Blog FeedWider Pastures - The Samsung 2253BW
The past few years have seen me computing on a 17″ LCD from BenQ. It was priced reasonably and for the day it’s 8ms response time meant that it was a decent choice for gaming. Being a budget brand though, it had it’s fair share of problems - it’s viewing angles were terrible, the substandard contrast and colour reproduction meant the images were not fantastic, and most annoyingly for me was the incredibly uneven backlight.
As time progressed, I got used to the nuances of the BenQ, but at the same time I’ve grown more and more aware of the move to widescreen formats. Previously not very well supported by many games, this is now no longer the case. Seeing all of Blizzard’s StarCraft II demos in widescreen format, I knew I’d have to make sure I was able to play it that way by the time it was out. So, I got myself a new monitor.
Whilst scanning the web over the last few months to research potential candidates, the Samsung 226BW showed itself to be the frontrunner amongst many forumers. Whilst there was some controversy surrounding the different panel variants sold under the same monitor model, the general consensus showed this screen to be the best for those willing to spend a bit more than what the cheaper brands could offer. However, by the time I was ready to get one two weeks ago, it had effectively been superceded by a newer model - the 2253BW. Similar specs, slightly different bezel and a different stand (still no height adjust). The best part though is that the 2253BW’s entry price point was lower than the 226BW was going for at the time - in fact, my purchase proved to be less than that of my old 17″ BenQ. How times have changed.
The first thing I will say is, the 2253BW is not perfect. It uses a TN panel, which is a type of LCD panel which by nature cannot reproduce colours perfectly - instead using algorithms to mimic the colours it can’t produce. Alternative panel types can reproduce all the colours needed, and with better viewing angles, but at a cost of speed. For gamers, the drastically better response times of a TN panel are typically more important - plus they’re cheaper. Unless you like editing photos, making graphics, or websites, then TN is generally the way to go.
Getting the colours right on the 2253BW took me a while, but to speed up the process for any of you who may get one, here are a couple of tips. Firstly, don’t bother using the MagicTune or Natural Color software that comes with the screen. These can make the colours on the screen appear more vibrant, but at a cost of accuracy. It was a week of fiddling before I finally uninstalled MagicTune, and only now am I generally satisfied with the colour accuracy of the screen. Even then, it’s certainly no CRT, but that’s to be expected. Secondly, don’t spend too long in a single sitting fiddling with the buttons on the monitor - it played havoc with my wrists. In a perfect example of form over function, the buttons for the screen are all hidden on the underside of the bezel. To press them, your fingers need to slide under the transparent plastic fitting and then up behind it to touch the buttons. It’s an attractive, minimal arrangement which does mean the power light is rather fancily reflected, but as far as usability goes it’s a disaster.
The viewing angles are distinctly better than other LCDs I have used, but the vertical angles could still be better. I can sit with my head 60cm from the screen and not notice any real degradation around the edges. This compares to my friend’s 22in Chimei 221D, on which you could see distinct yellow discolouration on the sides even when just sitting normally in front of it. With the 2253BW, it actually takes a bit of movement to see this discolouration, and even then it’s not as pronounced. I won’t bother telling you how it compares to my old BenQ. It’s just no contest there.
Backlight bleeding on my screen is particularly noticable at the top when playing dark movies (usually letterboxed slightly). Other 2253 owners I have read about have had various results with this, some getting it worse than others. It’s not a big issue for me, as I can’t notice it under any other circumstances. The backlighting itself is also still slightly uneven. It is much better than the BenQ, and is definitely within my realm of acceptability, but I certainly can’t wait until LED backlights become the norm on all LCD screens - the uniformity they bring looks to be truly worth it.
Since I got the monitor I’ve already seen a shift in the way I operate on the computer. Using full screen is now for movies and games only. The extra room does wonders for just general web viewing and chatting, with the IM contact list no longer taking up valuable browser window space when docked. In fact, it no longer needs to be docked - there’s so much room it just floats around on the side, completely out of the way.
Civilization 4 benefits greatly from the extra room. Just being able to see more around your cities and active units greatly assists with decision making. I did also give UT2004 a whirl to see how the screen does on an FPS. I haven’t tried more demanding games like Team Fortress 2 yet, but given that TF2 only runs OK-ish on medium detail on the smaller BenQ screen, I think I may be in over my head trying to run at even higher a resolution. Unfortunately the other games I’ve been playing again lately - StarCraft and WarCraft 3 - both don’t support widescreen resolutions (or in StarCraft’s case, any resolutions but 640×480). Thankfully Nvidia’s control panel means I can still play these games in their correct aspect ratio, a feature sorely missing from ATI’s drivers last time I checked a month ago.
I just now realised I haven’t made mention of ghosting or dead pixels - I guess that’s because I’ve not noticed any of either. For most people I would imagine these will similarly be non-issues. All in all, the Samsung 2253BW is a solid product on it’s own. The real killer though is the price - a year ago you’d be paying more for a much dodgier 22in screen, from a more questionable manufacturer. Now I just need to get my hands on a new PC that can power it properly.