The Official ImageQuest/Hyundai L90D+ Thread

This thread is for owners of ImageQuest/Hyundai L90D+ LCD monitors who wish to post their review and experiences w/ the unit. Please no thread crapping or hijacking. We'd like to spread the word about this very nice, inexpensive monitor. Feel free to post your review and/or experiences.

Further discussion of this monitor can be found herehttp://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=360822.



I just received my L90D+ from Newegg a few hours ago. The monitor came in the original box w/ a picture of the monitor on the side and a small cut towards the top of the box. Nothing big enough to slide a hand in or anything and it didn't completely penetrate the box. When I opened it, the LCD seemed fine. I promptly shut down my rig and disconnected my primary Sony Diamondtron NF 19" CRT and jacked this bad-boy in. I sat it down on my desk and the first thing I noticed was all the dust that had collected underneith my hu'jass Diamondtron. So after cleaning all that crap off, the second thing I noticed was the size difference between both "19inch" monitors! The L90D+'s screen is actually 6 - 7/8" higher and wider than the Sony. Also the buttons underneith the monitor (on the bottom-side of the housing) aren't as bad as some users suggest. I actually enjoy having them out of the way. So far I'm lovin' it. xD

I power up, both monitors are detected. The POST screen and the Windows bootscreen are great opportunities to check for backlight leakage. What do I find? Nada. All four corners, tight as a freshman cheerlea... err... I mean there is no backlight leaking.

So I boot up into Windows w/ my wonderful "Vin Diesel is teh hot" desktop wallpaper and I notice that Vin is lookin' a lot hotter than normal. By that of course I mean the picture was much more crisp and clear. Now, addressing the issue some other owners of this monitor brought up before, yes, pictures do look much more "digital" than on a CRT monitor. I found by lowering the brightness to 60 (default was 80/100), this issue can be tackled.

Being paranoid about dead pixels, I quickly change my Vin Diesel background (you probably all think I pitch for the other team about now, huh?) to a solid white color and search for any dead/stuck pixels. Calibrated the colors with the ForceWare drivers. Nothing. Change to solid black, nothing. Great.

So I load up a game of Tribes Vengeance multiplayer. I play for about a half hour and everything looks WONDERFUL. The IQ is exquisit! This entire time I had my secondary Diamondtron cloning the primary display and I witnessed NO ghosting. Unfortunately I kept getting killed standing there in the map searching for ghosting, so I started a LAN server and tested further there.

Now, what I DID notice was a tad bit of blurring when turning at a moderate speed. I also noticed my eyes were watering a bit. At this time I also noticed I STILL HAD 1024x768 RESOLUTION. So I changed it to the LCD's native 1280x1024 and THE BLURRING DISSAPEARED. The IQ also upped a little as well and I was then viewing the LCD in it's full capacity. I still noticed no ghosting.

I then loaded up HL2 and tested for ghosting and still found nothing (at native resolution). I also tested at 1024x768 and the IQ was still fair and definitely playable. Text is blurred slightly at non-native resolutions (800x600 is also selectable on this monitor) almost like you're using XP's default ClearType font on a regular CRT monitor, just a little blurry. However texture and image quality is still definitely within playable range.

I exited out of HL2 and loaded up Photoshop (I do a lot of photo restoration and editing) and tested out the colors. NO TWINKLING. In fact it looked just as good as the Sony buzzin' along right beside it (by buzzing I mean both of my Sony CRTs make a low buzzing sound, whereas this monitor makes no sound and turns on instantly).

So I loaded up an XviD movie I encoded and skimmed through some of it. I notice some pixelation on the L90D+ compared to the Sony but it wasn't very bad. Again, adjusting the brightness a bit soothed this problem.

I loaded up a DVD and skimmed through that. No twinkling whatsoever that I could easily notice.

UPDATE: I've been playing Tribes Vengeance multiplayer for about an hour and notice very little difference between my Diamondtron and my LCD. For those who don't have or play T:V, multiplayer is very fast-paced, and all that time I noticed no ghosting or blurring.

I will say this again folks, the IQ is NICE. The picture is so much more crisp and clear than even what the Diamondtron's can crank out. And no ghosting, seriously. I couldn't be more happy w/ this purchase, even if I did pay like... $84 more bucks for it at Newegg compared to the CompUSA deal. No backlighting, no dead pixels, I s'pose it was worth it.

A little more info about the monitor. The viewing angle is pretty good although there is a noticeable color temperature change once you view the LCD from either left or right. It looks warmer (as in tan/beige-ish) whereas when you sit in front of the monitor, it looks perfect. When you stand right above it and look down at an extreme angle, it looks lighter, but everything is easily still visible, as it is from the sides as well. It's barely noticeable and not a problem at all (for me at least).

questions are also welcome.

mica

I have a question about this and LCDs in general. I know it wont be a while until I can get an LCD, but when I do I want a 19" and this is looking very good so far. Most of my games I like to play at 1280x1024 which is the native res for most 19" LCDs. Thats great. However when at the desktop and doing every day tasks, I like to run 1024x768. One thing I like about my Samsung SyncMaster 955DF (CRT) is that the text is very sharp and crisp. 1) How does the desktop and related apps (not games) and text look at 1024x768 on this monitor and 2) How does the desktop/apps/text look on LCDs in general (is it the same across the board?).

