X-bit labs

Started by: alpha0ne | Date 08/13/07

Comments: 40 | Last Comment:  02/09/08

[1-20 | 21-26]

1. How can you review 22" LCD monitors yet omit the Viewsonic models ????

Without Viewsonic this roundup is not complete

2. Yeah. I have the Viewsonic Optiquest 22" model. I should have waited a little longer though. Waited for more to come out with HDCP and maybe displayport. Mine also has one dead pixel, but the motion is pretty smooth on Oblivion with an NVidia 8800 GTS 640MB.

3. Sheesh, I was looking for 22", specifically the BenQ FP222WH.
How would a normal consumer know if a monitor has RTC or not?
Take [url=http://us.lge.com/products/model/detail/computer%20products_lcd%20monitors_full%20line%20of%20lcd%20monitors_L206WTQ-BF.jhtml]this [/url] one for example.

oops

With TN matrix if response time is greater than 4 ms, there is no RTC.

Thanks for the reply.
I find it very hard to know the type of matrix a monitor use. The manufacturers doesn't list it on the specs anymore.
In addition, I'm coming from CRT land and don't know all the types and differences.

All 22" monitors are TN.
Other sizes -- if viewing angles are 170 degrees or less (mostly 160/160), it's TN. If angles are 178 degrees -- it's VA or IPS.
Also, image on TN matrix becomes noticeably darker if you look at it from below (http://www.behardware.com/articles/662-4/22-inch-lcd-monitors-the-second-coming.html, for example, or http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-testmethods_4.html#sect1).

4. Very good review, I was waiting for a half decent round up of all the 22 inch displays out.

I currently own the Samsung SyncMaster 225BW which I bought in December of 06. Its been a great display for me, I play Counter Strike Source on it, aswell as Need for Speed most wanted, CNC3, BF2142 etc. i've never had a problem with ghosting on it. So i'll have to disagree with your conclusion on the gaming side of it. Tho I know everyones eyes are different and to each his own. However i'm in my mid 20's so I don't really have poor eye sight. I 226BW came out shortly after I bought mine, and I hated the fact that the Stand was not the same and worse compared to the 225BW.

i've been very happy with this display so far, but I think i'm gonna want something bigger soon, Looking at the 27inch model from Samsung. Hope you guys do a review on the 24-27 inch models soon.

We will test some 23" and 24" soon.
27" Samsung 275T: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/xxl-monitors_5.html#sect0

5. good old 19inch crt does the job better then any of these LCD

haha you keep your 19' Crt, I went from a 21` CRT trinitron tube to my Samsung 225BW. And I wouldn't go back, The CRT was better for gaming and colour reproduction, but the LCD beats it in every other aspect. Beside the gaming which is fine on the LCD, and I don't really do any photoediting or graphically intense work, the choice was easy. Not to mention it good to have the CRT out of my bedroom cause it was dumping alot of heat into the room.

6. Thanks for the great reviews, as usual. It would be nice if you could provide the firmware version for the LG L226WTQ. The RTC error problem is supposed to have been fixed from firmware version 1.14. If the firmware on your sample monitor is 1.14 or later, it would show the problem is not yet fixed.

The service menu also shows the panel used in the monitor: LPL for LG-Philips and CMO for Chimei.

Here is how to enter the service menu:

Turn off your monitor.
Hold down the menu key on the monitor.
While holding the menu key, turn the monitor back on.
When the screen is on again, release the menu button, and then hit the menu button once.

Then scroll up using the minus button until the service menu appears

At the time of testing we didn't know about new 1.14 firmware, so we didn't check firmware version, but most probably it was 1.10 or older.

7. Great reviews, I would've liked to have the LG 226WA model included in this roundup, just for the sake of comparing it with the 226BW.

http://www.lge.com/products/model/detail/l226wa.jhtml

8. LOL. LG 22 incher is my current monitor and none of the problems described in this article exist.

Do you have issues against LG anyway?

