StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The conclusion to my today’s tests is not an encouraging one. There is none among the half a dozen 22” monitors I have tested that does not have this or that serious drawback.

First of all, monitors with this screen diagonal are currently produced with TN matrixes only. It means that if you want a monitor with really large viewing angles you’ll have to consider 20-21” or 23-24” models.

Secondly, all the manufacturers released 22” monitors without response time compensation at first (monitors with this screen diagonal have appeared but recently, so the tested monitors mostly belong to the first wave of such products). They have a specified response time of 5 milliseconds as measured according to the ISO 13406-2 standard, i.e. on a black-white transition. Such matrixes are actually not very fast and have an average response of 15-17 milliseconds with a maximum of over 30 milliseconds. This makes them less suitable for dynamic games.

And finally, all the tested models have gross problems with color reproduction setup. TN matrixes are not actually meant for professional work with images, yet I think a home monitor must deliver true-to-life colors instead of queerly shaped gamma curves and a color temperature dispersion of 2000-3000K.

These drawbacks may be corrected in later revisions of the reviewed models and there’ll be leaders and outsiders then, but so far I have to confess that none of them is free from defects.

Choosing from the available products, the Dell E228WFP and Samsung SyncMaster 225BW look best among RTC-less models (such models are limited to text processing tasks and suit but poorly for games). They are neat and nice-looking, with convenient ergonomics and acceptable setup quality.

If you want to have a home monitor capable of handling dynamic games, you may want to consider the two models on fast matrixes, LG Flatron L226WTQ and Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. The former might be called the leader among the two if it were not for its high level of RTC errors. Its excellent speed is accompanied with strong visual artifacts you can easily see not only in games but also at everyday work. The SyncMaster 226BW has a worse color reproduction setup but it can be corrected more or less successfully by tweaking the settings of the monitor and graphics card whereas the problem with strong RTC artifacts cannot be solved. That’s why the model from Samsung is preferable to the Flatron.

InnocentBystander wrote:My roommate has an Acer AL2223Wd; I can't find any fault with it, and its very cheap (~$250).

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:

InnocentBystander wrote:My roommate has an Acer AL2223Wd; I can't find any fault with it, and its very cheap (~$250).

I'm reading this on that exact model, and it's a fantastic monitor.

Uraniun235 wrote:Yeah, when I looked into getting my LCD monitor I thought at first I'd want a 22", but I decided to go with a 20" and I've been really happy with it.

Stark wrote:I worry about you sometimes.

That Acer looks kind of naff statwise: 5ms response, 300cd, 800:1 contrast. Sure it's cheap, but it has BUILT IN SPEAKERS, urgh. Is it an older model?

Enigma wrote:

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:

InnocentBystander wrote:My roommate has an Acer AL2223Wd; I can't find any fault with it, and its very cheap (~$250).

I'm reading this on that exact model, and it's a fantastic monitor.

Same here but I have a question. Is it HD compatible?

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:It has 1 DVI and 1 VGA connector, so it's not really setup to be used as a PC monitor and HDTV simultaneously unless you're using your PC as your TV like me, or you hook up the PC via VGA and use an HDMI->DVI converter for your calbe box / DVD player / whatever.

Stark wrote:Why would Samsung be 'twats' when they have a ZERO-DEAD PIXEL WARRANTY? Even Nintendo lets you return DS's with dead pixels: my sister went through three before she got one she liked. Try reading warranties, eh?

That monitor looks like the same 226C/BW 22", with slightly worse contrast. Is it just the UK version, or is it a newer model?

Enigma wrote:

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:It has 1 DVI and 1 VGA connector, so it's not really setup to be used as a PC monitor and HDTV simultaneously unless you're using your PC as your TV like me, or you hook up the PC via VGA and use an HDMI->DVI converter for your calbe box / DVD player / whatever.

I was thinking more of the way of watching HD movies, whether this monitor is capable of utilizing HD because according to the monitor setup, if the monitor isn't HD compatible and I play a HD movie I could screw it up. But I do not know whether this monitor is HD compatible.

EDIT: Nevermind, the monitor is HD compatible(HDCP).

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:<snip>HDCP stands for High Definition Content Protection, not HD compatible. Anything that can display an HD image is "HD compatible", so I assumed you were talking about having the right inputs to hook up an HD player.

Enigma wrote:

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:<snip>HDCP stands for High Definition Content Protection, not HD compatible. Anything that can display an HD image is "HD compatible", so I assumed you were talking about having the right inputs to hook up an HD player.

More like will it display HD content in HD or will it mess up the monitor.

Enigma wrote:I've got another question about my monitor. Is it necessary to have both DVI and VGA plugged into the computer or is DVI good enough?

phongn wrote:

Enigma wrote:I've got another question about my monitor. Is it necessary to have both DVI and VGA plugged into the computer or is DVI good enough?

Just DVI.

Stark wrote:Since people just told you it will accept 720p and maybe 1080p, why do you even have to ask? You'll need a VGA cable which will look like poo, though. Some monitors (usually 24"+) come with a full set of inputs (VGA, HDMI, YbPr, etc) rather than just the two traditional computer inputs so they'd be easier.

And 'share'? You mean use on both at once? *WHY*?