Pixel bleeding problem on 8800GTX, 3007WFP-HC

[ironcito]

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum, but a long time reader of Tom's Hardware. I tried searching the forums for previous threads about my problem, but I haven't found any. I apologize if this was discussed before.

Anyway, I just got a new monitor, a Dell 3007WFP-HC, which I installed on my new-ish computer, which I bought about a month ago or so.

In some areas, mainly bold font text, I get what I guess can be described as pixel bleeding... red smudges between the letters. I am attaching a picture taken up close with a digital camera. If I lower the resolution even by one step (I'm currently using the monitor's native 2560x1600), the problem seems to go away, or at least diminish a lot. The video card is a GeForce 8800 GTX.

I ran all the pixel tests at http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/DeadPixels.html and the results are good. No dead pixels and I can see all the little pixels well, there doesn't seem to be bleeding there. Image quality for pictures and everything else seems fine too.

The weird this is that I was telling a friend about it and she said she had the exact same problem on a laptop computer, which obviously has a different screen and different video card, although both cards are NVIDIA and we're both running Vista 32-bit.

I'm running the lastest available drivers for this card.

Also when I open a program/game (namely vSide www.vside.com), the entire screen seems to turn darker and the problem with the bleeding becomes worse, which leads me to believe it's not a monitor problem, but a video card, driver, or Vista problem.

I think that's all the data I can provide. Any thoughts you may have will be appreciated. If you need any other piece of information, just let me know. Many thanks in advance!

Diego

 

[spuddyt]

lol about the rugby, but I can't help you about your problem soz

 

[ironcito]

lol yeah, I was reading that article and the smudging was very evident in the heading, so I took a picture of it.

I had a hunch about ClearType causing the problem, because it was only apparent in some text. I had already tried disabling it but it changed nothing, smudging or otherwise. So I tried disabling it and restarting.

Voila, the smudging is gone.

I find it very strange that this hasn't been documented before, since apparently it's a common problem with ClearType (my friend has it too), and it's very noticeable, at least on my display.

Anyway, problem solved. Now the text looks somewhat rougher. I'll try the "standard" method instead of ClearType, otherwise I'll have to choose between rough text or red smudging :-/

Cheers!

Diego

 

[chookman]

ironcito:

Good to hear you solved the issue... im wondering if i can ask a sorta related problem... You Dell 30" do you like it? as it how does it go? im looking at getting the 27" or the 30". My main problem is i got a 7900GT atm and i want to play games so i dont think it will handle the high res. Some same you need SLI to game as those res's hows the 8800GTX cope with gaming on it?

Thanks

 

[ironcito]

Well, I just got the display 2 days ago, so I'm still kinda testing it out. So far it's very good, lots of screen space, not a single dead pixel that I've found. It still needs calibration, tho, I can tell the colors are off, the gamma needs adjustment, and so on. I had read about this monitor's poor factory calibration before buying it, so I'm not surprised.

There's also the problem I mentioned earlier about the screen getting darker sometimes. When I boot up, the screen is brightest. I start up Windows Live Messenger, and the screen darkens a bit, to what is the normal level. If I start vSide, it goes even darker. But I'm guessing all this is a Vista or Driver problem, since the monitor is oblivious to which applications are running.

As for gaming, I've only tried playing SimCity 4 in windowed mode. This is a rather old-ish game, but still it was noticeably slower than on my previous 20" CRT at 1280x1024. I'm guessing fullscreen mode is better, but it still seems to be too high for even the GTX to handle comfortably. For nice FPS I'm guessing you'll have to play fullscreen with a lower resolution.

Cheers

 

[miahallen]

ironcito:

Good to hear you solved the issue... im wondering if i can ask a sorta related problem... You Dell 30" do you like it? as it how does it go? im looking at getting the 27" or the 30". My main problem is i got a 7900GT atm and i want to play games so i dont think it will handle the high res. Some same you need SLI to game as those res's hows the 8800GTX cope with gaming on it?

