Multi monitor flip issue, strobe related?

[Eyahn]

Hello folks! Thanks for posting your stuff to this site and helping me to sort out my monitors (almost)

I bought a xl2720 years ago and noticed I had only the V1 firmware and it was only upgradable with the special dongle thing. Well Moving on since then, I bought another two and my latest one had the V3 firmware and the oldest two the V1. This caused the colours to be mightily out of sync! So some searching brought me to the Linux flash of the monitor and now they're all running the V5 Firmware... yay

Unfortunately the newest monitor has a different panel, the service menu shows it's a a different model. So it's a little brighter, a whole lot younger though, so I've decided to use that as the middle monitor. Considering it's plugged in via DisplayPort, and the other two are DVI, it's worked out alright really!

Which brings me to my problem. I covered the bezel on left hand side with the left hand monitor bezel, effectively halfing the distance between the screens. I've also done that on the monitor on the right. Anyone who's done that will know the USB ports on the back side of the monitor get in the way! So I've flipped the screen.

Unfortunately it leaves the bottom half of the screen rather dark. The monitor was fine the other way around! Indeed the colours display perfectly when the monitor isn't set as flipped. I remember reading something about moving the strobe settings and how 100 was the opposite to 1 or something, so I'm guessing i might have to change that to perform it's operation in reverse... or 90 deg out, or upside down, or left to right... I don't know, but I'm hoping this isn't unsolvable.

Previously I've tried to run the Blue Busters software and it always crashed Windows 10. I just left it... but now I decided to run it in Administrator Mode, and it ran fine! But sadly it tells me I don't have compatible monitors... Is that something to do with my system reporting them as ZOWIE things?

I'm waiting for your replied... Thanks for putting loads of cool monitor stuff on this site tho, you guys do a great job, loads of knowledgeable folks doing crazy things with monitors that I don't understand who have helped me get as far as I have with my screens... but I think I'm ready to improve my viewing experience with fannying about with these settings!

So to summarise...

How can i get the Blur Busters software to recognise my 'ZOWIE' Monitors?

And why is the 'bottom' of my monitor that's flipped, darker than the new top?

Thanks in advance!

[Falkentyne]

Hello,
Can you tell me what panel the service menu says the newest monitor has? They usually use the M270HTN01.0 by AU Optronics.
Does the newest monitor use the Mstar 8556T scaler?

Does your newest monitor have the single strobe on/off option in the service menu?

Any chance you can take a picture for me?

Also, what does the newest monitor's FACTORY MENU look like? This is not the menu with the strobe settings. It has the "other" burn in settings like color gain, offset, etc.

(you can unlock that menu by powering off, holding button 3 and 4, for 5 seconds, powering on whole holding down those two buttons, then pressing button 5 to open it).

[Eyahn]

Yeah, you may have guessed I don't have a clue what I'm doing... Well i got the service menus up on all three monitors and the panels are reported as the same! I could have swore the newest monitor had a different model number for the panel... Perhaps it was different? The new one was on V4 and the older two were still on V1! I'm sure it was different... Anyway, they're all at V5 now. The Scaler is also the same.

Well this third monitor that has been flipped... it seems very dark at the bottom and quite feint at the top! Could that just be the 'Liquid' in the LCD settling? The monitor has sat the other way up for the best part of a couple of years!

I'll let the monitor settle for a while... Unfortunately the pictures don't do the issue justice... It's almost like my viewing angle is all wrong. I need the monitor pointing upwards by maybe 30degree for colours of the task bar menu icons at the bottom (was the top) of the screen to look like they do in the other monitors. They're so rich in colour, blurry too. Where as the top of windows at the top of the screen look feint and rather washed out.

All monitors have the single strobe option Falkentyne.

[Chief Blur Buster]

Previously I've tried to run the Blue Busters software and it always crashed Windows 10. I just left it... but now I decided to run it in Administrator Mode, and it ran fine! But sadly it tells me I don't have compatible monitors... Is that something to do with my system reporting them as ZOWIE things?

Yes, that's right.

Reinstalling older monitor INF files also solves this problem (the monitor "INF" files that displays the full model name, like "XL2720Z" in Device Manager.

