Samsung SA850 on PLS 24" - Test and Review (what you have been waiting for)

Thanks for your addition.
I believe testing/reviewing of the new Samsung SA850 family of 24" and 27" models (with some more info from here - take facts, skip "findings") is now complete.

Until the new revisions with better color rendering come out?

The larger issue is that the "extra gamut" coverage is not enough to make it a true wide-gamut/AdobeRGB capable monitor but wide enough to show over-saturation against sRGB capable screens.

So it's less saturated than my WCG LCD2690WUXI-BK, but more than my sRGB LCD2490WUXI2-BK or Dell U2412M.

It's not a big problem, more of an undesirable characteristic.
 
can someone who has the 27" 850d speak up about gaming on this monitor. is gaming acceptable or does this monitor feal laggy or slow. ive been playing BF3 lately on my old mitsubishi crt and i dont want to be disapointed if i pick this monitor up.thanks:D
 
can someone who has the 27" 850d speak up about gaming on this monitor. is gaming acceptable or does this monitor feal laggy or slow. ive been playing BF3 lately on my old mitsubishi crt and i dont want to be disapointed if i pick this monitor up.thanks:D

The 24" is basically lag free. The 27" has about 1.5 frames of lag typical of all the 27" and 30" screens with scalers.
 
Hi, I'm new to this forum and I've read a lot of posts and reviews and was hoping a could get a good recommendation for a monitor. My old Dell 2405FPW (is that a TN monitor?) is starting to give out, flickers at times, and needs replacing. I am a programmer that almost exclusively works with code and text on a white background. I never watch movies or do any gaming in my home office. I tried 2 Dell U2410's IPS monitors last year, both had unacceptable AG coating look to it and both had a pink / green banding problems that is mention in the Dell forums a lot. I love the look of text on a 2405, which has 178/178 viewing angles. Yes, colors are weak from the sides, but coding in front of it 10 hours a day, who cares.

Looking for the best looking display for text with 178/178 viewing angles (a must). Light bleed through not an issue for me since the screen is white or light colors most of the time. Response rate not critical. I was going to go look at an ASUS PA246Q today, but then ran across this forum (well ran forum, by the way). Is there an "obvious choice" here that I need to look at? I'm considering these:

Samsung S24A850DW
Dell 2408WFP (still can find around some places I think)
HP ZR2440w
ASUS PA246Q

Thanks for your time.
 
Is there an "obvious choice" here that I need to look at? I'm considering these:

Samsung S24A850DW
Dell 2408WFP (still can find around some places I think)
HP ZR2440w
ASUS PA246Q

Thanks for your time.

The obvious choice for text work is the S24A850DW because of the smooth anti-reflective coating, compared to the grainy coating on the ZR24W and PA24Q, which makes working with text on a white background a bother for some. It is probably the best display available right now for what you're going to be using it for and is the only one I could recommend with confidence for your purpose.
 
Hi, I'm new to this forum and I've read a lot of posts and reviews and was hoping a could get a good recommendation for a monitor. My old Dell 2405FPW (is that a TN monitor?) is starting to give out, flickers at times, and needs replacing. I am a programmer that almost exclusively works with code and text on a white background. I never watch movies or do any gaming in my home office. I tried 2 Dell U2410's IPS monitors last year, both had unacceptable AG coating look to it and both had a pink / green banding problems that is mention in the Dell forums a lot. I love the look of text on a 2405, which has 178/178 viewing angles. Yes, colors are weak from the sides, but coding in front of it 10 hours a day, who cares.

Looking for the best looking display for text with 178/178 viewing angles (a must). Light bleed through not an issue for me since the screen is white or light colors most of the time. Response rate not critical. I was going to go look at an ASUS PA246Q today, but then ran across this forum (well ran forum, by the way). Is there an "obvious choice" here that I need to look at? I'm considering these:

Samsung S24A850DW
Dell 2408WFP (still can find around some places I think)
HP ZR2440w
ASUS PA246Q

Thanks for your time.

The Samsung is probably the best since A) You don't mind back-light bleed (and it has a lot) and B) it has the most flicker-free back-light at regular brightness levels.

The anti-glare coating is a plus since you mention you are sensitive to it.

Also the 24" , 16:10 form factor is the best for text size versus resolution.

The 2405FPW was an S-PVA panel.
 
