Just bought a Samsung 226BW and am very unimpressed

[jonks]

You say that the Internet cafe one you sampled had better viewing angles. I'm not sure you were on the same monitor b/c all the TN's have crap viewing angles. That said I love my 226.

 

[Miklebud]

Originally posted by: clandren

this is why i will never buy an lcd with a TN panel

I <3 my TN panel.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: Miklebud

Originally posted by: clandren

this is why i will never buy an lcd with a TN panel

I <3 my TN panel.

I <3 my S-IPS, everytime I come near my old TN I cringe

 

[Makaveli]

Originally posted by: clandren

Originally posted by: Therk
Just yesterday I bought myself a Samsung 226bw thinking the lottery fiasco was over and that they were quality panels now... boy was I wrong.

First, and major problem, is WHITE, WHITE dominates EVERYTHING, de_dust2 on cs looks like its frikken snowing - it gives me a headache, and this is on 25 brightness which is ridiculous. Everything is washed out except darker colours. Putting down the brightness fixes the problem partially but absolutely kills the rest of the colours displayed by the monitor.

The next problem is something I haven't encountered before, when moving windows on the desktop or when say, turning in fps games I keep on getting a 'blocky effect'. I.e. I start seeing squares forming as if the monitor is not catching up evenly or something, it is difficult to describe but kills the eyes. Vsync PARTIALLY fixes it in games but is still present in windows. When turning the textures also start flashing which didn't happen with my 19" AOC CRT.

Overall I'm extremely unimpressed by this monitor and Samsung in general. I have played on this monitor in an internet cafe before and it was leaps and bounds better in every aspect (and its what made me buy it) Colours were fantastic, it seemed to have better viewing angles and there was no blocky effect anywhere to be seen. I'm wondering if I should RMA this monitor or is this normal and Samsung has really gone down hill?

this is why i will never buy an lcd with a TN panel

How is this helpful to the OP?

What relevance does your dislike to TN Panels have to do with his issue?? I think everyone here is pointing to a faulty monitor.

Sometimes your personal opinion is not needed when someone is asking for help!

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: BassBomb

Originally posted by: Miklebud

Originally posted by: clandren

this is why i will never buy an lcd with a TN panel

I <3 my TN panel.

I <3 my S-IPS, everytime I come near my old TN I cringe

Do bear in mind TN panels have improved over the years, true S-IPS are still superior in colour and viewing angles etc..however P-MVA panels etc tend to be good all rounders and have better blacks then S-IPS so you can argue its down to what you want in a monitor.

Last point a good colour calibration device can also help with fine tuning the colours etc..ie ColorVision Spyder2Express(which is not expensive).

 

[gpse]

disable "RTA" in the menu.
Make sure your running at the Native res. (1680x1050) 32 bit colour, 60Hz Refresh Rate.

 

[CP5670]

Originally posted by: Mem

Do bear in mind TN panels have improved over the years, true S-IPS are still superior in colour and viewing angles etc..however P-MVA panels etc tend to be good all rounders and have better blacks then S-IPS so you can argue its down to what you want in a monitor.

Last point a good colour calibration device can also help with fine tuning the colours etc..ie ColorVision Spyder2Express(which is not expensive).

Yes, IPS panels are the best overall but I don't think they are the clear cut superior option that they're sometimes made out to be. VAs have better blacks and less screen door from what I have seen, although that is offset by their relatively poor response times and the subtle color distortions at small viewing angle changes.

 

[rgallant]

Originally posted by: Therk
Just yesterday I bought myself a Samsung 226bw thinking the lottery fiasco was over and that they were quality panels now... boy was I wrong.

First, and major problem, is WHITE, WHITE dominates EVERYTHING, de_dust2 on cs looks like its frikken snowing - it gives me a headache, and this is on 25 brightness which is ridiculous. Everything is washed out except darker colours. Putting down the brightness fixes the problem partially but absolutely kills the rest of the colours displayed by the monitor.

The next problem is something I haven't encountered before, when moving windows on the desktop or when say, turning in fps games I keep on getting a 'blocky effect'. I.e. I start seeing squares forming as if the monitor is not catching up evenly or something, it is difficult to describe but kills the eyes. Vsync PARTIALLY fixes it in games but is still present in windows. When turning the textures also start flashing which didn't happen with my 19" AOC CRT.

Overall I'm extremely unimpressed by this monitor and Samsung in general. I have played on this monitor in an internet cafe before and it was leaps and bounds better in every aspect (and its what made me buy it) Colours were fantastic, it seemed to have better viewing angles and there was no blocky effect anywhere to be seen. I'm wondering if I should RMA this monitor or is this normal and Samsung has really gone down hill?