Then Strobe Utility will work, simultaneously adjusting all 3 monitors at the same time!

As for bright/dark differences at top/bottom edges, that is a typical behavior for many TN panels and can get worse at higher refresh rates / strobed modes. It's gamma shift during different viewing angles. Seen at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php ... This gamma shift can actually vary slightly the harder a TN panel is driven (which occurs at higher refresh rates & strobed modes, especially at larger vertical totals too).

Mitigation of gamma shift includes raising/lowering your monitors, as well as sitting slightly further away from your monitors, or running at a slightly lower refresh rate.

Adjustment of display gamma can help slightly, but at the end of the day, it is a TN panel limitation to have brightness differences (in blacks & dark greys) for top and bottom edges of the display. This is a compromise of having the fastest low-latency panels with the clearest motion.

[Falkentyne]

He may also have an abnormal backlight pattern. Masterotaku's XL2411z was noticeably darker in the -top left- corner, compared to everything else. The top right corner was just fine. He confirmed it wasn't gamma shift, it was just a backlight that was either made on a Friday or a Monday.

I would have to see the panel to be sure.

[Chief Blur Buster]

This be true. Some TN panels are less perfect than others... If there is a clear demonstratable flaw, it can be warranty-claimed, I know people have gotten better TN panels that way. But it has to be a true, really significant abberation from TN norm...

[Eyahn]

It does seem viewing angle related.... If i sit at my normal viewing distance and drop my head to about 12 inches below the bottom of the monitor, the bottom of the screen looks normal, but the top goes really pale.

I'm wondering if I can take the monitor apart and flip the front screen layer and bezel?

I don't even know if that would "fix all" due to the strange back light bleeding that seems to occur in the top right hand corner now... The weird thing is, it looks perfect when the monitor's not flipped!

[Chief Blur Buster]

It does seem viewing angle related.... If i sit at my normal viewing distance and drop my head to about 12 inches below the bottom of the monitor, the bottom of the screen looks normal, but the top goes really pale.

Sit about 6 inches further back, and the difference between top/bottoms will diminish -- less sharp differences in viewing angle when you're slightly further back. But that is not practical for all screens (too small) or all desks (too small)

[Eyahn]

Yeah, it's not practical to move anywhere. The other two monitors in front of me look fine!

Is the front part of the screen able to be flipped? Or is maybe the viewing angle related to the panel on which the pixels sit?

I'd crack it open if I could fix this problem, but i suppose i should know what I'm planning to do first. Does anyone have experience of this?

[Chief Blur Buster]

Is the front part of the screen able to be flipped? Or is maybe the viewing angle related to the panel on which the pixels sit?

It's related to the panel -- it's a TN panel.

When you view from above, the picture goes pale, and when viewed from below, the picture goes dark. If you prefer it vice-versa, here's a trick:

TRICK: Turning your monitor up-side-down easily via its VESA-compatible stand!
This works on at least half of the gaming monitors on the market. If you need to flip the darken-lighten effect, simply turn your whole monitor upsidedown (much easier if your monitor uses four VESA mount screws -- like ASUS ROG PG278Q or the BENQ XL2420G (all of which have hidden screws) -- they can be turned upside down on their existing stands if you have a screwdriver. Four screws in a square, about 4 inches apart on each edge. Eject the square-shaped covers where the stand attaches to the monitor (BENQ uses a button at the back at the bottom of the square. ASUS uses screw covers) to access the screws. Remove 4 screws to detach monitor from stand. Flip whole monitor upside down (bezel+screen without stand). Screw monitor back onto the monitor stand. Now your monitor is upsidedown on its existing stand!

You'll probably now have to connect cables to the top edge of the monitor, but the ports are probably recessed enough that you won't see cables poking from the top.

Use Window's "Change Screen Orientation" to turn your Windows picture 180 degree up-side-down.

Then now you've got a perfectly working TN gaming monitor with a reversed darken-lighten viewing angle effect. You won't fix your gamma non-uniformities -- TN panel limitations still applies -- and your picture will probably be darker (but you can readjust gamma to your preference) but it can help if you're having a lot of problems with an unusual viewing angle. Where it looks better the other way around for a specific monitor installation.