Samsung SyncMaster 225BW 22"

S

Shaman

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
501
Anyone here using this monitor? Unlike the VX2235wm, everything I've read about the 225BW seems to indicate it uses a true 8-bit TN panel.

Specs:

Resolution: 1680x1050
Pixel Pitch: 0.282mm
Colors: 16.7M
Brightness: 280 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 700:1
Response Time: 5 ms (GTG)
Viewing Angles: 160/160
Connectors: D-Sub, DVI-D
Stand Adjustments: Height, Swivel & Tilt
Power Supply: Built-in (55W Consumption)
HDCP Support

$379.99 (Newegg)

Official Samsung site


Reviews:

Short-Media Sep 19
This unit has severe lightbleeding at the top and bottom, but it seems to be an isolated case. The reviewer wrongly states this monitor uses a S-MVA panel.

BCCHardware Jul 27
Looks strangely dark and washed out on the side-by-side pic with the FPD2185W, don't know what's going on there.

Newegg
Only 7 reviews so far, but they're all positive and none of the units reviewed had dead pixels.


This monitor looks sweet for someone that wants something bigger than 20"/21" without the performance hit of a higher resolution and doesn't need video or component connectors, or speakers for that matter. The speakers in the 215TW kill it's looks IMHO. This one is just stunningly simplistic, in gray or black.Only downsides I can see are the slightly larger than usual pixel pitch and the 160/160 viewing angles, wich if you don't sit too close to the screen and don't move around all the time shouldn't be a big issue.


So if anyone is already using one of these or tried one, post your impressions, comments, mini-reviews, pics or anything please! I'll start... :cool:


samsung225bwzc7.jpg
 
I thinnk its a great deal, but from the reviews I'm having doubts now. There are also 22" offerings from Acer and Chei Mei....
 
The samsung is the only one that uses the Samsung panel. the other 3 all use the Chei Mei panel.

I think the Samsung is still 6 bit though since it is TN. I am not aware of a TN that is 8 bit yet but i coudl be wrong.
 
Since all of the new 22" ws panels are selling at or below 20" prices I have to believe that all of them are using 6-bit TN panels. I was hoping the Sammy would be at least an 8-bit for a decent price but it doesn't look like that is the case.. (the tip-off is the pixel pitch/brightness and the 5ms response time)
 
joemama said:
Since all of the new 22" ws panels are selling at or below 20" prices I have to believe that all of them are using 6-bit TN panels. I was hoping the Sammy would be at least an 8-bit for a decent price but it doesn't look like that is the case.. (the tip-off is the pixel pitch/brightness and the 5ms response time)
Click to expand...
There is no doubt the other two 22" monitors are 6-bit because they're being advertised as 16.2M colors. About this Samsung no one really knows, no other monitor is using the same panel as the 225BW. This monitor so badly needs a pro review...

How can you tell it's 6-bit just by the size of the pixel pitch? You assume it's 6-bit just because the other monitors have similar brightness and response time? Keep in mind they are using different panels.
 
Shaman said:
There is no doubt the other two 22" monitors are 6-bit because they're being advertised as 16.2M colors. About this Samsung no one really knows, no other monitor is using the same panel as the 225BW. This monitor so badly needs a pro review...

How can you tell it's 6-bit just by the size of the pixel pitch? You assume it's 6-bit just because the other monitors have similar brightness and response time? Keep in mind they are using different panels.
Click to expand...

If samsung is using their own 22" LCD Panel than it might be 8bit as they have 8bit TN offerings.
 
Shottah_king said:
If samsung is using their own 22" LCD Panel than it might be 8bit as they have 8bit TN offerings.
Click to expand...
I hope you are right because if you are then that is a very attarctive price point for a 22" widescreen. Dithering to achieve 16.7m colors just doesn't sit well with me..
 
I was at CompUSA today and seem this monitor. It looks good for sure and I am in the market for a monitor. The specs the salesman gave me was a 16.2m and I did not know it is 16.7m on Samsungs site or otherwise I would have asked him who was right. Anyone know CompUSA's return policy? I might be willing to give it a shot.
 
I was messing around with this monitor and compared it to the 215TW at Fry's. It's not a bad monitor, very bright and clear text, bigger screen of course. The only thing I didnt like is that it lack inputs and bad viewing angle compared to the 215TW. But the price is lower and probably ideal for gamer with lower response time. But it's not a all around type of monitor because of the basic inputs and no PiP.
 
Would the .282 pixel pitch be an issue and make pictures and games seem not a sharp?
 
I tried out this monitor last week, overall good color and text. I do think it is a TN panel though. But the killer for me on this monitor was BAD backlight bleed across the middle top and middle bottom of the screen. I hoped the first one was a fluke but I exchanged it 3 times and they all had the bleed in the same place. I just gave up and returned it, must be a design issue. If it wasn't for the backlight bleed, it would be a great gaming monitor for the money.
 
kreidel said:
Would the .282 pixel pitch be an issue and make pictures and games seem not a sharp?
Click to expand...

19inchers have a .29 dot pitch and they still make great panels. So no the dot pitch in this case isnt' that important. Finding out if the monitor can display 16.7mil colors is a lot more important because it affects the overall image quality of the monitor.
 
dahman said:
I tried out this monitor last week, overall good color and text. I do think it is a TN panel though. But the killer for me on this monitor was BAD backlight bleed across the middle top and middle bottom of the screen. I hoped the first one was a fluke but I exchanged it 3 times and they all had the bleed in the same place. I just gave up and returned it, must be a design issue. If it wasn't for the backlight bleed, it would be a great gaming monitor for the money.
Click to expand...
That sounds bad and exactly like the monitor at the Short-Media review link that I posted in the 1st post. If you go there you'll see a pic of lightbleed with a black background, it must be exactly what you experienced.

