Review Samsung 226BW 22inch Widescreen LCD

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I purchased a Samsung 226BW 22-Inch Digital/Analog Widescreen LCD Monitor about late March 2007. Now I upgraded from a Viewsonic VX922 19-inch LCD which was an O.K. Monitor but it had some drawbacks. The back light would bleed through around the edges of the screen no adjustment for height.

System used with this Monitor

• Asus A8V Deluxe Motherboard
• AMD Athlon 64 3500+ running @ 2.7 Ghz
• 2 GB Corsair DDR400 PC3200 Ram
• Seagate 80GB UATA HDD
• WesternDigital 120GB UATA HDD
• eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra
• Cooler Master Extreme 600W Power Supply

Games played with 226BW

• Half-Life 2 Episode One
• Half-Life Lost Coast
• Doom 3 (yes, somewhat old now)
• F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
• Prey

Applications/Programs used on 226BW

• OpenOffice.org 2.2
• Corel Paint Shop Pro X
• Power DVD Deluxe version 7
• Firefox 2
• Thunderbird 2
• Opera 9.2
• Windows Media Player 11
• Winamp Pro 5.34
• iTunes

Well, anyway, the Samsung 226BW has a standard D-Sub 15 pin connection and a fast DVI-D connection for high resolution. Plus all the Samsung 6-series Widescreen LCD monitors are certified to meet Microsoft Vista's Premium standards. A good plus in my book since I am this close to upgrading to Vista, but not yet. The 226BW has Samsung's MagicColor to improve hue and saturation of colors. And I tell you the colors are beautiful, all 16.7 million of them. No dead pixels backlight bleeding problems or banding. It has exceptional clarity and makes the colors look natural. An ultra-fast 2ms response time (Gray to Gray) and a contrast ratio of 3000:1, this monitor is as crisp as they come. Movies are smooth not blurry, all my games play very vividly, without ghosting or any other unwanted artifacts that you would get with a lesser LCD. Now this Monitor has another of Samsung's proprietary Magic Technologies, MagicBright3.

MagicBright3 automatically optimizes brightness, contrast and gamma correction, based on the specific application. With a push of a button, users can easily switch between Text, Internet, Move, Game, Sports, Custom and Print View modes, to help ensure the best picture quality.

Now this is directly from Samsung, but I tell you, it works. You can pretty easily switch between modes depending on what application you are running. I have switched between Game and Text mode to see if there really was a difference when playing games such as Half Life 2 and Prey and have to say, there really is a difference. All these things can be done through MagicTune.

MagicTune is an easy-to-use, on-screen interface that allows users to use their mouse to control all of the Magic Technology picture adjustments from one place.

Again, directly from Samsung. This monitor was released to the public in February/March. But was only really available through on-line e-tailers. I got mine from Buy Dot Com for $320.00 U.S.. Plus there was a $30.00 U.S. Mail in rebate for the month of March 2007. The finish to this Monitor is a glossy Piano Black, very beautiful to look at. It does get smudges from hands/fingerprints very easily but once you have it positioned where you want it why would you want to handle it any more? Now one thing I thought was very thoughtful of Samsung was they include a wiping cloth to clean the screen with. It would be nice if the 226BW had a telescoping stand but where it sits on my desk I really don't need it. Others could feel that this is a necessity.

Now it is rumored that Samsung has panel issues. Samsung supposedly is outsourcing their Panels to two other companies. They are said to be Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), and the other AU Optronics (AUO). On the lower back of the monitor you will see the model number then either a letter A, C, or S (S is Samsung). The rumors state that the A, and C panels don't have the same screen quality of the S. I was delivered the “A” version, but I will say again, this Monitor looks great works great and I have no complaints as to which panel it may have. Well, not yet anyway. Maybe time will tell.

Technical Details are as follows:

Model number: 226BW
Viewable size: 22 inches
Pixel pitch: 0.282 millimeters
Brightness (typical): 300 cd/m2
Contrast ratio (typical): 1000:1 (DCR 3000:1)
Viewing angle (H/V): 160/160 degrees
Response time: 2ms
Horizontal frequency: 30-81 kHz
Vertical frequency: 56-75 Hz
Maximum resolution: 1680 x 1050
Maximum color: 16.7 million
Input video signal: Analog RGB, DVI
Sync type: Separate H/V, composite , SOG
Input connectors: 15pin D-sub, DVI-D
Plug and play: DDC 2B
USB powered hub option: No
Mac compatibility: Yes
On mode: 55 watt (maximum)
DPMS mode: less than 1 watt
Power type: Built-in
Multimedia speakers: No
Wall-mount: VESA 100 millimeter
TCO: No
Cabinet color: Black high glossy
Stand type: Simple swivel, tilt
Special features: MagicBright3, DVI (HDCP), Vista Premium certified
Dimensions (with stand): 20.3 x 16.6 x 8.6 inches/514.6 x 422 x 219.3 millimeters (WxHxD)
Dimensions (without stand): 23.9 x 6.2 x 19.2 inches/606 x 158 x 488 millimeters (WxHxD)
Weight: 10.8 pounds/4.9 kilograms

In closing, I have nothing but praise for this Monitor. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones as to the “A” panel.

I give the Samsung 226BW 22" WideScreen LCD Display 5 out of 5 OSNN Stars.