Ergonomics: they are almost similar and even less good than the 2181UX. The LCD2180WG LED is identical but thicker and heavier. It is so heavy that the pivot mode available in principle, is no longer usable and that we strongly advise you not to hang this monitor onto the wall. Your wall might not carry its weight.

So?

The color quality has changed. This monitor is better than any monitors available today, including CRTs.



Here is the monitor gamut (measured by NEC) compared to another "normal" one (here, it is in fact a TV). The gamut corresponds to the range of reproducible colors. The wider the triangle surface is, the more gifted the monitor is. We usually compare the "result triangle" to colorimetric spaces. Here for example, the NTSC is the perfect colorimetric space for US TVs. It doesn’t mean that all of them attain it, but it does give an indication of what they should be able to display in order to show a movie exactly the way they receive it. According to NEC, this monitor goes beyond the NTSC. As you will see a little further on, we were able to verify that this graphic wasn’t over evaluated and that it is much wider than current monitors.

Using these spaces is justified by the willingness to reproduce images as perfectly as possible, so that we obtain identical source and final displays. The most widespread is the sRGB model. It is used by digital cameras, a good many flat monitors are using the sRGB, and some of the printers (some Epson and Canon, this possibility is less present with other manufacturers) can leave the automatic mode to chose another profile including the sRGB. In the end if all elements are well adjusted to this space, the printed image will be faithful to the original one captured.



To reach this new gamut, NEC modified its monitor panel. They removed the fluorescent tubes used for backlighting and replaced them by 48 x 3 red, green and blue LEDS (144 on the whole). This is the Lumileds technology.

NB: Many readers have reported this common mistake: the word "neon" commonly used to designate the LCD monitor backlighting isn’t accurate. "A neon tube, which includes a rare neon gas, lights up in red and only in red. This is the tube used for external adverts.

A fluorescent tube is the most common one and it lights up in white. It uses fluorescence to change the UV radiance produced by the ionic discharge in visible light," as Philippe Laparre reminded us in his mail.

Why LEDs instead of fluorescent tubes ?

Current LCDs features four fluorescent tubes. They deal with backlighting. Reflectors are then used to redirect light to the monitor and spread it as uniformly as possible. The result is satisfying, it is almost good enough for everyone but it is perfectible. Pixels closer to the fluorescent tubes receive more light than those located halfway between two tubes. Variations are, in principle, reduced but they can be annoying. Sometimes also, following an impact or because of malfunctioning, one area can be considerably more brightened than the others. The Iiyama AS4314UTG, a quite ancient 17" monitor, sometime produced a visible white halo in the lower part of the monitor. More recently, some of the Dell 2005FPW had a lighter corner. Giving up fluorescent tubes for uniformly spread LEDs helps to considerably reduce this type of effect. The gap between two lamps is a lot smaller.

According to NEC, their equivalent color temperature also justifies this change for LEDs. Light emitted by these LEDs is closer to natural light.

And now it is time for the tests! We completed / modified our procedure for the release of this unusual monitor. We included new, more accurate, measuring tools, which are even more practical. (The new LaCie colorimeter).

As for the time being, the only measuring tool is a Mac version, some of the color tests were made on an Apple computer.