Well, I've got my CML174 and I'm fairly satisfied. It has two dead subpixels, one of which is a green gem that spots a black screen... so I might try my luck at the roulette wheel and send it back to see if I luck out with a better panel.
In any case, I have a few observations I thought I'd throw out there.
First of all the hottest topic these days, color depth. Though hitachi and the panel manufacturer AU Optronics have both implied this is a 256K color (18bit) display, I have yet to see anything that might indicate it's anything but 24bit. I've created several gradients in photoshop, downloaded several more on the web, all of which look absolutely atrocious at 16bits and all look absolutely perfect on this display. I challenge anyone to create or point me to an image that could differentiate between this panel and 24 bits. I'm pretty sure it can't be done. I created such a fine gradient in photoshop that when the video card was set to 16 bits, exactly four color bands cover the screen. When the video card is switched to 32bits, the bands disappear and a VERY subtle yet seamless gradient is apparent. Since an 18 bit color space should have 4 times as many colors as 16 bits, i would expect to see 16 finely differentiated color bands when viewing this gradient on an 18bit display. Since this is not the case, the display must either be 24 bits or else it's performing some unbelievably accurate interpolation that is beyond the ability of the human eye to discern. If the display really is 18 bits, perhaps Hitachi or AU Optroincs could explain, because I'd be rather amazed.
Next topic... Brightness. I read a review that knocked this panel for its lack of brightness, or rather that it shipped with brightness all the way at 100%. Um... Are they crazy? I stare at a computer screen for 8 hours a day regularly. If I had to look at this display set at anything over "30" brightness for an extended period, I think my eyes would fall out of their sockets. Unless you plan to use your LCD panel as a search and rescue spotlight, this panel is plenty bright, with room to spare as the backlight ages and dims (incidentally CCFL backlights are dirt cheap if you ever needed to replace them a few years down the road). Incidentally, I have brightness set at "0" right now and find it quite suitable for typing black text on a white background.
Darkness. CRTs win hands down here. I hear lack of pure black is a problem for pretty much all LCD panels. This is apparently due to the fact that when closed, LCD crystals do not perfectly shut out all light generated by the backlight. Well, maybe I'm way off base here, but it seems that a simple translucent black filter fit over the screen during manufacture would be appropriate. Ideally, a filter would cut out enough light that blacks are much blacker, and since backlights are already too bright on most LCDs, bright colors would still show through quite adequately. So, why don't manufacturers do this?
Response time. CML174 is the quickest out there right now and in my humble opinion it's fine for games and movies. It's not as quick as a CRT however, and this is mostly noticeable for me when scrolling a browser windows, but I can certainly live with it.
Viewing angle. Ok I'll admit a bit disappointing. When the maufacturer states 150 degrees horizontally and vertically, I expect to be able to swivel 75 degrees in any direction with negligible display degradation. I'd say that the CML174 has decent display quality up to about 45 degrees each way, and even then color balance is off and contrast is reduced. In fact, this display is marginally better than my 3 year old laptop display in that regard. It's most annoying when you have someone looking over your shoulder and they aren't experiencing the same thing you are... then again, when you consider that I will hopefully be avoiding bloodshot CRT eyes with this panel, the tradeoff is well worth it.
--Gordo
In any case, I have a few observations I thought I'd throw out there.
First of all the hottest topic these days, color depth. Though hitachi and the panel manufacturer AU Optronics have both implied this is a 256K color (18bit) display, I have yet to see anything that might indicate it's anything but 24bit. I've created several gradients in photoshop, downloaded several more on the web, all of which look absolutely atrocious at 16bits and all look absolutely perfect on this display. I challenge anyone to create or point me to an image that could differentiate between this panel and 24 bits. I'm pretty sure it can't be done. I created such a fine gradient in photoshop that when the video card was set to 16 bits, exactly four color bands cover the screen. When the video card is switched to 32bits, the bands disappear and a VERY subtle yet seamless gradient is apparent. Since an 18 bit color space should have 4 times as many colors as 16 bits, i would expect to see 16 finely differentiated color bands when viewing this gradient on an 18bit display. Since this is not the case, the display must either be 24 bits or else it's performing some unbelievably accurate interpolation that is beyond the ability of the human eye to discern. If the display really is 18 bits, perhaps Hitachi or AU Optroincs could explain, because I'd be rather amazed.
Next topic... Brightness. I read a review that knocked this panel for its lack of brightness, or rather that it shipped with brightness all the way at 100%. Um... Are they crazy? I stare at a computer screen for 8 hours a day regularly. If I had to look at this display set at anything over "30" brightness for an extended period, I think my eyes would fall out of their sockets. Unless you plan to use your LCD panel as a search and rescue spotlight, this panel is plenty bright, with room to spare as the backlight ages and dims (incidentally CCFL backlights are dirt cheap if you ever needed to replace them a few years down the road). Incidentally, I have brightness set at "0" right now and find it quite suitable for typing black text on a white background.
Darkness. CRTs win hands down here. I hear lack of pure black is a problem for pretty much all LCD panels. This is apparently due to the fact that when closed, LCD crystals do not perfectly shut out all light generated by the backlight. Well, maybe I'm way off base here, but it seems that a simple translucent black filter fit over the screen during manufacture would be appropriate. Ideally, a filter would cut out enough light that blacks are much blacker, and since backlights are already too bright on most LCDs, bright colors would still show through quite adequately. So, why don't manufacturers do this?
Response time. CML174 is the quickest out there right now and in my humble opinion it's fine for games and movies. It's not as quick as a CRT however, and this is mostly noticeable for me when scrolling a browser windows, but I can certainly live with it.
Viewing angle. Ok I'll admit a bit disappointing. When the maufacturer states 150 degrees horizontally and vertically, I expect to be able to swivel 75 degrees in any direction with negligible display degradation. I'd say that the CML174 has decent display quality up to about 45 degrees each way, and even then color balance is off and contrast is reduced. In fact, this display is marginally better than my 3 year old laptop display in that regard. It's most annoying when you have someone looking over your shoulder and they aren't experiencing the same thing you are... then again, when you consider that I will hopefully be avoiding bloodshot CRT eyes with this panel, the tradeoff is well worth it.
--Gordo
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