There seems to be a bad batch of 225BW's around, because not all of them have lightbleeding. I've seen some reviews in chinese sites and they all had a very uniform dark background. Also no one mentions lightbleed on the 7 newegg reviews.
 
I just looked at the review you mentioned above and your right, the 3 I tried had the exact same bleed. I might go and pick up another one now and see if it is any better. Its good to hear some of the panels have good backlight.
 
Two more positive reviews at newegg. Now if only those guys took some pics and came here with a mini review... :p
 
Here's a review in chinese translated by google. It's in funny english but you can make some sense out of it and understand the monitor is very good overall with great colors and gradients and is plenty fast for games.

225BW Review
 
I'll have a review up either Sunday evening or Monday afternoon with a bunch of pics. If anyone wants me to use some gradients, post specific ones.

So far, great monitor especially for the price.
 
Shottah_king is correct 0.282 pixel pitch is only the same as a 19" monitor see TFT Central Resolution

SM225BW
22” widescreen monitor with a height-adjustable stand.

lack ogf PIP is a downside but assuming as sharman says
Display Color 8 bit color (16.7M)
Click to expand...

& Samsung SyncMaster 225BW LCD Monitor
could not find much information on the panel used in the 225BW but there is really only one 22" 5ms model on the market today: the Chi Mei Optoelectronics S-MVA panel (P/N: M220Z1-L01). This is the same panel used in the ViewSonic VX2235WM and the Acer AL2216WBD. S-MVA technology was actually developed by Chi Mei Optoelectronics and offers 8-bit color depth, wide viewing angles and high contrast ratios
Click to expand...

look forward to your review Chris. thanks 4 the WSGF link :D
 
Circuit City has these on sale this week for $399, just relaying the information.

I was so ready to jump on this deal when I saw it in the Sunday paper I just got a few minutes ago, then I read that it's just 1680x1050 and stopped cold. For a 22" LCD, I'd expect 1920x1200 at the bare minimum, but I guess this isn't the one I want. :(
 
well I bought one and brought it home and the backlight bleed is very bad. I have about an inch of bleed at the top and bottom. Its very noticable on even a darker background much less a black one.

Strange thing is I was aware of the complaints of an earlier poster and Compusa had the display on a computer instead of their monitor farm so I put up a balck background on the display and it did not show any blacklight bleed.

I can deal with some bleed but this isnt useable. I am going to take it back and try one more if that one is the same way I am going to get my money back and wait for something else.

*edit* after reading the widescreen gaming forum review and him seeing the same backlight bleed I am considering just returning it and waiting for something else.
 
I saw a user review pic of the bleeding and the bleeding associated with the 225b is normal for LCDs. Of course some LCDs have better control over this problem but the majority of all panels suffer some form of back light bleed through.
 
Yea it's hard to test out backlight bleeding at the store. But honestly no lcd is perfect. This is a good monitor I would have gotten it if it had more inputs.
 
Shottah_king said:
I saw a user review pic of the bleeding and the bleeding associated with the 225b is normal for LCDs. Of course some LCDs have better control over this problem but the majority of all panels suffer some form of back light bleed through.
Click to expand...

I looked at the pic over there at widescreen gaming and the one I have is a lot worse than that. I think I could deal with that much bleed.
 
Will be posting a Review tomorrow evening most likely. Purchased 2 of em, gave one to my pops, set his up yesterday (looked extremely good with out of box settings) & just opened mine today. There's a 3 inch streak down the middle of the screen (looks like it might've been caused by poor handling at BestBuy) so i'm going to exchange it tomorrow and then snap some photos/run tests.
 
Samsung never gets their site info correct, they have the 205BW as .285 pixel pitch when its .258. The back light bleed is the only thing standing in my way of this one, and there is some competetion on the way so the price should hit $350 soon and the contrast should reach 1000:1 instead of the 700:1 right now. I expect to see some small upgrades on the 205BW and the 225BW in those respect but thats just pure speculation. But on Samsungs website the have both of the LCD panels rated at 1000:1. Its between the 205BW and the 225BW for me I'm just not pulling the trigger for a few weeks.
 
how is the 160/160 viewing angle bad? Isnt the higher the better? Whats a good viewing angle if u are far from the monitor and a bit lower then the monitor.
 
I went through all 57 Samsung international sites and the 225BW is only listed in these countries:

Belgium
Canada
China
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Russia
Singapore
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Uzbekistan

Only Denmark and Sweden list the monitor as being a PVA panel with 0.27 pixel pitch 1000:1 contrast, 178º/178º and 8ms.

So either Samsung has a new 22" PVA panel out or the danish and swedish webmasters made the specs page after a night of heavy drinking.

I'm guessing the latter.
 
Yes I saw the specs are the same as the 215TW, but I hadn't noticed the video imputs. I'm suprised they got the '22"' right. :p
 
I was at Compusa again today and the saleman I spoke with said alot of people have asked about the Samsung 225BW and whether it is a 6-Bit or a true 8-Bit. He said that their store talked with a rep for Samsung and verified it is indeed there new 8-bit panel in this monitor. But this is from a salesman of course.
 
well I took mine back today and exchanged it. I can say the bleed is much much better on the new one out of the box.

I havent had time to really use the montitor that much but from first impressions with the new one it seems to be pretty good.
 
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