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Quiet / Noisy Monitor Survey

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:59 pm
by MikeC
Post the make and model of your monitor and whether it whines. If it does, describe the degree, nature and conditions. As this log grows, everyone can benefit by using it as a quick reference. When it gets big enough, we will turn it to a table with multiple models, samples and ratings, and keep it up to date.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:06 pm
by MikeC
My first contribution:

BenQ G2400W (bought Sept 2008) -- 24" value LCD monitor. At turn-on, whines with a high pitched single tone when brightness is reduced to 90 or lower (0-100 scale). It's very low in level (volume) but still audible from 2' in front of the screen. The volume of the whine tends to get louder as brightness is further reduced. After it's been on for a while (10 min? 20 min?) the level of whine goes down so it's almost inaudible when set above ~75.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:08 pm
by cienislaw
Gateway FPD2185W - when brightnes is below 90+/-5 it whines easy to hear and annoying, whine is heard even from few meters away from monitor in all directions. i had few of them and all have this issue.

NEC MultiSync 20WGX2 - dead silent on all brightnes levels. its makes very, very quiet whine in standby mode and its only heard very close to the back of monitor.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:35 pm
by RedAE102
Acer AL2216Wbd - Emits a low buzz whenever displaying its own "Acer" startup splash image or "No Signal" image just before shutdown below 85% brightness. Other than that, this monitor is only seen and not heard.

Acer AL1916WAbd - The 22" model's little brother does have a moderate level of very high frequency whine below 95% brightness. Mercifully, it slowly fades as it warms up, and after 20-30 minutes of use, it's completely silent. I first noticed the whine ~8 months after purchase. Emits the same buzz as its big brother under the same conditions.

Completely unrelated, but although these two monitors look identical, just scaled larger or smaller, the 19" takes 4-5 times longer than the 22" to finish its splash screen routine and display the desktop/image. The 19" also takes about that much longer to wake from sleep on moving the mouse after the OS turns the monitor "off".

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:38 pm
by potsy
I have two Benq FP71G+S 17" monitors.

I can't hear anything from either of them at any settings that I've tried. I've moved the brightness and contrast from 100% to zero and the same for each colour.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:03 pm
by tehcrazybob
Planar PL2010M - No noise whatsoever at any brightness setting. This is, however, an older part number; the newer monitors have switched to a lower-quality LCD panel. I don't know whether the backlighting has been changed or not, though.

Gateway FPD1765 - No noise at any brightness. However, there is not enough brightness adjustment available, and even minimum brightness is too high for some situations.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:29 pm
by Blue_Sky
Samsung SyncMaster 920Nx - no noise produced at any brightness.


Will edit to add another Samsung and a Dell in a month or so.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:00 pm
by porkchop
dell 2407wfp- my brothers monitor, makes a rather broadband whine- rather quiet and very tolerable.
benq fp71g+s- silent, though it did die in <3 yrs, also developed a couple of dead pixels.
viewsonic vg2021m- a screamer- completely intolerable and very loud, sold to a friends parents at a big discount.
acer x201w- high pitched but quiet, pops up when the ambient decreases- very annoying late into the night.
dell s2409w- same as the acer above- but a touch quieter.

something else: the dell s2409w is my current monitor, its one of the best tn panels i've ever seen, and the lack of a splash page is a breath of fresh air- it turns on in about a second.

all the monitors that whined did so at anything less than ~100 brightness, the noise usually changed at different settings but not significantly.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:29 pm
by sapereaude
Dell 2709W: Unbearable humming noise at every brightness setting.
Samsung 245B: Sounds like a huge transformer station :roll:
iiyama E1900WS: Whine at all settings except 100%, but not as bad as the other two. About as loud as a 2,5" drive.

More to be added...

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:00 pm
by N7SC
NEC LCD2070NX-White/Silver

Virtually silent. Is running at 48% brightness, and 41% contrast, and I have to put my ear within 4" of the vents on the top of the back to hear a very, very quiet, whine. And, BTW, I have the hearing of a dog or bat, and the audiometry results to prove it. No one else in my family can hear this monitor, even at very close range. At any distance from the front, even an inch or so, it is silent, even at night, in a very quiet house (I live in the middle of nowhere, so when it is quiet here, it is very quiet here).

It is also a great monitor in general, with a S-IPS panel, and very good highlight and shadow detail, very good color rendition too.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:08 pm
by ck8-04
Unfortunately, what was said about the 2070NX can not be said about the 2090UXi. My hearing is very sharp and I can hear a whine coming out of this monitor regardless of brightness levels. The whine gets louder if there is a white background such as a webpage. I have somewhat remedied this by taping all the side and bottom vents and leaving only the top vents open. This has reduced the whine somewhat. I can only hear the whine when it is very quiet now, but when there is a white background, the whine is noticeable nonetheless. Just about any source of ambient noise will drown out the whine, but it gets very annoying when my room is very quiet.

Noise aside, this is the best monitor I have ever used. The image quality is second to none being that it's S-IPS and this thing has more features than I could ask for. Overall I'm satisfied with it since I don't even notice the whine 95% of the time.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:48 pm
by CA_Steve
Samsung 225BW - silent.

