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Author Topic: Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?  (Read 4404 times)

luminousjoe

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Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?
« on: December 24, 2010, 07:38:22 am »

Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or 271, either the standard model or the Spectraview version? I've just taken delivery of the Spectraview version of the 241 and would like to compare notes on how the screen is, or isn't, fixed to the bezel surround.

I've had NEC monitors before, none quite this expensive, and in all cases the screen was fairly firmly fixed at the edges to the monitor's bezel. The arrangement seemed to be that the edges of the screen were butted against the inside face of the bezel, buffered from it by a thin, compliant gasket. But I've now had three of these 241s (the former two being sent back) and, on two of them, the screen was not butted up against the bezel but instead was slightly spaced away from the bezel (by a fraction of a mm). So, there was actually an air gap all round. This is now the case with the third one. When the second PA241 was delivered, the entire screen (an ultra-thin panel) was just completely rattling around in the aperture of the monitor. Obviously, I immediately sent that one back to the retailer.

I don't recall the screen being non-fixed with the first one I had (that one had a quite different problem) but, again, on this third one, even just light finger pressure at any point where the screen meets the bezel deflects the screen inward. It's almost as if the screen is simply held lightly against the bezel by a weak spring behind it.

I find this very unsatisfactory. It feels as though the monitor's not been assembled properly and is falling apart. Also, with the screen being flat but the plastic bezel inevitably being very slightly warped, it's clear that the two do all but meet in places and therefore the arrangement could give rise to audible mechanical buzzing during operation. All such monitors produce some low-level mechanical vibrations from the sorts of PSUs that they employ and those vibrations get carried through into other structures of the monitor. Once in the screen, the screen will act like a diaphragm, emphasising those noises.

I've been in touch with NEC themselves for an explanation and what they're telling me is that this is by design and is supposed to maintain the colour integrity of the screen right up to the bezel. They even say that some of the latest monitors from their competitors use non-fixed screens also. But whilst there are indeed known problems with the uniformity of all tube-lit LCD monitors at the screen edges, I can't see that the bezel in this case would have any bearing whatever on that. So, I'm thinking that perhaps they've completely misunderstood my observation.

I'm wondering if I'm alone in discovering this, or whether instead I've just hit upon a bad batch of 241s. These Spectraview versions, don't forget, are supposed to be top quality and especially selected off the production line.

So, if you're reading this and you use a 241 or 271, just lightly apply some finger pressure at the edges of the screen and let me know if your screen too is non-fixed. Use a thin, unfolded cloth to prevent fingermarks getting on to the screen - and do look closely.

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Czornyj

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Re: Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2010, 05:18:16 am »

The bezel is spaced intentionally to insure the best possible screen uniformity.
« Last Edit: December 26, 2010, 05:20:52 am by Czornyj »
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Marcin Kałuża | [URL=http://zarzadzaniebarwa

luminousjoe

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Re: Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2010, 08:59:37 am »

How does that work, then?

Your posting seems to be saying roughly the same as I got from NEC. It's not that I disbelieve you, or anything, it's just that I'm curious as to how a fraction of a mm spacing all around can make a difference to the screen uniformity.

Something else I've just noticed is that, on the so-called Certificate of calibration that came with this 241, the screen resolution for the printed measurements is given as 2560 X 1440. Well, the maximum resolution of the 241 is 1920 X 1200, so I can't figure out what's going on. The job name on the calibration sheet is certainly the serial no. of this 241 but I'm wondering if the calibration figures I've been given are instead for a model 271. Do you happen to know if the table values in the LUTs of the 241 and 271 monitors are supposed to be exactly the same, or are these sorts of calibrations a function of the screen's resolution?

At this very moment, after not much more than connecting the monitor and selecting a few basic things, the colours are all over the place. Obviously, I'm going to have to spend a fair bit of time both configuring the monitor and getting its calibration as good as possible. I believe I've got it set to sRGB, 6500K, 120 cd/m2 for now, but both the desktop and online colours are poorly saturated (hmm, maybe it's defaulted back to Adobe RGB). It's going to take me quite a while, I think, to plough through the user manual and the supplied Profiler software to figure out how best to check the calibration. I suspect that, as one reviewer of this model has suggested, it'll benefit from an additional software-based calibration via the DDC/CI interface (I possess an EyeOne Display 2 calibration puck). I notice that there's an n241w profile that's automatically loaded itself into Windows's Display Properties.
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Czornyj

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Re: Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2010, 11:49:47 am »

The spacing is to make sure that the bezel won't press the matrix, that may cause kind of mura effect. My personal P211W, 2190UXi, and 3090WQXi all had loose bezels, and all countless x90, SV, P and PA displays that I saw also had loose bezels, so I belive it's really an intention of the design. The whole rest is good looking, robust, ergonomic and at least never let me down.
 
Each EU Spectraview display is measured by a technican, and measurement results are printed on a certificate. I guess the wrong resolution is just a matter of trivial mistake.

If the standard n241w profile is loaded into Windows Display Properties, you should swich the display to "Full" mode gamut calibration. I suggest to use free NEC Multiprofiler software to calibrate and profile the display without a sensor, or calibrate and profile the display with Spectraview Profiler + EyeOne puck, but to a custom, visually adjusted white point.
« Last Edit: December 26, 2010, 11:57:56 am by Czornyj »
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Marcin Kałuża | [URL=http://zarzadzaniebarwa

luminousjoe

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Re: Anyone here using an NEC PA241 or PA271 monitor?
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2010, 05:50:50 am »

I'm interested to know what you mean by a 'mura' effect and am wondering whether a certain optical effect I'm getting with this monitor could be accounted for by that. What I'm finding is that, at anything other than a sitting position (ie. normal viewing position), the image will rapidly and unevenly dull/darken. More precisely, as I move my head/eyes to a more upward position so that I'm less square on to the monitor, saturation is lost and the screen takes on either a grey, milky appearance or sometimes a shadowy appearance. This seems to happen only in the vertical plane. The effect is very pronounced if, for instance, I move off my sitting position to a standing position. The steeper the vertical angle with the screen, the worse the effect.

I've thought that this might be a consequence of LG having removed the polariser layer on these screens a year or two ago. My older NEC monitor (sRGB only) certainly never suffered from this. It had excellent viewing angles all round. If this is due to the loss of the polariser then it's obviously been a retrograde step.

I've tested for it being anything to do with reflected light on the screen but the effect is still there even with the room fully darkened out. So, it's definitely emissive, not reflective (I began to wonder if was essential to use the hood). The effect is not there, either, if you view the screen at various vertical angles from a distance of, say, 2 yds away. So, this is all down to subtended angles. But, of course, that doesn't help, as normal viewing is at 2 ft, not 2 yds.

I'm not sure what to make of that erroneous recording of the resolution on the Certificate. I wouldn't call it a trivial mistake, as it now puts the integrity of my 241 in complete doubt. And, after all, this being a Spectraview version, I've paid extra for what's supposed to be a calibrated, all-but-perfect sample.

One possibility is that the technician typed in the completely wrong resolution, and that's all, and NEC unfortunately then issued the monitor from the factory without spotting the mistake. The other possibility is that the technician was measuring 271s at the time and erroneously put the serial no. of my 241, rather than that of a 271, down on the sheet. But we'll never know. Therefore, all the calibration figures accompanying that Certificate could refer to a completely different monitor, not mine. That said, I wouldn't feel too concerned about it if someone with the appropriate knowledge could reassure me that this doesn't matter in the long term and that the LUT values in the monitor are fixed and are the same for all 241s and 271s.

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