Samsung 226BW 22": 3000:1 Contrast, 2ms response time

hello everyone.

I bought a few days ago the new Samsung SyncMaster 226CW [July 07]. I have to say it is a great monitor but I'm a little disappointed but the colour accurancy, the image clarity...(this is my first LCD so maybe that's normal...). One other thing I have noticed is the same thing thas is mentioned here at post 172.

Does anyone have an icc profile and some brightness,contrast settings to suggest for the 226CW as the out-of-the-box settings and the icc profile that is provided with the cd are not satisfactory?

In addition to the above I have found this. How can these results be true since 226CW is supposed to be superior compared to 226BW S-panel?:eek:

Thank you very much
 
daveben said:
In addition to the above I have found this. How can these results be true since 226CW is supposed to be superior compared to 226BW S-panel?:eek:

Thank you very much
Click to expand...

I'm not sure all the results on that are accurate because I have the 206BW and they show it as having zero input lag when compared to a crt which I thought was impossible.
 
Hey guys, I've lurked on this on and off on this forum for a while so maybe I should've known better than trying one of these but the price was too tempting. Here's how I described my C-panel experience on Amazon.co.uk - hopefully can serve as some kinda pointer for those considering this display. Its a little over the top in this context, but on Amazon almost every other review for this was 5 stars :confused:

I'm not normally motivated to write reviews, but there are plenty of positive reviews here which I find surprising so here's my experience with this wretched waste of plastic:

First up, you're not guaranteed a Samsung panel with correct colours. The one I got is BLUE, and VERY BRIGHT out of the box. I reckon its a 'C Panel' but frankly I don't care too much - its in a Samsung monitor and should never have passed their QA. Checking online confirms this is a common problem, and a variety of colour profiles are available which help fix your desktop settings (never had to do this with any other screen before). Of course, this won't fix your movie or in-game settings so you'll need to spend ages fine tuning this monitor.. and you'll never get it displaying correctly. Fix the gamma and you introduce nasty banding. Get rid of the blue shift and you introduce a pink to mid-greys. Any product which requires hours of calibration just to get to a medeiocre level of performance should be seen for what it is: unacceptable.

Another thing is the lack of vertical viewing angle. This is a common problem with the TN technology used in cheap displays. Dazworld below says he has to lever books behind the back of the screen so that he can view it from below ... this is just the tip of the iceberg. The viewing angle on this display is so bad, that even looking directly at it, the top of the screen is dark and the bottom is washed out. If I lift my head a couple of inches then the whole screen brightens up dramatically.. and heaven forbid I slouch in my chair or its a case of 'who turned out all the lights'. It even affects text, which appears grey and indistinct at the base of the screen, and dark and oversaturated at the top.

Speaking of text, I have had played around with cleartype on this display for a while now and can't get it right. Browsing the web or using office documents is much more tiring than it should be. Still I could be reeling off defects all day, the fact the screen wobbles at the slightest touch of the power button, the crazy dithering (noise) you get while watching movies, the fact that its advertised at 3000:1 contrast ratio when in fact its more like 700:1...

Thankfully I'm still in my 30 day period and this junk will be released back to Amazon shortly. If you've never used another LCD you will no doubt get some enjoyment, but I'm never touching another TN type display with a bargepole.
Click to expand...
 
What is going on with Samsung. First it was the panel faking. Now they release a new 226CW version an improved 226BW with Color Innovation – Wide Color Gamut and MagicColor something the BW doesn't have. They say the rest is the same and CW is all Samsung panels.
So they say 2ms delay, but DIGITAL VERSUS test it goes all the way to 47ms delay. Now if you wan't to play online FPS games that delay is a huge drawback, you will not hit anyone.

Please tell me how Samsung can say 2ms but this test it goes to 47ms. That's a big difference.
 
nicoliani: You're getting refresh rate and delay mixed up. The refresh rate is 2ms. The delay is higher than that on all lcds. All.