Thanks for answering!

gustav said:

1) How does the desktop and related apps (not games) and text look at 1024x768 on this monitor and 2) How does the desktop/apps/text look on LCDs in general (is it the same across the board?).

Thanks for answering!

Click to expand...

1) In all honesty, not that great. It's by no means unbearable, but it does add a noticible amount of burryness to the screen. Text can still be read fine, you'll just notice a slight blurred effect. If it was possible to take a screenshot, I'd demonstrate it for you. Also, what I've noticed so far at least in games, is that image quality is reduced only slightly when not in the monitor's native resolution. This of course is only my experience w/ this particular monitor.

If you want to see it first hand, go to your nearest Best Buy or CompUSA, hope on one of their display computers, and change the res. Across the board, what you will see will be basically the same even on the most expensive LCD monitors.

2) So far in my use of my monitor (my first LCD), things definitely look sharper and more clear. I'm sure there are some CRTs out there that can produce the same quality if not better, but this LCD alone does a wonderful job. Text is crystal clear (I turned on the lowest ClearType setting to make it stand out a bit more), pictures are sharp (refer to my review), and games look great.

Now I can't personally speak for other LCDs, though I have seen some that even look like crap w/ text.

this lcd doesn't look bad at 1024x768. i just switched it, and besides being way too big everything looks pretty good. keep in mind you're going from 19" crt (about 17" viewable) to a 19" lcd (19" viewable). I've played games @ 1024x768 by accident, as has MonroeM and we have found them totally acceptable. I have not tried other lcds at lower than native resolutions.

crimedog said:

this lcd doesn't look bad at 1024x768. i just switched it, and besides being way too big everything looks pretty good. keep in mind you're going from 19" crt (about 17" viewable) to a 19" lcd (19" viewable). I've played games @ 1024x768 by accident, as has MonroeM and we have found them totally acceptable. I have not tried other lcds at lower than native resolutions.

Click to expand...

Yeah, games are definitely playable at 1024x768 on this LCD. The only thing notcible is the text, which looks just slightly blurred (soft), like Windows looks at 1024x768.

MonroeM, can you take some pictures of the LCD in action so we can have a feel for how it looks onscreen. Also a picture of it on a black screen so we can see that it doesn't have any blacklight leakage as you said.

Thanks, and great review by the way... keep'em coming!

Yeah, most definitely, I'm waiting for my cam batteries to charge as we speak. Should be up in about a half hour.

MonroeM said:

Yeah, most definitely, I'm waiting for my cam batteries to charge as we speak. Should be up in about a half hour.

Click to expand...

Its been almost two hours! We want pics! Something malfunction?

Pics are up, gustav.

gustav said:

Its been almost two hours! We want pics! Something malfunction?

Click to expand...

See the first post near the bottom, he linked to some pics he took.

Excellent review, pics added a lot to the 'sale' of the item.

As crimedog explained, running at 1280x1024 (the largest I had previous ever run) is fine with a 19" LCD because of the larger LCD panel size. Then with a 21.3" I'm running at 1600x1200, but still fine with the larger panel size. The native resolution tends to be a fine compromise between size and detail.

This looks like a winner! If I didn't already ahve a decent LCD I'd be all over this. If you're a gamer and are thinking about trading in a 19+" CRT, LCDs have finally become a realistic option for you.

Pinky said:

See the first post near the bottom, he linked to some pics he took.

Excellent review, pics added a lot to the 'sale' of the item.

As crimedog explained, running at 1280x1024 (the largest I had previous ever run) is fine with a 19" LCD because of the larger LCD panel size. Then with a 21.3" I'm running at 1600x1200, but still fine with the larger panel size. The native resolution tends to be a fine compromise between size and detail.

This looks like a winner! If I didn't already ahve a decent LCD I'd be all over this. If you're a gamer and are thinking about trading in a 19+" CRT, LCDs have finally become a realistic option for you.

Click to expand...

So you're saying even though you run at a higher resolution, since the viewing area is larger, the icons (and more importantly) the text is larger? The only problem I have with high resolutions for desktop usage is that its hard to read text. If this isn't a problem then I guess I shouldn't be worried. I think I have enough to get this, but now I have to decide. Which is more important of an upgrade: this or a newer video card. I'll have to sleep on it and decide what (if any - its highly doubtfull I will upgrade) to do.

gustav said:

So you're saying even though you run at a higher resolution, since the viewing area is larger, the icons (and more importantly) the text is larger?

Click to expand...

This is a little tough to explain, but bare w/ me. Say you had 1024x768 on a 17" monitor (LCD/CRT, doesn't matter), then you had 1024x768 on a 30" monitor. The 30" will of course be a lot bigger and easier to read.

So if you're used to your current 17" (I assume) monitor running at 1280x1024 and you buy the L90D+ or any other 19" monitor and run it at the same resolution, yes, everything will be bigger.

