Opinions on Acer 22" widescreen LCD?

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: kreidel
I actually saw this monitor today a CompUSA. I think it looks good, I might pick it up tomorrow. I was sold on the NEC 20WMGX2 but my monitor would have terrible glare from the window right behind me so I had to forgot about it.

Well I do have a huge window behind me too (drapes cover it but glare is still a problem during the day). If you work/go to school during the day and game at night it shouldn't be an issue. Just something to think about. Even during the day it's not that bad but I would probably consider covering the window more.

I really wanted a 24" but that might be alittle overkill for me. My next option was a Dell 2007fpw but I went to pickup some cables today and came across the 225BW and I came home and did some reviews. CompUSA says it is a 6-bit panel but Samsung and other sites I have seen states it is a 8-bit. I am not 100% sure but this might be my next monitor.

It's a 6-bit TN that uses dithering. I wouldn't recommend the 225BW. It's among Samsung's low end models and the backlight is rather ununiform (so I hear). I'd get the Dell 2007WFP over it any day. You might want to consider the 21" Samsung 215TW or 23" Sony SDM-P234. What will you use the monitor for (mainly word processing or lots of media?)

 

[kreidel]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: kreidel
I actually saw this monitor today a CompUSA. I think it looks good, I might pick it up tomorrow. I was sold on the NEC 20WMGX2 but my monitor would have terrible glare from the window right behind me so I had to forgot about it.

Well I do have a huge window behind me too (drapes cover it but glare is still a problem during the day). If you work/go to school during the day and game at night it shouldn't be an issue. Just something to think about. Even during the day it's not that bad but I would probably consider covering the window more.

I really wanted a 24" but that might be alittle overkill for me. My next option was a Dell 2007fpw but I went to pickup some cables today and came across the 225BW and I came home and did some reviews. CompUSA says it is a 6-bit panel but Samsung and other sites I have seen states it is a 8-bit. I am not 100% sure but this might be my next monitor.

It's a 6-bit TN that uses dithering. I wouldn't recommend the 225BW. It's among Samsung's low end models and the backlight is rather ununiform (so I hear). I'd get the Dell 2007WFP over it any day. You might want to consider the 21" Samsung 215TW or 23" Sony SDM-P234. What will you use the monitor for (mainly word processing or lots of media?)

As far as what I need the monitor fir is reading the forums and gaming. As far as the glossy screens go I can't cover the windows and when I sit at my desk and use my laptop with a glossy screen it is impossible not to notice all the glare. When I sit on the couch the glossy screen is perfect. I use to own the 2005fpw and I loved it, I guess I might get the 2007fpw since nothing can beat it in it's size.

 

[Bradtechonline]

I really like Acer computers, I've used many to replace two labs in the school I work for. However, I have had a lot of problems with Acer LCD monitors going out. Out of about 20 monitors, I've had 5 fail on me. Four of them the backlight went out on, and I had to send it back to get repaired. The Acer RMA process was very quick, and they got it back to me very fast! One monitor I got the screen started flashing pink on it. I sent it back and got it back and it has worked great.

None of the repaired monitors have given any problems. I'll stick to using Samsung monitors from here on out.

 

[Trey22]

How do you get movies to look decent on this thing?

2D is great, haven't gamed on it yet.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Trey22
How do you get movies to look decent on this thing?

2D is great, haven't gamed on it yet.

What problems are you having with movie-viewing? Pale/washed out (lack of saturation), noise, blockiness?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Trey22
How do you get movies to look decent on this thing?

2D is great, haven't gamed on it yet.

You've gotta go into your driver (ATI CCC or Nvidia Control Panel) and fiddle with the Overlay settings.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Oh snap it does tilt a bit! I get a hard cracking sound when I first tried to break it in, but after that wouldn't you know it, it does tilt a bit. My bad!

:thumbsup:

 

[Trey22]

Xt, movies just look blocky, not sharp at all.

Jiffy, I'll play around with the drivers.

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: Trey22
Xt, movies just look blocky, not sharp at all.

Jiffy, I'll play around with the drivers.

any luck yet?

 

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: Trey22
Xt, movies just look blocky, not sharp at all.

