Trouble with a new computer monitor

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  • Ovation
    Super Senior Member
    • Sep 2004
    • 2202

    Trouble with a new computer monitor

    I recently bought a 24" 16x9 LG 24MP56 monitor for my home office (to use with my laptop). It has an HDMI input, so I was planning to use it with my laptop (Mini Display to HDMI adapter), my Cambridge Audio DVD99 (to watch DVDs, in particular other region DVDs that don't play on my laptop) and my Sony BDP-S185 Blu-ray (retired from the HT when I installed an Oppo BDP-83 last month).

    With static images (as is the case with 80%+ of my intended usage), the picture quality is great. Certainly more than equal to the modest sum I paid for the screen and perfectly fine for me as I don't do photo or video editing. With moving images, whether from iTunes, Netflix (from my laptop) or with DVDs or BDs, on either player, the image quality is also very nice (relative to the price I paid and the limited controls for adjusting the image). However, with moving images, the screen randomly dims, which is highly annoying--and which never happens when I'm not viewing full-screen moving images. At first I thought it was a driver issue with my laptop, or the use of too many adapters (I'm awaiting the arrival of the Mini Display to HDMI adapter, so I'm currently using an HDMI to DVI-D adapter, attached to a DVI-D cable, attached to a DVI-D to Mini Display adapter. However, the issue is the same from either of the two players via straight HDMI, so it's not a computer issue. Normally, I would simply return to the store and exchange it (Costco is pretty good about such things) but I appear to have lost the receipt, so I'm not sure I can get them to take it back. Moreover, I'm not sure it's not a limitation of the display itself (though I consider this unlikely).

    Any thoughts? The display only has one HDMI input, so I plug and unplug the needed cable as necessary (I tried to use a switch box I had left over from my pre-HDMI AVR days, but it did not want to work properly--could be because it was dropped by my son @#$@$ ). I'll very likely try to return it and, if they won't take it, keep it as a back up and get another one (as I said, it works perfectly fine for any non-video purpose).
  • mjb
    Super Senior Member
    • Mar 2005
    • 1483

    #2
    Probably an energy power saving "feature", perhaps a setting in a Windows control panel somewhere?
    - Mike

    Main System:
    B&W 802D, HTM2D, SCMS
    Classé SSP-800, CA-2200, CA-5100

    Comment

    • P-Dub
      Office Moderator
      • Aug 2000
      • 6766

      #3
      You say you got it at Costco? No receipt? No problem, they can find the purchase with your member number. I've done this before.

      As for trouble shooting the display, I'm not sure what else to add. I agree with the power saving feature mentioned above.
      Paul

      There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

      Comment

      • Ovation
        Super Senior Member
        • Sep 2004
        • 2202

        #4
        Originally posted by mjb
        Probably an energy power saving "feature", perhaps a setting in a Windows control panel somewhere?
        Using it as an external monitor for my laptop (MacBook Pro 2009). I plan to get a Mac Mini for the desktop system later on this year (going back to school and will have access to the education discount).

        Plus, it happens with the Blu-ray player and the DVD player as well, so I don't think it's a computer power saving setting, in this case.

        Originally posted by Paul Wu
        You say you got it at Costco? No receipt? No problem, they can find the purchase with your member number. I've done this before.

        As for trouble shooting the display, I'm not sure what else to add. I agree with the power saving feature mentioned above.
        Well, if I can get them to take it back, that's an option. However, it does work fine as a static display, so I was thinking of giving it to my wife for her office (she can use it there and will not be watching any videos on it) and getting myself something else. At the moment, I've hooked up a small Samsung LED/LCD 1080p TV as an external monitor--it does not suffer from the dimming issue, but it is not quite as sharp as a display (though the difference is quite slight).

        I'll consider going to Costco and trading it in for another one and try it out. If it works fine, I'll stay with that and my wife can have another monitor I have lying around (no HDMI input, but she doesn't need that). If the second one suffers from the same dimming issue, I guess I have to assume it's a design flaw rather than a defect and just give it to my wife for her office. If I had the money at the moment, I'd actually get a much larger TV for the home cinema to replace my projector (I use the small TV for times when I don't want to fire up the projector, at the moment) and just keep the small TV as my external monitor. But the projector is still running fine, so I have no real justification for such a move (and I'm hoping OLED displays come down in price in the next 24-36 months as a replacement for my projector--I use a smallish 64 inch screen for the projector and I don't have room for a much bigger one, so a 60-65 inch OLED would be just the ticket).

        I'm also learning my laptop's graphics card is limited for HD video with an external display. Both iTunes HD movies and Netflix HD look choppy on the external monitor (separate issue from the dimming and it happens with both the LG monitor and the Samsung TV), though they look fine on the laptop screen. I was going to use my current laptop as a desktop and get a newer laptop for school, but this HD video issue has made me rethink that idea. Even a loaded Mac Mini will come in cheaper than a new Mac laptop (of any kind) and will have better graphics card capabilities. My current laptop is fine for school work--don't need the latest and greatest to do word processing and web surfing (and Yosemite seems to have given it a new lease on life--runs faster for many things than before, though it's not enough for the graphics video issue).

