Samsung 226bw 'S' Panel Vs HP w2207 comparison from a non-noob

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R0achTheWarHero

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
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I've owned both and just returned the w2207 and got a S panel yesterday (display model), there is basically no comparison. The w2207 is a crap panel. I don't know what panel is used but it is worse than the Samsung 'A' panel and isn't in the same league as the S panel. The only reason anyone has said a good word about w2207 is because the glossy screen tricks you into thinking the colors and contrast are better than they are and that trick does work while you're standing in the LCD showroom but when you have the monitor in ideal lighting conditions or no light at all, it looks like crap.

w2207 pro's:
----------------
- none really


w2207 cons
----------------
- top half of screen is darker than bottom of screen
- 'black crush' effect, can't see any detail in darker areas, combine that with the first con and it really sucks
- viewing angles (especially vertical) are bad even when compared to only other TN panels
- Glossy screens are horrible, I owned a NEC 20wmgx2 first and the gimmic is cool for about 2 days before you start to hate it since it does cause more eyestrain and looks worse than regular screens in low lighting yet only causes distractions from glare in high lighting, whats the point?
- Pretty poor colors uncalibrated, don't think calibration would even get it the same colors as an uncalibrated S panel
- noticeably more input lag and blur than a samsung 226bw but less input lag than a NEC 20wmgx2 (most overrated monitor on the planet)

Anyway if it was me, I would scope out showroom floors looking for an S panel or wait for the next Samsung to come out instead of buying a w2207. If you can't find a S panel I would definitely take an 'A' panel instead of the HP. Not sure about C panel, haven't seen one in person.
 
By the way, anybody have a decent 226bw 'S' panel calibration I could try? It looks good already but I got nothing to lose by trying one.
 
I've been debating the Samsung 226BW and the HP W2207, but all the local brick and mortar stores around here only carry the C panel for the Samsung. I might as well get it cheap online if I'm going to end up with a C panel anyways...that'd be around $100 cheaper than the HP W2207 (which is $380 cheapest I can find + tax from a physical store...or $364 free ship and no tax online) I can get the Samsung for $290 shipped, no tax. Still, I would love an S panel and would be willing to pay $50-70 more to get it over a C panel.
 
Lucky you. I purchased the 226BW 10days ago, I got the C panel. =(

Ended up returning it just yesterday. Got fed up with the color, the bleeding, inconsistent picture, and had a really annoying problem of the picture drifting off-center on the screen (over DVI). Only way I could fix it was hitting the menu button, and the picture would re-center.

Currently looking into different monitors, don't wanna play Russian roulette with the 226BW.
 
You wouldn't do bad buying an 'A' panel then getting a spyder2 calibrator for like 50 bucks. It would be far better than a w2207. In white colors the A panel has an excess of blue, while the w2207 has an excess of vanilla/yellowish color in the whites which is way more annoying and harder to get rid of than blue is. If you're going to have excess of any color, blue is probably the most preferable one.....
 
so in my adventures (a.k.a. lcd hates me) i've had my hands on *all three* smasung 226BW panels and the hp w2207.

firstly, this big fuss over the three different panels is crap for the most part. after simply looking up best settings on the net for colours, they are all pretty close to the same. in fact i found the C to have very minimal backlight bleeding, the S virtually none and the A i have now has none as well. i also found the lighting more even on the C than the other two. colours were not quite as good, but almost not even noticeable. no troubles with contrasts.

i'd also go out on a limb here and say that **the colour problems with the A panels has been near fixed!!** i didn't have any blue dominance, but a slight colour adjustment was necessary for me. nothing like what others were doing.

i started with an S but got a dead pixel, then tried the HP but yes i had utterly offensive backlight bleed and the colour wasn't as good. then i got a C panel and developed a dead pixel AGAIN and now i have an A. lets hope it doesn't screw up again!!

throughout all this, somehow i picked up an extra DVI cable for the wife's 931BW ;) now how did that get there? mystery to me.

at the end of the day after adjusting i found nearly no difference between the 3 samsung panels. yes the C had more backlight bleed, but it was very very small and you had to look for it. miles better than that HP crap! the only thing i liked about it was the very adjustable stand, but it was not rigid at all. one little bump sends the thing bouncing.

finally, to roach - way to stir the pot, i'm impressed;) thats some serious trolling skills. keeps this place interesting.
 
Glossy screens are a personal thing. Some people hate the anti-glare on many monitors as well because of the 'crystally' look. Personally I like glossy or semi-gloss over anti-glare. CRTs have some glare anyway.
 
And there really is no way to tell which one you've gotten until you open the box, pop off the back cover, and look at the label.

I played Russian roulette with this a few weeks ago, and got hit with a C panel and it went back within 10 days.
 
R0achTheWarHero said:
somebody needs to link me a damn S panel calibration so i can test it out !
Click to expand...

not sure why you want to cal a monitor which you say looks bitchin already. i didn't need to cal my HP W2207 it was awesome right out of the box. besides thier was already a poll done on these 2 units already.and the HP did very well considering it was only out for a few months when the poll had been taken, don't know what you are trying to stirr up here.:rolleyes:

go here to see the poll results.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1186011
 
hpw2207 better all round monitor than the samsung ,dont know what hes been smoking.:confused:
 
Would it be possible you're trying to compare what seems to be a defective HP panel (and 2 dead pixels to boot) with a non-defective panel?

I wouldn't compare my HP w2207 to a defective Sam 226bw panel and then review it by saying it's crap.

My 2 cents.

