A little over a year ago, I purchased a new LCD monitor from Acer. Upon arrival, I noticed a very bright stuck pixel and immediately sent the monitor back to Newegg. My replacement also suffered the same fate, causing me to purchase an LG monitor instead.
Last week, Acer found out about my dissatisfaction with stuck pixels on their monitors and offered me a free LCD for review. They sent me an AL1916W and claimed their new manufacturing process nearly eliminated stuck and dead pixels. Skeptical about the claim, I took Acer up on their offer.
First Impressions
On Tuesday, my new Acer AL1916W arrived from UPS. For you spec lovers, this a 19-inch widescreen running at a native resolution of 1440×900 (same resolution as my MacBook Pro). Its response time is 5ms, has a 700:1 contrast ratio, and a brightness rating of 300 cd/m2. It supports VGA and DVI, and does not bare a power brick due to an internal power supply.
A gorgous monitor on my cluttered desk.
Upon unpacking and hooking up the monitor, I was thoroughly impressed by the picture right out of the box (this can be attributed to OS X’s color profile for the monitor). The AL1916W definitely looked better than any other non-Apple monitor I’ve used. Unfortunately, the default color profile still did not satisfy my color liking, so I ran a quick expert-setting color profile calibration. After calibrating, I could tell the monitor natively displays more in the red range, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
Acer’s controls are simple and easy to use.
Does Acer’s Claim Holdup?
I know, what about Acer’s claim on stuck pixels? Well, I regret to inform you my AL1916W indeed has a stuck or dead pixel. Roughly one-third from the right and one-third from the bottom of the screen is a dimly-lit pixel that appears a dark purplish color on certain backgrounds. I believe the green sub-pixel is either stuck or dead since pure red, blue, and black colors appear normally. More than likely the sub-pixel is dead, since I’ve never heard of an always-off pixel coming back to life.
Approximate location of the stuck pixel.
Unlike my previous stuck pixels, this pixel is dark in color and less noticeable. Since the pixel pitch of the AL1916W is 0.284mm, the pixel is smaller and harder to see. I only notice it when I’m looking at a pure white background with little near the pixel. If I decide to use this monitor as my main one, I’m confident I can tolerate the pixel.
However, receiving a stuck pixel tells me Acer’s “new manufacturing process” is a load of bull. Their replacement policy still remains at four dead or stuck pixels, so regardless of any improvement in manufacturing, people will still get bad monitors. Unfortunately, that’s just a reality with all LCD monitors.
To be fair to Acer, I should disclose that every LCD monitor I have ever owned, with exception of my MacBook Pro (knock on wood), has suffered from some pixel anomaly. My first Acer monitor had a blue stuck pixel, my replacement Acer had a red stuck pixel, and my LG has a light blue stuck pixel on the far right of the screen. Even my MacBook had a blue stuck pixel at purchase, but I managed to rub the pixel to life, never seeing it again. I just seem to have bad luck with LCD monitors.
Final Thoughts
Excluding the pixel trouble, I feel this is a wonderful monitor. The color is sharp, it reaches a decent brightness level, and the features are numerous for a budget monitor. If you don’t mind the risk of a stuck pixel or two, I would highly recommend the Acer AL1916W as your next monitor.
12 Comments
I have to say are you for real? At work, we use all Dell monitors, and I don’t recall any of them having dead or stuck pixels. I currently own a ViewSonic monitor at home and the only issue I have is some bizarre power issues. I have yet to call them, but I am thinking of replacing it as I would much rather have wide screen.
I am completely serious. I seem to have some really bad luck with LCD monitors. Either that or I’m buying really crappy brands. Considering even my MacBook experienced a stuck pixel at one point, I tend to lean to the LCD gods hating me.
If anyone’s interested, I decided I’m selling it. Contact me for more information.
I hope Acer is allowing you to sell it. That is a rather large amount of profit on something you presumably paid nothing for?
As for the Dell LCDs we use at work, I am unsure who manufacturers them, but I’ve been told it is LG that makes the widescreen cinema displays.
Yeah, I did check with Acer and they said it’s mine to do whatever with, so no problem on that front.
Well, you sure could need some luck in the monitors department soon. Of all the 3 LCD monitors I’ve had so far (iMac, PowerBook and recently a 20″ Dell widescreen), none came with a single dead or stuck pixel. Better luck next time?
I currently own an LG widescreen 19 inch tft glass panel monitor, i prefer glass coated to other lcd’s. Apart from when the sun glares off of it!
I got this monitor and i think it sucks i get so much ghosting whenever i use it, tried it with my mac, my xbox….have i got a faulty monitor?
Probably. The refresh rate is high enough on the monitor you shouldn’t experience ghosting.
Would you recommend Acer AL1916W over LG 194WS? Acer is $25 cheaper and I am wondering if it’s worth it since I’ve used all sorts of LG monitors the last 2 years n never have had a bad experience.
I would highly recommend the LG over the Acer. I’ve had much better luck with LG then Acer, and LG monitors seems to be higher quality.
I have to give these monitors my seal of approval. I personally own one and ordered 50+ of these for my work (from newegg) and not one had a stuck or dead pixel. One was DOA which newegg promptly replaced. Maybe I’m just lucky but I’m thoroughly impressed for the price and quality. We use them in a CAD environment and they have all held up nicely. Not saying you are right or wrong. Just my experience has been very pleasant.
Mike
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