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:28 pm
by zoatebix
Acer AL1951
I currently have it set to 100 contrast, 0 brightness, and I just cycled both settings from top to bottom. I put my ear quite closer to the monitor and didn't hear anything, but the ambient noise in here isn't as low as it could be. I'll try again later.

EDIT: Two or three times now, upon powering up the monitor, I have heard a faint very high-pitched sound. Since it's happened more than once, I'm pretty sure it's not tinnitus. My experience seems similar to what RedAE102 noted about his smaller Acer monitor (AL1916WAbd); the AL1951 seems to quiet itself very quickly as it warms up, though.

George

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:36 am
by Shemale
HP LP3065
Moderate whine at all brightness settings, except maximum luminosity.

An additional unacceptable high whine appear in some documents with horizontal lines. This whine appear at all brightness levels including maximum luminosity. It is a rare event, but very irritating.
Zoom in and zoom out on this image, will result in a change of whine tonality.
ImageImage

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:13 am
by JimX
Eizo 2431W
Eizo L767 19" (2 samples)
Eizo L557 17"

All dead silent at 100% and at 15-20% where they are set.


Strange about saperaude's Samsung 245B. I have one and I haven't noticed any noise. I'll check again.

Edit: Yes, there's a faint whine at 25% brightness, less at 100%.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:52 am
by nutball
Dell 3007WFP-HC buzzes at <95% brightness.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:53 am
by Das_Saunamies
Viewsonic VP171s. Very audbile whine while on, brightness setting doesn't really do anything after five years of use. Irritating eep-eep-eep signal while on standby, muted whine while off. Switching power off from master switch cures whine. Nowadays retired.

Benq G2400W. What Mike said. Whine has apparently become more quiet over time, now usable with 60 Brightness, 50 Contrast in Photo mode with only mild discomfort at times.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:09 am
by Modo
Benq FP241VW

Bought 11 months ago. Virtually inaudible regardless of the brightness setting (presently at 25%). Not completely, though - I can just make out a very quiet whine when I put my ear (literally) on the back vent.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:01 pm
by clive r
HP L2335

Audible whine at less than 96% brightness. This is my second one, the first was louder. It's not blindingly bright so can be run at 100%, but the S-IPS panel is a bit power hungry at this setting.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:55 pm
by NeilBlanchard
Hello,

I have two quiet LCD's:

20" Samsung 204T

17" NEC LCD 1760V


And the very old 15" CTX PV500 are also quiet.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:31 pm
by thejamppa
Acer P223W Ws ( White ) 22" Quiet on default setting. I could not hear whine or so when reducing brightness but my game rig isn't as quiet as mainrig. But still I haven't yet heard anything annoying on my Acer. Just ambedient so far.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:11 pm
by pepve
Samsung Syncmaster 943B, with brightness under 80%, annoying whine when in a quiet room.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:52 pm
by wim
dell 2001FP had very slight hum from the power brick, screen was inaudible. power brick had long cord and could be hidden away in a cupboard somewhere

dell 2007FP same noise level as 2001fp but power brick was integrated into the back of the panel, so noise could no longer be relocated :( still pretty quiet and probably only noticable for those with an inaudible pc

dell 3008WFP buzz at any brightness, significantly louder than the dell 20"

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:38 am
by judge56988
Viewsonic VP171b

Unlike Das_Saunamies, mine is silent, can't hear anything even with my ear next to it.
I use it as external monitor with a Dell Latitude D620 and at night time here in rural England it is dead quiet.

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:47 am
by Arvo
Samsung Syncmaster 943T
Little humming audible at 30cm (1ft) or closer, tonality depends on brightness, probably harmonics of backlight modulation. At 40% brigtness noise is more audible than at 8% (my usual settings, esp the latest). No high-pitch whine.

LG L2000CP-SF
No audible noise, but is located at my workplace, where air conditionig noise kills everything. Fortunately no high-pitch whine (specifically checked by younger co-workers :)), what is often big problem for this model according to many reviews.

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:28 pm
by NyteOwl
Samsung 932B+ 19", TN, non-widescreen. Silent but does produce a faint psu hum audible within 30-50cm if placed on a lightweight surface. Silent across its brightness range with no perceptible whine. 8 months old.

Samsung 275T+ 27", S-PVA, widescreen. Silent across its brightness range, no hum or whine perceptible. 3 months old.

I have several CRT's. All are silent for whine but a couple have a bit of psu hum if you put your ear near the case which is pretty normal for that type of circuitry.

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 5:59 pm
by Chaendler
Dell 2407FPW -> Whines slightly when brightness < 85.
It is only audible at late night.
From 85 to 100 is inaudible unless you put your ear on the back of the unit.

Note that I'm extremely sensitive to high pitched noises, so having here a list of good-silent monitors to help us choosing our next display is unpayable :)

Thanks Mike!

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 1:41 pm
by lechuck
Eizo S2431W - not 100% silent for silent maniac, for general public I suppose it is. Auto brightnes regulation, no change in noise!

From close distance electronic noise can be heard. In normal working distance and in quiet room is panaflo@5V louder (fan motor noise).

So, good monitor from silent view, I suppose.

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 1:51 pm
by Thomas
Samsung Syncmaster 970P - 2½ year old.

Silent.

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:29 am
by alecmg
Samsung 203B
high pitched noise, gets stronger as brightness is lowered