Samsung 226BW 22": 3000:1 Contrast, 2ms response time

I just picked up a 226BW. Trying to play BF2142 and i don't think i'm getting 1680x1050 correctly. I understand the game doesn't support WS natively. I'm trying the trick with putting "+widescreen 1 +szx 1680 +szy 1050" on the command line (tried putting it in both a shortcut to bf2142pace.exe and bf2142launcher.exe".

It looks like total shit. It appears the actual mode is probably 1280x940 or whatever BF2142 supports, but stretched by the 226BW.

Is bf2142 supposed to look this bad on this monitor, or is my 1680x1050 command line setting not working?

UPDATE:
Ok, I think I figured it out. Just followed all the various suggestions online (delete video.con files, etc, etc). Set +szx and +szy on a shortcut to BF2142pace.exe instead of the BF2142launcher.exe.. seems to look better. although still not great. So i'm posting this for anyone else with the EALink downloaded version of bf2142.. just in case that helps.

honestly 2142 didn't look bad at all on my 7 year old 19" trinitron CRT @ 1600x1200. but i'll probably keep this monitor. I dislike LCDs in general, however it's about time I made the move. I was worried about ghosting and input lag. I don't notice either at all on this thing. So in that sense, it's awesome. Colors are terrible out of the box. Must do some tweaking on first setup. It's a TN panel tho, so viewing angles not great. (but you would have known all of this already if you read any of the previous 24 pages of this thread =)
 
Noble Lumpkin said:
....The black letters are not dark enough for me on most pages. If there was a resolution in between the 1280X1024 and the 1680X1050 it would probably be nice for me. I don't mean the 1600X900 either....
Click to expand...

I IE I have set the View-->Text Size= Medium , also in Display properties ---> Advance ----->General, in Display ---> DPI Setting, set to custom Size, move the bar to 130% normal size (125 DPI). --->apply and reboot.

That works for me. You adjust the DPI that way to whats easy for your eyes.
 
Noble Lumpkin said:
The black letters are not dark enough for me on most pages.
Click to expand...
This was my exact problem with the monitor, it did not matter how I set the monitor up the text was very differcult to read. I spent 3 days with it comparing it to a samsung 172x and a 940b and the text never looked as good, I sent it back. Games looked good but the bottom of the monitor was washed out.
 
jmphx said:
...

It looks like total shit. It appears the actual mode is probably 1280x940 or whatever BF2142 supports, but stretched by the 226BW.

Is bf2142 supposed to look this bad on this monitor, or is my 1680x1050 command line setting not working?
Click to expand...


It should look like this, but it is stretched.

800px-Bf2-16x10.jpg
 
If someone can tell me where in Windows I would find the .icc color profile files I will post my calibration .icc for the 226 here.
 
dbthump said:
It should look like this, but it is stretched.
Click to expand...

I can't tell from that picture. It's definetly stretched horizontally like that. But it appears to be 1280x960, just stretched by the monitor. In fact, starting it with or without the +szx/+szy params, it looks the same.
 
try:

+menu 1 +widescreen 1 +szx 1680 +szy 1050 ... or

+menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1680 +szy 1050

I think those are the commands. :eek:
 
Klint said:
I IE I have set the View-->Text Size= Medium , also in Display properties ---> Advance ----->General, in Display ---> DPI Setting, set to custom Size, move the bar to 130% normal size (125 DPI). --->apply and reboot.

That works for me. You adjust the DPI that way to whats easy for your eyes.
Click to expand...

Mine only goes up to 120% 125DPI
 
Klint said:
I IE I have set the View-->Text Size= Medium , also in Display properties ---> Advance ----->General, in Display ---> DPI Setting, set to custom Size, move the bar to 130% normal size (125 DPI). --->apply and reboot.

That works for me. You adjust the DPI that way to whats easy for your eyes.
Click to expand...

Mine goes to 120% 125 DPI
 
gunner1 said:
If someone can tell me where in Windows I would find the .icc color profile files I will post my calibration .icc for the 226 here.
Click to expand...

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\

If possible, post it in the Official Calibrated Monitor Profile thread along with your menu settings.
Many Thanks.
 
Not being a Gamer I can only say this monitor SUCKS.
Click to expand...
If you take this monitor out of the box and plug it in, yeah, it looks bad. It needs to be calibrated, either with your video card software or a hardware device like the spyder2.

