Members 144dB Posted April 29, 2012 Members Share Posted April 29, 2012 Hey all, I'm preparing for a new DAW purchase (the first in nearly nine years), and I just bought a pair of Dell U2312HM LCD displays. I've always wanted dual displays, and I figured now was the right time. I figured by buying two units of the same make/model and using Dual-link DVI-D cables that the picture output would be identical or near-identical between them. But it isn't... The visual clarity is about the same, but one of them has a slight yellow hue to it. I had my fiancee take a look and she agreed. When I dragged the Cubase mixer midway between the two displays, we could definitely see a difference in hue. It's subtle, but noticeable. These are not top flight displays (they run about $250 each), and I'm not doing any photography or graphics work. This is a DAW. But by buying two of the same unit, I expected them to be more uniform, and little details like this tend to irk me. Is this a common issue with dual display setups? Is it hard to get two monitors to match one another, even when they are the same make/model? I don't think the LCD itself is different between the two units. If anything, I suspect the backlight is a bit different between them. I can't see Dell wasting time or manufacturing complexity by using two different LCD panels for the same model, but differences in the backlights (especially for mid-priced units) seems feasible. Any thoughts? Any similar experiences? Thanks in advance... Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted April 29, 2012 Members Share Posted April 29, 2012 They do have a range of parts they'll use interchangeably in the same display, and that goes pretty much for any device. There are substitutions and also fine adjustments that don't necessarily agree. I get irked by the same sort of thing. It makes sense intuitively that two of the same unit will give you the best chance for matching things up. Same with speaker monitors, but that doesn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted April 29, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 I expect that they all come out of the factory with all of the adjustable settings the same, so I would expect there to be some differences between units. Some are more adjustable than others so there may be some tweaking that you can do. I've seen (though never used) some utilities that are supposed to help you adjust a monitor. Perhaps you could hunt one up and give it a try. I suppose these are for adjustment to a standard color chart (kind of like playback alignment of an analog tape deck to a standard reference tape) but if there's enough resolution to the controls that they give you, you might be able to make them match closer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 144dB Posted April 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thanks guys... I'm going to try to adjust the settings on one of them to see if I can match them better. I didn't buy them directly from Dell (I bought them through Amazon Marketplace since I had a substantial gift card), so returning them is a bit of a hassle. It's not like the old days of CRTs (I shipped one of those back once), but it's still a pain. I'll see what I can do with settings first. The more I think about it, there are plenty of components and component substitutions that could account for differences, so I'm not too surprised that this happened. Thanks again. Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted April 29, 2012 Moderators Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thanks guys...I'm going to try to adjust the settings on one of them to see if I can match them better. I didn't buy them directly from Dell (I bought them through Amazon Marketplace since I had a substantial gift card), so returning them is a bit of a hassle. It's not like the old days of CRTs (I shipped one of those back once), but it's still a pain.I'll see what I can do with settings first. The more I think about it, there are plenty of components and component substitutions that could account for differences, so I'm not too surprised that this happened.Thanks again.Todd Understandable that they might be different... but not what you want. I get on the phone with them right now and explain the situation and request/demand a replacement. Then start looking at quality photos and determine which of the two is closest to "correct". Return the "loser" of the two for replacement and continue till you get a match. That'd drive me nuts. Dell are pretty good about making their customers happy... they're set up nicely for returns and replacements. Use that to your advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 29, 2012 Members Share Posted April 29, 2012 Try swapping the connectors to the video cards first to rule out a difference from your video ports. It's not likely, but still possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 144dB Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Try swapping the connectors to the video cards first to rule out a difference from your video ports. It's not likely, but still possible. Yep. That was the first thing I did. It's definitely the monitors. Lee: If I was dealing directly with Dell, I would probably do that. But I bought them through Amazon on a gift card, and the key word is "through" (the monitors shipped from a third party). Amazon's return policy is not the same for third party purchases. I may investigate it further, but I'll first try to adjust the settings a bit. But you're right... As much as I should just let it go, I'll always know (and see) that there is a difference. But it's rare that one graphic would be shared between the two screens. Usually i put the Cubase mixer on one panel and the Project window on another, or if I'm in Wavelab, the waveform/montage window is on one display and plug-ins and meters are on the other. Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members temnov Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Is this a common issue with dual display setups 144, I'm using dual LED LG 23' dispalys on X79 Win 7 computer, Cubase 6.5. I have the same issue. I tried to adjust displays but after couple of hours decided it doesn't worth it. I think it's pretty normal, actually. Usually i put the Cubase mixer on one panel and the Project window on another I do the same, and after some time I just don't pay attention anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Yep. That was the first thing I did. It's definitely the monitors. Lee: If I was dealing directly with Dell, I would probably do that. But I bought them through Amazon on a gift card, and the key word is "through" (the monitors shipped from a third party). Amazon's return policy is not the same for third party purchases. I may investigate it further, but I'll first try to adjust the settings a bit. But you're right... As much as I should just let it go, I'll always know (and see) that there is a difference. But it's rare that one graphic would be shared between the two screens. Usually i put the Cubase mixer on one panel and the Project window on another, or if I'm in Wavelab, the waveform/montage window is on one display and plug-ins and meters are on the other. Todd That's annoying. It would really bother me. No one should be allowed to disregard symmetry like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted May 2, 2012 Members Share Posted May 2, 2012 You might be able to correct it by playing with video driver settings bit if its due to spectral differenes in the backlight it will not help for all images9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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