Samsung 226BW, not happy.

[Wayward_Son]

I received this monitor three days ago from Newegg. I purchased it after reading tons of reviews at various sites including Newegg and OCForums. Despite what several OCForums users said about the particular panel in this unit, I decided to buy it based on all the other raving reviews.

I'm wishing I hadn't.

This is my first LCD. The monitor it replaced was a 19" Viewsonic CRT with .21 dot pitch.

Here are my gripes:

1. The monitor is very noticeably darker at the top third of the screen. The bottom of the screen is the brightest and it gradually gets darker towards the top. It isn't noticeable while playing games, but I spend a lot of time online or in other non-gaming programs and this issue was noticeable the first time I booted Windows.

2. There are two areas of the screen where text appears to be bolded, even though it's not. If you were to imagine dividing the screen into ten segments, with a horizontal line across the middle of the screen and then four vertical lines cutting the screen into five columns, and then numbering those ten segments as:

1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10

Then segments 2 and 4 display black text on a white field as if was in bold. It doesn't matter which angle I view the screen, or how I set the contrast or brightness. Those two areas play funny tricks with the text, and I hate it. I spend a lot of time online in various forums, and this is simply unacceptable.

3. On the subject of text, if I look at text closely for a few seconds I can see it shimmering. I don't know if this has something to do with the refresh rate or if there's a setting I need to turn on or off, but I can see random little shimmers in text. Again, very annoying and unacceptable.

4. This one could be my own error, but I just can't seem to get the color, contrast and brightness calibrated correctly using the software that came with he monitor. No matter how I adjust it, I just can't get the colors to match up with the way they're "supposed" to look on my trusty CRT.



You know, all of these reasons were exactly what kept my from buying an LCD for so long. I held off for a long time, did a lot of research, chose a respected company, and then put down what I felt was quite a bit of money (over $300 when there are other LCDs with similar specs for $150-$250). I felt that I was making an informed choice and buying a quality product.


So what do I need to do? I know there are plenty of people on this forum with this same monitor. How common are my problems? Are there any solutions other than RMA? I am still well within the RMA period, but if there is a solution to fix this issues that I don't know about, then I would love to try it. Perhaps my issues are due to my own ignorance about LCD products. If these issues cannot be fixed, then I'll RMA the monitor and return to my Viewsonic CRT.

[nd4spdbh2]

I received this monitor three days ago from Newegg. I purchased it after reading tons of reviews at various sites including Newegg and OCForums. Despite what several OCForums users said about the particular panel in this unit, I decided to buy it based on all the other raving reviews.

I'm wishing I hadn't.

This is my first LCD. The monitor it replaced was a 19" Viewsonic CRT with .21 dot pitch.

Here are my gripes:

1. The monitor is very noticeably darker at the top third of the screen. The bottom of the screen is the brightest and it gradually gets darker towards the top. It isn't noticeable while playing games, but I spend a lot of time online or in other non-gaming programs and this issue was noticeable the first time I booted Windows.

2. There are two areas of the screen where text appears to be bolded, even though it's not. If you were to imagine dividing the screen into ten segments, with a horizontal line across the middle of the screen and then four vertical lines cutting the screen into five columns, and then numbering those ten segments as:

1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10

Then segments 2 and 4 display black text on a white field as if was in bold. It doesn't matter which angle I view the screen, or how I set the contrast or brightness. Those two areas play funny tricks with the text, and I hate it. I spend a lot of time online in various forums, and this is simply unacceptable.

3. On the subject of text, if I look at text closely for a few seconds I can see it shimmering. I don't know if this has something to do with the refresh rate or if there's a setting I need to turn on or off, but I can see random little shimmers in text. Again, very annoying and unacceptable.

4. This one could be my own error, but I just can't seem to get the color, contrast and brightness calibrated correctly using the software that came with he monitor. No matter how I adjust it, I just can't get the colors to match up with the way they're "supposed" to look on my trusty CRT.



You know, all of these reasons were exactly what kept my from buying an LCD for so long. I held off for a long time, did a lot of research, chose a respected company, and then put down what I felt was quite a bit of money (over $300 when there are other LCDs with similar specs for $150-$250). I felt that I was making an informed choice and buying a quality product.


So what do I need to do? I know there are plenty of people on this forum with this same monitor. How common are my problems? Are there any solutions other than RMA? I am still well within the RMA period, but if there is a solution to fix this issues that I don't know about, then I would love to try it. Perhaps my issues are due to my own ignorance about LCD products. If these issues cannot be fixed, then I'll RMA the monitor and return to my Viewsonic CRT.


RMA it thats about the best.... unfortunatly.

[coldmeat]

what do you need to do? return it and buy an HP W2207

[Wayward_Son]

Apparently, I'm the universe's biggest ignoramus.

When I installed the new monitor and the new video card, I only pushed the DVI/VGA adapter into the video card... I didn't actually screw it down. I figured just pushing it in would be good enough for a test run of the card and monitor. Evidently this allowed just enough of a bad contact on one more of the pins that it caused one of my biggest issues. I found this out after I came home today with a new DVI-D cable to replace the VGA cable that came with the monitor. I don't like using adapters anyway for the same reason that some folks don't trust modular PSUs. So I go to hook up my new cable and I find that I didn't tighten down the screws on the GPU side. :rolleyes:

So now all my text looks great. No more bold face, no more fuzziness. The only issue I have now is the brightness issue which I suppose I can learn to live with, and the fact that I can't seem to get my colors to match up to my CRT (which I can probably do over time, but it's going to take a lot of trial and error if I don't shell out for more software/hardware for the calibration.