        Anyway, I'm rambling (and I have marking to do). Thanks for the advice re: the monitor settings and especially for letting me know Costco can check my purchase (I was hoping they could). Ah the joys of trying to extend the life of aging technology.

        Comment

        • P-Dub
          Office Moderator
          • Aug 2000
          • 6766

          #5
          I forgot, with Costco, monitors may be classified as returnable within 90 days. This isn't really new, but they did put it in place a couple of years ago to prevent people from returning TV's and laptops.

          But if you have a secondary use, then it won't be a as bad.

          I hear you on the laptop power. I just hooked up my wife's older laptop via HDMI to a 42" TV to see how it would play. Not very well as we had a lot of dropped frames. There may have been some apps running in the background, but when I check the task manager, there wasn't anything serious going on that should have affected the display.
          Paul

          There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

          Comment

          • Ovation
            Super Senior Member
            • Sep 2004
            • 2202

            #6
            Originally posted by Paul Wu
            I forgot, with Costco, monitors may be classified as returnable within 90 days. This isn't really new, but they did put it in place a couple of years ago to prevent people from returning TV's and laptops.

            But if you have a secondary use, then it won't be a as bad.

            I hear you on the laptop power. I just hooked up my wife's older laptop via HDMI to a 42" TV to see how it would play. Not very well as we had a lot of dropped frames. There may have been some apps running in the background, but when I check the task manager, there wasn't anything serious going on that should have affected the display.
            I've only had the monitor for about a month, so I think I'm safe there. But if I don't get a refund, it's not the end of the world. It was just about the least expensive 24 inch monitor with HDMI I could find (well below what I paid for the last external monitor I bought, in use on the family Mac Mini, six or seven years ago from Dell--perhaps I should look at Dell again, as that monitor is working just fine).

            As to HDMI and older graphics cards, HDMI appears to be a convenient and common connector from a desktop/laptop to a monitor rather than an indication HD video will automatically work well. C'est la vie.

            Comment

            • Kevin P
              Member
              • Aug 2000
              • 10809

              #7
              Try turning the "super power saving" mode off, if it's on. Also check the picture mode to make sure it's not in "Vivid 1" or "Vivid 2". It's possible that the monitor modulates the backlight brightness to increase contrast and one of these modes may control whether it does that or not.

              Comment

              • Ovation
                Super Senior Member
                • Sep 2004
                • 2202

                #8
                Originally posted by Kevin P
                Try turning the "super power saving" mode off, if it's on. Also check the picture mode to make sure it's not in "Vivid 1" or "Vivid 2". It's possible that the monitor modulates the backlight brightness to increase contrast and one of these modes may control whether it does that or not.
                Your idea did the trick. I could not find how to access the feature in order to turn it off as it was not accessible via the menu button. I usually read instruction manuals whenever I get new gear but, mistakenly, presumed all functions would be accessible via the menu button (that is how the Dell monitor on the family computer works). The silk-screening of the labels on the bezel is exceedingly faint and I did not see the separate function button. I only found it after reading the manual. Changed the settings (found some more advanced settings to further improve the image depending on what I'm using it for, as a bonus) and have eliminated the random dimming (which is not so random, in the end).

                Thanks for all the advice guys (I've learned I can retrace a Costco purchase with my member number should I lose a receipt in the future--very good to know; learned more about my monitor and how to make it work better--also very good to know; and got a reminder of why my usual habit of reading manuals should not be abandoned just because something looks simple enough to operate without doing so--again, very good to know). Not to mention I knew I'd get practical advice rather than kickstarting a pseudo-religious war about the virtues/shortcomings of selecting one particular monitor or piece of gear over another among a horde of devotees who seemingly prefer to argue than to offer useful advice. It's why this is my favourite A/V forum. :T

                Comment

                • P-Dub
                  Office Moderator
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 6766

                  #9
                  I didn't even think that those Vivid type settings would do those crazy dimming on motion. I'll have to tuck that away in my memory for later use.

                  Glad to hear you found a good solution.
                  Paul

                  There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

                  Comment

                  • Ovation
                    Super Senior Member
                    • Sep 2004
                    • 2202

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Paul Wu
                    I didn't even think that those Vivid type settings would do those crazy dimming on motion. I'll have to tuck that away in my memory for later use.

                    Glad to hear you found a good solution.
                    Wasn't the vivid settings (though finding the cinema setting made the picture even better than it was before--and it was pretty good apart from the dimming). It was the Super Energy Saver setting. Turning it off cured the problem (it adjusted luminosity based on what was on-screen--a static image remained stable but a moving image constantly changed the degree of luminosity, thus the dimming). Also found a "super-resolution" setting (off, low, medium, high) and, very early impressions, off is best for regular text computer monitor use but "high" seems promising as a video setting (usually not fond of such processing, but I'm willing to try it out) for HD video. Low or Medium is better with SD video or smallish YouTube videos. Will likely leave it off unless I plan to watch a full BD of something (and even then, may choose to leave it off depending on how it looks with more than the one BD I've tried so far).

                    Anyway, a great relief I don't have to spring for a new monitor (my wife can get whatever she wants and expense it) and all is well. Will be finalized once I get the Mac Mini later this year with my student discount. :T

                    Comment

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