I just bought a 20.8" 2048x1536 (QXGA) LCD monitor and love it! At a pixel density of 123.1 per inch, it's far easier on the eyes than the 15.0" QXGA screen on my R50p and T43p (170.7 DPI). The viewing angle is amazing, so I believe it's IPS. It's pretty old though, probably 6 or 7 years, so the image isn't as crisp as my Dell 2407WFP. Also, I have tested my R50p and T43p as well as a friend's T60 via VGA (this monitor doesn't have DVI) and none of them can drive it at the native resolution, which is kind of disappointing. All three are capable of sending out 2048x1536 but in virtual screen mode so that only 1600x1200 is really shown on the monitor and to see the rest I have to scroll. So I'm using it with my Compaq desktop computer instead, which gets the LCD to display 2048x1536 properly. Here's a photo of this external monitor hooked up to this Compaq desktop sitting next to my R50p, both showing this forum in a 1280x960 web browser:



These external QXGA LCD monitors are extremely hard to find because they were made only briefly several years back. Virtually all QXGA monitors on eBay are either CRTs or greyscale LCDs. This particular one is a very obscure model -- Raintree Systems IN2080. More info about it can be found on this site.

I highly recommend you to get one of these if you come across a reasonably priced one on eBay. It's an excellent balance between getting lots of real estate on a screen and saving space on your desk. I got lucky with this one and it cost me only $133 shipped.

Looks awesome! I've been considering a QXGA mod for a used T43p as a second laptop (in addition to my WUXGA W500). Something with IPS would be nice (as nobody makes a 15.4" IPS display...)

Looks great
Actually the 20.8" QXGA was also, like the 15" QXGA manufactured by Idtech, and you could also get it in the IBM T210 desktop monitor, part no ITQX20.

connecting the dots in red bears your answer.   most VGA cables are of poor quality and can't drive a clean QXGA signal.   if your display were digital then the above would likely be a non-issue.   you might have better luck with a higher-quality cable.

but, for $133, who can complain?   my NEC was 14X that price.

I got real lucky and found two excellent Dell monitors at a local pawn shop for pennies on the dollar (almost)

One is the 1901 series and the other is the 1701 series. (19 inches and 17 inches respectively)

I also have a dandy Acer 17 incher.

These are all the matte (non-glare) finish and are silent. No buzz, hum or whine like some other brands. Not only that, they are the older 4:3 ratio which matches all my ThinkPad screens.

It's so nice to have the lighter weight LCD monitors, instead of the untra heavy CRT units we used to have to deal with!

I also got a terrific 22 inch wide screen HP monitor from the same shop, but it's that annoying shiny gloss finish, and I get tired of seeing my own ugly mug in the screen when I use it.

My point is, check out your local pawn shop stores for possible treasures that may be there collecting dust. Take in your laptop and hook it up for a quick look-see before buying. They are usually willing to let you do that.

Can a hole be drilled through an LCD monitor and still have it function? I need to place control knob in the display area of an LCD monitor, but there's not enough room. This area (upper left corner) will be covered later and not seen. I was wondering if it was possible to put a hole through the screen an not effect the function of the rest of it?

Very nice price is an understatement!

Congrats!

I have taken note of the Dell you mention. I've gotten rid of my old CRT Television and am looking to replace it with a stellar (but affordable) monitor!

Actually, this QXGA monitor started having major problems after I'd had it for only 4 months! Now it's virtually useless. I posted it on Craigslist for $25 and no one has shown any interest yet. But I found its pixel density a bit too high anyway. I now have three Dell 2407WFP's at work and their lower density of 94.34 DPI is just right. I also don't use my QXGA T43p much any more. I'm sick of constantly leaning forward to keep my eyes close to the screen. Now I've switched almost completely to desktop computers with huge LCDs.

I picked up an IBM T210 a little while back. Its a great monitor--has every adjustment possible and supports S-video in. I believe it has the same QXGA IPS panel as your monitor. Currently running it at UXGA resolution because of my video card doesn't support a higher resolution over DVI. The one thing I don't like is that the T210 has noisy fan in it to keep things cool. Does yours have a fan as well? I notice on mine, I get occasional vertical lines after I've been using it for a while. I think its a cooling issue and plan on upgrading the fan (maybe even a quieter one) when I get the chance. What was wrong with yours?

Who would have thought they would ever hear you say that?

I currently feel comfortable with ~100PPI desktop LCDs or ~120PPI laptop LCDs. Any more would probably make me a bit uncomfortable. My current main display is the 2007FP UXGA 100PPI, from which I can sit about 70cm away and still read comfortably at default font settings. My wife is somewhat unhappy with this, though. Maybe the day is not so far when I would be too?