I've done it both ways. The Spyder does a great job but while the colors looked good I preferred to have the gamma settings a bit darker. The problem is that once the Spyder settings are in there, my ATI software will not adjust those settings. In order to make any changes I have to disable the other settings and start over. The other problem with the Spyder that you may not be aware of is that it will not allow you to calibrate two monitors hooked up to a dual head video card - which is what I am using. It tells you that in order to calibrate two monitors, you need to have two separate video cards. Something most people don't have.

The Spyder is a good device but I am sending mine back or putting it on Ebay.

This monitor isn't perfect. Again, my opinion is that it the viewing angle problem. But to say this monitor sucks just isn't the case at all. I would bet you didn't calibrate it at all because when calibrated this monitor is very good. It is a TN panel however and like others have said, it can't compare with a monitor costing twice as much or more but it is still a very good monitor.

And for the record, I've had both the A and the S and I would put a properly calibrated A against an S anytime. I just don't believe there is much difference.
 
First let me say I have been following this thread and had read all the reviews and was eager to buy this until the S - A came into focus.Still I had to try my luck and last week went to CC and bought one ,took it to my car and opened it in the parking lot and I was one of the lucky one's as it is a S monitor.
After hooking it up and installing drivers and at native resolution I was not pleased to say the least.I had no noticable backlight issues but jpeg pictures just where not that crisp and clear.I tried tweaking and uninstalling drivers for my vid card (7900 gt pci express).There was to much red tint and as I said pics where not crisp.I tried calibrating the color in the menu but still looked off.
I am a gamer and bought this for gaming but wanted a complete package.I play EQ2 and UT2004. Both play flawlessly and I see things in the games I did not see with my old monitor (hp sony trinitron 21 inch crt ). For me this is one awsome monitor for gaming.
Still I could not get over the jpeg pictures not being clear or as clear as I thought they would be.
I ordered Spyder2 Epress and am awaiting on it to arrive.Being the impatent person I am and whenever things do not work as I want....my fix is to reformat and reinstall OS and everyting from scratch.So last night thats what I did.I am running XP Pro and installed all updates from xp and Nvidia.Results = THIS MONITOR IS AWSOME.Jpegs are now crisp and clear and so is everything else.The red tint is gone and when Spyder arrives I think I will leave the settings a is .
I can not speak for the A panel ,but highly recomend the S.
 
IHL said:
If you take this monitor out of the box and plug it in, yeah, it looks bad. It needs to be calibrated, either with your video card software or a hardware device like the spyder2.

I've done it both ways. The Spyder does a great job but while the colors looked good I preferred to have the gamma settings a bit darker. The problem is that once the Spyder settings are in there, my ATI software will not adjust those settings. In order to make any changes I have to disable the other settings and start over. The other problem with the Spyder that you may not be aware of is that it will not allow you to calibrate two monitors hooked up to a dual head video card - which is what I am using. It tells you that in order to calibrate two monitors, you need to have two separate video cards. Something most people don't have.

The Spyder is a good device but I am sending mine back or putting it on Ebay.

This monitor isn't perfect. Again, my opinion is that it the viewing angle problem. But to say this monitor sucks just isn't the case at all. I would bet you didn't calibrate it at all because when calibrated this monitor is very good. It is a TN panel however and like others have said, it can't compare with a monitor costing twice as much or more but it is still a very good monitor.

And for the record, I've had both the A and the S and I would put a properly calibrated A against an S anytime. I just don't believe there is much difference.
Click to expand...

I just calibrated mine with Spyder2. Much better than it was. Also changed the DPI to 120 instead of 96 and made it better. 130 was a little much for me. But I do appreciate all the advise people gave me.The best thing was the Neo-Flex to put the monitor where I like it.
 
Hey guys I just bought this monitor (226bw) and i love it...i bought a rogers hd cable box and hooked it up via the dvi connection in hopes that it would work...but the monitor told me that it was an unrecognized source or something...im about to try connecting the hd cable box to the monitor via a component to dvi connection.

i was just wondering if anyone out there has actually tried hooking up a hi defination cable source to their 226 bw?


also...has anyone notice a little flikering on this monitor...its not insane flickering but it is noticable when displaying mainly white screens

thanks for all the help guys!!
 
DrStrange said:
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\

If possible, post it in the Official Calibrated Monitor Profile thread along with your menu settings.
Many Thanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I don't see that other thread you are referring to, it must not be in this forum or must not be stickied or something. If someone points me to it I will happily post there as well.