Jiffy, I'll play around with the drivers.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=719041

 

[BernardP]

Here is a detailed review on BeHardware.com:

Acer 22-inch LCD

Note: the US/Canada model does have the DVI input

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: BernardP
Here is a detailed review on BeHardware.com:

Acer 22-inch LCD

Note: the US/Canada model does have the DVI input

Yep. I wouldn't buy an LCD without DVI to be my main screen, no matter the price.

Shame that in Europe DVI means it's considered a "TV" and gets levied an extra tax for the input.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: BernardP
Here is a detailed review on BeHardware.com:

Acer 22-inch LCD

Note: the US/Canada model does have the DVI input

Yep. I wouldn't buy an LCD without DVI to be my main screen, no matter the price.

Shame that in Europe DVI means it's considered a "TV" and gets levied an extra tax for the input.

U.S. version has VGA and DVI, that review is incorrect, using one now and it has both a VGA and DVI input.

Spec page

Strangely, Acer's site also shows it as having "up to 16.7 million colors", while most sites show it as having 16.2 million. Puzzling.

Definitely has DVI tho.

 

[Tuareg]

Can anyone confirm to me wether you can play 4x3 games with black bars on the sides with this monitor or if it will stretch everything? I'm drooling over this monitor, but not quite ready to leave all legacy games behind... Baldur's Gate, Planescape, longest Journey, Grim Fandango, the lsit goes on... so many I haven't even played yet :X

I was also looking into the Viewsonic VA1912wb, but apparently it won't allow unstretched 4x3 at all.

Thanks in advance

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Tuareg
Can anyone confirm to me wether you can play 4x3 games with black bars on the sides with this monitor or if it will stretch everything? I'm drooling over this monitor, but not quite ready to leave all legacy games behind... Baldur's Gate, Planescape, longest Journey, Grim Fandango, the lsit goes on... so many I haven't even played yet :X

I was also looking into the Viewsonic VA1912wb, but apparently it won't allow unstretched 4x3 at all.

Thanks in advance

There is no scaling in the monitor, so if you want to do 1:1 pixel mapping, you will need to do so in your driver, and Nvidia's drivers are the only ones which do that...

Also make sure to check out the widescreen gaming forum to see if there are widescreen fixes for your games. For most games, there are ways to play them in widescreen .

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: BernardP
Here is a detailed review on BeHardware.com:

Acer 22-inch LCD

Note: the US/Canada model does have the DVI input

Yep. I wouldn't buy an LCD without DVI to be my main screen, no matter the price.

Shame that in Europe DVI means it's considered a "TV" and gets levied an extra tax for the input.

U.S. version has VGA and DVI, that review is incorrect, using one now and it has both a VGA and DVI input.

Spec page

Strangely, Acer's site also shows it as having "up to 16.7 million colors", while most sites show it as having 16.2 million. Puzzling.

Definitely has DVI tho.

Yes, in the US. In Europe they had to remove it to avoid being taxed for TV costs.

 

[Tuareg]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Tuareg
Can anyone confirm to me wether you can play 4x3 games with black bars on the sides with this monitor or if it will stretch everything? I'm drooling over this monitor, but not quite ready to leave all legacy games behind... Baldur's Gate, Planescape, longest Journey, Grim Fandango, the lsit goes on... so many I haven't even played yet :X

I was also looking into the Viewsonic VA1912wb, but apparently it won't allow unstretched 4x3 at all.

Thanks in advance

There is no scaling in the monitor, so if you want to do 1:1 pixel mapping, you will need to do so in your driver, and Nvidia's drivers are the only ones which do that...

Also make sure to check out the widescreen gaming forum to see if there are widescreen fixes for your games. For most games, there are ways to play them in widescreen .

Well, I have a GeForce 6800GT, will that do?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Tuareg
Well, I have a GeForce 6800GT, will that do?

Do you want the long anser, the short answer, or the in-between?

Short answer: it will work fine.

Long answer: that won't be enough power to game at the screen's native resolution with all details cranked (certainly not if you want some AA also). 1680X1050 isn't that hard to power, but you need a current gen card.