OK, thanks, I'll eliminate the HP and ASUS from the Mix. I need to read up on the Samsung S24A850DW, never heard of it before yesterday, but wasn't really in the market for a monitor in a while. So, it would be better than the Dell 2408FPW (for programming / email)? I've found a few used or refurbished 2408's for around $400, which is almost what the new Samsung cost. I love the look of text on the Dell monitors, the fonts are crisp and the white backround is not overwhelming. Easy to look for hours and hours. I guess the new PLS technology is supposed to be even better for text on this regard? Can anyone that was seen the two comment on that? Thanks for your time, you guys have been great.
 
I need to read up on the Samsung S24A850DW, never heard of it before yesterday, but wasn't really in the market for a monitor in a while. So, it would be better than the Dell 2408FPW (for programming / email)? I've found a few used or refurbished 2408's for around $400, which is almost what the new Samsung cost. I love the look of text on the Dell monitors, the fonts are crisp and the white backround is not overwhelming. Easy to look for hours and hours. I guess the new PLS technology is supposed to be even better for text on this regard? Can anyone that was seen the two comment on that? Thanks for your time, you guys have been great.

Yes, the Samsung SA850 is better for text work than the Dell 2408.

The problem is that you may have to change the monitor a couple of times until you get a unit without backlight uniformity issues.
 
OK, think I will order one this weekend. Wish I could get it locally, sure would make returns much easier. Thanks for your time.
 
Thanks. I think this will be my new monitor. If anything, I feel Samsung should be "rewarded" for acknowledging that the AG coatings are excessive, and actually engineering this philosophy into a new product.

Bummer that no one around Chicago has it. You'd figure a ten million + population center would have a store that carries these.

It should make a nice dual display with my Samsung 240HD. The 850 will be used for critical work, of course.
 
Great...so I thought this was the perfect monitor, but now there's an exaggerated blue? I've noticed a blue tint on my Samsung 240 (TN) as well, and calibration doesn't get rid of it entirely.

Has anyone been able to calibrate the issue away? I'm using a Spyder 3.
 
Of course, it is not the "perfect" monitor, but you should be able to resolve the blue issue to relative satisfaction with calibration.

If you want true sRGB out-of-the-box, I suggest the NEC PA241W-BK set to sRGB emulation.
 
Great...so I thought this was the perfect monitor, but now there's an exaggerated blue? I've noticed a blue tint on my Samsung 240 (TN) as well, and calibration doesn't get rid of it entirely.

Has anyone been able to calibrate the issue away? I'm using a Spyder 3.

I wouldn't worry about it. I've tried both the 24" and 27" and they can be calibrated quite easily and to a pleasing level.

They have slightly wider gamut than just sRGB, but it's not what I consider a big deal, and far less saturation than the wide gamut screens, so while colors pop a bit, they aren't super-saturated like the wide gamut modes of most modern LCDs with wide gamut back-lights.

With the 24" you need to watch out for back-light bleed.

Of course, it is not the "perfect" monitor, but you should be able to resolve the blue issue to relative satisfaction with calibration.

If you want true sRGB out-of-the-box, I suggest the NEC PA241W-BK set to sRGB emulation.

Pretty much.
 
Bought this monitor last week and since it was upgrade from neolithic 1280x1024 of course it's beautiful. Fortune smiled on me and I've found no dead pixels and can detect no backlight bleed at all. Usual panel lottery situation I guess.

But rather than having an issue with blue I'm seeing some garish, almost neon, purples and scarlets in games (like LotRO). Funny, my five year old Samsung 226CW had a similar issue but after a year or so the effect faded.

I turned the Red value down from 50 to 35 but if I turn it down further then regular red seems to fade away. I'm open to all suggestions on what settings are best for this monitor.

If I bought an inexpensive calibration tool (like X-Rite i1Display 2) would this alleviate the worse of the 'neon' but keep the bright reds?

I use this machine mostly for gaming and a very little digital video editing so not seeking perfection. But if for $125 of so I can optimize the image on this monitor (and the others I own) I'll get a calibration tool.

Thanks, Stanley.
 
Got my S24A850DW in today from Amazon. The box had been opened before, so I assume it was a return. Some light bleeding, not a hige issue for me as I program on it almost exclusively. But what is somewhat annoying, is the white background is perfectly white in the middle 1/3 of the screen, ever so slightly grayer on the right 1/3 of the screen (acceptable). But what may not be acceptable is the left 1/3 of the screen has two very, very light yellowish-brown color bands running from top to bottom (most of the left thrid of the screen has a "dirty" look to it. Has anyone else seen this? I'm going to work with the rest of the week and make a decision on returning it. It is not very noticable when you glance at the monitor, but staring at as you work, you notice it.

Text is very nice, much better looking than the Dell U2410 that I tried last year. The anti-glare coating they use is perfect for text work. Really like the monitor, although if I played movies on this thing it would have to go back for sure due to the backlight bleeding.

Has anyone seen any color banding issues I mentioned above?

Thanks,
Merv
 
Got my S24A850DW from Amazon as well. Yeah, backlight bleeding, nearly identical to all the pictures you all see about the S24A850 and backlight bleeding. At least it's consistent to a point.
Is the blacklight bleeding bothersome? Well, I'm not that sensitive to backlight bleeding, so it's fine, but it IS there.

Too bad I have a single stuck pixel. Or a dead green subpixel. It's not visible when it's red, blue, or purple (R255, G0, B255). Dunno if I should even bother exchanging it, especially when it's pretty much to the left bottom corner.

It did have flickering at the sides of the monitor at one point for like a good 5 minutes, but it subsided. Tried to reproduce it, wouldn't. Haven't seen the flickering for a good 30+ hours.

As for the color-banding, nope. Don't see it.
 
I just got this monitor today and there is no backlight bleed or dead pixels. There are two things I don't like though.
1. The monitor can't be lowered that much.
2. When trying to play xbox 360 with an dvi-hdmi cable, it stretches the 16:9 image to 16:10. This happens when I select 1080p. Other resolutions work fine(I get black bars). Any fix for this? I also saw on the review for this monitor that you can select 16:9 or screenfit. I don't see that option(it has auto/wide). It must not be available through dvi.
 
I think I'll just keep my 24 inch TN. There's minimal bleed and no dead pixels. This monitor game is too much right now.
 
Yeah, I wish it would go a tad lower myself, but it does go a little lower than my Dell 2405, which it is replacing. Text is great looking. Outside of the banding problem I mentioned earlier, an outstanding monitor for $500. I'm exchanging this one. I could live with some imperfections, but this dingy tan color that affects the left 1/3 of the screen is too much to take. Makes the screen look extremely "dirty" looking. The rest of the screen is incredible, just what I was looking for in a monitor to do code work on. Small backlight bleed in the lower RH corner, but nothing I couldn't live with. Colors are vibrant, makes my old 2405 look dull and lifeless.
 
So, how is gaming on this monitor?
Also I found this review where it says:
There is some noticeable contrast shift, which can, for example, make it appear that there is backlight bleed when viewing a black screen in a dark environment (there isn’t, as backlighting is impressively even with no visible bleed).

Huh?
 
Succinct review. I had my doubts being Samsung and the hype/lies they marketed with PVA. Sounds like a winner if they can get their QC under control.
 
Colors are vibrant, makes my old 2405 look dull and lifeless.

Do you think that's because the Samsung is superior, or is it the "freshness" of a new screen and possibly the harder AG coating on the Dell? Thanks.
 
Do you think that's because the Samsung is superior, or is it the "freshness" of a new screen and possibly the harder AG coating on the Dell? Thanks.
The Samsung is definitely superior to the Dells. Compared to the older Dells like the 2405 and 2407, the colors are more vibrant and the colors look better from the sides and top and bottom. Both are wide angle (178/178) monitors so you don't get that screen polarization you get with the cheaper 170/160 monitors where it looks almost black at some angles.

Text is great on the Samsung, but then again, I didn't have any problem with the look of the text on the older Dells like the 2405 (which is a PVA panel I think). I tried two of the new Dell U2410 IPS panels last year, and the AG coating was horrific, made the text almost sparkle (do they really think people can look at that for 10 hours a day??). Also bad color banding problems separate areas of link and green on the monitor on BOTH screens.

My problem with the Samsungs is Quality control. And I also have a BIG TIME beef with Whoever (Samsung or Amazon), slapping a second strip of packing tape on a returned monitor and send it out as new. The sent me a replacement monitor and it was a return as well, but fortunately, only a very, very minor light bleed in the lower RH corner is the only issue I can see with this screen. Not sure why it was returned, but the picture is great, I'm keeping this one. As a programmer that stares at text quite a bit of the day, I'm really happy with this new Samsung technology. I was a bit panicked last year when I thought IPS and aggressive AG coating was where everything was headed.

All I can say in this area is whoever you buy from, make SURE you understand their return policy (how many can you return, who pays for shipping). You have to know this if you are going to order one of these monitors, a lot of returns from what I have read here and other forums. But once you get a good one........sweet!
 
Thanks for the detailed feedback, mervpate. I believe you when you say the Samsuing is superior. However, I'm worried as to why Amazon is sending you returned monitors. That's a big issue for me as I have a bad allergy to common household cleaners which makes ordering a monitor online a potential disaster for my work station. If these were at a walk-in store I could easily see what's been returned by examining the box.