Settings are Custom-->Brightness 73 Contrast 72 and all other settings DEFAULT meaning no dynamic contrast or any other hocus pocus and all color settings set to their default out of the box values.

By default the monitor ships with higher brightness and contrast settings and I can also do a calibration and provide an ICC file with those settings for those individuals who want their eyeballs to bleed with the full power of a 400 nits brightness display that is calibrated to 6500K.

You will need to take this .icc file and apply it as the color setting for your desktop in the windows control panel.

http://home.comcast.net/~audi-fan/226BWSpyder2-B73C72.icm
 
Is everyone that is referring to the Spyder referring to the spyder2express? I'm just wondering because I'm thinking of picking one up to really get the most from my monitor. Thanks.
 
The viewing angles problem stops me from getting a good color calibration.

I mean, I adjust the colors to my liking when looking at the monitor straight in the middle. When I move my head an inch or two lower, all my calibration is useless because all the colors change.

During normal use I look at my monitor from all sorts of angles, so I find it very very hard to calibrate.

How did you guys overcome this problem? Can the guys who are satisfied with their color calibration give me any tips?
 
Hello all,

This is my first post on HardForum so nice to meet you all

I purchased the samsung 226bw from overclockers.co.uk last thursday and received it on friday. I have the S panel. I have a very frustrating problem with mine. I have a GeForce 8800GTX with the latest forceware drivers, I have installed the monitor driver (it gives options for analog and digital when installing th driver. What's this about?) and I have it running in its native resolution of 1680 x 1050 at 60Hz. However, the monitor will only work through VGA. Through DVI I get absolutely nothing, just a blank screen. I press the source button to select digital and still I get nothing. I've tried both ports on the graphics card. I'm really out of ideas. Shouldnt the DVI just work when you plug it in and restart the PC? Through analog though everything is great. As the 8800GTX is dual DVI, I have to use a DVI > VGA converter. All help much appreciated

EDIT : Oh, and I've tried a different cable as opposed to the one supplied with the monitor. Still no luck.
 
I've just posted this on Widescreengamingforum, I'll post it here too since there are a lot of hardforum visitors interested in this monitor. Keep in mind that this review is written from a gamer/movie watcher's perspective.


I had been contemplating about buying this monitor for a long time. After reading a few reviews in this forum, I had serious doubts. What's more, Samsung started selling two versions of this monitor, one with A panel and one with S panel. I was almost sure that this was not the LCD panel I was looking for.

However, I walked into a store and there it was... A 226BW. I immediately asked the clerk if I could test it. I told him I'd buy it immediately if the image quality was OK.

I tested everything people complained about. First, a dead pixel check. No dead pixels. Then, banding test. I displayed all sorts of gradients. Negligible banding could be seen. Even CRT monitors have that little banding so no problem. Despite what some people said, I couldn't see a single problem with this monitor. I looked behind and saw that it was an A Panel. Weren't A panels supposed to be bad? I immediately bought it and brought it home.

After a basic color calibration, I did all sorts of things with it for a week. After a week's use, here's my opinions:

DEAD PIXELS:
There were no dead pixels when I bought it. Sometimes they appear afterwards within a few days. No such thing by me. Still no dead pixels after a week.

BACKLIGHT:
Some backlight at the top. Slightly more at the bottom. Under normal use, you can't see it so no problem. However, if you're looking for a monitor with absolutely no backlight, this isn't the monitor for you. While the backlight is low for a 400$ LCD, it can still be seen in darkness. That doesn't bother me at all, but to each his own...

BANDING:
After all the fuss some people made about banding, I was curious. I tested it with lots of gradients. Almost no banding with default color settings. Actually it's very good for a 6-bit panel. However, if you turn on Dynamic Contrast and Magic Color, you get serious banding problems. That's not a problem since both Dynamic Contrast and Magic Color are marketing gimmicks with no real world benefits. You can safely turn them off and use the LCD normally. People who complained about banding with this monitor either had these features on, or they had a defective monitor. No problems here.

VIEWING ANGLES:
A normal TN panel. Not better than others, not worse than others. Still when you move your head around, the image changes. It doesn't change dramatically so you still get a normal image no matter from where you look, but it's still not like a CRT. This is normal for an LCD with TN panel. This is a 400$ monitor, not a 4000$ one.

COLORS:
The default color settings are good. However, it's too bright. After prolonged use, your eyes get tired. I adjusted brightness and contrast down, but that made the colors washed out a bit. I'm still trying to find the ideal color values. I think I need a calibration tool like Spyder. Eyeballing is not a good method since colors change depending on from what angle you're looking. Color conformity is not good. The same color can appear slightly lighter or darker on different places on the screen. However, you have to look very carefully to notice it. It's not noticeable during gaming or movie watching.

FILMS:
High Definition videos and DVD's look fantastic. 22" display is almost like a cinema screen. Low quality DivX's don't look that good however. If your movie has compression defects, they will be magnified when viewing at 1680x1050. However, if you know what you're doing with ffdshow postprocessing settings, you can make aany movie look good enough.

GAMING:
It's incredible! No ghosting at all. I mean.. absolutely no ghosting at all. You can see some ghosting even with 5ms monitors if you look carefully, but with this 2ms panel, no ghosting whatsoever. This is a huge achievement and it makes this monitor the most suitable cheap and big widescreen LCD for gamers. Playing games with an 22" monitor is an unforgettable experience, especially coming from a 19" CRT. I played Neverwinter Nights 2, Oblivion, Rainbow Six Vegas, Dark Messiah, Flatout 2. Every game is more fun with this monitor. If you're looking for an LCD for gaming, look no further.

GAMING AT LOWER RESOLUTIONS:
Since Neverwinter Nights 2 laughs at my video card (GeForce 7900 GS) at 1680x1050, I added 1280x800 as a custom resolution (still 16:10 ratio) to Windows. I set scaling by viedo card. Scaling works so good that despite the lower resolution, the image is still very acceptable and I get 40+ fps. Before discovering that, I though I had to upgrade to play such demanding games. Playing at lower resolutions works so good that now I think I'll wait till the next gen cards appear.

MONITOR STAND:
No height adjustment, very little forward tilting, about 20 degrees backward tilting. A bare bones monitor stand for such a high quality LCD. I was expecting better.

SUMMARY:
A fantastic monitor for this price. I've listed a few negative points above, but the positives are overwhelming. Let's repeat the fact once more that this is an A panel 226BW. I think most people who criticize this monitor either bought a defective one, or they don't know how to set it up for optimum image quality. If you've never used any monitor bigger than 19" like me, you'll be astounded.
 
I add new resolution 1280x800 in powerstrip (dvi) and I have bad geometry. Why?
What parameters have this resolution? Thx for help.
 
VICTORious said:
I add new resolution 1280x800 in powerstrip (dvi) and I have bad geometry. Why?
What parameters have this resolution? Thx for help.
Click to expand...

If you're using Powerstrip, it adjusts the parameters for you. In advanced timings screen, don't forget to click 16:10, which is the correct aspect ratio for this screen. It takes care of the rest.
 
Would the 20" 206BW monitor be better for gaming than the 22"? I was wondering how much sharper the picture will be on a smaller monitor with the same resolution.
 
Pegleg Joe said:
Is everyone that is referring to the Spyder referring to the spyder2express? I'm just wondering because I'm thinking of picking one up to really get the most from my monitor. Thanks.
Click to expand...

That is the one I got. I certainly would not want to use someone elses ICC. I just reinstalled my Video Card Driver and what a difference it made. I am now going to re calibrate.
 
I don't think this has been mentioned before, but it looks like there are two diffirent panels in the 206bw too. The ones I have seen mentioned in this thread has all been "A"'s, but today I looked at the 206bw and 226bw at a store here in Denmark, and they were both "S" versions.

Actually, judging by the posts here and on ocuk it looks like most (all?) the European 2x6bw's are with Samsung panels.
 
gunner1 said:
Thanks.

I don't see that other thread you are referring to, it must not be in this forum or must not be stickied or something. If someone points me to it I will happily post there as well.

Settings are Custom-->Brightness 73 Contrast 72 and all other settings DEFAULT meaning no dynamic contrast or any other hocus pocus and all color settings set to their default out of the box values.

By default the monitor ships with higher brightness and contrast settings and I can also do a calibration and provide an ICC file with those settings for those individuals who want their eyeballs to bleed with the full power of a 400 nits brightness display that is calibrated to 6500K.

You will need to take this .icc file and apply it as the color setting for your desktop in the windows control panel.

http://home.comcast.net/~audi-fan/226BWSpyder2-B73C72.icm
Click to expand...

Sir Gunner

Thanks!

That Profile is amazing, Works Well.

Sheesh, I thunk I had my monitor adjusted pretty well, i'm an Idiot

I'm in heaven, Thanks again.

