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Hello,

OK. I am at my wits end. I just received my 3rd replacement monitor for an LG Flatron 22" LCD (model #: W2252TQ) because of it buzzing. The only time the buzzing completely stops is if the brightness is set to 100%, and that is completely unacceptable to me. Maybe I am just being over-reactive, but I don't think a monitor should be making any noises, even just a little bit. It is not horrible, but it is like a splinter that is just annoying. When I turn the monitor completely off, I notice that it just gets quieter in the room.

I have my external monitor connected to my MacBook Pro via a DVI-D cable (I am not using the DVI/VGA adapter).

Do all external monitors make a little bit of noise? Am I being paranoid? If you put your ear to your monitor, do you hear anything or is it quiet?

Could the video card in the MacBook Pro be causing the problems with my external monitor? Is that even possible? Could it be that my MacBook Pro cannot handle external monitors very well?

Anyway, I was hoping the people on this forum could recommend a quality LCD monitor, at least 22", maybe up to 24"-25", that you have used to connect directly to a MacBook Pro. One that is quiet and doesn't make any noise?

Thanks.

P.S. There isn't anyway LG is going to give me any of my money back, is there? They would just keep sending me replacement monitors until my warranty expires, right?

P.P.S. I have Apple Care for my MacBook Pro for another 2 years. If I bought an Apple Display (if that was recommended by any of you), would my current Apple Care cover it?

The buzzing at less than full backlight power is probably the result of a cheap power supply for the backlight. After 3 displays I'd assume it's a design issue and not a manufacturing one.

Assuming you haven't owned it long, take it back to the place you bought it for a refund.

There are three common types of LCD panels: TN, (S-)PVA, and (S-)IPS. There are many manufacturers who use the first two types and a couple that use (S-)IPS panels for their LCD monitors. Which display is right for you depends on which set of trade-offs (including but not limited to response time, color gamut, uncalibrated/calibrated color accuracy, contrast ratio, price, viewing angle, etc) you want. If S-IPS is right for you, then the Apple displays are a good choice; if S-PVA is right for you, then the high-end Dell or Samsung displays are a good choice; I'm not familiar with the TN display market.

Note that 20-22" are usually the same resolution (1680x1050), and 23-27" are usually the same resolution (1920x1200); going bigger within one of those ranges just makes the pixels bigger without giving you any more screen real estate.

TN displays are the cheapest. Virtually every cheap lcd uses them. Even Apple has started using them in their cheapest iMac.

TN displays are faster and cheaper, but have a smaller displayable color range (gamut) and the colors are much more angle-dependent. This has nothing to do with the viewing angle that is defined in terms of contrast!

So bottom line is: if you want to work on color corrections professionally or so, you have to avoid cheap lcds and TN panels in general. mduell gave you a nice list of trusted manufacturers that use non-TN panels in their screens.

If you don't need color accuracy, then you can stick with cheaper screens. Samsung offers nice lcds with TN panels as well.

Concerning your Apple Care question, Apple Care extends to Apple Cinema displays automatically only if you buy them together with your Mac. I don't think you can extend it if you decide one year later that you would like to buy one.

AppleCare for displays (purchased without a Mac) is $100. This is a new offering - about a year old or so.

There's also (P-)MVA panels. By my research, they seem to be more common than (S-)PVAs, although they're a step down in quality (although my color-blind eyes can't really tell the difference).

Also, virtually every 22" monitor on the market is TN. If you want something else, you have to either get a 20" instead (which is the same thing as the 22" anyway in terms of resolution, although these days it's getting hard to find non-TN 20" panels either), or go up to a 24" (where it's still hard to find a non-TN panel ).

MVA (which has several variations, as most panel types do) was developed by Fujitsu before PVA to create a new set of trade offs between TN and IPS. As far as I know it's been largely replaced by PVA.

There's also CPA, but I don't know if Sharp ever brought it to full production.

24" S-PVA panels are easy to find; the Dell 2407/8WFP and Samsung 245T are well distributed worldwide AFAIK.

All I know is that I can walk into a BestBuy or OfficeMax and see lots of TN monitors, a few MVA monitors, and maybe one IPS monitor if the store has an Apple section. There are plenty of low-cost brands that use MVA panels, such as Soyo, Westinghouse, and LG. Unfortunately, these will be the high end if you walk into a store - they will have a few Samsungs, but only the cheaper ones that use TN panels. I've yet to see a PVA monitor in person, other than the one that was built into my old iMac G5.