What the 2ms affects is not how long the image is delayed before it comes onscreen, but how quickly the pixels take to change from one state to another. This affects motion blur (see early lcds for huge mouse blur/afterimages). This monitor has very, very little afteraffect from moving images.

47ms isn't...that good. But it's not horrific. It's not a huge handicap.


So back onto the main topic, is there any way to tell which screen is in a given monitor now that they've removed the [R] letter (S/A/C)?
 
I have the 226CW, and as a (oldschool) competitive FPS gamer, I can say that the 226CW doesn't have any input delay as long as vsync is off. I don't know how Digital Versus came to their conclusion, but mine is completely the opposite.
 
Neuffy said:
nicoliani: You're getting refresh rate and delay mixed up. The refresh rate is 2ms. The delay is higher than that on all lcds. All.

What the 2ms affects is not how long the image is delayed before it comes onscreen, but how quickly the pixels take to change from one state to another. This affects motion blur (see early lcds for huge mouse blur/afterimages). This monitor has very, very little afteraffect from moving images.

47ms isn't...that good. But it's not horrific. It's not a huge handicap.


So back onto the main topic, is there any way to tell which screen is in a given monitor now that they've removed the [R] letter (S/A/C)?
Click to expand...

Yes, there is. There is a guide somewhere maybe on this thread I don't remember but you can onmount your LCD and inside there is a sticker with a label telling if it is the S version or not.
 
Neuffy said:
nicoliani: You're getting refresh rate and delay mixed up. The refresh rate is 2ms. The delay is higher than that on all lcds. All.

What the 2ms affects is not how long the image is delayed before it comes onscreen, but how quickly the pixels take to change from one state to another. This affects motion blur (see early lcds for huge mouse blur/afterimages). This monitor has very, very little afteraffect from moving images.

47ms isn't...that good. But it's not horrific. It's not a huge handicap.


So back onto the main topic, is there any way to tell which screen is in a given monitor now that they've removed the [R] letter (S/A/C)?
Click to expand...

Ok, I think I get it. So both screens have 2ms refresh rate. But the input lag is far higher on the CW than BW. So 47ms is what the delay is before it is shown on the screen?
 
nicoliani said:
Ok, I think I get it. So both screens have 2ms refresh rate. But the input lag is far higher on the CW than BW. So 47ms is what the delay is before it is shown on the screen?
Click to expand...
keep in mind the results of the test could be screwed up as well. really you need to look at more than one source for these kind of reviews. they may have even just got a bad one.
 
I have been testing a 226BW for a few days. I see no problem with the picture. I dont like the stand much though. I bought the HP 22" wide today to try out for a few days. The Samsung was nice, but it didnt blow me away. If I like the HP better I'll be Craiglisting my 226BW locally.
 
Humm I've been reading this post, well the last 10 pages or so haha.

Good info here, guys!

I just picked up my 226bw at my local futureshop, and so far it looks really good. But of course im coming from a relatively shitty 19" screen so at this point anything looks awesome.

I dont think i will return this monitor at all unless i find some dead pixels or something. But I am just very curious as to what my panel is?

It doesnt have a panel number, it just has a version

Version:M-ME22H0CAA-1002

The only thread i can find with that serial number on it (chinese, how lucky i am that i can read chinese ha) says that its definately a panel made by Samsung. But panel info is elusive. Anyone have any insight?
 
dextr3k said:
Humm I've been reading this post, well the last 10 pages or so haha.

Good info here, guys!

I just picked up my 226bw at my local futureshop, and so far it looks really good. But of course im coming from a relatively shitty 19" screen so at this point anything looks awesome.

I dont think i will return this monitor at all unless i find some dead pixels or something. But I am just very curious as to what my panel is?

It doesnt have a panel number, it just has a version

Version:M-ME22H0CAA-1002

The only thread i can find with that serial number on it (chinese, how lucky i am that i can read chinese ha) says that its definately a panel made by Samsung. But panel info is elusive. Anyone have any insight?
Click to expand...

it's easy to take the back casing off and look to find the real panel info. just undo all the screws you can see and pop it off then look under the metal plate you see for the panel manufacturer sticker.
 
