Another quirk - I tried the MagicTune utility. Regarding the monitor
calibration and the adjustable gamma swatches - moving your head just
an inch or two in either direction (up or down) throws the whole adjustment out.
Unfortunately, the computer nook I'm using is a little too high. I'm not in
the recommended position (according to the manual). That is eye
level at, or slightly above, the top of the monitor. Mine is 3 or 4 inches
below. Seems to be causing a world of problems.
Dave
I recently recieved a Samsung SyncMaster 225BW LCD for Xmas... and had a hell of a time getting the color and brightness to an acceptable level. I laughed when I saw the post above mentioning sunburn; I was wondering the same thing.
Once adjusted, it seems to be fine... with the exception of the bleed. I game a lot, and frequently have dark images on the screen... the bleed is going to make me nuts.
Do you think Samsung will consider an exchange for one without a bleed issue?
Now that I've had the 225BW for a while here I am again. I'm really trying to just get used to the backlight bleed but it's tough. It's also getting worse, it had 0 bleed on the edges when I first got it but now it's starting to look more like the photo in the review here on shortmedia. It doesn't actually bother me too much during movies but during dark games it's pretty terrible. I emailed Samsung asking about an exchange for one with 0 bleed or at least very minimal bleed but have yet to recieve a response. I'll post again when they do respond with what they say.
I saw in a customer review on Newegg that some people were saying that the refresh rate is only 60hz! Then I read somewhere else that 60hz on a DVI-D cable is much different then 60hz on a VGA cable, truth? But why don't they have more options? Other 22" have faster refresh rates with either cables, this is the only thing stopping me from buying one. Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks for the reply Thrax, unfortunately it makes little to no sense. Maybe you can elaborate a bit more on what you mean. Because people complain about not having the option to higher the refresh rate (on LCDs, check reviews at Newegg on 225BW) and considering I change mine on my LCD you’ve lost me. I have personally never noticed a difference, yet at the same time I have never kept mine on 60hz only 75hz, so I never could have accurately judge.
Now that I've had the 225BW for a while here I am again. I'm really trying to just get used to the backlight bleed but it's tough. It's also getting worse, it had 0 bleed on the edges when I first got it but now it's starting to look more like the photo in the review here on shortmedia. It doesn't actually bother me too much during movies but during dark games it's pretty terrible. I emailed Samsung asking about an exchange for one with 0 bleed or at least very minimal bleed but have yet to recieve a response. I'll post again when they do respond with what they say.
- Otis
Hi Otis, please update us on when the monitor manufacture date.
Thanks for the reply Thrax, unfortunately it makes little to no sense. Maybe you can elaborate a bit more on what you mean. Because people complain about not having the option to higher the refresh rate (on LCDs, check reviews at Newegg on 225BW) and considering I change mine on my LCD you’ve lost me. I have personally never noticed a difference, yet at the same time I have never kept mine on 60hz only 75hz, so I never could have accurately judge.
A refresh rate is for CRTs and CRTs only. The refresh rate is how quickly the screen can be coated with electrons (Refreshed) via a CRT's electron gun to provide new frames per second in whatever you're doing. CRTs literally spray electrically-charged particles at the backside of a glass pane.
LCDs, on the other hand, are effectively a liquid crystal sheet wedged against a metallic pane, both of which are sandwiched between pieces of "Glass." LCDs update their image for movement by running electricity through this metallic plate, which activates the liquid crystal element. The response time rating of LCDs, measured in milliseconds, is how quickly the entire liquid crystal sheet can be updated for a new image.
So, as you can see, LCDs have no refresh rate, because they don't use electrons to make the image.
Excellent response. Thanks much. So it seems the people listing 'only 60hz' as a con at Newegg are just paranoid. I honestly never saw a difference in 60hz to 75hz but being unaware of these things I thought 'bigger was better'. Side from the bleed issue, which seems to be fixed in more recent manufactured models, it seems to be a solid display. One more question if you don't mind, what is the difference between say 6ms (GTG) and flat 6ms?
A "Traditional" response time is how quickly a pixel can go from pure white, to black, and back to white. White to black is the "Rising response time," and black back to white is the "Falling response time." Traditionally, the average of the two is the rating we see. Every pixel in the display shares this average response time.
