Customer Reviews

NEC LCD2690WUXi2-BK 26" Widescreen LCD Monitor 26 inch 1920X1200

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I compared LCD2690WUXI2 to the earlier LCD2690WUXI side by side. The new model lacks the A-TW polarizer (Advanced True Wideangle), lack of which causes a significant off-angle white glow. I found it truly bothersome with a screen of that size - with an image with significant black areas you have to sit and look perfectly on-center to avoid that phenomenon. Very unfortunate cost-savings on the NEC's part. With the original model, you can look at the display from any angle, and it will look perfectly the same - pretty astonishing in fact. Needless to say I promptly returned the new NEC and bought another original (now own two).

This is a shame, because otherwise it's truly outstanding monitor. Version 2 has improved controls that make switching between color spaces easier than on the original. The original LCD2690WUXI is no-doubt my favorite piece of equipment I have bought recently. The original deserves 5 stars. If I didn't know what the new monitor is missing, I'd have given it four stars, but since I know I give it two.

I have this monitor now for 6 months for intensive graphic design, and PSD work. After much research this is what I concluded would be the best buy for a serious graphics monitor. My hopes were more then satisfied. This monitor has all the traits and features for serious work.. Uniformity compensation is huge benifit in keeping every porition of the screen at even luminosity. The color accuracy with eyeone2 and autocalibration is a godsend. There is absolutely NO drawbacks or quirks I have been able to find... No twinkling or glowing that some ips panels have, perfect uniformity, 12bit lut calibration ability, Deep amount of customization with ione2 software/calibraton- things like setting up white points is great... The 4 year warranty, ... The huge amount of real-estate 26" is perfect dotpitch.. The adobe rgb wide gamut is perfect for serious modern digital photography where the larger gamut is usefull.

In every regard This is the perfect monitor.. I am very picky but there is not a single negative, quirk, or issue with this.. it is a serious piece of hardware for graphic designers, photographers that need a serious tool..

I was in the need for a monitor that can be reliably calibrated so that my prints match the screen as close as possible. This monitor does the job.

It is very well build and the fact that the calibration information is saved internally in the monitor leaves very small chances to screw things up. Among the PRO monitors it is still probably one of the cheapest and my experience with NEC monitors was great.

You can find may reviews of this monitor online so I will not dwell on the technical aspects but I just want to say this:

This monitor comes in 2 versions, one with just the monitor and the other with the calibration kit (monitor + sensor + software). The second version is approx. $300 more and harder to find. If you already have a standard Eye One sensor, it will work with it, you just need to buy the SpectraView Software. I think that the sensor that comes with the kit is a standard Eye One sensor with the NEC name on it. Save some money guys....

There are a number of reasons why I love this particular monitor and I will try to outline some of the key features and benefits in this review. First let me say that if you are interested in this monitor buy it now since it has been discontinued in favor of the new line of NEC monitors in the PA series. The main difference between the LCDxx90 (this one) and the new PA series is 14 bit LUT vs 12 bit LUT tables, and the ability to use more types of cables. Since most other monitors are only 8-bit unlike NEC, LaCie and Eizo, that 12 vs 14 bit distinction is so small it would likely be impossible to see the difference.

Second, the reason I love this particular model in the NEC line is the size vs resolution ratio. This 26" monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That means it uses the golden ratio of 16:10 unlike newer 27" monitors that use 16:9 ratio but those 27" monitors (Apple and NEC) have many more pixels (2560 x 1440) thus have a pixel density of 110 pixels/inch. This means that fonts and web sized images will be relatively small especially since it is a big monitor and will likely be pushed back from the user making the apparent size of fonts very small and hard on the eyes - I know since I owned a 27" iMac and sold it for this monitor and a MacBook Pro to drive it. The resolution of this NEC model is the same as a 24" 16:10 monitor, 1920 x 1200 (stay away from 24" monitors with 1920 x 1080, 16:9 ratio, if photo editing it its main use as you get more vertical height) A 24" will have a pixel density of about 94 ppi vs this model which is 89 ppi. That makes reading easier on the eyes while offering the large, physically presence of the image at 26" - sort of the best of all worlds, at least for my 52 year old eyes. Yes, a higher resolution 27" monitor will make photos sharper which is a double edged sword. It is for this reason that I love the size/resolution combo - least eye strain and large physical presence of my photos while editing.

Third, and this part goes for all the NEC monitors, is color gamut, separation and accuracy. This is a wide gamut monitor so you can see colors in RGB or ProPhoto that have a gamut outside of sRGB - particularly greens. Color banding and posterization are therefore minimized or eliminated vs other monitors. 12 and 14-bit means that there is a much better ability to separate tones - higher bits is not the same as wider gamut just ability to separate to show subtle shades not possible with regular 8-bit monitors - think about the various shades of green that exist on leaves in early spring - also using levels or curves in Lab color space is perfect for this type of color work but that's another subject.

