Samsung 24 Inch LCD Showdown - 245T vs. 245B
Product(s): Samsung 245T 24" Widescreen LCD
Provided By: Samsung
Price: Check Latest Price
Product(s): Samsung 245B 24" Widescreen LCD
Provided By: BCCHardware
Price:
Introduction:
Today we are going to take a look at a couple monitors from Samsung, the SyncMaster 245B and SyncMaster 245T, both of which are 24" Widescreen LCD's. Both of these monitors are very similar, however before we even begin I need to point out a couple major things, first of all, the price. The Samsung 245B retails for approximately $385 USD and the 245T retails for approximately $670 USD, so right off the bat we've got a significant price difference. Why such a price difference? Well, the 245T features options such as HDMI and Component inputs, USB Ports,. Picture-in-Picture, as well as it boasts a higher-end LCD panel (S-PVA-Panel) . The Samsung 245B is more of an economical model from Samsung, it doesn't feature any additional inputs like the 245T does, as well as the 245B uses a TN-panel for its LCD. We'll go more into the details of each of these monitors later on in the review.
Now that I've mentioned that these monitors use 2 different LCD panels (TN-Panel and S-PVA Panel), I'm sure the majority of our readers are confused already, and before we go any further I'll try to explain with the help of wikipedia. You can read the entire article over here at wikipedia, but I'll take some quotes from the full article to help explain the differences. This will probably not make much sense to most people out there, however if you're in the market for a new LCD you've probably heard the TN vs. S-Panel debate, and this article is a good starting point in helping you know the difference between panels that LCD-makers use.
PVA (S-PVA)
PVA (patterned vertical alignment) and S-PVA (super patterned vertical alignment) are alternative versions of MVA technology offered by Samsung. Developed independently, they offer similar features to MVA, but with higher contrast ratios of up to 3000:1. Less expensive PVA panels often use dithering and FRC, while S-PVA panels all use at least 8-bit color and do not use kkkkk color simulation methods. Some newer S-PVA panels offered by Eizo offer 10-bit color internally, which enables gamma and other corrections with reduced banding. PVA and S-PVA offer good black depth and wide viewing angles and S-PVA also offers fast response times using modern RTC technologies.
TN + film
The TN display suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. Many use 6, instead of 8, bits per color, and are consequently unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit truecolor) available from modern graphics cards. These panels can display interpolated 24-bit color using a dithering method which combines adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade. They can also use FRC (Frame Rate Control), which quickly cycles pixels over time to simulate a given shade. These color simulation methods are noticeable to most people and bothersome to some. FRC tends to be most noticeable in darker tones, while dithering appears to make the individual pixels of the LCD visible. Overall, color reproduction and linearity on TN panels is poor. Shortcomings in display color gamut (often referred to as a percentage of the NTSC 1953 color gamut) are also due to backlighting technology. It is not uncommon for displays with CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps)-based lighting to range from 40% to 76% of the NTSC color gamut, whereas displays utilizing white LED backlights may extend past 100% of the NTSC color gamut – a difference quite perceivable by the human eye.
The transmittance of a pixel of an LCD panel typically does not change linearly with the applied voltage, and the sRGBRGB value.
Hopefully that gives you a better understanding of the differences between the two monitors, while the average consumer might not be too interested in the differences, these differences are a major part of the price difference between these two monitors, as the S-PVA is a higher end panel and the TN panel is more aimed at the "Budget" consumer.
Let's move on to taking a closer look at these two monitors, I have also included a couple pictures at the end of this section to show the similarities between the two models.
First Impressions - Samsung SyncMaster 245B:
I received the Samsung SyncMaster 245B almost a full month before I received the 245T, and began using it immediately. I replaced a 20.1" monitor that I had been using for a while, and it's really amazing how small my old 20.1" monitor looked when compared to the new 24" 245B. Right out of the box I was impressed with the appearance of the 245B, and thanks to its nice height-adjustable stand and all black coloring scheme, this monitor looks pretty impressive sitting on your desk, even before you get it powered on.
 Samsung SyncMaster 245B - Front |
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 Samsung SyncMaster - Back |
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Samsung SyncMaster - Power
Let's move onto the 245T on the next page...