GTG response time represents the average value taken from several measurements of one grey shade to another. Only the time from starting grey to end grey is being measured but <i>not</i> how long it takes to go back to the original grey value. Thusly, only the "Rising response time" is calculated, and it's not truly the rising response. Unfortunately, every manufacturer has a different way to measure the GTG time, which can lead to poor advertisement, but more often than not, outlandish claims are avoided because they'd get torn apart by the internet. GTG response times, despite all the inaccuracy, are pretty decent measurements, if only because full light -> dark -> light is a <i>very</i> unrealistic scenario for day-to-day LCD work.
Most LCD's nowadays have a response time of 8ms. A few manufacturers have monitors that do 2ms (Viewsonic's VX922 19" LCD for example), as well as 4 and 6ms.
There are a few monitors on NewEgg that also do response times of 12ms or higher. Do not get these monitors as these are older technology (I think, not sure). But it seems these few slower monitors are 17" or smaller.
Hi Otis, please update us on when the monitor manufacture date.
the date the monitor was made? I have no idea where to look to find that information. It's not anywhere on the box that I can see, I'll have to look for the book that came with it.
changing the refresh rate on LCDs does nothing. There is no "refresh" on an LCD. The image is solid. There is a light bulb behind the screen and the screen is static until it is told to change.
With CRTs, there is a refresh because the electron gun "moves" - it draws the screen from bottom to top according to the refresh rate - 60 times per second if the setting is 60hz.
If you "see a difference" when you change the refresh rate on your LCD, it's all in your head. They don't refresh.
the date the monitor was made? I have no idea where to look to find that information. It's not anywhere on the box that I can see, I'll have to look for the book that came with it.
Look at the back of the monitor. There is a sticker on the back that will tell you the serial number, date of manufacture, revision number and a few other things.
Look at the back of the monitor. There is a sticker on the back that will tell you the serial number, date of manufacture, revision number and a few other things.
thank you, My 225BW was manufactured in November 2006, and the backlight bleed is really bad, it's only gotten worse since i got it.
I got a response from Samsung to my question about exchanging my monitor for a new one without backlight bleed and they told me I have to do it through the store I bought it from. I havn't had a chance to talk to futureshop yet but once they're 14 day return period is over i'm fairly certain they'll tell me they can't do anything and I have to go through the manufacturer. however; I havn't talked to them yet so anything could happen. I'll post again after i get further along in the process.
If LCD's dont have a refresh rate, why do you get tearing? I am an avid flight sim'er and beta tester for Eagle Dynamics (Lock On Modern Air Combat), and I get pretty noticable tearing.
Also, I love this panel, I come from a 21" trinitron that the contrast was going crap on, and it just had other issues including size.
I am not a master at the color setup, but one thing that helped a lot IMO, was in the nVidia control panel, I changes some gamma curve from 1.0 to 0.7.
It probably can be tuned a whole lot better. I havent even checked this backlight leakage, I will get my manufactured date and stuff up when I get home, at work ATM.
If LCD's dont have a refresh rate, why do you get tearing? I am an avid flight sim'er and beta tester for Eagle Dynamics (Lock On Modern Air Combat), and I get pretty noticable tearing.
Also, I love this panel, I come from a 21" trinitron that the contrast was going crap on, and it just had other issues including size.
I am not a master at the color setup, but one thing that helped a lot IMO, was in the nVidia control panel, I changes some gamma curve from 1.0 to 0.7.
It probably can be tuned a whole lot better. I havent even checked this backlight leakage, I will get my manufactured date and stuff up when I get home, at work ATM.
Vertical sync is to blame. If your FPS is faster than the response time of the monitor, frames will be dropped. Enable triple buffering vsync in your video card's properties, and in the game, and the tearing should go away.
Twenty two inches for only $399US ($499CDN) is a very competitive price.
I just grabbed 2 on NewEgg for $542.86 (US) shipped! There's even a $20 mail-in rebate on the one.
One was OEM Open Box, but sweet deal no less.
//edit: I was looking at two 20" Samsungs local retail for $280 each (~equivalent specs). That's $17 more, 4" less real-estate, and no height adjustment. NewEgg FTW.
Comments
calibration and the adjustable gamma swatches - moving your head just
an inch or two in either direction (up or down) throws the whole adjustment out.
