My Samsung Nightmare (T240)

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tastethecourage

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Decided one week ago that I was tired of my 19" Samsung monitor and that I wanted a larger one. Mind you, I am not a *very* hard man to please when it comes to LCD displays. I don't mind a TN panel, as I mostly game anyways and the slightly higher response times are worth it to me. I mean, really, I own a freakin' Polaroid LCD television. I can't be THAT picky.

After researching, asking questions to people on boards and sales people, I decided to go with the Samsung T240, the relatively new Touch of Color models. Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

My first model had severe ghosting issues. I didn't take any pictures or video of it, as I figured I had just received a dud. The ghosting was to the point to where if I was playing a game and moved horizontal to a person/object , there would be a ghost and a half trailing that object.

So I took it back to Best Buy and received a new model. This model did not have any ghosting issues out of the norm, but it did have some uneven and slightly distracting backlighting issues. I was on the fence with this one and about ready to decide to keep it, but there appeared to be a crack in the bezel at the bottom of the monitor. I was really shocked at what I found.

There was a BUG, a mosquito or ant of some sort, ENCASED in my Samsung monitor. And I am not kidding. It was Jurassic Park style. Frozen in time. Pics? You want them? You got them.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/art1is1hard/P1000823.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/art1is1hard/P1000835.jpg


And here is a picture of the uneven backlighting which was distracting during dark scenes or any horizontal movement of the screen...

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/art1is1hard/DSC02396-1.jpg

At this point it was more of a, "Are you effin' kidding me? I have a bug encased in my monitor?" Although it did provide a conversation in which I was amused with afterwards...

Best Buy Guy - "So What's the problem with this one?"
Me : "There's a bug in it."
Best Buy Guy - "A bug, eh? What's the malfunction?"
Me: "No... I mean... there's a BUG... in my monitor."

After being told I could swap it out for another one I felt a slight hesitation. I already had went through two. I talked it over with a few of Best Buy's "LCD Experts", they advised me to go with Samsung because it is the best brand. So I did.

When I got home I was disgusted. It was the worst LCD I have ever laid eyes on. I had it hooked up for such a short time I didn't even take pictures. Just imagine backlighting so terrible that there were 1 inch verticle bands of lighting going across the entire panel. Even when I took it back to Best Buy the Geek Squad guy said, "I have never seen anything this bad." Having it been the third Samsung monitor returned by me in a span of three days, a manager was called over. At this point they didn't want to give me a refund, they wanted me to try a new model. Against any sense of good judgment, I accepted the offer.

While an improvement over the last one I had, it is still unacceptable quality for a $500 monitor. This picture will not do the problem justice, but the backlighting is uneven, has several verticle bands going up and down in the monitor, and has several dark spots. Any scene which involves your eye being fixed on an object moving across the scene makes these spots very visible, as your peripheral vision is more sensitive to light.

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/art1is1hard/?action=view&current=DSC02404-1.jpg

It's hard to see the inconsistencies in that photo, as my camera isn't the best in the world, but they are visible. Even browsing this forum I can see dark shades and light shades of grey passing by as I scroll. I expect these problems from a brand like Envision......but Samsung? Come on. The backlight bleed also extends from the bottom to the middle portion of the panel I currently have as well.


Am I just being too picky, guys? Or should I expect more from a $500 panel? I'm just frustrated at this point.

Thanks.
 
I cant believe there was bug in the screen. i loved your jurassic park reference since im a big fan of those films.

just thought i would post my thoughts, sorry im not more helpful or informative but from what ive seen in that price range you should be getting better. i was looking at the 26' version of that LCD and your experience among some others has definitely steered me away.

actually i think im about steered away from samsung monitors completely. looks to me like that have a lot of problems. i keep reading about them on here and other places.
 
Well you are not being too picky. You always get more of what you pay for. If we pay for crap monitors, they will keep selling crap monitors. So send the crap back. Eventually Bestbuy and other retailers will get tired of all the returns and demand better quality from their suppliers.

This doesn't really sound like typical Samsung quality. Do you know where these monitors were manufactured and where the panels came from? I would bet these are Chinese made for Samsung. From the photo of the monitor with the bug in it, you can guess that they didn't even turn on the monitor and look at it before it was boxed and shipped.
 
