsung's version of essentially the same thing). Regular TN panels simply shoot the photons of light straight out, perpendicular to the panel; this is why they have relatively crappy viewing angles. However, MVA stands for "multiple vertical alignment"; rather than shooting the photons straight out, the crystals are set into various domains or sections, shooting out their photons in several different directions instead. For example, the simplest case is two domains; then for every sub-pixel, one domain shoots to the left, while the other shoots to the right. The thing is, most of the time, none are pointing dead center, but all point slightly away, to maximize viewing angle. This means that there is sometimes a "dead spot" at the very center where the quality is somewhat worse, but disappears if you move slightly to the left or right.

Properly implemented, this shouldn't result in any video artifacts, since this is (or should be) set at the sub-pixel level, too small to be seen. But I don't know if they did something funky with that screen; for some reason, the only complaints I hear about those kinds of artifacts are always on Dell panels, which means either Samsung tried something funky that doesn't work well with moving animation stuff, or is simply because Dell sells the most LCD monitors in the world (and thus statistically gets the most complaints). It's also possible that this is simply a video driver timing issue, or (hopefully not) an attempt at overdrive.

As for the "screen door" effect, my memory was that it's that you can see the black grid around sub-pixels (correct me if I'm wrong). In that case, it's because the wires that they use to control how bright each sub-pixel should be were made too thick. That shouldn't create any diamond-shaped stuff though.

 

[Peter]

You're sitting way too close, is all.

 

[hootpie]

Why not just keep both the 2001fp and the 2005fpw

I'd keep the 2001fp if the "mesh" bothers you that much on the 2005fpw.

 

[knyghtbyte]

my 19in ultrasharp panel dell had a lovely picture, no mesh or backlight leakage

however it only had 25ms response so wasnt so hot for gaming...lol

there shouldnt be a mesh on LCD TV unless you sit uber close to it, even tho it should with modern displays be almost invisible then as well, u sure its not the computer its connected to thats screwing up the picture?..lol

 

[Addy]

I don?t really notice it especially in gaming. Only time I notice it at all really, is typing a word document with a pure white background, then I have to lean my head in to about 10? from the screen to see the grid pattern.

I had a VP201b for a while and wasn?t happy with the contrast, the 2005fpw seem much better in that department. Don?t know what to tell you though, mine seems fine but when I was researching panels some folks just seemed really sensitive to the screen door effect.

 

[xtknight]

It's a horribly implemented dithering algorithm, probably.

 

[pulsedrive]

In fact you are wrong about the panel, the 2005FPW is a SIPS made by LG.Philips. It is one of the best panels available. Apple uses the exact same panel in it's 20" cinema displays. I own one of these and I don't have a clue what you are talking about, I have never noticed anything even close to what you are talking about. *shrugs*

 

[wpeng]

Ug. I wish the 2005fpw came with DVI only input. According to the Dell vs Apple showdown, it is much easier to quality control something with only one type of input. When I finally decide to get that 2005, I'm going to dread returning that thing 3 times before I get one that is perfect.

 

[Peter]

Hardly. The DVI input is digitally going into the same buffer memory as the resampling result from VGA or SVideo ends up in - only that it's an entirely digital path, inherently lossless.

I'm sat in front of a 2005FPW all day at work, and it's gorgeous. Excellent contrast, brightness and backlight uniformity. No reflections of anything in the room (windows, lamps, me). No defective pixels. I can't see how one could do better, as far as the display job is concerned. Yes I'm running it on DVI.

 

[wpeng]

No, no, you misunderstand. It is easier to quality control something with less functions, so a greater proportion of the production batch will be defect free. I'm not saying the Apple Cinema Display is better, but there are a lot fewer returns for defective Apple models than there are for Dell monitors. Even though forums represent the most disgruntled or satisfied folks, it is just scary to see how many times people have to exchange their Dell monitors just to find one that isn't messed up.