Roundup: 22-Inch LCD Monitors : Samsung SyncMaster T220HD
11. Samsung SyncMaster T220HD
The T220 and the T220HD theyre not the same
Samsung seems a little careless in giving almost exactly the same name to two screens which are only differentiated by the extension HD. In truth, the only real similarity between these two models is their case. On the inside, things are very different. The T220 has a response time of just 2ms, while its cousin the T220HD is at 5 ms. The latter is much slower, and shows images with a noticeable delay. The HD model also uses more power and produces slightly different colors. On the other hand, the T220 does not benefit from the same connectivity as the T220HD, and is also lacking a digital HD tuner.
The T220HD is the 22'' version of the T240HD, and the two models share the same strong points. Both are computer monitors and television screens at the same time, with all of the video ports and image correction that you’d expect, along with a built-in HD digital tuner.
The T220HD can easily be connected to a computer, but also to a game console or DVD player. In terms of its electronics, an image correction chip (which noticeably reduces noise), is included, strongly differentiating Samsung’s range from its competitors.
As for this screen’s looks, there’s nothing new to add. It comes in the same glossy black plastic case with quality finishing. To cap it all, Samsung offer a zero dead pixel policy. After unpacking your screen, you have two weeks to spot a dead pixel or subpixel and inform Samsung, who will then replace it.
Handling
Even though it doesn’t have a height-adjustable stand or the ability to rotate to a different orientation, the Samsung T220HD gets a 4 star rating in this section thanks to its great connectivity. It offers two HDMI ports, one DVI, one VGA, a remote control, a digital tuner and a USB hub.
Digital Tuner: Standard or High Definition?
So, does the T220HD come with an SD or a HD tuner? Unfortunately, it’s impossible to get a straight answer. As incredible as it may seem, Samsung has said that some models will have an SD tuner, although in most others it should be HD.
If you try asking the European representatives, you’ll get the same answer as us: the T220HD has been delayed several times already to ensure that a digital HD tuner can be fitted. The American technical specification makes this clear, although the European version is more ambiguous.
Officially, the built-in digital tuner can receive HD images, but until we can complete tests with broadcast pictures, we can’t be certain.
Colors
In DVI mode, the screen produces colors that are accurate with its factory settings. The average gap between colors sent by the graphics card and those actually shown by the monitor is 2.9, a score that’s well above average. However, it’s possible to obtain even better color at the expense of contrast by connecting a computer via the HDMI port. Using the default configuration, the deltaE score falls to 2, but the contrast worsens from 729:1 to 515:1, roughly a 30% loss.
Despite having other features of a high-end monitor, this model uses a TN panel with a response time of 5 ms. As a result, it will likely disappoint the most demanding FPS gamers. Unreal Tournament 3 or Quake 4 players won’t be impressed by the input lag, either: this monitor is almost three frames behind the fastest we’ve tested. Players of strategy games have less to worry about, as neither ghosting nor this input lag are noticeable.
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first
wait...wheres the conclusion
I am a HUGE fan of LG's flatron monitors. They're generally very competitively priced for the quality you get.
One word of advice though, Dont buy a monitor online unless it has a zero-dead pixel guaranty as well as free return shipping. With the extremely high pixel counts of today's LCDs, the odds of getting a dead pixel are actually quite high, so the ability to take it back to the store and exchange it without any fees is a real benefit.
Need to see data, not just "record-breaking response times." A few of the monitors have some numbers but others have nothing more than a description.
I second the blue dominance on the 2253BW as well. It's a shocker unless you reduce the blue to almost nothing.
I have the Samsung 2253BW. They are right about the color and view angles. Took me a full day tinkering just to get the colors and positioning the way I wanted... big PITA. Once all setup its pretty nice. Best use as a gaming screen, built in hand drip makes moving around easy too.
I found the 2253BW has bad buttons and bad button positions. My "menu" button doesn't really work and since you can't see any of the buttons it can be hard to find them sometimes.