You guys think I should return this one too?

I don't mind a little backlight bleed as for most TN panels it is inevitable, but the large amount of it + the very. very uneven backlighting is really distracting. Sure, Best Buy might hate me and think I'm nuts, but too bad.

What are other reliable brands to look at?
 
LMAO!!! This is going down in history as one of the funniest threads I've ever came across (working on a final PHP project for summer class I really needed a pick-me up). Can't believe you said "Jurassic Park style. Frozen in time." Too funny. I'm amazed that you actually received a monitor with a HUGE dead bug within the frame.

I currently own a T260 and have not experienced any of the issues you've mentioned. My monitor might have the slightest backlight bleed, carries no over sized insect, and has no motion blur. Maybe it's Best Buy. Perhaps they're getting a discount from Samsung by purchasing panels with noticeable defects. Mine was purchased through Buy.com and any other monitor purchased from them always displayed well enough. Just in case you're wondering, my T260 was made in China.
 
Thank you, as your thread reminded me once again to never order from newegg or any other place with crap return policy . When it comes to LCD monitors.....guys don't be lazy. Get up and go see the monitor first before you purchase it.

No you are not being picky. This is 500 dollars, this is your money. They have a 14 day return policy, use it to your advantage.
 
this should be a fark thread...lolz


as far as expensive lcd's go....bah, i got a 22inch envision for like 200 bucks, runs absolutely flawless :D
 
That Westy that Jack put up is good, but keep in mind that you'll need to get a DVI to HDMI cord and a HDMI cable, 'cos there's no DVI port on the Westy. An odd point on an otherwise solid and versatile monitor, good for gaming and HDTV use. The monitor can get a bit noisy too, from what I heard.

And your "bugged" screen is the craziest I've seen or heard of in years. Wow.
 
Is Hannspree a good brand?

I'll definitely check out the Westinghouse, although I do wish it had a DVi port. Will the HDMI quality be the same as DVi?
 
Samsung makes pretty decent monitors. I run a 2493 HM and it's flawless. No backlight bleed, good colors. Movies ,TV, games and photos all look great. Sounds like you just got a run of bad luck.
 
Where do I get BenQ's at? I'm a little... well... uneasy buying LCD monitors online, as it seems like buying an LCD monitor these days is like gambling. You might get the perfect display, and you might get a terrible display. Having said that... I've heard nothing but praise about most BenQ's.

I'm almost considering trying the Samsung T260.... which is stupid, I know. Is it possible that the 260's use slightly different panels, or that they were manufactured elsewhere than the 240's?
 
I think I'm going to try the 260HD in the hopes that there was just a bad batch of T240's I've hit.

T260HD will be a bit larger, but offer the same max resolution. Few questions...

1) Since it will be larger but offer the same resolution, things will just obviously be slightly larger. Will text still be as crisp?

2) Will I see a difference between 20k-1 dynamic contrast and 10k-1 dynamic contrast? I've read that DC is more or less a marketing gimmick Samsung likes to use. Not sure if this is true.

Any other comments would be welcome.
 
You won't lose much in the text department. I don't find much of a difference in text between a 26" and 24".

Don't consider dynamic contrast. It's mostly a stats scam, and the first thing I do is shut it off. Who needs dark scenes to get (overall) darker and bright scenes to get brighter? Native contrast is far more important, as is color accuracy. This will tell you how good the blacks can be, and how close the picture is to ideal colors.

Good luck with the T260. That is probably the weirdest story I've ever heard. It looked like a Jurassic mosquito in the bezel.

tastethecourage said:
I think I'm going to try the 260HD in the hopes that there was just a bad batch of T240's I've hit.

T260HD will be a bit larger, but offer the same max resolution. Few questions...

1) Since it will be larger but offer the same resolution, things will just obviously be slightly larger. Will text still be as crisp?

2) Will I see a difference between 20k-1 dynamic contrast and 10k-1 dynamic contrast? I've read that DC is more or less a marketing gimmick Samsung likes to use. Not sure if this is true.

Any other comments would be welcome.
Click to expand...
 