Unfortunately, the computer nook I'm using is a little too high. I'm not in
the recommended position (according to the manual). That is eye
level at, or slightly above, the top of the monitor. Mine is 3 or 4 inches
below. Seems to be causing a world of problems.
Dave
I recently recieved a Samsung SyncMaster 225BW LCD for Xmas... and had a hell of a time getting the color and brightness to an acceptable level. I laughed when I saw the post above mentioning sunburn; I was wondering the same thing.
Once adjusted, it seems to be fine... with the exception of the bleed. I game a lot, and frequently have dark images on the screen... the bleed is going to make me nuts.
Do you think Samsung will consider an exchange for one without a bleed issue?
Regards,
Jay
- Otis
Hi Otis, please update us on when the monitor manufacture date.
A refresh rate is for CRTs and CRTs only. The refresh rate is how quickly the screen can be coated with electrons (Refreshed) via a CRT's electron gun to provide new frames per second in whatever you're doing. CRTs literally spray electrically-charged particles at the backside of a glass pane.
LCDs, on the other hand, are effectively a liquid crystal sheet wedged against a metallic pane, both of which are sandwiched between pieces of "Glass." LCDs update their image for movement by running electricity through this metallic plate, which activates the liquid crystal element. The response time rating of LCDs, measured in milliseconds, is how quickly the entire liquid crystal sheet can be updated for a new image.
So, as you can see, LCDs have no refresh rate, because they don't use electrons to make the image.
Excellent response. Thanks much. So it seems the people listing 'only 60hz' as a con at Newegg are just paranoid. I honestly never saw a difference in 60hz to 75hz but being unaware of these things I thought 'bigger was better'. Side from the bleed issue, which seems to be fixed in more recent manufactured models, it seems to be a solid display. One more question if you don't mind, what is the difference between say 6ms (GTG) and flat 6ms?
Can anyone recommend a high end DVI cable?
GTG response time represents the average value taken from several measurements of one grey shade to another. Only the time from starting grey to end grey is being measured but <i>not</i> how long it takes to go back to the original grey value. Thusly, only the "Rising response time" is calculated, and it's not truly the rising response. Unfortunately, every manufacturer has a different way to measure the GTG time, which can lead to poor advertisement, but more often than not, outlandish claims are avoided because they'd get torn apart by the internet. GTG response times, despite all the inaccuracy, are pretty decent measurements, if only because full light -> dark -> light is a <i>very</i> unrealistic scenario for day-to-day LCD work.
There are a few monitors on NewEgg that also do response times of 12ms or higher. Do not get these monitors as these are older technology (I think, not sure). But it seems these few slower monitors are 17" or smaller.
the date the monitor was made? I have no idea where to look to find that information. It's not anywhere on the box that I can see, I'll have to look for the book that came with it.
With CRTs, there is a refresh because the electron gun "moves" - it draws the screen from bottom to top according to the refresh rate - 60 times per second if the setting is 60hz.
If you "see a difference" when you change the refresh rate on your LCD, it's all in your head. They don't refresh.
Look at the back of the monitor. There is a sticker on the back that will tell you the serial number, date of manufacture, revision number and a few other things.
thank you, My 225BW was manufactured in November 2006, and the backlight bleed is really bad, it's only gotten worse since i got it.
I got a response from Samsung to my question about exchanging my monitor for a new one without backlight bleed and they told me I have to do it through the store I bought it from. I havn't had a chance to talk to futureshop yet but once they're 14 day return period is over i'm fairly certain they'll tell me they can't do anything and I have to go through the manufacturer. however; I havn't talked to them yet so anything could happen. I'll post again after i get further along in the process.
Also, I love this panel, I come from a 21" trinitron that the contrast was going crap on, and it just had other issues including size.
I am not a master at the color setup, but one thing that helped a lot IMO, was in the nVidia control panel, I changes some gamma curve from 1.0 to 0.7.
It probably can be tuned a whole lot better. I havent even checked this backlight leakage, I will get my manufactured date and stuff up when I get home, at work ATM.
Vertical sync is to blame. If your FPS is faster than the response time of the monitor, frames will be dropped. Enable triple buffering vsync in your video card's properties, and in the game, and the tearing should go away.
One was OEM Open Box, but sweet deal no less.
//edit: I was looking at two 20" Samsungs local retail for $280 each (~equivalent specs). That's $17 more, 4" less real-estate, and no height adjustment. NewEgg FTW.