Rated this article average. Lots of useless blah blah. Where are the GAMES?????????

haha was waiting for someone to post this, and have you done the testing to the extent and detail they have with similar equipment or this is all based on your vision?

XBit Labs is the gold standard regarding hardware reviews, and this applies to monitors. Where else can we find detailed objective data? Too many website have complacent, "fluff" reviews.

"LG 22 incher is my current monitor and none of the problems described in this article exist"

Firmware 1.14 or later, I guess?..

9. I have a Viewsonic VX2235WM and am sad that it was not included, because it puts all 7 of those to shame. I had a SyncMaster 226BW and it sucked! Gave it to my brother and got myself the VX2235!!!

10. As this article is Part 1, there are probably more monitors to be tested later.

Regarding the Samsung 226CW, the leftward shift of the color gamut shown in the preliminary test appears different from results obtained by LesNumeriques.com (DigitalVersus in English). See the gamut here for 226BW vs 226CW:

http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=36&mo1=224&p1=2104&ma2=36&mo2=232&p2=2156&ph=7

What could explain these differing results? There is no leftward shift in color gamut results for the 226CW on DigitalVersus. I also remember that when XBit Labs reviewed the Samsung 931C with wide gamut, there was the same color shift away from yellow. Could this be related to testing software?

Also, it should be noted that LG has already announced its own line of 22-inch monitors with wide gamut color: The L227W series:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news.htm#lg_l227wt

More information about the L227WT can be found on the FCC website, at this link:

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=151691&fcc_id='BEJL227WTS'

One can even download the User's Manual. I have done so and noted that there is a new feature called ARC which allows for hardware scaling of lower resolutions while keeping the correct aspect ratio.

The L227W series is about to be released. it would be nice if XBit labs could compare it to the Samsung 226CW

Delay compared to crt is also very different on the cw and bw models. Maybe its because the extra colors increase the amount of data needed to process for RTC?

11. about image scaling options, only Nvidia has that, ATI does NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT have this option although been cursed by million users after so many years; except for their mobility version.

You did not mention whether Samsung monitors have image scaling options.

He doesn't have to mention it was cleary stated in the review, all the current 22 TN's panels don't offer any kinda of 1:1 Pixel scaling.

with omega drivers, the laptop x1150 im using, theres an option to "not scale the image to panel size"

12. Great article - nuff said! Tell's it as it is -

13. what a monitor i wish i have this monitor
some time i see the 20" wow
http://free.core4.biz

14. Oleg,

I love you! Your reviews are the best not only on the X-bit labs site, but on the entire Internet. They are easy to read and easy to understand, and the amount of work and effort you put into your testing is simply astonishing. Your display articles, in particular, are like the Holy Bible of, uhm, "monitorism".

Thanks, and keep up the great work!

15. Excellent, interesting and informative, as always, Oleg. I'm anxiously awaiting part two.

16. When part II is coming ?
I hope soon :) and i'd like to see another review of LG's 226WTQ with the new firmware.
thx !!!

17. I don't know where you got these pictures, but I can't find the speaker bar for the Samsung 22" anywhere. Even Samsung has no clue!

18. Its a great monitor!!! My review: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12315

If you are a gamer you cant go wrong with this monitor. Just make sure you calibrate it.

Guns4Hire

19. What do the other parameters in the service menu stand for?
I somehow managed to increase the Hotplug Time and Panel Ch.No.

How do I get it back, what is the function of those?

20. Its unclear -- does the corrected firmware start at 1.14? Or is it "from" 1.14 as stated above - meaning if you have 1.14 you don't have the correction for RPC, etc..

In other words - iis 1.14 th magic number - or is higher than 1.14?

Also, while I have the floor, is the Phillips or CMO panel to be preferred?

I've got (paid 200 bucks at Frys) the L226WTQ-BFO.ausgofn (whatever that means)
at 1.14 (many thanks BernardP)

what you want to see on your monitor is v1.14 firmware or higher and an lg panel cause chimei (CMO) panels are usually of lower quality

[1-20 | 21-26]