Fourth, profiling. To get the most out of this or any other NEC monitor you must use their SpectraVision II software. The difference is that regular calibration packages like Spyder or X-rite create profiles that work in 8-bit with the graphics card. Yes, you can do that with this model and manually adjust brightness, contrast and R,G,B values but you don't have to with their SVII. NEC's SVII software works on the internals of the monitor itself to tap the power of 12 bit by using the LUT (Look Up Table). Without that you don't get to see what this monitor can do and all you have is just another nice monitor. NEC monitors that end in SV include the SpectraVision software and calibrator. SVII software can be purchased as a download direct from the NEC site for $90. The software CAN work with either the NEC calibrator or a few select third party calibrators like the Spyder III or i1D2 from X-rite to save you about $200. I use mine with a i1D2 calibrator but use the NEC SVII software.

Fifth, multiple profiles. This is one of the greatest features. You can create multiple profiles varying the brightness, gamma, gamut (yes, you can create a sRGB emulation profile) and White Point. Then you can use the drop down menu in the software to load the desired profile. Again, this is done automatically in the hardware so you do not need to do any physical changes like readjusting the brightness... One of the reasons for having this feature is that some profiles are better for certain things. For example, I have one profile for everyday use, photo editing, web browsing...set at 120 cd/m2 brightness. Then I have another profile for printing that uses a brightness of 90 cd/m2. This lets me properly edit my photos for printing so my prints match what I see on the screen instead of being too dark or bright and having to compensate. This alone is worth the price of the software as it gets around all the headache of matching brightness for prints.

The color accuracy, gamut, separation, and calibration and non-glossy screen (glossy is just a bad choice for serious editing work as it makes things look better than they are) are the reasons to buy a high end monitor like this. The size and resolution of this model are why I personally love this model. A 27" is not the same but some might prefer the higher resolution and wider screen so I amnot saying it is better, just outlining the differences. If the LAC2690 was not available then I would go with the new PA series in 24", PA241W. Theolder LCD2490 model is also nice but it is an sRGB only color gamut which might be fine for many people. With large color gamut it is important to use web browsers that are color managed like Safari or Firefox. Last, if you are reading this you might also be considering a LaCie. Just so you know many LaCie monitors use NEC panels so you might be paying a premium.

I'm a professional corporate/architectural photographer and purchased this monitor to replace an older Dell CRT. Very happy with my choice.

Good documentation and 3 separate connection cables included in box. Easy to set up, though the plastic piece which covers the cables on the stand is a little tricky to put in place. The colors are vivid, appear to be quite accurate and I especially like the wide gamut which is supposed to accomodate almost all of the AdobeRGB color space. I did notice some slight variation in tonal/color consistency across certain parts of the screen, which was bothersome enough for me to call NEC tech support. They were very helpful and pointed me to the uniformity setting found under the tools section of the on screen menu. Switching this one cleaned up the inconsistency.

All in all I'm very pleased with this monitor and would certainly recommend it to other graphics professionals.

Well, my trusty old 21" Trinitron monitor finally died and after quite a bit of research I decided to spend some money (probably even less than that old Trinitron monitor cost when it was new!) and get a really good monitor that I could live with for a long time.

I don't use this for professional graphics, and I don't know all the subtleties of LCD monitors, but I sure am glad I spent the money and got this one.

One thing I learned the hard way about LCD monitors is that they really like to run in their native resolution mode. Every LCD I've ever used looks pretty good for general use in its native mode, and then makes things blurry in lower resolutions. But this one is different. I've got it running at 1680 x 1050 and it's just great for general web surfing and office type applications.

And, when I do crank up the Photoshop CS4, which I do own and do create graphics with, I've got that wide gamut goodness and enough real estate on my screen to put all those layers and tools to the side never have them overlap the artwork that I'm creating.

Oh yeah, I put a little piece of electric tape over the bright little blue light in the lower right corner. It's annoying, and I can tell when the monitor is on without that kind of help.

So, it made sense to pony up and pay for the one piece of technology that I spend most of my time with, and besides these eyes ain't getting any younger.

The best thing about this monitor is that you can stare at it for many hours without realizing where the time went. Your eyes won't feel horrible like they may after looking at other monitors for a fraction of the time. I purchased mine 5/1/2009 and have been very happy with it from day one.