What's the difference from a BTN III to a TN panel? Is just the contrast ratio and brightness as shown on the table from the address posted above?
 
If anyone cares or remembers I posted a bit ago about how to mount my Ergotron Neo-Flex stand on my 226BW. Turns out it was defective and didn't have the screw holes. I got them to send me a new one after having a bit of a run around from Samsung. Lesson learned, if the person "helping" you can't do some rather easy things, hang up, call back, and get someone else. They sent me a refurbished replacement that happened to be marked an "S". It looked the same as my old "S", except for one dead pixel. Just an FYI for the boards.
 
dextr3k said:
The only thread i can find with that serial number on it (chinese, how lucky i am that i can read chinese ha) says that its definately a panel made by Samsung. But panel info is elusive. Anyone have any insight?
Click to expand...

This is from a ClubIT review

I called Samsung today and was told by a technical service representative that there is NO difference between the three "versions" of the 226BW monitor. The letters refer to the specific SAMSUNG manufacturing plant at which the panel was produced. S stands for South Korea, A for Mexico and C for (you guessed it!) China. All are manufactured to the exact same specifications and are subject to the same quality controls.
.
If you compare two monitors with the same location code -- S, A or C -- you are likely to find minor differences between them, as a matter of course.
.
 
nailzer said:
This is from a ClubIT review

I called Samsung today and was told by a technical service representative that there is NO difference between the three "versions" of the 226BW monitor. The letters refer to the specific SAMSUNG manufacturing plant at which the panel was produced. S stands for South Korea, A for Mexico and C for (you guessed it!) China. All are manufactured to the exact same specifications and are subject to the same quality controls.
.
If you compare two monitors with the same location code -- S, A or C -- you are likely to find minor differences between them, as a matter of course.
.
Click to expand...
well that rep was obviously BSn because it's been proved otherwise countless times for months now.
 
I sent my 226bw back was made in slovakia but my problem with this screen is the cheap
non adjustable stand it can only be tilted backwards erm whats the point in that i need to tilt it forward to make movie viewing bearable from below in my bed.It had a stuck green pixel slap bang center of screen as well massage wouldn't budge it.It's a problem with all these 22" panels they cannot be tilted forward and all sit at a slight lean back it's a huge design flaw.
Much better to get a 223bw same size as the 226bw btw and buy a decent monitor arm these stands and no tilt forward is poor.
 
j0j081 said:
well that rep was obviously BSin you because it's been proved otherwise countless times for months now.
Click to expand...

This might make it a bit harder to tell where they come from. From a Newegg review 2 days ago.

"What with all the controversy over C, A, and S panels, I went through the menu steps to check what panel I had. Apparently they have removed this feature, and the label on the back of the monitor did not include a C/A/S indicator. The box did mention that it was made in Mexico, however, so we may be looking at a new panel. I've not done any of the fancy tests on it, but out of the box it didn't look overly blue, and the colors looked good to my untrained eye."
 
nailzer said:
This might make it a bit harder to tell where they come from. From a Newegg review 2 days ago.

"What with all the controversy over C, A, and S panels, I went through the menu steps to check what panel I had. Apparently they have removed this feature, and the label on the back of the monitor did not include a C/A/S indicator. The box did mention that it was made in Mexico, however, so we may be looking at a new panel. I've not done any of the fancy tests on it, but out of the box it didn't look overly blue, and the colors looked good to my untrained eye."
Click to expand...
you can still find out if you take the back casing of the display off. there is sticker that reveals the true manufacturer of the panel. that is why what that phone rep said didn't make any sense because what the letters correspond to has already been revealed.
 
