Just got my 2405...have a few questions

[digitalduck]

You might remember my previous post a few weeks back Here about getting a refurbished moniter from Dell but I decided to go with a brand new one instead. Anyway delivered yesterday and all I can say so far is wow, this is an amazing monitor. However, with all of the research I had do prior to purchasing this monitor, I have a few more specific questions now that I have it and have had a chance to use it.

1. I tried to play a dvd on it and was surprised that it didnt take up more of the screen then it did. Ive only tried one so far, (charlie and the choc factory) but it was surrounded by black on all sides. Was it just the aspect ratio of that dvd or is it the monitor? I cant remember if the monitor is a 16x10 or 9 but will a dvd take up the entire screen with no black? Then again, I was using Windows Media dvd player to play it so perhaps using a better program with more options would help.

2. Also, I treid hooking up my digital cable box to the monitor to see how it would look but I assumed that the box had component like the monitor does but it doesnt (my dvr it the living room does) my cable box has three other inputs but its like spdif or something. So just out of curiousity I tried svideo to see and it looked aweful on regular channels and since ive never done it hdtv wouldnt even come in. Im assuming hd channels wont come in unless its component or DMI correct? In which case I wont be able to use the monitor for hd unless I bring in my dvr from the living room.

3. What would be better, using the pc/monitor combination for dvd playback, or running component to a seperate dvd player to the monitor that way? But then I have to worry about speakers.... Since its in my bedroom, I only have pc speakers and tv so I would have to find some way to use those some how or get new ones which im trying to avoid...

4. This I havent investigated enough yet, but I tried hooking up the usb cable from the monitor to the pc so i could use the usb inputs on the monitor last night and after restart I would only get beeps on post. I unplugged any other unneccessary things I had in usb in the pc and tried again and I still got beeps, so I unplugged usb from monitor to pc and posted just fine, any ideas?

So far this appears to be a great monitor..looking forward to using it..

 

[JBT]

Its a 16:10 monitor. The reason why dvd's don't fill the whole screen is because DVD's are are only 480p while your monitor is over 1080p. You can ussually right click and get it to stretch a bit more by choosing full screen in Windows media player but the picture quality will look a little bit crappier.

S-video will also look like crap as it maxes out at 800x600

I don't know much about the DVD play back issue as far as if using an internal DVD drive or using a external DVD set top works best.

The USB issue seems very strange. I never heard of something like that happening. If you plan on using that alot it maybe a bad USB controller on the monitor and you may need to send it back.

As for looking for dead pixels? I don't know why you would try to look for them. If you find any it will just annoy you. Eithere way I did find one on mine after a few weaks and now I pretty much just forget about it.... and don't ever see it unless someone brings up how to find dead pixels on their new monitor.
Though, from what I have seen of the 2405's setting the back ground to black works best for finding pixels. (this is the only time mine is viewable.) Though there are programs out there that will change the entires screens color to see if they get stuck on any certain colors. Though like I said before ussually with the 2405's it will only be on black.

 

[digitalduck]

What about subtle color corrections? I popped in a copy of Disney's Chicken Little, and while I love this monitor, I do notice that the colors look "brighter" or maybe "crisper" or my 8yr old 19" tv...

 

[JBT]

the default color on it is very bright yeah. use the OSD to turn it down a bit to something more comfortable.

 

[digitalduck]

Thanks for the replies JBT... ive read some threads in the forum and im wondering what my options are for using this for any type of tv? I would like to use my digital cable box, but it only has svideo, i suppose im stuck with using my dvr in the living room.

For whatever reason the usb problem fixed itself, I removed my optical mouse that was usb with the mobo "adaptor" on it and i dont know if that had anything to do with it, but it works now...just using the mouse through usb instead..

My problem using anything other then the pc dvd player are the speakers... unless I can get my pc speakers to work with through the stand alone dvd player then im out of luck or run it through the tv.. either way id like to use the monitor, but then I dont have a remote for the volume... damn

 

[Washoe]

Hey digitalduck. I don't know the answers to your questions here but wanted to say congrats, and welcome to the club!

How are the games looking for you?

 

[digitalduck]

Hey Washoe, good to see you again, NFS: Most wanted is great, running at its highest widescreen res (not sure what that is I think is 1680x1050 maybe, with everything on high except AA on medium, but everything else maxed, very smooth. Tried Oblivion last night and kept it at 1680x1050 HDR and everything else maxed like it was before and it appeared to run just fine... So far so good This is a great monitor!

 

[Washoe]

awesome! The highest res for the 2405 is 1920x1200. You should be able to play most games at that res but if it's laggy just drop it to 1680x1050.

Having any problems with the brightness? I went from a 19" CRT too, and I remember at first I had headaches from spending time in front of the LCD.

 

[digitalduck]

Well, it depends on what you mean by brightness...too much or too little.. I remember reading that people would turn their's down right away to get a closer black. I bumped mine down from 50 to 25 so far. However, a kind of opposite problem im having is with dvds where "note my 2nd post up above" but dvds especially disney CG seem not as crisp or bright or sharp as they did on my old 19" CRT..Im wondering what I can do about that...

 

[Washoe]

I meant about it being really bright. I currently have mine set to about 70 brightness. I got used to it over time and now I like it that way.

I don't have interest myself in playing DVDs from my PC so I have never dealt with that issue, sorry! I would think that there's gotta be something you can do though. GL!

 

[digitalduck]

Will I notice any difference if I use a standalone dvd player through component cables or pc dvd player through DMI? Is one better then the other? Trying to decide which to use with this monitor..

 

[Noema]

Congratulations!

We need :camera:s of the monitor though

 

[digitalduck]

Ask and you shall receive

Pic

Its of our wedding rings, I was in a hurry and thats what was on the background, otherwise it would be of Oblivion or something... maybe the next pic..

 

[Markbnj]

Set your gamma to .80 and crank the brightness back a little. You'll appreciate the rich color more when it isn't giving you a tan.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: digitalduck
Ask and you shall receive

Pic

Its of our wedding rings, I was in a hurry and thats what was on the background, otherwise it would be of Oblivion or something... maybe the next pic..

Looks awesome!

:thumbsup: