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Samsung 204T first impressions

M

ManicMachine

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
126
I just got the Samsung 204T, the new 20" monitor with overdrive.

I have to say, I am very impressed. 16ms response time quoted- no ghosting in World of Warcraft. color is great. no artifacts from overdrive seen.

It does have dead pixels, quite dissappointing, but they are not distracting to me and seeing as I do not have an alternate monitor, I will not send it back at this time.
 
Interesting, I've been eyeing this monitor, and am tempted to try it out. Just out of curiousity, what other LCDs have you used? I'm just really picky about the ghosting/blurring seeing how many people can't really tell. Thanks.

- D.
 
Never used an LCD before. I'm a pretty hardcore gamer, but only RPGs. I can't observe any ghosting in WoW at 1600x1200 at the highest quality settings. And I don't see any 'sparkling' in the DVDs I've played either.

The dead pixels bother me, knowing samsung's excellent rep for quality. I guess I can chalk it up to rushing to market with new tech? As I said, the pixels are not remotely distracting though, so maybe when the 204T is more widely produced and I have the cash to go dual monitor, I'll buy another and RMA this one.


Color reproduction is very good. It came calibrated about as well as I could hope for. Blacks are VERY deep.
 
Good to know. The temptation got to me and I actually ordered one last night. Hope it works out, I've been wanting to get a nice 20" LCD for a while. Tired of 1280x1024.

- D.
 
I've been looking at the same monitor, it looks really nice, I'm down to either that one, and eventually get a second, or just get a 2405fp and calling it a day. Dual Monitors, or one huge one, thats what it comes down too... I'm not sure which would increase productivity, but I've noticed at work that even if you have 2, you can only focus on one at a time...
 
Mmm... Interesting to hear about the blacks.

I returned a 2005 a few weeks back because the "black" and hot-spotting from the poor backlighting were unacceptable.

I've had my eye on this one.
 
Hm wish I would've known about this model 2 weeks go, I just got a Dell 2001FP and although I love the picture quality and response time (12ms) the black levels leave much desired with gaming (although it has no backlight issues or dead pixels) , Actualy I still have time to return this one to Dell.....
 
ManicMachine said:
I just got the Samsung 204T, the new 20" monitor with overdrive.

I have to say, I am very impressed. 16ms response time quoted- no ghosting in World of Warcraft. color is great. no artifacts from overdrive seen.

It does have dead pixels, quite dissappointing, but they are not distracting to me and seeing as I do not have an alternate monitor, I will not send it back at this time.
Click to expand...

Any chance you have Doom 3 installed? Curious how the black levels look with it :)
 
Well, I received the Samsung 204t and am impressed. Like the OP said, the blacks are very deep. In fact, probably the best blacks I have seen on an LCD. Response time seems pretty good, not as good as the VP191b, but it's worth the sacrifice for the bigger screen/higher res. Maybe over the weekend, I'll do a mini-review with some screenshots. But first impressions, this one's a keeper.

(Oh and no backlighting issues or dead/stuck pixels)

- D.
 
On a different note, is this panel using OverDrive? Everyone says it is, but I haven't been able to find an official statement on it. Thanks.

- D.
 
datamage said:
Well, I received the Samsung 204t and am impressed. Like the OP said, the blacks are very deep. In fact, probably the best blacks I have seen on an LCD. Response time seems pretty good, not as good as the VP191b, but it's worth the sacrifice for the bigger screen/higher res. Maybe over the weekend, I'll do a mini-review with some screenshots. But first impressions, this one's a keeper.

(Oh and no backlighting issues or dead/stuck pixels)

- D.
Click to expand...

Please do and hopefully you can get some doom 3 shots in there :) , As you can see in the shot below my 2001FP leaves much desired in black output.

My camera actualy made the LCD look considerably worse / washed out than it does in person, but you can get a general idea of the differance in black levels between my CRT / LCD (Sony 21" G520P CRT on the left)

CRT_LCD_doom3rs.jpg
 
I wonder why the samsung 204T isnt widely available yet, is it that new? ..places I normaly visit online like newegg.com / zipzoomfly etc. and any places ive checked in town dont have it yet.
 
LCD just can't cut the mustard in this day in age (for gaming) :p

but perfect for 0% game computer usage! :cool:
 
Hey, all of you 204T owners, where did you purchase your monitors and how much did you pay? I was considering the 2405, however it turns out that I don't think I could afford it. If I could get this monitor for sub 600 that would be much closer to my price range.
 
datamage said:
Ok, still gonna work on that small review (with pictures) when I get the chance. But for now, here are two shots.

At command prompt (so you can see backlight.)

Playing Chaos Theory. Need some tips on getting a better shot. =)


- D.
Click to expand...

Black levels look acceptable in those shots ,much better than my 2001FP at least ..how about the rest of the monitor? (motion blur / ghosting etc.).