Thanks for the review. It helped me select which LCD Monitor worked best for me.
Maybe I'm the only Toms reader not up on my display type acronyms, but TN could have been briefly defined prior to using it on every page of this writeup. For those also not in the loop it's Twisted Nematic.
Aren't Dell LCDs just rebadged?
I dislike the trend to adding cheap speakers in all monitors above like 22" makes me feel like i'm paying for something i'll never use.
which one the model that has true 24 bits color?
I've got the samsung 2233rz 120hz refresh. GREAT GAMING MONITOR. Plus the 3d with Nvidia is awesome. Some good games are Mass Effect, Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead. Mass effect is the most visually pleasing of them all, but Left 4 dead is the most fun to use it with.
Also, it's about time that TOMS finally did a piece that GAMERS might be interested in. By the way, your new GPU charts stink, I don't want subcatagories of high end and low end, just the GPU's for the last 3 years. If you want, color code the charts to price brackets or better yet, Generations of models.
You guys have lost touch with what gamers want. Plus your website was extremely laggy on the few articles I found interesting in the last month.
Hi Toms
How about a roundup in the 24 inch class.Many of us feel a 24 is the way to go?Please Consider.Thank-You for this articles non the less.
Xsamitt
I'm satisfied with the Samsung T240. I was using a CRT 19 before and this is quite an upgrade. Not the best monitor out there, but I got it for a heck of a deal!
When I built my first computer (the one I have now) I went with the LG W2252TQ. My niece has been using an LG monitor for a long time and she highly recommended I try one, so I thought I would take the hint. I picked this monitor up from my local Best Buy where the kind computer tech hooked it up to a PC for me so I could see what Windows looked like on it. I was sold immediately. This has turned out to be the best monitor I have ever owned.
Very glad to see a LCD review. I'm dreading the day my current tube dies, as most LCDs still can't match them(decent tubes that is). Unless you get in to the 1000 dollar range. Just wish the resolution was better. 1680 x 1050 is losing some space to the traditional 1600x1200. Though 1920 x 1080 is a bit better.
Hopefully more reviews and more consumer research will prompt companies to start making good quality LCDs and cheaper prices. Dell is kind of annoying, they used to sell some of their dispalys with PVA, and then changed them to TN, without changing the model #/Name. Grr.
Oops, in regards to my last post. The Dell monitors weren't changed from PVA to TN, they were changed from S-IPS to TN.
I'm just not on my game anymore. My two previous posts are wrong. Dell didn't switch from S-IPS to TN. They switched from S-IPS to PVA. Not so horrible. I got to work today and sat down at my computer, which is a 4 head box with 4 Dell 2007FP displays. 2 are S-IPS, and 2 are PVA. I can now see a bit of a difference, but its not so bad. S-IPS still looks a little nicer. But I never noticed until I started digging into it and figure out they were different techs.
Too bad, I've just started using ViewSonic VX2262wm a few days ago...
As the review said, even for the untrained eyes, the colors are noticeable bad and unable to get it right through OSD, which is disappointing.
Viewing angle is bad. So bad that if you look at it at the distance closer that 30 cm, you're starting to see dark shadows on the top and the bottom of the screen. You should have keep it at 50 cm distance to see uniform color.
The responsiveness are OK, but just don't compare it to CRT.
The internal speakers are jokes. Maximum volume is relatively small compared to standard active speaker. If you turn up a little bit bass, the sound is cracking. At 100% volume setting, you can hear a little annoying static high frequency hiss/noise, even if you don't plug in the audio cable. To set it to almost unnoticeable, I can only set the volume level at around 60%. Included are the EAX virtual sound card that using up computer resources, so that there is silent moment every half a second.
In short, don't buy it because of the speaker. ViewSonic should have put the money to improve the quality of the monitor instead of installing a pair of cheap speakers.
To the credit of ViewSonic, the first unit that I ordered contained one dead subpixel. They replaced a new one for me.
I've managed to improve the above-mentioned monitor's display accuracy by using the webpages...
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/