Extremely narrow viewing angle on new hx2490

[Rancidm]

Hi,

I just acquired an ipaq hx2490 and am noticing an issue with the screen. It seems that the viewing angle is extremely poor. What I mean is that when I'm holding the ipaq up (at a reasonable distance from my eyes) the screen looks kinda funky because one eye is perceiving the lcd from one direction and the other eye from another direction. The viewing angle is so sensitive, that the difference in angle between my 2 eyes is causing stuble, weird colour changes and slightly strange looking text, such as what one sees when looking an lcd off-angle.

Another user on the Brighthand forums explained it better than I can: "I think I know what you're talking about. Are you referring to the way that, when you're watching a movie in full-screen landscape, the contrast is a bit different for each eye because of the incorrectly oriented viewing angle, giving you a weird, almost 3-D affect?" I'm getting the same thing, but it's happening more in portait than landscape (which makes sense), making it even worse.

It seems that when I tilt the screen up or left the image stays resonably intact, but when I tilt it (even slightly) down or right it washes out. Is this normal? Coming from a Sony TH55 with an excellent Sony LCD, the change is very noticeable.

Does anyone have any experience with this? hx2490/hx2490b screens or other similar ipaqs? Or in general? Any input would be appreciated.

[Rancidm]

On another note, I've noticed that most of the hx2490 reviews compliment it's nice screen.

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ipaq-hx2490.htm
"The display is gorgeous, just as we noted in our last generation hx2750 review. The display is very, very bright (you'll likely not use it at full brightness), is extremely contrasty, color saturated and sharp. This is one of the best QVGA resolution displays we've seen on a Palm or Windows Mobile device."

http://dahifi.net/index.php/archive/...hx2490-review/
The screen is XVGA and is very bright, so bright in fact I never had to turn it up all the way, even with the cover down. It is very good with rich, saturated colors. This is probably one of the best screens I have ever seen on a mobile device.

This does not seem to describe my device at all...

[Rancidm]

I went to Futureshop today to compare my PDAs screen with another hx2490, however their demo unit wasn't working. I did see a h1940 though (actually, it might have been a 1950 since futureshop doesn't seem to sell the 1940), and that thing has a beautiful screen. Way better than my hx2490, bright, clear and a much improved viewing angle.

Does anyone know if the hx2490b has an improved screen over the hx2490? I have a 3 year product service plan at Futureshop, and I'm wondering if it's worth it to try exchanging my hx2490 unit with a newer hx2490b unit in the hopes of getting a better screen. (Are all the screens the same or is it just hit and miss?)

Thanks in advance.

(Sorry for the large number of posts, I'm moving this over from the Brighthand forums).