Dell was nice about my complaint and agreed to give me a refund as well as pay the shipping charges (UPS picking it up tomorrow) So for now ill keep using my CRT until something comes along that can compete with it :D
 
Black levels look acceptable in those shots ,much better than my 2001FP at least ..how about the rest of the monitor? (motion blur / ghosting etc.).
Click to expand...

I hate talking about blurring since it's subjective. On that note, I do notice blurring (just like I notice blurring on the VP 191b) -- but aside from the ViewSonic, it's the best LCD I've seen (Ghosting/blurring wise.) And overall it's the best LCD I've used. I'm still surprised at how deep the blacks are. Makes colors look,. I guess the word would be 'correct.' I'm not a professional graphics designer by any means, but this is the closest I've seen an LCD match my 22" NEC FP2141 as far as colors go. They don't look de-saturated, or overly vibrant, they just look, right.

For the record, I've owned/used the following LCDs;

Dell 2000FP
NEC 1760NX
Viewsonic VP171b (16ms model)
Samsung (191t @ least I think that was the model -- bad blurring)
Dell 2001FP (when I saw the screendoor effect - it went right back to Dell)
Apple Cinema Display 20.1"
Dell 2005FP

If it wasn't because I know how the VP191b performs as far as response time goes, I'd have nothing negative to say about this LCD. But even with that, I'll take the richer blacks, higher resolution, and better colors, over the somewhat faster response times. For the first time since I've owned an LCD, I can use a dark wallpaper without the reminder of how bad LCDs are at displaying blacks (On that note -- Off I go to install Doom 3)

- D.
 
Thanks for the reply thats good to know , I might have to give that model a try if I can ever find it anywhere :) all the usual places I shop (online & in town) never even heard of it. If I did get it I'd want it to be somewhere that would do refunds just in case Im not happy with it.

A shame about my 2001FP , Mine had no backlight leakage or dead pixels and I couldnt see the screendoor effect a lot of people talk about. The black level output was the only reason I returned it, I tried to get used to it but my CRT sitting right next to it kept reminding me that it just wasnt going to happen lol.
 
Great thread guys. I've been looking for a 20incher upgrade, from my current 17inch NEC CRT.

I was originally set on the VP201B, but I get tired of waiting for its price to come down to reasonable levels (mid to low 500's).
 
Anybody have any questions I should ask the J&R people? Doubt they'll know much, but worth a try I guess.

datamage, how would you compare image quality and color with the VP191b and the 204T? Personally, I can live with a little ghosting/blurring in games, but color fidelity, shaprness are a big deal for me.
 
Cheapest price I've seen the 204T is at TechOnWeb, where the Silver version is listed as shipped for $571 for me. However, the item is listed as backordered, and I e-mailed them to ask about availability and they said the third week of July, which is next week. I'm considering pre-ordering one, however I think I'm gonna e-mail and ask about their return policy.
 
Disclaimer: This not a review of the monitor, but just my casual observations in an uncontrolled environment. They may well be inaccurate.

I looked closely at 3 20”~21.3” monitors, the Viewsonic VP201, Samsung 213T, and the Samsung 204T. The 204T was the cheapest at $579.xx. And overall, it also seemed to have the best image quality. The colors seemed vibrant, contrast was good, the whites seemed ok, and the blacks were very good for an LCD. I wasn’t completely blown away by what I saw, but could be because this was a store display using a VGA cable and God knows what the power source was.

I noticed some flickering, which gave me eyestrain, as I am very sensitive to flickering monitors. And I had to turn down the brightness to 80%, which seemed better, but still not perfect. I saw some videos on it and seemed to have good color and contrast, though I did see some artifacts, not sure if the LCD was responsible or the source video. The biggest issue I had was the sharpness, or lack thereof on the text and the blurriness gave me eyestrain. Could just be due to the emachines VGA output or no font smoothing, but text sharpness is one of the biggest selling points of an LCD for me as 70% of the time I stare at text on a monitor. I adjusted the sharpness on the OSD, and seemed to help, but then I noted the sharpness was not unique over the entire screen. The center was sharper than outer areas. I also saw some mouse lag, not to be confused with ghosting, but just a slight delay from the window moving when I move the mouse.

I personally am going to wait for a review, either from some reputable website or users here before I think about purchasing this monitor. Also, the VP201 looked very dull, could be lack of color calibration though.

Images were taken with a cell phone and are utterly useless, but I’m posting them anyway.





 
datamage, how would you compare image quality and color with the VP191b and the 204T? Personally, I can live with a little ghosting/blurring in games, but color fidelity, shaprness are a big deal for me.
Click to expand...

I took a look @ the VP191 today for the first time since I got my 204t, and I can say that the colors/iq are definitely better on the 204t. On the flipside, the vp191's response time is amazing. It's a fair trade off imo. Anyhow, the 204t's blacks are better than the vp191, and the colors just look more natural.