But if you want a really kick-arse combo with that screen, shell out the extra dough and get a X1900XT 256MB/512MB or a 7900GTO.

If you're budget is really tight, I'd look for a 7900GT for $200 ish if you can find one. You can probably get ~$100 for your current card (not sure market prices on the 6800GT anymore).

 

[xtknight]

AL2216WBD owners: Can I put you through my standard barrage of LCD tests?

Response time control

Overdrive test 1
Overdrive test 2
Overdrive test 3

Move these images diagonally and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary like weird bright/dark streaks of color following some of the lines. If there's not much of that and there's little blur, then it's an A+.

Grayscale reproduction

Grayscale test 1
Grayscale test 2

How prevalent are reddish/greenish/bluish kinks/tints in the grayscale? If you adjust your contrast while staring at these images, do you notice any moving noise? (If arcs move across as you adjust the contrast, that's fine, but I'm looking for dithering.)

Lastly, can you look for banding (the clumping of color tones) using the infamous gradlin program.

If you see consistent gradation in the gradients, that isn't banding, that's just a high-contrast LCD (a good thing). If you notice double pairs of color tones that should be different, then that's a problem.

Thanks.

 

[jiffylube1024]

The pages don't load for me xtknight. Is the site down?

 

[Tuareg]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Tuareg
Well, I have a GeForce 6800GT, will that do?

Do you want the long anser, the short answer, or the in-between?

Short answer: it will work fine.

Long answer: that won't be enough power to game at the screen's native resolution with all details cranked (certainly not if you want some AA also). 1680X1050 isn't that hard to power, but you need a current gen card.

But if you want a really kick-arse combo with that screen, shell out the extra dough and get a X1900XT 256MB/512MB or a 7900GTO.

If you're budget is really tight, I'd look for a 7900GT for $200 ish if you can find one. You can probably get ~$100 for your current card (not sure market prices on the 6800GT anymore).

I was gonna get a X1900XT, but if it doesn't do 1:1 then I'll probably have to go Nvidia. I still do play some 4:3 only games, especially older ones.

But does 1:1 mean it will fill exactly 800x600, for example, on the screen? A small area with four black borders? That's pretty ****** support

The ViewSonic doesn't support it at all, other users said.

Thanks again

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
The pages don't load for me xtknight. Is the site down?

Fine here but I edited the links to use a new URL (try now).

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: xtknight
AL2216WBD owners: Can I put you through my standard barrage of LCD tests?

Response time control

Overdrive test 1
Overdrive test 2
Overdrive test 3

Those tests come out perfect -- no streaks, nothing. Pretty much no blur either.

Note: this is a 5 ms panel, and it behaves pretty much accordingly.

Grayscale reproduction

Grayscale test 1
Grayscale test 2

Don't really see any reddish/greenish to the grayscale tests. They just look very grey.

Lastly, can you look for banding (the clumping of color tones) using the infamous gradlin program.

The gradiation is very consistent throughout.

I think I detect a very slight bit of banding in the darkest ~30% of all the colours except blue -- but the effect is very faint and requires concentration to see. It's not something that jumps out at you but if you look, you can see faint vertical lines within the dark portions of gradiation.

With that said, fast paced movement on this screen looks excellent and I don't detect colour banding in movement at all - it's the exact opposite of the Dell 2407's horrid banding in any mode except Desktop mode - you move a window, for example, and the colours change around it. Very bizarre.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Tuareg

But does 1:1 mean it will fill exactly 800x600, for example, on the screen? A small area with four black borders? That's pretty ****** support

Yes, that's what 1:1 means!!! Whatever the resolution is, it uses that number of pixels.

But Nvidia drivers do have a lot of options, and I'm 95% sure they also have an "Aspect" stretch where it keeps the aspect ratio and stretches. So for example, an 800X600 resolution in a game with "Aspect" stretching on would fill the screen with a 4:3 ratio; namely you'd see the game stretched in a 1400X1050 4:3 picture.

 

[Tuareg]

Here's a question, would I be better off with the DELL 2007FPW?

It's a bit smaller but it's a much more refined design, supports scaling on the OSD, supports tilt, swivel, height, yada yada adjustments... etc

And thanks for the replies, jiffylube