Upgrade from Samsung SM226BW 22"

Lonz

Lonz

Lonz

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I'm getting the upgrade bug, and I'm already thinking of upgrading a few of my components. 8800GTX to a 5870 or similar, and adding an SSD.

I've currently got a Samsung SM226BW 22" and was wondering whether there's anything siginificantly better going out there. I wouldn't mind a 24", but I'm relatively happy with the size of the 22" if there are better panels going.

I've had a quick search on here and found that LEDs are obviously the new technology going, but I'm pretty certain the pixels aren't individually LED backlit, which I'm sure adds to the clarity and sharpness that they offer. I've seen the Apple 24" LED Cinema displays and as faqr as I'm aware, they're the cloesst thing to the TV's technology you can get at the moment, but they're very expensive compared to other 24" monitors out there and more importantly, they only allow to connect compatible Apples to them, so they're out of the question. However something of similar quality would be lovely.

Do the £150-200 range of LED monitors offer a similar experience? Someone on here mentioned a Samsung XL2370 (thought slightly more expensive than what seems to be the average at the moment) being of similar ilk to the Apple, is that true?

It will mainly be used for we browsing/word processing, gaming, and now ever growingly, some photography work, so the right colour reproduction is going to be very important.

Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome.
 
output lag still is one of the best 226bw i have same monitor. monitor industry is very slow atm for some reason.

there is few good monitors but still compared to bw have big output lag.

so i would say stick with it for a while
 
Lonz said:
I'm getting the upgrade bug, and I'm already thinking of upgrading a few of my components. 8800GTX to a 5870 or similar, and adding an SSD.

I've currently got a Samsung SM226BW 22" and was wondering whether there's anything siginificantly better going out there. I wouldn't mind a 24", but I'm relatively happy with the size of the 22" if there are better panels going.

I've had a quick search on here and found that LEDs are obviously the new technology going, but I'm pretty certain the pixels aren't individually LED backlit, which I'm sure adds to the clarity and sharpness that they offer. I've seen the Apple 24" LED Cinema displays and as faqr as I'm aware, they're the cloesst thing to the TV's technology you can get at the moment, but they're very expensive compared to other 24" monitors out there and more importantly, they only allow to connect compatible Apples to them, so they're out of the question. However something of similar quality would be lovely.

Do the £150-200 range of LED monitors offer a similar experience? Someone on here mentioned a Samsung XL2370 (thought slightly more expensive than what seems to be the average at the moment) being of similar ilk to the Apple, is that true?

It will mainly be used for we browsing/word processing, gaming, and now ever growingly, some photography work, so the right colour reproduction is going to be very important.

Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome.
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Lonz that could have been me as I'm an outspoken fan of the XL2370. I think it's a fabulous monitor, although in terms of colour accuracy and viewing angles the Apple Cinema displays are certainly superior due largely to the IPS technology. The colours and image in general on the XL2370 has a certain punch to it - this is due partly to the exceptional brightness of the screen. I recorded a 440cd/m2 peak luminance which far exceeded the stated typical luminance of the display and is very bright for a 23 inch display. The colours were also very impressive, showing good range and smooth gradients - dithering was not a problem as it is with some cheaper TN panels.

Samsung are releasing a new 'BX50' series of LED monitors that come in a range of sizes and pricetags. This should also drag down the price of the XL2370 and PX2370 further, making them more attractive options. I do agree that the price of the panels is currently slightly prohibitive. You can read about the BX50 series on my website, although they are essentially similar to Samsung's previous LED-backlit offerings.
 
It could well have been you! Ha! So I'm getting the impression I should stay put for the time being? It's a shame there aren't any places you can see the monitors in action. Even the purple shirts don't seem to sell them, so I'm really just going off people's recommendations.
 
psychas said:
output lag still is one of the best 226bw i have same monitor. monitor industry is very slow atm for some reason.

there is few good monitors but still compared to bw have big output lag.

so i would say stick with it for a while
Click to expand...

Hopefully OLEDs will come sooner rather than later. I also have the 226BW and can't find anything that's worth the upgrade so far.
 
OLED monitors are certainly worth waiting for. I wish they'd hurry up and arrive too. :D
 
I am in the same position but I like the look of the samsung 24" and they are around £160-£170 it's not so bad may as well go to a cheap 24" until much better tech comes along.I think I paid much more than the current 24" prices for my 226bw.
 
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Appologies for hijacking the thread but my question kind of relates to this monitor!

I bought a 226bw a few years ago and have been very happy with it. I would now like to buy a 2nd monitor. The way I see it I have 2 options:
1) Get a bigger monitor as my main monitor
2) Get a similar sized monitor as my main monitor

As has been pointed out in this thread there aren't really many monitors out there that are much better than the 226bw and I'm fairly happy with 22". Also I see that with the new Graphics cards it's possible to hook up 3 monitors for gaming.

Therefore I think it makes sense for me to get another 22" so that one day I might be able to try out the 3 monitors if I ever wanted to.

Since I have been happy with the 226bw, I would like to get another Samsung. Seeing as the 2 monitors will be sitting side by side, ideally I would like the new monitor to look similar to the 226bw. Does anyone know which 22" Samsung is the most similar to the 226bw in terms of looks and performance?

Thanks!
 
Moved from a 226 BW to a 2443 BW. Enjoying the size jump, although I think the colours were better (a bit) on the 226. Not sure if the latest Sammy monitors are even better than mine, but I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever - 1900 x 1200 gaming and general use goodness :D
 
I actually did think of getting a 2nd 226bw but they're pretty old now and they're not in stock anywhere, I even tried e-bay. Do you know of someplace that might stock them?

The 2443 BW does seem nice, but I'm getting an ATI 5870 card next week that supports eyefinity, so I would like to keep my monitors the same size so that one day I could try that out if I ever got a 3rd monitor! Plus of course 22" are dirt cheap now and I could pretty much get 2 x 22" for the same price as a 24"!
 
Remember that Samsung used three different panel types, Samsung's own being the best, followed by the AU Optronics and and then the Chi-Mei one. You don't have a guarantee if you pick another one up it will be the same panel.
 
Monkeynut said:
Remember that Samsung used three different panel types, Samsung's own being the best, followed by the AU Optronics and and then the Chi-Mei one. You don't have a guarantee if you pick another one up it will be the same panel.
Click to expand...
Yea true but it was so overblown that whole affair with a bit of calibration the other revisions were virtually identical not hard seeing as it's a tn film.
 
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