As for your observations @ the store today,. as you said, it must've been due to it being setup with analog. Everything is perfectly sharp across the screen on DVI. I've also noticed flickering on a few previous LCDs from time to time, but there is none on this one.

- D.
 
datamage, thanks for your reply. Some more questions. Do you notice any screendoor effect on the 204T, and if so, is it distracting? Do yo have any screen uniformity problems re: sharpness of text or backlight? Can you post pictures of the 2 monitors side by side?

I would really appreciate anything else that you can tell about the 204T vs. the VP191b.
 
I'm interested in knowing with a direct comparison (picture) as well. Especially compared with the 2001fp if anyone on the forum have the priviledge of owning both of them ;) I've personally went through 4 - 2005fpw's and the black and blacklight was horrible, it was giving me nightmares :p

Ald
 
datamage, thanks for your reply. Some more questions. Do you notice any screendoor effect on the 204T, and if so, is it distracting? Do yo have any screen uniformity problems re: sharpness of text or backlight? Can you post pictures of the 2 monitors side by side?
Click to expand...

No screendoor. I tried the 2001FP when it first came out, and the screendoor on that was horrendous (to me) -- so I sent it right back. I already took a screenshot of the 204t in the dark, and the backlight is pretty much perfect. There's a slight hint of leaking in the upper left hand corner, but you really have to look for it, because it does not stand out whatsoever.

Unfortunately, I can't post pics of the two LCDs side by side, as I sold my VP191b yesterday.

Screenshot of backlight here.

- D.
 
Well, I just ordered a 2005fp, gonna see if I get lucky and land a screen without backlighting problems or dead pixels. If I'm not happy though, I'll probably just end up spitting up the extra $150 to get one of these 204Ts. They pretty solid, and Samsung has always had good Quality Control.
 
Hiya datamage,

Thanks for the pictures so far! Do you by any chance have a CRT laying around? I really just want a side by side comparison of the blacks when compared to a CRT (washed out black really bothers me). I was hoping to get a bigger and better lcd than my current (Samsung 712N) and the Dell 20in is really a big dissapointment (in terms of the reproduction of blacks). I would really like to know since I might just end up falling back on the "supposedly" soon to be released thin CRT's by Samsung and LG.

Ald
 
datamage, what about the brightness? I found it way to high on the store monitor and turning it down destroyed the colors.
 
random question, but I remember in other thread where they found a website that had a table, listing what panel was found in any brand of LCD on the market.

I swear I bookmarked it, but I can't seem to find it.
 
Yeah a buddy of mine bought this one as his gaming monitor and loves it(he pretty much only plays BF2). Now I am seriously considering it as a secondary monitor. I have my NEC 1970GX as my main gaming monitor and I am thinking this would make a nice secondary display. Who knows? Maybe I will like it more than my 1970GX and end up gaming a lot on it anyway. It also comes with the DVI cable unlike some of the montiors such as the 930b etc. It looks to be pretty nice.
 
Overdrive is a way to increase response time on PVA/MVA panels by over-voltage of the LCD pixels.
 
IxGOxSOLO said:
Yeah a buddy of mine bought this one as his gaming monitor and loves it(he pretty much only plays BF2). Now I am seriously considering it as a secondary monitor. I have my NEC 1970GX as my main gaming monitor and I am thinking this would make a nice secondary display. Who knows? Maybe I will like it more than my 1970GX and end up gaming a lot on it anyway. It also comes with the DVI cable unlike some of the montiors such as the 930b etc. It looks to be pretty nice.
Click to expand...

The one and only thing holding me back on getting the 204t is the possible "sparkling" that i've heard that happens.

Some people say that they see halos around people moving in, e.g CS: Source. Now, I would love 16ms (S-PVA), but if that means seeing halos, I would rather opt for S-IPS 16ms (no halos). Just wondering what your buddy would say about this.

Other than that, I know that (I think Anandtech? or Toms) said that Super PVA is the first that successfully sustains 16ms evenly (vs. TN panels that could be 8ms for some colors, >30ms for others).
(ah here: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050526/viewsonic-05.html)
 
Viewsonic is not using the Samsung S-PVA panels, but the AUO P-MVA panels. Obviously, the technologies are very similar, but there may be some differences.

But your question is an interesting one and I would like to have 204T owners post some reviews.
 
Excellent post... I was researching the 204T and made my decision based on this post... this will be my first LCD flat panel (had to go 20" as I can't stand resolutions less than 1600x1200) ... mine should be here tomorrow ... in addition to a Prescott 640 3.2Ghz processor and X850XT Platinum Edition vid card
 
Apparently no1 has responded about the possible "sparkling" issue on the 204T's. I'm still waiting :p
 
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