Dell UltraSharp 1905FP: Setting the Bar for New 19" LCDs
by Kristopher Kubicki on January 29, 2005 12:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Construction (continued)
In fact, the only major change that occurred to the aesthetics of the monitor is on the height adjustment stand. The stand looks very similar to the original one, but it looks like Dell ditched the rounded design for a slightly different structure. The universal joint on the back actually pivots much easier than the one on our 2001FP, a plus for the 1905FP thus far.
Click to enlarge.
Dell completely redesigned the cable management in the rear, but in our opinion, plastic housing isn't much of an improvement over the previous attempt (which we didn't find very useful either). The monitor still features a quick release for a VESA wall mount. You can also see a button that activates the vertical height adjustment in the picture above.
Dell 1905FP inputs
Click to enlarge.
From the inputs above, you can see that Dell ditched the brick power supply. The 1905FP houses the AC to DC inverter inside the rear panel and hooks up using a standard three-prong 120V AC cable. For comparison, we included a snapshot of the Dell 2001FP input set below.
Dell 2001FP inputs
Click to enlarge.
After a few hours of operation, we recorded the air temperature near the exhausts of the LCD around 28 degrees Celsius with an ambient air temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. This is several degrees cooler than some of the other monitors that we have in the lab, like the Dell 2001FP and NuTech L921G.
Bleeding Light
Several of our forum members are fairly upset about UltraSharp 2005FPW models that have intermittent backlight problems. With this subject in mind, we paid extra attention to backlight issues in case there might be problems on the 1905FP as well. While we did not detect any problems on our panel (screen uniformity was perfect), we did notice that we could actually see the backlights from outside the monitor!
Click to enlarge.
In the image above, you can see the light of the backlights reflecting off something metal. We could not detect the light without looking carefully into the monitor. The obvious problem here is that the electrical components and backlights are exposed to the elements - even if that might be an office environment. If dust settles on the backlights, we could have a big problem with screen uniformity and brightness. Remember the Samsung 193P that uses the same panel? When we tested that LCD, we thought it was innovative that the monitor completely enclosed the LCD panel without any openings. In retrospect, Samsung's decision to do that might have been more function than form.
Opening it Up
After benchmarking this monitor, we opened it up to get a more in-depth look at the individual apparatus. Doing this will certainly void your warranty.
Separating the electronic components from the panel, we can see the underside of the digital/analog PCB on the left and the power inverters on the right. The entire electrical packaging behind the panel is less than an inch thick, which is impressive considering that inverters typically take up bulkier packaging - we refer to power bricks as "bricks" for a reason. We have always applauded integrated inverters in LCDs because they are more efficient. When we have external inverters leading to the monitor, the DC must be modulated and inverted back to AC for the florescent backlights.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
66 Comments
View All Comments
IceWindius - Sunday, January 30, 2005 - link
I"ll wait for SED displays to come out, it will kick OLED's assMrEMan - Sunday, January 30, 2005 - link
Are there people here who actually believe Dell manufactures any components (monitors, drives, motherboards, video cards, etc) in their systems?I would really be surprised if they actually do.
My guess is that the specify which OEM products they want, and then, have them tweaked to make them proprietary.
avijay - Sunday, January 30, 2005 - link
Great review!#31, that lady might get a few extra bucks based on her ratings, and to be honest, those guys try to get as much info as possible, but it doesn't quite work out all the time. I should know, I used to work in a place like that.
BTW, any chance of reviewing the Sony SDM-P234/B 23". I've been trying to find a good review on that LCD for quite a while, but unable to do so. I'd really appreciate it if kristopher can review one and let everyone know the good and the bad about that monitor. Thanks.
najames - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
I agree with TwistyKat. I have had enough Dell for a lifetime and I have never even technically ordered from them. I put in a Viewsonic monitor order 1/5 to ship on 1/28, the system was so screwed up my account had somebody elses name attached. After 10 emails, one long call to Mumbai, and another call where the guy basically just sat there didn't answer questions, and said nothing, then cut me off, I gave up and canceled my order on 1/26. They never did get the account fixed so the account linked with the order. It was always my responsibility to fix their problems, including filling out forms for the "webmaster", even though Dell reps could see it was hosed. When I called to cancel the US staff told me my VIEWSONIC monitor was in production at DELL (WTF?), requiring yet another call to Mumbai. The lady in Mumbai did tell me that she wanted me to give her a good rating on service, 1 being poor and 9 being excellent.HeatMiser - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
Link to Samsung's panel here: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TFTLCD/Monitors_n_...pxc - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
The 1905FP's LCD is 376mm x 301mm, a 5:4 aspect ratio. That fits perfectly with the 5:4 native resolution (1280x1024).http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/r83...
reactor - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
good review, good timing too, was looking at getting a 19" lcd.would like to see a review of the Philips 190S5FB, or an updated roundup, as people on newegg are raving about it.
MAME - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
"Fast motion was on par with what we expected for this game; we certainly didn't notice any motion blur, but if the Dell 1905FP is your first LCD, then you will notice a difference immediately."What do you mean by "difference"? Not as good as a CRT?
MadAd - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
As well as reviews of other popular models (like the 2005FPW, the HP L2335) are we going to one day get at least *one* set of reliable benchmarks at resolutions up and above 1600x1200 please please!!!!Just a quick roundup of available dx9 cards with mid-high range amd/intel at resolutions up to 1920x1200 - is that too much to ask from your favourite hardware site? :)
Wide screen gaming seems to be taking off and Id really like to know what kind of performance im going to need to run at good frame rates if I do get say the dell, or the hp. Will my 9700pro cut it? Probably not but do I need as much as an xt850?
Go on, I know youd love to do them :)
Thanks
robl - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link
Great article, thanks! Any chance of reviewing the Apple 30" HD display? I'd love to see how it compares, especially with which video cards support it on a pc. most sites I've seen only talk about it on the apple platform.