Dell E193FPp Monitor Brightness Issue

Hey everyone.

So I've been using the Dell E193FPp 19" lcd monitor for a few years now. It is a lower end model (not ultrasharp) that I purchased 3 years ago. I'm not sure if it's because of aging or maybe I'm becoming more picky, but I've noticed lately that the brightness on this monitor simply is awful. White looks dull and greyish. I have the brightness at 100 and I'm really unhappy with the way it all looks.

Is my issue to do with my monitor being old, it being connected to a Dell Dimension tower that is 7 years old, a VGA connection, or something else? In the past 2 weeks I've done a lot of research and learned about VA and IPS panels. I've love to purchase an IPS panel but I fear it won't be a big improvement because it would be attached to a old Dell tower. Is this correct?

I wanted to get a new mac mini but they were not released at Macworld last week. Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated. The white on my monitor is a joke compared to my macbook pro at it's highest bright setting.

 

Yes, overtime the monitor will get more dull depending on how many hours you have had it on. The age of the computer you have it connected to won't come into play, your current panel is just showing its age. However, your old tower might not support the higher resolution of the new panel you want.

 

Regular LCDs use CCFL (Cold cathode fluorescent lamps) for backlight, over time they get dimmer. Might explain the dull colors of your monitor. But 3 years is not a very long time to notice a significant amount of difference (unless you always had the brightness at 100%).

IPS and PVA screens have better viewing angles and color accuracy. But they cost more than twice a normal TN panel. Buy a new normal LCD, they are very cheap these days. Even though colors and viewing angels are not as good as a IPS/PVA panel, a new TN panel will look much better than your 3 year old E193FP.

You can easily find a 22” wide screen for less than $200 and a 24” full HD LCD for less than $300.

As atbnet said, a 7 year old computer might not be able to drive a 1920x1200 monitor at it's native resolution, but other than the resolution, connecting a new monitor to an old PC has no ill effects.