NEC FP955 monitor has ghosting/faint vertical bars

[Guest]

I just bought a new NEC FP955 19" monitor. This is my second one, because the first one I bought had a bad pixel and some geometry problems, so I exchanged it. Anyway...I thought all was well with this monitor, but I started to notice some slight <b>ghosting</b>. On certain text, I notice a repeating pattern(ghosting) to the right of the text. It is most noticable with bold text. What's strange is that large text (20pt+), has no ghosting. Otherwise, the ghosting of smaller text will not go away unless the resolution is set to 640x480. Anything above causes slight ghosting.
The video cable NEC provides has the ferrite chokes at each end. The cable is a DVI-A to D-SUB. The monitor has a DVI-A connector, which is why they include this weird DVI-A to D-SUB cable. Why it has a DVI-A input and for what purpose is beyond me! It also has a standard D-SUB, which I haven't tried yet. I know you're going to ask what type of video card I'm using.... a Hercules TNT 16MB. (Yes, you can laugh now.) This is only temporary, as I'm going to purchase a new video card soon. I also tried an old Matrox Millinium, but still notice the ghosting. With my old Sony monitor, I never had ghosting with the TNT, so I doubt it's because of the video card. Could it be caused by the video cable?

I noticed that when I lower the refresh rate, the ghosting almost disappears completely. So would it be the cards fault? Nvidia cards are known for bad 2D, but even with the Matrox (which was a good 2D card at the time), has ghosting problems.

I also have a faint <b>vertical bar</b> that is about 2 inches from the right of the screen that runs up/down. I noticed this has something to do with the contrast adjustment. When I turn down the contrast, the bar moves to the right and vice versa. It is most visible on an all white screen. My first FP955 had this vertical bar too. (I'm not talking about the Aperture Grille lines which run horizontal.) Is this vertical bar a defect of the monitor? Surely I couldn't get two monitors that have the same defect?!?!

Someone on another forum said the vertical bar would be caused by insufficient bandwidth. Is this true? He said this monitor was 200mhz monitor and nominal viewing was at 1024x768 @60hz. Well, I tried lowering my refresh rate in steps and everytime I did, the bar moved to the right until it was off screen. It disappeared at 800x600 @60hz. Any higher resolution or refresh rate at that resolution causes it to reappear.

Is this just a poorly made monitor? Since this is my 2nd FP955 to have this vertical bar, I would think it is a design flaw. How can NEC call this a <b>"professional"</b> line monitor with this problem? I want a monitor that can at least do 1600x1200 @85hz. Does a person have to get a 21" these days, in order to guarantee a "good" monitor?

<b>UPDATE:</b> I tried an ATI Radeon and still have the problems above, so it's not the video card. Any help/suggestions on a good monitor would be appreciated.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Wile_E on 07/08/01 02:19 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Well I guess no one here knows of causes to the problem of the vertical bar. *sigh* I called NEC Tech Support and they said it is possibly caused by a transformer outside the house. I never had problems with other brand monitors. Maybe NEC doesn't shield their monitors properly.

 

[mousepotato]

If that's the case, try moving it to a new location in your house. Or better yet, take it to a few friends houses and see if anything changes.

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[Guest]

this is not correctable, now tell me would yo irather have this monitor with all those problems? or the same one with no problems, be exellent, except having geometry problems, like picushion of 2-3mm???

 

[Guest]

Actually I would like to have a "perfect" monitor, but with CRT screens that is not really going to happen. Slight geometry problems wouldn't be that bad, BUT the first FP955 I had also had a dead pixel out in the middle of the screen. The pixel stood out, because it was bright red. It also had that vertical "bar" interference. I recently looked for consumer reviews of this monitor, and noticed other people had uncorrectable ghosting problems as well.

A monitor is a big investment to me. I don't have the $$$ to spend on Sony's top-of-the-line 24" widescreen Professional monitor. The NEC was $440 shipped, which is really low compared to what a "good" 19" would've cost years ago. Probably to cut costs, manufacturers are loosening their quality control and also install cheaper parts. Even if, any "professional" branded monitor shouldn't have many defects. I went to CompUSA this past week to look at monitors, and they had lower-end NEC monitors that didn't have these problems. At least not the display models. The only thing was, that text did not look as sharp, because of the higher dot pitch used on these monitors.

Someone on another forum was mentioning that EIZO monitors are really good, although more expensive. I looked at prices and their 19" is about $200 more than what I paid. If I must pay a little more for a good 19" so be it.

 

[Stick_e_Mouse]

Want a better 19" monitor?
Get either a Samsung SyncMaster 950p, Viewsonic GS790, or Cornerstone C910.

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[Guest]

PF790 is the most perfect monitor I have ever seen. I read LOTS of reviwes about my 955df 19" flat monitor and it seems that geometry problems don't mean bad quality, I don't have ghosting or bars, perfect for me, but 3mm bottom distortion(also on the right side) makes it go a little down. text is sharper at higher resolutions! it is brighter at higher resolutions, especialy at 1600x1200.

 

[Guest]

NEC = crap
NEC support = an atrocity

That faint vertical bar may be a problem with the damper wires overlapping (if it is an aperture grill). One of my many defective NEC monitors had this problem. The solution is to wack the side of the monitor. Beating on the monitor makes you feel better, but the downside is that there is a chance you MIGHT cause more wires to overlapp.