-if you have a NVIDIA card
-if you installed any software that came with your 226bw remove it, remove video card drivers use drivercleaner to remove all nividia ntunes\files,folders,reboot,, reinstall 226bw drivers reboot,install video drivers 169.21 lets say,reboot,,and only use only the NVIDIA control panel to adjust colours ,run display wizard and adjust Digital Vbrance and what ever, also current DX9,Also in windows video properties.colour management, the sm226 profile is there but I used the sRGB space Profile, I think\hope it's the Nvidia profile.
as default ,unsure whats better but thats what I have now,but at first I had about 6 profiles in there before I deleted most of them.
Now when I first hooked up my 226bw it looked good, but in the quest for the best, loaded all the software ,then other set up software, everytime it I tried to adjust it just got real bad like you noted,and wanted to return it, so I did the above and ended up with a great looking monitor.
it could be you have old & new profiles conflicting,
so IF I had only installed the 226bw drivers and set it up with the Nvidia control I might have saved myself alot of bs.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Originally posted by: DSF
I don't know how things work in New Zealand, but if I purchased an obviously defective monitor (which yours seems to be, pending testing it on another system) and the store refused to honor a return, I wouldn't shop there anymore.

In New Zealand, if a product is faulty they have to legally replace it or refund They cannot refuse, it's actually a law under the Consumers Guarantees Act.

 

[Therk]

Originally posted by: sirjonk
You say that the Internet cafe one you sampled had better viewing angles. I'm not sure you were on the same monitor b/c all the TN's have crap viewing angles. That said I love my 226.

It was definately a 226bw, it was the main reason I went to the cafe. It did seem to have better viewing angles as none of the screen brightened/darkened while looking at it straight on while on this one the bottom is a bit brighter and the top is a bit darker when looking at it straight on.

I just compared my Samsung to our laptop (most budget laptop you can get new atm, I think its the Compaq Presario C710). The laptop does have worse viewing angles typical of laptop screens but the colours are a lot more vibrant and overall the screen feels better. I will call up c1shoppingmall (people I bought it from) and see what I can do. TBH I have had enough with Samsung with all this panel lottery crap - I think I will get a refund and buy a viewsonic.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I bought the same panel from that exact same store.

You do realise that the panel lottery doesn't really matter after calibration of your monitor like my "C" panel, which looks exactly like a "S" panel and "A" panel after calibration.

 

[toadeater]

Originally posted by: Therk
Samsung has really gone down hill?

Ever since they started playing the panel lottery, yes. You never know what you'll get with Samsung anymore, especially on their low-end LCDs. Their S-PVA panels are still good, but good luck finding one for a reasonable price.

 

[Arkainium]

If you're coming from a CRT your gamma might be set too high. I lower the gamma on my desktop to 0.9, and games even lower than that. It fixed the problem of colors appearing washed out for me. Also, when the gamma is lower, you won't have to turn the brightness down so much.

Not sure about your other problem but I do see tearing in games unless I have vsync on.

 

[mruffin75]

Originally posted by: Therk

Originally posted by: sirjonk
You say that the Internet cafe one you sampled had better viewing angles. I'm not sure you were on the same monitor b/c all the TN's have crap viewing angles. That said I love my 226.

It was definately a 226bw, it was the main reason I went to the cafe. It did seem to have better viewing angles as none of the screen brightened/darkened while looking at it straight on while on this one the bottom is a bit brighter and the top is a bit darker when looking at it straight on.

I just compared my Samsung to our laptop (most budget laptop you can get new atm, I think its the Compaq Presario C710). The laptop does have worse viewing angles typical of laptop screens but the colours are a lot more vibrant and overall the screen feels better. I will call up c1shoppingmall (people I bought it from) and see what I can do. TBH I have had enough with Samsung with all this panel lottery crap - I think I will get a refund and buy a viewsonic.

Before you write off Samsung, make sure you can handle Viewsonic's dead pixel policies...

From their Australian website it says they'll accept quite a few dead pixels as "acceptable", whereas Samsung have a zero-dead-pixel policy. Not sure if it's the same in NZ..

 

[Therk]

I've just started getting another issue which I'm sure is either the monitor or video card. I get a flashing yellow/orange line on one of the sides of the monitor when using the maximum resolution. Tried 2 games so far and it happens in both - its driving me nuts.

 

[mruffin75]

Sounds like you've got a bad monitor..

If you can send it back, do so and get a replacement... if not... try your PC with another monitor if you can, and if the problem doesn't occur, call Samsung and get a warranty job done on it..

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Originally posted by: toadeater

Originally posted by: Therk
Samsung has really gone down hill?

Ever since they started playing the panel lottery, yes. You never know what you'll get with Samsung anymore, especially on their low-end LCDs. Their S-PVA panels are still good, but good luck finding one for a reasonable price.

And alot of their S-PVAs have about the worst input lag available, which is especially wierd considering they make the actual panels and pioneered the overdrive, but other manufacturers that use them (NEC, ViewSonic, etc.) don't have the same problem...I just don't get it. If its your proprietary technology, shouldn't you be able to use it?

I will say something for Samsung LCDs though...they're about the only models that actually look like they're worth what you paid for them, even when turned off. They're black and silver and sleek and sexy and just look cool. Most other brands look like a 5-year old designed the base and bezel. Maybe its just me, but when I blow $700 on a monitor, I'd appreciate it if they could spare me a freakin' logo or spill a drop of paint on the buttons so I can see what I'm fiddling with...