I spend a great deal of time looking at text and photo editing, so I think I'd appreciate the superior IQ of the Samsung from my TN.
 
Maybe you can specify that you will only take a brand new, unopened monitor? As far as telling if the monitor had been returned it was pretty easy to see the top layer of packing tape was thicker and didn't lineup perfectly with the lower layer of original tape. And it was easy to just lift it up slightly and see where it was cut before. I would think that these monitors would not have any cleaner on them. Most of the people that would return these are hard core technical people that would look at the picture and quickly pack it back up if it weren't up to snuff. Not sure what would go on at the warehouse, though.

I do want to add that there is some very slight backlight uniformity issues that is mentioned all over the forums here. At the bottom, just left of center is an ever so slightly clouding. And in other parts of the screen you can see traces of this. I mean it is VERY, VERY slight, my old Dell 2405 had worse uniformity issues than this, and it never bothered me. I think what I am trying to say if you are expecting a perfect monitor, you are going to be mildly disappointed. I don't think this new technology is "perfect", but it is the best I have seen in 20+ years of programming. Great text display, minimal uniformity issues. Great viewing angles, and vibrant, but not over-bearing, color from most angles. Easily the best monitor technology I have seen. About the only thing I would wish for in this monitor is full LED backlighting instead of edge lit (which is what I heard it is), and wished the stand would allow the monitor to drop a couple more inches. It is slightly lower than the Dell 2405, but wish it could go even lower like some monitors I have seen.

Even later update to my post: I had the brightness set at 48, when I raised the brightness level to the upper 50's, the uniformity issues become even less noticable. Really hard to even see them unless I turn it on a completely white background in a text editor and start looking for it, and even then very hard to see. A non-issue for me. This monitor is just absolutely superior to anything I have tried for programming work. I don't game much any more on a computer, and never watch movies on it, so I can't comment in those areas.
 
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Not exactly a win for Samsung if the best thing you can say about a $900 monitor is it makes a good coding and web browsing display. Hope they are already back at the drawing board as we speak.
 
$900? This is a $475 monitor, we are talking about the S24A850. Besides, if you code for a living and stare a white screen for 10+ hours a day, even $900 would be a bargain if it helps with the eye strain. But I also mentioned the colors are great and viewing angles are great, and the defects are minimal. I guess if you are movie buff and that's all you do on it, the light bleed might be an issue, but most people that buy non-glossy screens are doing it because they work on them. For just under $500 this is easily the best monitor I have ever used and I have used a ton of them over the past 20 years at work and at home.
 
So I have the Samsung S24A850DW and the Dell U2412M side by side.

AG Coating on the Dell... a non-issue. Yes, it's worse than the more common S-PVA AG coating, but as for how bad it is... eh, meh. Each to their own. But yes, it's pretty much the most aggressive AG Coating I've seen on a display of any kind. Does it really bother me? No. Can I see it bothering other people? Yes. It just depends on the tolerance of the "sparkle effect". It's just really noticeable on white backgrounds (versus mild AG Coating).

Backlight bleeding is no contest. The Dell has some bleeding (more towards the right side), but the Samsung is horrid by comparison.

I prefer the Dell's stand. Seems to be higher quality, while at the same time, taking less desk space. The Samsung's stand pretty much takes up probably twice the area of the U2412M. Also, the Dell can go lower by 2 inches. However, the Samsung can go higher by a good 3 inches.

As for which is preferable, I could be fine with either for now. I haven't fully calibrated the Dell one to my liking as of yet. Still need some brightness/gamma/contrast adjustments. Wish I could make this easier with a colorimeter.

I'll probably give an update 15 days later.

Edit: Input lag is about the same. For Eyefinity or Nvidia Surround, it depends. If you are mounting the monitors vertically, don't use the Samsung due to the thicker bottom bezel, where the Dell has fairly uniform bezels. If it's horizontal, either one works as they have fairly similar bezel sizes, although I'd probably give the edge to the Dell U2412M.
 
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Thanks. I'll probably be ordering one tonight. Yeah, the Samsung is $100 more, but it's worth it for me to get the superior AG coating due to huge amounts of text work.

BTW, my experience with Samsung monitors is that the bleed goes away for the most part. And at a brightness of 65 it's not noticeable on my T240HD. Best of luck with your copy. Hopefully it normalizes.
 
My monitor just arrived from Amazon. Chose the free shipping and it got here in three business days.The box looks mint. I guess I'll crack it open as soon as I can.
 
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