New FM3 - Different Screen?

BrownNote71

Inspired
I just purchased and took receipt of a new FM3. I've owned two FM3s in the past, both with and without headphone jacks, that were sold to bandmates that I haven't seen in quite a while so I can't directly compare.
The one I just received seems to have a different screen, with less/no backlight bleed (blueish blur from the backlighting), seems slightly more crisp, and has wider range of view-ability than I remember with my previous ones.
Am I just seeing differences within normal part tolerances, or has there been a switch in screens?
 
There's been no announcement of any changes in the screens, and Fractal is very good about saying when something changes. It's more likely attributed to memory or eyesight. :)
 
Hi Greg!
If you look at the second pic of this post (with the FM3 turned on) you should be able to see some blue "tint" or backlight wash on the right side (well, bottom the way the pic is oriented) of the screen- that I'm referring to. That's the way my previous two FM3s looked. It would increase/decrease some based on viewing angle, but it was definitely there.

This new one, the black on screen -it's really quite black. There's no hint of blue tint at all. It doesn't look like the same screen that's on the FM3 in that pic at all.
 
I wonder if this could possibly have something to do with it? Cliff indicated he might contact the manufacturer to see if they could start making units with harder screen material to prevent easy scratching that some owners were experiencing. Perhaps a new shipment of units has started shipping. Just a thought.
I haven't noticed this but I will notify the manufacturer and hopefully they can improve the surface hardness on future production runs.

I know a way to remove the scratches but I don't dare share it because if you don't do it right you'll make things worse.
 
I would hope so because the FM3 I have does not have a very good quality screen. It has terrible tint and colored glow issues when not looking at it straight on, which for me is most of the time since it sits on a desk at home. It also has rather poor black levels. Not sure how old my FM3 is, I bought it used. Is there any way to find out based on serial number?

The Quad Cortex and Helix Floor both have far better quality screens.
 
I got mine new about two months ago, the screen is quite poor on mine. Has significant back light bleed. But full disclosure i have a deep hate for lcds in general because of that. I used crts until 2016 when my last Sony gave up the ghost. Luckily i never even look at the screen anyway i just use the software. If i had to use the hardware interface i wouldn't even own one :D
 
I would hope so because the FM3 I have does not have a very good quality screen. It has terrible tint and colored glow issues when not looking at it straight on, which for me is most of the time since it sits on a desk at home. It also has rather poor black levels. Not sure how old my FM3 is, I bought it used. Is there any way to find out based on serial number?

The Quad Cortex and Helix Floor both have far better quality screens.
My first fm3 was pretty good. It had the usual blue tint on display. 2 new fm3s I've had thereafter didn't have that tint... but the black levels = really bad. Very washed out displays compared to first fm3. Different batches probably. Pod go, helix I had were significantly better in comparison to my current fm3 for black levels.

The "Glow" means I pretty much don't use the display, as it can be a trigger for my epilepsy (may not be an issue for anyone else).

First fm3 display "glow" wasn't as prominent the moment you switched from dead straight viewing angles. Considerably better. I'll figure out some solution if I need to use the display again, for gigging, to mute the glow somewhat. Currently all is done on edit software.
 
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My first fm3 was pretty good. It had the usual blue tint on display. 2 new fm3s I've had thereafter didn't have that tint... but the black levels = really bad. Very washed out displays compared to first fm3. Different batches probably. Pod go, helix I had were significantly better in comparison to my current fm3 for black levels.

The "Glow" means I pretty much don't use the display, as it can be a trigger for my epilepsy. I'll figure out some solution if I need to use the display again. Currently all is done on edit software.
That really sucks that the glow can trigger epiplepsy for you. For me it's just ugly looking when my screen has these yellow/green/blue areas when looked off center. It's kind of a "feature" of IPS panels but particularly bad in the model chosen for the FM3.

I found the Helix screen best for viewing angles where it changed the least when looked off center but it has overall the most light bleed. This can vary between different units. In any case I find it the least problematic that I did not even notice it for several years until I bought a FM3 and started comparing.

Quad Cortex did not have these tints but it lost a lot of black level when looked from off angle. For you its super bright switch LEDs might be more of an issue.
 
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