Now, if you're using a 17" which are IMHO, best used w/ 1024x768 and upgrade to a 19" LCD w/ a native resolution of 1280x1024, things may be just slightly smaller, it's debatable.

In short, if you're used to 1280x1024, you're good to go.


As for what you should upgrade, I'd recommend a video card over a monitor just yet. If your video card can't pull decent frames at 1280x1024 (native res for this LCD), you really don't want to buy an LCD of this size or larger just yet. However, like it has been said previously, this monitor actually doesn't look as terrible as others do when NOT run in it's native res. Just make sure to turn ClearType off in Windows if you're not running in native res, otherwise things get ugly.

Well right now I run a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 955DF CRT. At desktop I run 1024x768 as the only thing that doesn't look wierd or out of proportion up to 1280x1024 is 1280x960 which isn't far off from 1280x1024, so to me its still hard to read. However in all games I play (mohaa - 4 years old, I get good FPS with settings cranked on my 9800 pro, CoD, CoD:UO play with most settings turned up...see 30fps sometimes, usually more than 50, mohpa 15-30 fps, sometimes 40 if I'm lucky with medium settings, ut2k4 settings cranked - not sure what my fps are but it feels fine) so for the most part my fps are fine, though I would like at more in mohpa. I really need/want a better video card but I'm on a tight budget. Perhaps once I get more money I can get the card upgrade and If this is still as good as it is now, upgrade to it or possibly a better but similar one at that time. I'll still have to think about it. Its very tempting

gustav said:

Well right now I run a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 955DF CRT. At desktop I run 1024x768 as the only thing that doesn't look wierd or out of proportion up to 1280x1024 is 1280x960 which isn't far off from 1280x1024, so to me its still hard to read. However in all games I play (mohaa - 4 years old, I get good FPS with settings cranked on my 9800 pro, CoD, CoD:UO play with most settings turned up...see 30fps sometimes, usually more than 50, mohpa 15-30 fps, sometimes 40 if I'm lucky with medium settings, ut2k4 settings cranked - not sure what my fps are but it feels fine) so for the most part my fps are fine, though I would like at more in mohpa. I really need/want a better video card but I'm on a tight budget. Perhaps once I get more money I can get the card upgrade and If this is still as good as it is now, upgrade to it or possibly a better but similar one at that time. I'll still have to think about it. Its very tempting

Click to expand...

Don't let the temptation get the best of you, bro. I'm usually a freak when it comes to tech, I must have the best of the best... within reason of price of course. My wallet lets me know it too. I'd highly recommend you grab a 6600GT or a 6800GT if you have a bigger budget. You will thank yourself if you first purchase a new video card, trust me. I loaded up HL2 w/ my BFG 5900XT O/C on this monitor and the native res is kickin' it's ***.

I'd definitely say shoot for a new VGA then grab this monitor. I don't think the price will skyrocket too much in all honesty. Just don't buy it from Newegg while they still have that $410 + $22 shipping price tag.

MonroeM said:

Don't let the temptation get the best of you, bro. I'm usually a freak when it comes to tech, I must have the best of the best... within reason of price of course. My wallet lets me know it too. I'd highly recommend you grab a 6600GT or a 6800GT if you have a bigger budget. You will thank yourself if you first purchase a new video card, trust me. I loaded up HL2 w/ my BFG 5900XT O/C on this monitor and the native res is kickin' it's ***.


I'd definitely say shoot for a new VGA then grab this monitor. I don't think the price will skyrocket too much in all honesty. Just don't buy it from Newegg while they still have that $410 + $22 shipping price tag.

Click to expand...

I'm usually the same way. I like to have the best I can get for the money for what I like to do. However if I upgraded I would probably go for a x800 pro/xt (prefer ATI) and then spring for the moniter once I recovered from the loss. Yeah I think thats what I'll do. I'd still like to see what the bunches of other have to say about it...seems like a lot of people ordered it!

gustav said:

So you're saying even though you run at a higher resolution, since the viewing area is larger, the icons (and more importantly) the text is larger?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. MonroeM explained it in slightly more detail though.

Prior to LCDs, I ran my desktop on 17" CRT monitors at 1024x768. Once I had a 19" LCD it was 1280x1024, and now 1600x1200 on the 21.3". For me I really can't tell the difference in resolution other than there's more desktop space than my prior monitor. Like I said, they make the native resolutions pretty "right sized".

Damn MonroeM You have me ready to order a second one and my first hasn't shipped yet

Dang

Well Just...


Dang


let me see if I can live with 1 big monitor.

Hehe. Once I get everything else set up (thinking about grabbing a wireless NIC + a high-gain omni antenna), I may grab another. I just love it. It's a great monitor for one and I love having my desk room back. More room for mess!

Can u post some pics of the screen? I'd like to see how it compares to my sony hs74p so i can kick myself in the sack for paying 448 for it when i could've gotten this 19inch; 6.7million colors; 8ms; gem for approximately 100(-+10) less. .........

atleast i've got my xbrite......:/

anyways, i'd really like to see this screen. I might just endup buying it and selling this one to my bro or cousin or....just bring it back.