Dell 2001FP , Poor Black levels question

[JRW]

I just got a Dell 2001fp yesterday ,its my first LCD monitor and although the picture quality is beautiful the black levels leave much desired, I had read in reviews that the black levels werent the best but I didnt realise it would be THIS bad , I have my 21" Sony CRT running right next to it (clone mode) wich makes the black level differance really stand out , especially when comparing movies and games such as Doom 3, I was curious if the newer widescreen Dell's have better black retention or is this something I just have to get used to with LCD? , Thanks in advance.

 

[Corey0808]

what about adjusting the brightness and contrast settings on the monitor or videocard?

 

[JRW]

It doesnt let me use any of the videocard adjustments on the LCD , im guessing because its connected via DVI , when I make any adjustments it only affects my CRT. Turning down the brightness to 0 on the monitor doesnt help it just lowers the backlight level, and contrast adjustment is unavailable when using DVI.


I was looking through a bunch of photos and random screenshots and noticed the CRT is showing a lot more detail in dark areas , for example in the screenshot below I outlined walls in red , on the LCD the wall textures are not visible at all , yet on my CRT I can easily see them even from across my room.. Interesting...

http://img266.echo.cx/img266/238/doom1openglmarked4fd.jpg

 

[JBT]

I can't speak about the 2005, but the 2405 has MUCH better black levels than the 2001FP I once owned. So I wouldn't say its just an LCD thing. Different LCD's are better than others and the 2001FP is on the weak side.

 

[pulsedrive]

the 2005 has VERY good black levels in my opinion, but take a look at Anand's review of it and the apple 20" to get a good idea.

 

[JRW]

Originally posted by: JBT
I can't speak about the 2005, but the 2405 has MUCH better black levels than the 2001FP I once owned. So I wouldn't say its just an LCD thing. Different LCD's are better than others and the 2001FP is on the weak side.

How is the ghosting / response time on the 2405 vs. 2001FP? I know the response is rated the same on both but do they actualy perform the same during gaming?

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: JRW

Originally posted by: JBT
I can't speak about the 2005, but the 2405 has MUCH better black levels than the 2001FP I once owned. So I wouldn't say its just an LCD thing. Different LCD's are better than others and the 2001FP is on the weak side.

How is the ghosting / response time on the 2405 vs. 2001FP? I know the response is rated the same on both but do they actualy perform the same during gaming?

I've never seen any ghosting. But I have never looked very hard either. I have also never heard anyone say they have seen any ghosting on the 2405. As for the 2001 I can't really say I saw ghosting on it unless I was REALLY looking for it.
At any rate the 2405 is quite a bit newer technology so I would say it should be improved over it.

 

[JRW]

Out of curiosity I hooked up the 2001FP with the VGA cable and was suprised to see the black levels slightly improved and not as much loss of detail in dark areas (I can see the wall textures in the screenshot I posted above now) , Am I missing something? Also how come I cant adjust the brightness / gamma etc. setting on my videocard when using DVI , is there anyway to do so? (6800 GT) , Thanks again.

 

[ponyo]

You can adjust brightness/gamma/etc even when using DVI. Simply go into your video driver settings and change from there. Gamma on my 2001 is set at 1.16 from stock 1.0.

 

[JRW]

Originally posted by: Naustica
You can adjust brightness/gamma/etc even when using DVI. Simply go into your video driver settings and change from there. Gamma on my 2001 is set at 1.16 from stock 1.0.

Thanks I figured it out , the problem was Im running dual monitors and I had my CRT set as Primary, once I made the 2001FP Primary I was able to make the adjustments , the black could still be better but I got it looking pretty darn good now