There are a number of reasons why I love this particular monitor and I will try to outline some of the key features and benefits in this review. First let me say that if you are interested in this monitor buy it now since it has been discontinued in favor of the new line of NEC monitors in the PA series. The main difference between the LCDxx90 (this one) and the new PA series is 14 bit LUT vs 12 bit LUT tables, and the ability to use more types of cables. Since most other monitors are only 8-bit unlike NEC, LaCie and Eizo, that 12 vs 14 bit distinction is so small it would likely be impossible to see the difference.

Second, the reason I love this particular model in the NEC line is the size vs resolution ratio. This 26" monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That means it uses the golden ratio of 16:10 unlike newer 27" monitors that use 16:9 ratio but those 27" monitors (Apple and NEC) have many more pixels (2560 x 1440) thus have a pixel density of 110 pixels/inch. This means that fonts and web sized images will be relatively small especially since it is a big monitor and will likely be pushed back from the user making the apparent size of fonts very small and hard on the eyes - I know since I owned a 27" iMac and sold it for this monitor and a MacBook Pro to drive it. The resolution of this NEC model is the same as a 24" 16:10 monitor, 1920 x 1200 (stay away from 24" monitors with 1920 x 1080, 16:9 ratio, if photo editing it its main use as you get more vertical height) A 24" will have a pixel density of about 94 ppi vs this model which is 89 ppi. That makes reading easier on the eyes while offering the large, physically presence of the image at 26" - sort of the best of all worlds, at least for my 52 year old eyes. Yes, a higher resolution 27" monitor will make photos sharper which is a double edged sword. It is for this reason that I love the size/resolution combo - least eye strain and large physical presence of my photos while editing.

Third, and this part goes for all the NEC monitors, is color gamut, separation and accuracy. This is a wide gamut monitor so you can see colors in RGB or ProPhoto that have a gamut outside of sRGB - particularly greens. Color banding and posterization are therefore minimized or eliminated vs other monitors. 12 and 14-bit means that there is a much better ability to separate tones - higher bits is not the same as wider gamut just ability to separate to show subtle shades not possible with regular 8-bit monitors - think about the various shades of green that exist on leaves in early spring - also using levels or curves in Lab color space is perfect for this type of color work but that's another subject.

Fourth, profiling. To get the most out of this or any other NEC monitor you must use their SpectraVision II software. The difference is that regular calibration packages like Spyder or X-rite create profiles that work in 8-bit with the graphics card. Yes, you can do that with this model and manually adjust brightness, contrast and R,G,B values but you don't have to with their SVII. NEC's SVII software works on the internals of the monitor itself to tap the power of 12 bit by using the LUT (Look Up Table). Without that you don't get to see what this monitor can do and all you have is just another nice monitor. NEC monitors that end in SV include the SpectraVision software and calibrator. SVII software can be purchased as a download direct from the NEC site for $90. The software CAN work with either the NEC calibrator or a few select third party calibrators like the Spyder III or i1D2 from X-rite to save you about $200. I use mine with a i1D2 calibrator but use the NEC SVII software.

Fifth, multiple profiles. This is one of the greatest features. You can create multiple profiles varying the brightness, gamma, gamut (yes, you can create a sRGB emulation profile) and White Point. Then you can use the drop down menu in the software to load the desired profile. Again, this is done automatically in the hardware so you do not need to do any physical changes like readjusting the brightness... One of the reasons for having this feature is that some profiles are better for certain things. For example, I have one profile for everyday use, photo editing, web browsing...set at 120 cd/m2 brightness. Then I have another profile for printing that uses a brightness of 90 cd/m2. This lets me properly edit my photos for printing so my prints match what I see on the screen instead of being too dark or bright and having to compensate. This alone is worth the price of the software as it gets around all the headache of matching brightness for prints.

The color accuracy, gamut, separation, and calibration and non-glossy screen (glossy is just a bad choice for serious editing work as it makes things look better than they are) are the reasons to buy a high end monitor like this. The size and resolution of this model are why I personally love this model. A 27" is not the same but some might prefer the higher resolution and wider screen so I amnot saying it is better, just outlining the differences. If the LAC2690 was not available then I would go with the new PA series in 24", PA241W. The older LCD2490 model is also nice but it is an sRGB only color gamut which might be fine for many people. With large color gamut it is important to use web browsers that are color managed like Safari or Firefox. Last, if you are reading this you might also be considering a LaCie. Just so you know many LaCie monitors use NEC panels so you might be paying a premium.

NEC's monitors along with SVII software are top shelf. They cost more, just like Eizo and LaCie's so keep in mind, the high cost is an investment in the device you look at the most and will bring out all that is there, accurately. They are designed to show you what's really there, not to make what's there look better as do glossy panels - sold my 27" iMac for this one. If you are serious about photography and printing and you can afford it, a high end monitor should be the foundation of your digital darkroom.