30 inch monitor...gets a little faded on the edges

[Pj94z]

I just bought a new 30 inch dell monitor u3011

I used to use a 24 inch samsung....and at brightness/contrast both set at level 5, the screen was very clear and no fading around the edges etc

This new dell 30 inch.... not the case... when i drop the brightness/contrast to 25 or lower, I start to notice that on the lower left and right sides of the screen...
i can see a slight fading out of the picture...sort of like you're looking at it from a bad angle... I'm not sure what the technical term for this is ??

with the brightness/contrast at 40 or above...this problem does not occur.

anyway, is this a defect ? Or do all 30 inch displays behave this way at low contrast/brightness?

 

[cjl]

As a general rule, I would try not to drop the contrast setting very much. On pretty much any monitor, you lose a significant amount of image quality when you lower the contrast that far, wheras dropping the brightness does not harm the image quality. Out of curiosity, why do you want to run it that dim?

Also, you keep talking as if the brightness and contrast are linked, and you say you notice the image quality drop at below a brightness/contrast of 40. Have you tried a contrast of 40-50 with the brightness set to 0?

 

[jaguarskx]

As cjl recommended try not to set brightness and contrast too low.

What you are seeing is actually normal for a LCD monitor. Generally speaking, the brightness of the backlight is not uniform across the entire monitor. There will be darker areas here and there and lowering the brightness / contrast can amplify it.

Here's is the result of a particular Dell U3011 as tested by TFTCentral. It may look bad, but it is actually about average for a LCD monitor:

Source: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u3011.htm


Different monitor can have different backlight attributes which explains why your 24" Samsung "look better". To show you an example, the NEC PA271W (also from TFTCentral) is the monitor I would consider buying if am in the market for an LCD monitor right now. The backlight uniformity is a bit better than the Dell and if the ColorComp function of the monitor is switched on it becomes even better. The only problem with this monitor is the aspect ratio of 16:9. I prefer 16:10 aspect ratio.

 

[Pj94z]

As a general rule, I would try not to drop the contrast setting very much. On pretty much any monitor, you lose a significant amount of image quality when you lower the contrast that far, wheras dropping the brightness does not harm the image quality. Out of curiosity, why do you want to run it that dim?

Also, you keep talking as if the brightness and contrast are linked, and you say you notice the image quality drop at below a brightness/contrast of 40. Have you tried a contrast of 40-50 with the brightness set to 0?

I work primarily at night from my bedroom. I have a ceiling fan with 2 light bulbs. It provides for a normal lit bedroom.

Therefore, I can NOT set contrast at 40 ! This absolutely kills my eyes and I'd have to stop working after 15 minutes.

I work for 4-5 hours straight..staring at the screen...the monitor being about 12-15 inches away from my eyes.
However, even during daylight...I still prefer to have very low contrast/brightness when I stare at 3 monitors for over 4-5 hours a day.



I just don't understand WHY a $1,500 dell monitor cannot work as well as my $300 24 inch samsung with the brightness/contrast set very low?

Is this a product flaw? Or, can I go out and buy another brand (HP, SAMSUNG) and it will allow me to see the screen clearly even at very low contrast/brightness?

 

[Pj94z]

Other note:

The brightness adjustment doesn't seem to make any real difference once you get to 30. i.e. if you set it to 30 or 0....it pretty much looks the same to me.


Samsung 24 inch:

the brightness and contrast make a clear and visible difference at each tick...
i.e. screen looks visibly brighter at 10 than it does at 5.



Right now... my contrast is set to 30 and brightness at 30.

I just now changed the brightness to 0. There is NO visible difference in the brightness...it did not change! wtf ?


I also tried setting contrast to 40 and brightness to 0. During the day, with my blinds up and lights on...this is still WAY too bright for web surfing..which has
a lot of white space. For gaming etc...I'm sure 40 is fine....but not for lot of white space stuff like app work and web surfing.


All I want is for this monitor to perform like the 24 inch.

Is this possible or do i need to buy another brand ?

 

[Pj94z]

Best answer selected by pj94z.