If it weren't for the backlight bleed, I so muchly would have kept the monitor with the bug in it just so I could say I have a bug frozen in time in my monitor. :p It looks so cool! Its probably some diseased mosquito from a tiny village in some remote corner of asia. :p
 
tastethecourage said:
Where do I get BenQ's at? I'm a little... well... uneasy buying LCD monitors online, as it seems like buying an LCD monitor these days is like gambling. You might get the perfect display, and you might get a terrible display. Having said that... I've heard nothing but praise about most BenQ's.
Click to expand...

Try http://www.benq.com/ . I'm not from the USA so I can't recommend specific on-line store. I think they have zero-dead pixels guarantee.
 
I hope mine has a bug in it, my five year old would really think it cool. Waiting on UPS, hope I don't have the backlight bleeding problem.
 
Just got home with the T260HD.

Thoughts -

- Size difference between 24" and 25.5" is barely noticeable.
- Screen has a little bit of a blu-ish tint to it, even when I set it to a Warm color setting. Looks like I'm going to have to try and calibrate it.
- One stuck pixel. Doesn't bother me much at all.
- It's definitely more evenly backlit, but does have some inconsistencies. I suppose most LCD's this generation do, and might just have to live with it. Top bleed is pretty bad, but bearable.
- Haven't tried Blu-Ray or HDTV yet. Get back to you guys when I do if you want.

So far I'd give it an 8/10.
 
Guys, just answer me one question..

When I stand up and look at my monitor from above, looking down towards a black screen, should it be a solid black? Yes, there will be some gradient to it because of the poor viewing angle of a TN panel... but should there be any spots or inconsistencies? They're hard to see when viewing the panel head on, but when I stand up they stick out like a sore thumb.

I've just never experienced this problem with any LCD's before until now. Could the Arizona heat be getting to these panels during shipment? Just trying to figure it out. Thanks.

Edit :

Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. See the lines? They're not visible at the correct viewing angle and only at times visible during normal use (when your eye is following something across the screen)

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/art1is1hard/DSC02421-1.jpg
 
tastethecourage said:
I think I'm going to try the 260HD in the hopes that there was just a bad batch of T240's I've hit.

T260HD will be a bit larger, but offer the same max resolution. Few questions...

1) Since it will be larger but offer the same resolution, things will just obviously be slightly larger. Will text still be as crisp?

2) Will I see a difference between 20k-1 dynamic contrast and 10k-1 dynamic contrast? I've read that DC is more or less a marketing gimmick Samsung likes to use. Not sure if this is true.

Any other comments would be welcome.
Click to expand...

I own a T260HD purchased from buy.com several weeks ago, so I will add some thoughts here: absolutely no problems with text. I have my samsung sitting next to a Dell 2005fpw, so all the issues of backlighting, color changes, viewing angles, etc are brought into sharp relief for me. This monitor has no issues with internet pages, word documents, etc. The text is extra-tasty crisp(y). I have also compared this monitor personally against a Benq V2400W, a Dell 2407, and other lcd's of various sizes. So short of it is, no worries with the text. :~]

As for the 20000:1 vs. 10000:1 contrast ratio, I think it will depend on what you end up doing the most. This monitor is my main source of HDTV and movies from my computer, as well as the main monitor for gaming, web surfing, and word processing. I haven't tested photo editing on it yet, but that's on the way. When I have viewed the monitor in a dark room across a desk, the higher brightness and contrast don't work for me while reading web pages and working on documents. As an afterthought, however, I worked with the brightness and contrast settings while watching a movie last night. There are several pre-set brightness levels, with labels such as Dynamic, Entertain, Internet, Custom, and something else. I landed on Entertain, and a smile slowly spread from one side of my face to the other. For reference, I was watchint Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Obviously the color levels won't be perfected, and blacks are extremely difficult to master on TN panels, but the T260HD does quite a handsome job. I am comparing it now directly against the Benq V2400W and Benq's soon-to-be-released 1920x1080 lcd's, which I viewed extensively at ROGcon.

I won't tell you which monitor to buy, and you wouldn't go with one recommendation to make your decision anyway, but I will say I am quite impressed with my T260HD. It's a recommendation I am very willing to make, and as an afterthought, the monitor is fantastic using an HDTV signal. I am really enjoying the Olympics this time around! Hehehe...
 
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