Flat screen monitor

[ymNA]

just got the Philips Professional Series 17" Flat-Screen Monitor — 107P20 from bestbuy, and I noticed it has 2 very thin dimmed horizontal lines on the screen. One is a quarter down from the top and the other is a quarter from the bottom. Is this defective? or is it always there for this type of monitor?

The 2 lines aren't visible when with a dark screen but visible when with a light screen. Should I exchange for another one?

[Pinky]

Originally posted by ymNA
just got the Philips Professional Series 17" Flat-Screen Monitor — 107P20 from bestbuy, and I noticed it has 2 very thin dimmed horizontal lines on the screen. One is a quarter down from the top and the other is a quarter from the bottom. Is this defective? or is it always there for this type of monitor?

The 2 lines aren't visible when with a dark screen but visible when with a light screen. Should I exchange for another one?

Good question, I got the NEC 15.1" today and it has no lines (:)) but I have noticed Sony's monitors (including the LCDs) having these lines... I think you should return it, even if it's only to get a model that doesn't have lines (kinda defeats the purpose of spending $$$$ on a great display when it has crap running through it).

[touser]

ok, if the monitor you have has a trinitron tube in it, those lines you see are completely normal, they are shadows from the damper wires used to stabilize the aperature grille :) all trinitrons have them

[ymNA]

that make me feel a little bit better :) hmm... but still trying to decide whether to keep this one or to return it and get the LCD at compusa for about $250 on the friday sale.

[Dark Illusion]

If you're going to buy a LCD make sure it has DVI input. I've seen some analogs hooked to GFMX's and they get horrible shimmering effects all over the display. Then again I've seen the same ones hooked up to GFMX's on computers right next to it that worked fine. Your milage may vary.

DVI compared to analog is like night and day. It's just so much sharper. Then again some people can't tell the difference b/w a high-end and low-end monitor. Also if you play any sort of very fast-paced games I don't think LCD is your way to go. CounterStrike on my IBM T85D 18" is playable once you get used to slight blur. TV and starcraft played w/out any notice of blur, it's just the real fast intense games.

DVI has a disadvantage when it comes to resolutions scalling though. Since each pixel is shown as is, playing a 1024X786 game(starcraft) on a 1280X1024 monitor means you're going to have a lot of black space. It's not scaled like analogs are to fit full screen.

Also I think if you're going to buy an LCD you should go all out and get a very good one. There are other things such as dead pixels and backlight life. Quality you gotta worry about. With a better quality monitor its less likely these things will go wrong after a short while. Not to mention there blurring I can't stand on cheap LCD's.

edit: I can't speel nor make sense when I just wake up.

[ymNA]

hm, yeah, since it's so cheap comparing to others, must not be very good, and the Radeon 7200 i'm planning to get doesn't have DVI... Flat screen it is