Displays NEC 26" IPS Monitor for £100 too good to be true? Evidently not!

Got my Display 2 in the post this morning so did a couple of quick calibrations. First was for best grayscale tracking and returned acceptable but not great results - a high deltaE of 1.94

I redid the calibration and selected "Maximise Contrast" and the results are much more acceptable with a lower black level and more accurate colour.



I did a quick calibration using only 32 steps; it's possible to do a more accurate calibration with 52 steps but I just don't have time at the moment. Also, the Display 2 is not really suitable for a wide gamut monitor like this but I got it on ebay for 99 pence so I can't really complain.

These initial calibrations were done with the internal LUT... I might try the bundled Match software (or other software that will work with the Display 2) and see if I get comparable results with the graphics card LUT.

 

99p?! Obscene bargain.

0.8dE isn't bad from such a cheap cal, what's it like to use? Does it do DDC/CI? You've got a much better black depth than TFTCentral managed on the 24" version - they got 0.59 on the hardware LUT with a Lacie.

Any chance of a cheeky lend?

 

Wish I got on this earlier. There are literally no NEC2690s in the US lately.

 

You might think it's cheap but despite the branding, it's a bona fide X-Rite i1 Display 2 which is still sought after would easily fetch £65-ish on ebay...so yes, obscene bargain indeed. The only reason I got it so cheap is that it was listed as a "Fuji Hunt Color Hunter", and who's gonna find that? I was the only bidder, and I asked Pooky who confirmed that it is a rebadged X-Rite unit.

And yes it's DDC/CI all the way with the NEC. Once I had my targets set I just clicked continue and folded my arms, and approx. ten minutes later I got what you see above.

I realise now that the luminance target was a tad high at 140cd/m2 and it could definitely afford to go down to 120, so I'll do that next time I calibrate.

You have a PM.

 

There's a 24"er for $150+shipping, same display tech just a touch smaller.

Oh yeah, I know it's not a cheap one, I meant in terms of your wallet expenditure! Everything appropriately labelled seems to go for £50+, even the crappy Spyder express.

PM replied to.

 

Krikkit, yours just got picked up and is on the way!

 

I'd very much like to borrow the calibrator but unfortunately RM have the nasty habit of losing stuff both sent to and from me, 8 items in just over 2 years so probably not worth the risk. If I were to buy one what am I looking for?

My wife has started using this PC with the NEC monitor for her family tree research. Often she has had difficulty with deciphering some of the older scanned documents but apparently she can now read most of them (although not necessarily understand them) because of the clarity of display.

 

@Big Elf, ideally you want something that is suited to wide gamut displays, but they do cost a lot (eg X-Rite Display Pro, Spyder 4 Elite etc.). Other devices will work, but not without discrepancy (as I'm finding).

The Display 2 is a bit touch-and-go on colour temperature. I calibrated to 120cd/m2 and it's VERY noticeably pink/warm compared to 140cd/m2 which looks far more natural, and with the lower luminance level I also noticed a rise in deltaE up to 1.09, which although not bad is not ideal either.

I'll need to play around with my white point settings when I get the puck back from Krikkit.

PS. the LCD2490WUXi is almost identical to the 26" version except that it has a standard gamut panel.

 

Damn annoyed I missed this would have been a great monitor for my cad rig.

 

It's here! Seems much bigger than the specs suggested, can't wait to get it hooked up and looking lovely.

 

My missus didn't believe it was only a monitor in the box when I got mine.

 

I was confused over physical size too. The panel is apparently 25.5", but sitting next to my 27" Apple display it was definitely physically bigger - when the bottom of the screens were aligned, the NEC was taller. I think the difference is due to aspect ratio (16:10 vs 16:9), with 27" screens being not quite as tall, but wider.

 

Well, what a difference!

Not only is it sharp enough to make my eyes bleed, but the colour depth really struck me when checking out a couple of photos on le Fezbook - I thought I was there! Looking forward to having a play at calibrating it this weekend.


Worth mentioning, for public record, that Cei has been absolutely brilliant to deal with all the way through, you couldn't ask for a better seller.

 

Not a problem, Krikkit. Just hope you can get the PSU buzz sorted

 

It's because 16:10 is just better. Period.

@Krikkit, the colour depth really does bite your nose off doesn't it

 

I can certainly see why it annoyed you, it sounds remarkably like a bad fan bearing or something.

I think I'll get in touch with NEC and see what they say about it. That, or get brave with a tube of silicon and try damping all the coils and chokes down with it. Doesn't worry me too much as I usually have a video or music playing, the buzz is completely inaudible over that.

16:10 is definitely the way, I have finally escaped 16:9 devilment! As far as colour depth goes, I'm going to grab a Blu-ray and revell in 1080p goodness.

 

Finding a desk mount for this monitor was fun, barely any are rated to hold enough weight!

Got a Level Mount DCDSK30LP for £15 in the end, certainly frees up desk space as the standard monitor stand is just huge.

 

Good price for a decent mount... It is a heavy bugger!

Incidentally, if you watch Blu-Rays on this display, be careful with HDCP. I had it enabled and once WinDVD fired up it managed to bone the registry settings and force it to 720p resolution. Had to delete a couple of registry keys (explained here) to get it back to normal.

 

Looks like a good mount! Tell me, are they based in the UK? Because I'm thinking of getting one and I'd be a little worried about shipping and import duties.