Monitor Opinions - Anyone have the Samsung SM215TW?

[BrianS]

Hi,

I'm looking for a new/second monitor 20-22" (24" is a little out of my budget at the moment)... It's going to be used for:

Gaming: So it needs to have little to none ghosting on PC Games & XBOX360
Design: Not print, web - but it still needs to have reasonably accurate colours
Programming: Crisp text that won't kill your eyes after staring at it for 8+ hours in a row.

Most seem to either do one of these (Gaming, TN) or the other (Design, None-TN 8bit) well but not usually both.

I've seen some good reviews on the Samsung 21" SM215TW None-TN screen - does anyone have one? It would be great if somebody could give their own personal experiences with it... or suggest an alternative (I had the 2007WFP but it couldn't keep up in fps)

Thanks!

EDIT: As an update, I just bought the Samsung 215TW (it was on offer for £200 shipped), but I have until monday to cancel it, so if anyone has any reasons why it might be no good please let me know! Thanks again.

[Ciber]

Try to get an S-PVA panel if you can, my 275T is S-PVA and it's very nice indeed, works very very nicely for games.

[BrianS]

Thanks for the reply. I believe the 215TW is an S-PVA panel, well, according to the extended specs on the Samsung site it is.

[CooperXS]

Samsung 215TW may have an input lag. Strange that Dell doesn't fit you quite well. I have one and it's great in counter-strike. Response time on Samsung ain't that good either.

[arizonagroove]

My monitor requirements are pretty much the same as yours only minus the Xbox.

Where did you find the Samsung for £200 shipped? I looked at it recently and cheapest I found was @ £240+shipping. I'm pretty sure that was dabs but looking now they don't list it.

There is a lot of talk around about the monitor having 'input lag'. Stick '215tw input lag' in to Google. There's a description of the concept and link a good article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input_lag Mind you there's also people saying 'I have a 215tw - what input lag?' (It's amazing how much opinions differ, The Dell E228wfp has very good reviews every where I've seen, including one place that says 'the best image quality of the 22" LCDs, yet I found a forum somewhere where someone says they had looked at the monitor then decided not to get it as apparently it's rubbish.

I've been considering the Dell W2007wfp, having decided that a 22" may be a bit too large for my desk and having the spare cash to play with thinking maybe I'd got for a higher spec than the typical 20". What do you mean when you say it couldn't keep up in FPS?

[CooperXS]

All 22" LCDs including mentioned Dell use TN panel with all the disadvantages this technology has.

[BrianS]

Where did you find the Samsung for £200 shipped? I looked at it recently and cheapest I found was @ £240+shipping. I'm pretty sure that was dabs but looking now they don't list it.

I got it at eBuyer, it was £199.99 shipped but they seem to have increased the price again now to £221.89 shipped.

I did read tons of threads about it, some people complaining about input lag but most not. If it does have annoying amounts since I got it at such a cheap price hopefully I'll be able to sell it at the same price to somebody else.

I've been considering the Dell W2007wfp, having decided that a 22" may be a bit too large for my desk and having the spare cash to play with thinking maybe I'd got for a higher spec than the typical 20". What do you mean when you say it couldn't keep up in FPS?

In games like Doom3, Quake4 and Colin McRae: DiRT there seemed to be an quite a lot of ghosting, also I wasn't overly impressed with the black/grays in dark areas even after fine tuning.

I had also tried the Dell E228wfp/Samsung 226BW/HP w2207 (22" TN LCDs) - out of all of them I preferred the HP but the viewing angles and bad colours on the TN Panel was a major put-off.

Anyway thanks for the replies, I think I'll just stick with this for now and sell it on if I don't like it, should be delivered on Wednesday. I'll post my personal opinions when it gets here if you or anyone else is interested...

[CooperXS]

I think you had Dell 2007WFP with PVA panel. They usually suffer in dark colors and not so fast as S-IPS are. Hopefully you will like your new screen better

[BrianS]

I think... I'm sending it back and trying to get a refund. It's so annoying, the screen is great - didn't notice any ghosting in games, excellent colours, no banding, etc.

ONE big problem though, the matte has an grainy texture on it so everything looks really grainy on the screen. Apart from that it would have been perfect but it's very off-putting. The screen on my cheapo 19" TFT sitting next to it looks MUCH less grainy in comparison. I really don't know how none of the "10/10" reviews didn't notice/point this problem out, it's right there, in your face the second you turn it on.

[CooperXS]

If that grainy texture looks like screen is sorta wet then panel is S-IPS.
Well...every panel has its disadvantages...it's always a compromise.

I have the same and tbh this doesn't bother me at all.

[BrianS]

Yeah that's what it is, I'll try to post a picture tomorrow when I get home then I'd appreciate your opinion (if it's like yours).

After working on it for a few hours I barely notice it now so perhaps I will keep it after-all. Doing a full day work on it tomorrow (8-9 hours) then I'll see if I still like it.

[CooperXS]

You can see this only on light colors and is notable only on static pictures.
Also other way to detect if it's a S-IPS panel is to watch on black colors from the side. Black turns into blue.