Thanks

You might also consider what I got, it's a 32" Sharp with 1920x1080 resolution. I was in a similar circumstance as you as I wanted a large screen, but I was worried about playing games at the 30" huge resolution (maybe now it'd be OK with my 8800GTX, but in a year I'd need to upgrade again). So I bought the Sharp (which is cheaper than Dell's 27") for about $1000. Great screen, check it out!

 

[chookman]

i want the desktop space though too and considering i have a 42" LCD that does 1920x1080 im not getting thing extra from a 32" sharp... I mainly want the extra resolution for more desktop area hence me thinking the 30" would be good.

 

[maverick7]

send it back right now there is something wrong with it, nothing wrong with your pc at all. this happens a lot with LCD monitors so just yea send it back and ask for them to replace

*hmm it seems you have fixed it so nvm have fun with it

 

[miahallen]

i want the desktop space though too and considering i have a 42" LCD that does 1920x1080 im not getting thing extra from a 32" sharp... I mainly want the extra resolution for more desktop area hence me thinking the 30" would be good.

That's not what you said the first time:

im looking at getting the 27" or the 30"

The 27" Dell has almost the same resolution (1920x1200) as my screen (1920x1080), you also mentioned some valid downsides to getting the 30":

My main problem is i got a 7900GT atm and i want to play games so i dont think it will handle the high res.

So what's the deal? You should try to keep your story straight. Are you just being objectionable or what?

 

[cyberjock]

You want to know a way to get a nice piece of information on any "video card or monitor" dillema? Do a screenshot, save it, and look at it on another PC. If the screenshot shows the red smudge(or whatever problem your having) then the problem HAS to be inside your box. Software or hardware. But your monitor can't be to blame.

Also, since this monitor is DVI at native resolution, the red must have been part of the signal. If it hadn't been, when the monitor reconstructed the digital signal from the cable(the signal degrades through the cable and the monitor reconstructs the original signal making DVI superior to the old analog signals) it would have gone crazy if the red signal was erroneous enough to show it on the screen. There was an article somewhere about DVI signals over wire and what happens to the signal and what the receiving monitor does to fix the signal, but I can't seem to find it now.

Anyway, so cleartype was to blame... again. Seems like Microsoft's super expensive cleartype font is causing alot of headaches. Maybe the money they spent on it wasn't worth it after all. Does MS classify this as a 'bug' or a 'feature'? I know Vista has lots of undocumented 'features'.

@ Miahallen:

I just ignore people that can't keep their lies/ignorant comments straight. You might find it works for you too.

 

[chookman]

Seems i just have explained myself properly here...

I asked for the opinion of the Dell 30" from ironcito as i am look at buying the 27" or 30" models. Now the first time around i didnt mention that im looking to get one A: for a gaming screen B: for more desktop space.

I have an entertainment machine already (to play movies and tv shows on) with a 42" 1920x1080 res, which does the job i need it too. However, i dont think i could use it has a computer monitor cause its just to big to sit that close too. In fact i think even the 32" you mentioned would maybe be getting on the big side also (personally).

Now my main dilema is that i currently have a 7900GT (didnt mention that im looking at what happens with the G92 before i upgrade) which on a 27" it should handle games OK. But i really want the extra res (desktop space) the 30" gives me, but this will kill my idea of playing games at lease until i upgrade (and some even say SLI or crossfire is needed for this, which is a big outlay for me to get in itself). I realise the sharp almost does the same resolution as the 27" but i have had a quick look and that model doesnt seem to be available in Australia anyway (which is where i am).

Hope i cleared this up a bit, sorry for the confusion

 

[maverick7]

i cant be bothered to read what was said so im just going to say if you want to replace your monitor, consider the planar PX2611W from dell. Its 26" and uses the same panel as the $2000 Nec 26" and its only $945 from dell.
Its good for games and everything else, ill be buying myself one on the 14th.