P.S. I will say I do like the "S" panel from Samsung and think it's a great LCD also.
 
whats wrong with your wife? :D

did you buy her a monitor or convince her to buy the monitor which just happens to be a GAMING monitor...
 
G66 said:
whats wrong with your wife? :D

did you buy her a monitor or convince her to buy the monitor which just happens to be a GAMING monitor...
Click to expand...

assuming you mean me, but i could be wrong...

anywho, she just needed something that looks good and somewhat inexpensive. the samsung 931bw seemed to be the best of the bunch, and yeah she picked out the widescreen believe it or not.

her computer's a little sad for games....she's using my old radeon 9000 64mb and a celeron 2.5Ghz i scoffed (up from the infamous 1.7 POS) but she is known to play a bit of starcraft sometimes;) she still has a lot to learn but her potential scares me....i've been playing since it came out and she can build faster with terran than i can with zerg!! now if i can just teach her to build a lot of units the same way...
 
R0achTheWarHero said:
I've owned both and just returned the w2207 and got a S panel yesterday (display model), there is basically no comparison. The w2207 is a crap panel. I don't know what panel is used but it is worse than the Samsung 'A' panel and isn't in the same league as the S panel. The only reason anyone has said a good word about w2207 is because the glossy screen tricks you into thinking the colors and contrast are better than they are and that trick does work while you're standing in the LCD showroom but when you have the monitor in ideal lighting conditions or no light at all, it looks like crap.

w2207 pro's:
----------------
- none really


w2207 cons
----------------
- top half of screen is darker than bottom of screen
- 'black crush' effect, can't see any detail in darker areas, combine that with the first con and it really sucks
- viewing angles (especially vertical) are bad even when compared to only other TN panels
- Glossy screens are horrible, I owned a NEC 20wmgx2 first and the gimmic is cool for about 2 days before you start to hate it since it does cause more eyestrain and looks worse than regular screens in low lighting yet only causes distractions from glare in high lighting, whats the point?
- Pretty poor colors uncalibrated, don't think calibration would even get it the same colors as an uncalibrated S panel
- noticeably more input lag and blur than a samsung 226bw but less input lag than a NEC 20wmgx2 (most overrated monitor on the planet)

Anyway if it was me, I would scope out showroom floors looking for an S panel or wait for the next Samsung to come out instead of buying a w2207. If you can't find a S panel I would definitely take an 'A' panel instead of the HP. Not sure about C panel, haven't seen one in person.
Click to expand...

news flash the HPw2207 is a samsung panel. so in reality your knocking your own panel.
look /http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php
 
Well, even if i don't agree with his conclusion (or even his method of "testing"), nor do i agree with him about the pro's and con's, the panels are NOT the same.

They're both from Samsung, but they're not the same panels.

Samsung 226BW "S" Panel: AMLCD 220M1 (at least that's what my "S" panel says)

HP w2207 : LTM220M1

Of course on top of that, you have the 2ms vs. 5ms spec, which is most likely Samsungs Overdrive PCB within the panel electronics.

Now, those above could very well be the same panel with 2 different IDs but until this is confirmed, they're different.
 
According to behardware's http://www.behardware.com/articles/667-1/samsung-226bw-a-and-s-series-the-verdict.html page the w2207's panel is a Samsung manufactured LTM220M1 mostly used in its S 226bw monitor.

This more than annuls this thread's perpetrator's opinion that the w2207 is crap. I have the monitor. Colors are absolutely stunning and image contours, lettering and movie contrasts superb. But the Sammy 226 is a very good monitor as well. I didn't buy it because of its scant ergonomics.
 
Let's also not forget it's a matter of calibration. The same panel can be calibrated differently from manufacturer to manufacturer. HP can calibrate it geared towards it's glossy coating and Samsung might do the same for their non-glossy coating. Both screens should look fine when calibrated. As a matter of fact, they both should look identical (if they have the same panel) when calibrated properly.
 
ScYcS said:
Let's also not forget it's a matter of calibration. The same panel can be calibrated differently from manufacturer to manufacturer. HP can calibrate it geared towards it's glossy coating and Samsung might do the same for their non-glossy coating. Both screens should look fine when calibrated. As a matter of fact, they both should look identical (if they have the same panel) when calibrated properly.
Click to expand...

Even if calibrated correctly they don't look identical. You're forgetting the type of coating both LCD's have causing them to look like night and day. Some people enjoy the anti-glare coating of the Samsung 226bw others enjoy the glossy coating that comes with the HP.

Now if you do coat the same screen together with like type then yes. But it's funny how coatings can affect a screen so much and people's taste.
 
Granted, if two manufacturers use the same panel the monitor's display image should look pretty close. However, then all monitors should be equal which is not the case. What makes the difference is not only the kind and quality of coating but some other engineering choices such as the design of the electronics that drive the monitor. It seems to me that a lot of care went into this at HP when designing the electronics. This may be the cause of major differences. Otherwise why should one buy the 226 or w2207 versus the Chimei or Acer or Hanns or who knows which? Why for example is one monitor's backlight bleeding more pronounced than the other's even when using the same panel, or have more brilliant contrast even though they have the same rating or image contour much sharper or character bleed through or better black depth, etc., etc.? It's because of the way electronics will let those electrons travel through their circuits. It's like the differences between a radio that has phase looped circuits and triple heterodyne which makes a world of difference in selectivity and filtering parasites when bringing in remote broadcasts (short waves that is) and one that doesn't have these special ameneties. Of course, quality veries even within production lots, but as an average it should be pretty evenly spread out through the product's life cycle.
 
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