Squish
 
For all the people that have bought the 226BW from Newegg have they all been S version panels?
 
Squish said:
Sir Gunner

Thanks!

That Profile is amazing, Works Well.

Sheesh, I thunk I had my monitor adjusted pretty well, i'm an Idiot

I'm in heaven, Thanks again.

Squish
Click to expand...

You're very welcome. ;) Eyeballs don't work as well as colorometers, especially when it's an LCD you're calibrating.
 
The Spyder2 Express says to Set the resolution to a minimum of 1027X768 and Color Depth to a minimum of 24 bit. Is this what everyone does when calibrating? It is sort of confusing to me when they say Minimum. I am going to try it at the Native Res. and 32 bit color.
 
#gunner1

how i can use this settings? in propertis? I asking because I set this file (in color settings) and don't see difference.
 
Oh my god...

I love this monitor...

I.. I... love this monitor...

*breaks down sobbing*

I would also like to thank the above poster for his Spyer2 ICC file and his monitor settings.

The display is absolutely goregous, I have an S panel with no dead pixels, no backlight bleed, NOTHING. This monitor feels like a gift from the great technological deity above.
 
First Time Poster :)

I'm enjoying my 226bw "S" for a few weeks now along with my new system. Being the habitual "tweaker" that I am, can someone please explain how to properly load gunner1's newly posted profile (thanks, btw) in windows Vista? I've gone through the steps many times, but for the life of me, I can't see any difference with it and the profile that came with the monitor (Samsung - Natural Color Pro 1.0 ICM).

As always thanks in advance!

Desso Studios
 
Desso Studios said:
First Time Poster :)

I'm enjoying my 226bw "S" for a few weeks now along with my new system. Being the habitual "tweaker" that I am, can someone please explain how to properly load gunner1's newly posted profile (thanks, btw) in windows Vista? I've gone through the steps many times, but for the life of me, I can't see any difference with it and the profile that came with the monitor (Samsung - Natural Color Pro 1.0 ICM).

As always thanks in advance!

Desso Studios
Click to expand...

You need the special applet from Microsoft to use the Spyder2 profile.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/b/a/3bac80b2-24a9-4a92-b87d-977b540b2e9c/WinColorSetup.exe
 
Xtasy2006 said:
Hello all,

This is my first post on HardForum so nice to meet you all

I purchased the samsung 226bw from overclockers.co.uk last thursday and received it on friday. I have the S panel. I have a very frustrating problem with mine. I have a GeForce 8800GTX with the latest forceware drivers, I have installed the monitor driver (it gives options for analog and digital when installing th driver. What's this about?) and I have it running in its native resolution of 1680 x 1050 at 60Hz. However, the monitor will only work through VGA. Through DVI I get absolutely nothing, just a blank screen. I press the source button to select digital and still I get nothing. I've tried both ports on the graphics card. I'm really out of ideas. Shouldnt the DVI just work when you plug it in and restart the PC? Through analog though everything is great. As the 8800GTX is dual DVI, I have to use a DVI > VGA converter. All help much appreciated

EDIT : Oh, and I've tried a different cable as opposed to the one supplied with the monitor. Still no luck.
Click to expand...

Did you check to see what driver you installed?Could be wrong driver ,install digital driver.
 
For anyone interested, I ordered my 226bw from the Egg on March 9, arrived on the 15th.

It is indeed an "S" panel.

gpilot
 
Just want to thank all the posters on this thread for all of the interest and info on this monitor. I was in the market for a new dual 22" setup and settled on the 226BW. I play BF2 and 2142 occasionally and use Cubase SX often. I have an EVGA 8800 GTX Superclocked. I just received my 2 "S" panels from Newegg this evening. No dead pixels on either.

Gunner1,
I can't thank you enough for the Spyer2 ICC file. I was amazed at the difference as soon as I installed it. That file is destined to become a classic. I did lower my Brightness to 72 and Contrast to 73. You really made these look fantastic! Thanks sooooo much.

I love these monitors. At 1680x1050 I see no reason to change the windows font size with these 50 year old eyes. I am really itching to try BF2 and will try the command line resolution override. I am coming from 2 AG Neovo F419 (R12) monitors. They had a 12ms response time and I now know what ghosting really looks like....because there was plenty with the AG Neovo's and none that I notice with the 226BWs.

Thanks all and special thanks to Gunner1,
URHystory
 
It nice to see someone of my age still playing computer games :) Currently playing the call of duty series on my 226bw.
 
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