I bought a 226bw and it didn't have a s, a, or c either, not even service menu. I knre it was a c panel anyway from the fact that all greys looked blue. Easy enough for somebody with an intermediate knowledge on pc's to calibrate. What about the other 95% of pc users buying non calibrated monitors, a trusted brand name selling uncalibrated monitors out of the box. FOR SHAME SAMSUNG.
 
I bought a 206BW a couple of days ago and it came with a W panel, made by Chunghwa Picture Tubes. I can't say I'm not happy with it, but there is something that is kinda bugging me. Is it normal to have a small amount of twinkling pixels when the RTA is active even if the image shown is a static image? I've always read about the twinkling effect when watching movies, but never heard of it on static images! I can only see a small amount of twinkling pixels when I get close to the screen, like 20cm to 15cm or less. If I'm about 40cm or more away from the screen, it starts to get harder to notice it. When I deactivate the RTA the twinkling pixels go away. I don't really need 2ms, I can live with 5ms, but everytime my monitor goes on standby or I turn it off and turn it back on again, the RTA function is enabled. Is there a way I can deactivate and let it this way until I decide I want it on? The interesting thing is I rarely see twinkling pixels whilst watching movies, I don't understand...

Thanks for any info!
 
RAU I can't help you much but when I had an A version of the 226BW I had the twinkling in dark areas of pictures (like the background of [H]). When I got my S version it went away, however I'm not sure if there are different 206BW panels and if any of them don't have that effect. I can't help you on the permanently turning off RTA, however I do remember other people asking about this and no one having an answer. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
 
I just picked one of these up a couple weeks ago, and as far as I can tell it came fully calibrated already. I saw the red/blue bias people have been talking about only with the magic color crap on, but with default settings the colors look fine to me. perfect actually, but I'm no expert. after adjusting brightness and contrast way, way down, whites are white and blacks are black, no twinkling or ghosting or anything on any media that has proper bit depth and encoding. the backlight is bright as hell, alot of bleeding on the edges when I first hooked it up but most of that has faded now, almost none noticable at all. I'm driving it with an 8800gts through dvi on a dual monitor setup right next to an analog viewsonic 19" crt, so I've had something easy to compare with. I'm actually surprised at how true the colors are, after all the bitching and whining about outsourced builds and such. I'm not anal about those things so I figured at this price it was still worth it for the performance so I guess I lucked out.

the only thing I hate about it is the pos stand, wow does it suck. the really annoying thing is that the mechanism is actually built for tilting, but the parts they used for this model are configured to lock at about 2 deg of movement. so it stops perpendicular to your surface, wtf is the point of that, marketing I guess. people who have it will know what I mean if you crack open the stand. so the tilt is adjusted to only work for desk placement below eye level, because of shitty tn viewing angles it's unviewable anywhere above that. luckily for anyone like me who has to put it on a monitor platform or shelf of some sort that is right at eye level, the base is wide and stable enough so that you can prop it up with something to add a few degrees of viewing.

totally worth it for the price though, picture and response have been crispy so far tested on a whole bunch of games of all types, I see no drawbacks to crt. besides flexible resolution of course, but widescreen more than makes up for that and this res is perfect for gts320 and a 22" area. since it adjusted well I never bothered to crack open the panel, but this model looks to me like one of the newer builds with no stickers on the body, I did the info mode combo and the make was also unlisted.
 
Well I just read roughly 30+/- pages and I gotta say I'm still confused. Newegg has a great deal on both the 22" and 20" this month. I'm interested in the 20" but since so many people bash it, why havent they listen alternatives?

Out of the pages I've read all people are saying is "even my crappy random lcd monitor displays better" So for this price point what else can you get with this refresh rate and brightness/contrast?

LG?
 
I forgot to mention, lerking the past few days I've been reading on some other forums, Samsung has caught wind of people discovering their lottery tactics and have been putting out S' only on the BW line. I'm pissed best buy has exclusive rights to the CW line and there is no 20" model.

They claim people have purchased from newegg and as long as the manufacturers date is July '07 and beyond, it should be a S model.

Thinking about taking the plunge just because NE support is so good they will take it back.
 