Anyway, now that my text issues are cleared up, it's like a totally different monitor. Pretty damn sweet, actually. The label on the back doesn't tell me which panel I got in the Samsung lottery, so obviously I didn't receive the prized S model. And I gotta tell you, my blacks aren't nearly as black as the S model that's on the shelf down at Circuit City. I wish I could just go trade them monitors. I don't even care that it's a display model! I'd still take it. Says "S" right on the label. They probably don't even know that they have a prized unit sitting on display. Or maybe they do.

[Thund3rball]

1. Hell if you think it's worth it... go down to CC and ask if you can have the display model. You might even get a discount?

2. You will never get that panel to match your CRT. In fact, it's really hard to get even two of the same CRTs or LCDs to display exactly the same. Never mind an LCD and a CRT.

Whatever happens hope you are happy :)

[Tweak486Dx2]

The whole S and A model thing is BS. There were some that were different brands that had a blue tint to them, other then that there all the same. This is from Samsung themselves, the guy on the phone laughed when I brought it up, he said he cant believe how bad the internet can hype something up. SO basically if it doesnt have a slight blue tint noticeable most on a white page then its a good one.


There actually a way to bring up the service menu on the monitor and you can see there all the same.


I came from a Sony F520 which was possibly the best CRT ever made and I can say I would never go back. This simply just blows it away, games are so much better now, I havent noticed any ghosting or blur which scared me away from LCD's for so long. Just perfection. I love my monitor.


About the brightness, I had to turn down the Gamma a little and tweak a few more settings to get it right but its perfect now. Kinda like the seat in your new car, at first it takes a while to get it right but then after a while its sooo perfect.

[Rattle]

what do you need to do? return it and buy an HP W2207

exactly I love mine and still havnt seen a monitor that touches it aside from the s-ips and s-pva's

but attaching the DVI completely always helps.

[Drop-Top]

The whole S and A model thing is BS. There were some that were different brands that had a blue tint to them, other then that there all the same. This is from Samsung themselves, the guy on the phone laughed when I brought it up, he said he cant believe how bad the internet can hype something up. SO basically if it doesnt have a slight blue tint noticeable most on a white page then its a good one.


There actually a way to bring up the service menu on the monitor and you can see there all the same.


I came from a Sony F520 which was possibly the best CRT ever made and I can say I would never go back. This simply just blows it away, games are so much better now, I havent noticed any ghosting or blur which scared me away from LCD's for so long. Just perfection. I love my monitor.


About the brightness, I had to turn down the Gamma a little and tweak a few more settings to get it right but its perfect now. Kinda like the seat in your new car, at first it takes a while to get it right but then after a while its sooo perfect.


The whole thing is not bs. My roomate bought one from BBY and got an S while I ordered one from ZipZoom and got an A. I spent most of last weekend trying to tweak the color according to numerous posts and guides. I definately improved the color a lot, but not enough to be happy. I ended up going to best buy myself and returning the other and I am so happy I did. It is a night and day difference.

[Sonny]

To get to the service menu:

Service Menu:
1. Set both contrast and brightness at zero
2. Press the Menu button
3. Press and hold the Source button for 5 seconds

To say everything is the same with regards to the panel manufacturer noted in the service menu is incorrect.

http://www.behardware.com/medias/photos_news/00/19/IMG0019702.jpg

http://www.behardware.com/medias/photos_news/00/19/IMG0019703.jpg

LTM220M1 = Samsung
AU M220EW01 = AU Optronics
M220Z1 = CMO
LM220WE1 = LG-Philips
Samsung 226BW A series

1.0 The A has a noticeable dominance in blue. This isn’t great for a screen that is supposed to have particularly good color fidelity.

2.0 They have a backlighting problem, which is evident on black images. For lighter ones, there is a white bright halo on the lower half of the screen.

3.0 The AU Optronics M220EW01 reference corresponds to a panel with a 5 ms response time.


Read the article at BeHardware (http://www.behardware.com/articles/667-1/samsung-226bw-a-and-s-series-the-verdict.html)

[Ross]

Do the 226CWs have the same issues between panel manufacturers and WTF is the difference between the BW and CW? Besides price, I can't find anything noticeably different in the specs :confused:

[Drop-Top]

Do the 226CWs have the same issues between panel manufacturers and WTF is the difference between the BW and CW? Besides price, I can't find anything noticeably different in the specs :confused:

There isn't anything real different except you are guaranteed to get an "S" so to speak. There is some sort of color gimmick that was on the box, but I can't remember what it is called.

[Ross]

Thanks for the info!

[Sonny]

Do the 226CWs have the same issues between panel manufacturers and WTF is the difference between the BW and CW? Besides price, I can't find anything noticeably different in the specs :confused:

The difference is that the CW model is Wide Gamut & RTC.