I am considering getting a bigger screen, so that I can enjoy both 4:3 and widescreen content. I also like to go for IPS (which is one reason I stayed away from the 2408WFP for now)/ Ideal for me would be some 23" WUXGA IPS, since it would have almost the same physical height and PPI as the 2007FP. But no one makes these (except some Apple model, ugh). In the absence of it, the new DELL U2410 IPS seems interesting as well. Might consider that one in the future.

It happened in 3 stages. First, the rightmost 1-inch column of the screen started to show flickering lines. After several weeks, that column wouldn't light up at all. Finally, the rest of the sceen suddenly became very dim and often showed afterimages.



You shouldn't have been surprised. I've never been a huge fan of high DPI per se. I've always been aware that low DPI is easier on the eyes and thus prefer such monitors whenever possible. But I also need an enormous amount of real estate! It's easy to get both with desktop monitors, but for laptops, I need to sacrifice one of them, and I choose to sacrifice comfort. I wish there were sub-4-pound 17" 1920x1200 laptops!



I highly recommend you to consider the arrangement that I currently have. I don't mean to brag but I really think it's the best setup I've ever seen. Three 24" 1920x1200 LCDs, with one in normal landscape orientation and the others in portrait. When I need widescreen (e.g. to watch a movie), I use the landscape LCD, but when I want lots of vertical real estate, the rotated LCDs give me 1920 rows of pixels! That's my rig at work. At home, I have a slightly scaled down version: a 2408WFP in landscape mode, and two 20" UXGA LCDs (a beautiful 2007FP and a Samsung 204B with terrible TN) in portrait mode.

That's a highly interesting and useful setup, however I don't think I need that much space (heck, I don't think I have that much space on my desk!). Besides, I think i would find 24" in portrait mode too high, and, even more unfortunate, text in portrait mode does not look good with Cleartype.

But overall, your setup does sound amazing. There is only one setup that I would consider better - the "Cody Control Centre" from Youtube - running a 3007WFP, with two 2007FPs in portrait on the sides of it, for a total resolution of 4960x1600! On this setup, the overall real estate is slightly higher, plus the vertical resolution is consistent, and amazingly the physical size (and therefore PPI) is almost equal between the 30" and the 20". However, your setup does allow more vertical lines, which can be a big advantage for certain tasks.

LCDs work coloumnwise and row wise. Theoretically, if you drilled a hole in the middle of the LCD, you'd end up with a white or black cross on the LCD, and it would be totally trashed.
In the upper left corner (or upper part of the LCD), a LCD driver board is usually positioned in that region, right behind the LCD panel. You'd also ruin it totally by doing that.

Pianowizard - sorry to hear that the LCD stopped working, even if it was uncomfotable to use, it's always irritating when things go bad
If one had a LCD driver board to test the panel with, that would be nice... there's still a good chance that it might be the driver board only. *****Expletives removed by Moderator*****, it's tempting to repair

After owning my 2408WFP for close to a month, I am now more hesitant to recommend it. It's a fanTAStic, flawless LCD when driven through DVI with a modern graphics card. But don't buy it if you plan on using VGA or an old graphics card, especially if it's an ATI card. It's one of those LCDs that look crappy with VGA input, and I know it's not due to the cable or the video card because all of my 2407WFP's look great using the same cable and card. But the other issue is even more serious: old ATI cards have difficulty waking up the 2408WFP from Power Save Mode. You can read all about this issue on the Dell Community site. As you can see in that thread, there are ways to get around this problem, but they don't always work. Luckily they worked for me, which was why I posted there earlier today to thank those guys for sharing them.

On the other hand, for people who have moden graphics cards and plan to use DVI, I still recommend the 2408WFP wholeheartedly.



Yeah, I wish I had the equipment and knowledge to diagnose the problem. If anyone in the Boston/Providence area is interested in giving it a try, you are welcome to have this QXGA LCD for $10. You'd need to pick it up in person though.

Came across this while searching for an LCD: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0404865258

I have no idea whether this is the correct "LCD driver board" that's been referred to in the thread. Its described as for an IBM QXGA LCD.

@Pianowizard: Maybe its worth a shot to open up your monitor and see if the same part was used?

Still have it? I am guessing someone has to pry out the 15" QXGA LCD from your LCD Monitor?

It was 20.8", not 15". And I sold it for $10 long ago.

I have a 20" UXGA monitor in portrait mode on my desktop. I'd love to get a QXGA for the same purposes, but the only ones I've seen are like $3k and it ain't work that much to me.

Wow! These are nice