Typical Gamer said:
I forgot to mention, lerking the past few days I've been reading on some other forums, Samsung has caught wind of people discovering their lottery tactics and have been putting out S' only on the BW line. I'm pissed best buy has exclusive rights to the CW line and there is no 20" model.

They claim people have purchased from newegg and as long as the manufacturers date is July '07 and beyond, it should be a S model.

Thinking about taking the plunge just because NE support is so good they will take it back.
Click to expand...

I have the 206bw and love it. Only reason you don't hear much about it is because 22 is the most pop size now and some people have trouble reading the smaller but sharper text on the 20s. I personally set the font dpi to 104 and it looks great in Vista. The sharper image quality of the 20 inch actually is worth it to me over the larger screen of the 22 inch when gaming I have tried both.
 
j0j081 said:
well that rep was obviously BSn because it's been proved otherwise countless times for months now.
Click to expand...

The real bullshitters are the ones that have been telling us that S=Samsung etc., it doesn't mean that at all and is the country designation. I just read that in a review of this LCD just two days ago.
 
Got mine from the Egg the other day. I bought one before this to try it out to see how I liked it, color was helpless and tuning was hard. I got it to look good but once I received the one from Egg it was a noticable difference. All I had to do was turn down the brightness and I was done. On the store bought, I had to Magictune the vibrance/color/brightness/etc. and everything to get it to look like the Egg monitor.

I did notice light bleed on the sides but no other hot spots, very symetrical, this was ONLY while the monitor had no input. I could not notice it in any of the darkest games I own (Doom 3, Bioshock) Also, on loading screens that are black I could not see any hot spots of whitening either, solid black throughout the screen.

Needless to say I returned the other monitor and kept the one from Egg. Not sure what panel this is and quiet frankly dont care. This has all the attributes of the S panels so I assume I got lucky. Manf. in Aug '07
 
Got my new 226BW from Amazon few days ago and I'm very happy with it. None problems I have read about on the Newegg reviews and other places. Going into the "special" menu to check the version came up with "M-ME22H0CLA-1002".
I set my brightness on 75 and contrast at 50 and it looked great playing GRAW2 and playing a few different DVD movies.

For the money and Samsung warranty I feel you can't do too bad with this unit. :)

BTW... here's how you get to the special menu.
- Set contrast and brightness to 0
- Press the « Menu » button
- Press the « Source » button for 5 seconds (the second one on the right)
A hidden ''Service Function'' menu will appear including Panel Info on the bottom which clearly indicates the panel’s origin and reference.
 
spincut said:
and then TN is low ranged below that then?
Click to expand...

It depends on the user.. If ur gonna sit in front of the Monitor then TN is better.. If ur gonna sit more then 160* to the side of youre monitor then SPVA might be better... lmao

I own a 245bw and it is awesome it has much better color then the LG that was next to it and wayy better color then the viewsonic
 
Tontoman said:
Just picked up a 225BW, backlight bleed wasn't a problem (was there, but not enough to bother me) and zero dead pixels.

Picked one up in the newer white boxes. Guy at the store said the old ones were in brown so hoped that new might be better (bugs worked out).

Is there no down side to the 2ms time. Worse colours and/or more errors introduced?
Mine rated at 5ms is perfect for games (and I do FPSers), if there are any issues with the 2ms I'd say not worth it.

Stand on the 225bw rocks also. I can nicely tuck my 5.1 center underneath because of it.

T.
Click to expand...


I agree I love this thing.. I just got mine 2 day's ago.. I was looking at the LG right next to it and the color was just not as good as the samsung 245bw. I do not know anyone that has had prob's with this monitor. All the review's I have seen are good to. I just don't get the diff between the 245b and the 245bw I know my BW has a nice stand and cab and the 245b is just a matt black cab. but is there anything other then that beside's the first few that had come out had some viewing angle prob's? but the ones that did it was nothing major.. most ppl could not even notice them just ppl that sit there and look for it..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top